Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP partners Lela M. Hollabaugh, Lindsey C Boney IV and Tripp Haston have been named by Who’s Who Legal as among the world’s leading life sciences attorneys. They are listed in the Product Liability chapter of the 2019 edition of Who’s Who Legal: Life Sciences.

“We congratulate Lela, Lindsey and Tripp on their most recent Who’s Who Legal: Life Sciences recognition,” said Bradley Chairman of the Board and Managing Partner Jonathan M. Skeeters. “Bradley’s Life Sciences attorneys continue to distinguish themselves as nationally recognized leaders in their field.”

The firm said Bradley’s Life Sciences Industry Team represents clients involved in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, molecular testing services, drug delivery systems, clinical labs (CLIA), genomic labs, bioinformatics, genomic medical clinics, research institutions, contract research organizations, animal sciences, plant sciences, and healthcare. This year, Bradley was named the Product Liability Firm of the Year by the LMG Life Sciences Awards. In addition, the firm earned Tier 1 national rankings in the 2019 edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” for Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions, as well as Tier 1 “Best Law Firms” metropolitan rankings for Product Liability Litigation – Defendants for Birmingham; Jackson, Miss.; Montgomery, Ala; Nashville, Tenn.; and Washington, D.C.

Hollabaugh is managing partner of Bradley’s Nashville, Tenn., office and a member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group and Life Sciences Industry Team. She has served as the lead trial lawyer in more than a dozen jury trials, as well as more than two dozen bench trials, arbitrations and administrative hearings. She represents leading pharmaceutical, medical device and other product manufacturers in matters ranging from individual lawsuits to mass tort cases.

Based in the firm’s Birmingham office, Boney is a member of Bradley’s Litigation Practice Group and Life Sciences Industry Team. He regularly represents pharmaceutical and medical device companies in national mass tort litigation, often as a member of mass tort national counsel teams for cases involving regulatory and legal strategy issues. He also has represented numerous national and international companies in a variety of other matters.

Also based in the Birmingham office, Haston co-chairs Bradley’s Life Sciences Industry Team and represents a broad spectrum of clients on regional, national and international engagements. He represents medical device and pharmaceutical clients in products liability litigation. In addition, he has served numerous clients as national trial and coordinating counsel, as well as a national team member in individual actions and in mass tort and multidistrict litigation. His experience has involved matters throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and South America.

The 2019 edition of Who’s Who Legal: Life Sciences is scheduled to be published in March 2019 by London-based Law Business Research Limited. Only lawyers who receive the highest number of recommendations from peers and clients as determined through independent research are listed in the publication. The Who’s Who Legal directory lists more than 24,000 private practice lawyers from more than 150 national jurisdictions, covering diverse areas of corporate and commercial law. The guides are intended to serve as reference sources for companies seeking to corroborate the reputations of lawyers recommended by another party.

Clifton Dugas has joined Foley Gardere’s Real Estate Practice Group as a partner in its Dallas office.

The firm said Dugas has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate industry, including commercial lenders, loan servicers and borrowers in acquisitions; acquisitions and dispositions of office, multifamily, retail, mixed-use, raw land, and industrial commercial real estate; commercial transactions; and clients in the vacation ownership and timeshare industry. He also has experience with transactions involving health care, student housing, publishing facilities, oil and gas properties, and residential investment portfolios.

The firm said Dugas’ representative experience includes serving as the primary leasing counsel for a globally integrated asset manager assisting office properties nationwide with leasing, sales, acquisitions and property management issues, as well as representing a private Canadian real estate lending company with numerous, fast-moving deals ranging in value from $10 million to more than $100 million. In addition, he previously represented a large institutional lender with over $1 billion in troubled real estate assets.

“Clifton’s breadth of experience in both real estate and real estate lending will add significant depth and strength to our growing real estate practice in Texas and nationally,” said David Cook, chair of Foley’s Real Estate Practice Group. “Clifton will quickly become a vital resource for our clients, meeting their current and evolving business needs by applying two decades’ worth of experience in areas spanning real estate finance, development and lending.”

Dugas joins Foley from Polsinelli PC, where he was an equity shareholder in the financial services department, which included the real estate and commercial lending practice groups. Prior to that, he was managing director and chief legal officer at Lantern Asset Management LLC, a full-service commercial real estate asset management platform that managed a $1.1 billion portfolio of timeshare and resort construction, along with hypothecation loans and real estate property.

“We are thrilled to add Clifton to our expanding team,” said Michael Newman, managing partner of Foley Gardere’s Dallas office. “Clifton provides invaluable knowledge and diligence to his clients, pulling from his experience in private practice and as an in-house counsel, and uniquely understands their business needs and strategies, all of which will make Foley Gardere’s Real Estate Practice even deeper.”

Dykema’s National Pro Bono and Diversity Counsel Heidi A. Naasko was selected as the 2018 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award by the United Community Housing Coalition (UCHC). She was recognized at the UCHC annual meeting in November.

The firm said Naasko was selected for the honor in thanks for her support of the UCHC’s 36th District Court Eviction Defense Clinic. Not only did Naasko take cases directly in one of the busiest eviction courts in the nation, but she also encourages other attorneys from large and small firms, as well as corporations, to volunteer and take eviction cases. She also assisted in efforts to increase the right to representation for defendants in eviction proceedings to reduce homelessness in Detroit.

The UCHC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive housing assistance to Detroit’s low-income residents. Since 1973, the organization has worked with tenants, homesteaders, homeowners, the homeless and community organizations, rebuilding neighborhoods and providing affordable housing, religious, civil rights, labor and housing advocacy to improve, preserve and expand affordable housing opportunities for low-income Detroiters.

In addition to her role administering Dykema’s Pro Bono program and mentoring lawyers in various areas of public interest law, Naasko maintains a substantive poverty law practice. Her caseload includes representation of unaccompanied immigrant children who are child victims of human trafficking and have either been victims of crime in their country of origin or in the United States. She also represents domestic violence survivors in divorce, child custody, immigration matters, and personal protection orders.

She also works with Dykema’s business clients to create pro bono partnerships with a focus on identifying relevant, succinct and high-profile opportunities.

Naasko, who earned a J.D., cum laude, from Boston University and a B.A. from the University of Michigan, is also a past recipient of the Washtenaw County Bar Association’s Annual Pro Bono/Public Service Award, as well as the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association Pro Bono Service Award.

Littler is expanding its presence in Wisconsin with the addition of Michael R. Gotzler who will open a new office in Madison, Wisconsin, located at 10 East Doty Street, Suite 800.

“As our work across Wisconsin continues to expand, the time was right to invest in a full-time presence in the state capital,” said Jonathan Levine, managing shareholder of Littler’s Wisconsin offices. “Mike is a real entrepreneur, an innovative and creative thinker who will immediately enhance our ability to provide labor and employment services to the business community in one of the most vibrant areas of the state.”

Tom Bender and Jeremy Roth, Littler’s co-managing directors added, “We’re excited to have someone of Mike’s caliber help us grow our regional footprint in the Midwest. Madison is not only an attractive expansion opportunity based on the legal services sought by our clients, it’s a natural fit for the firm as a whole and our growing technology and artificial intelligence practices.”

Gotzler, previously a founding partner of employment boutique Clark & Gotzler, has more than 20 years of experience advising businesses on all employment-related matters. Gotzler also spent a decade serving as general counsel of a human resources firm that provided temporary staffing, executive recruiting, consulting and other services throughout the U.S.

“Madison is my home and this is a terrific opportunity to open and build an office for a leading firm like Littler, which is known for its innovation and technology, vast resources and experienced, savvy practitioners,” said Gotzler. “Madison continues to gain national attention as one of the best places to live, work and grow a business and ranks as one of the fastest growing technology employment markets in the nation. The larger platform and unparalleled labor and employment resources Littler offers will enable me to provide expanded services and solutions to my clients both locally and nationally.”

Gotzler’s practice includes employment litigation before courts and administrative agencies, as well as ADA/FMLA leave and accommodation issues, wage and hour compliance, non-compete disputes, independent contractor and joint employment issues, labor relations and NLRB proceedings, and preventive audits and training.

Gotzler received his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School, with honors, and his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Phi Beta Kappa.

Miller & Chevalier Chartered today announced that Jorge E. Castro, who previously served on the staff of senior Democratic members of both the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Ways and Means and as Counselor to the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), joined the firm as a member in the Tax Department.

Castro joins Miller & Chevalier from Castro Strategies, LLC, a Washington, DC, tax consulting firm he founded to counsel clients on a wide array of policy and regulatory issues.

“Miller & Chevalier is best-in-class when it comes to providing strategic counsel and technical tax advice, and I am excited to continue my practice here,” Castro said. “The firm’s long tax history and reputation, robust platform, and team of savvy tax lawyers will allow me to offer more resources and services to my clients.”

The firm said Castro gained legislative experience serving as the primary tax policy advisor to senior Democratic members of both Congressional tax-writing committees. He served as Senior Counsel and Lead Economic Policy Advisor to Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Finance. He also served as Tax and Trade Counsel to the late Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), a senior member of the House Committee on Ways and Means. In 2010, Tax Notes magazine named Jorge as one of the top “Congressional Staffers Shaping Tax Policy.”

During his tenure at the IRS, Castro directly advised the Commissioner on tax reform initiatives and legislative proposals, and worked closely with senior IRS and U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) officials to advance the agency’s domestic and international objectives. He also collaborated with the Treasury on a variety of priority guidance projects, including the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

“Jorge’s experience working directly with the Commissioner of the IRS will be an invaluable resource to our global clients across the wide array of regulatory, enforcement, administration, and compliance issues they are facing with the agency,” said Lawrence B. Gibbs, Senior Counsel in Miller & Chevalier’s Tax Department who served as Commissioner of the IRS from 1986 to 1989.

“Jorge brings a deep understanding of government decision-making processes and uses that knowledge in coordination with his technical tax expertise to help clients resolve complex matters in the most efficient, effective ways possible,” said George A. Hani, Chair of Miller & Chevalier’s Tax Department. “Given his unique combination of legislative and tax administration experience, he has the proven ability to work a bill completely through the legislative process, and then guide clients through the administrative guidance process.”

Castro represents the second recent significant hire Miller & Chevalier has made to its growing government relations practice, following the arrival of Loren C. Ponds, former Tax Counsel to the House Committee on Ways and Means under Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX), in late October.

“Jorge is well regarded in the tax policy community, particularly by members of Congress, senior Treasury and IRS officials, and their staffs,” said Marc J. Gerson, Chair of Miller & Chevalier’s Executive Committee. “Having worked together on Capitol Hill, I am particularly pleased to welcome him to the firm.”

Castro earned a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School and a B.A. from the George Washington University. He is currently an adjunct professor at the Catholic University Columbus School of Law, where he teaches a course in the Law and Public Policy Program.

Paper Software will present a complimentary webinar on Contract Tools, an add-in for Microsoft Word, that analyzes, proofreads, formats, reviews, and navigates contracts for legal departments and firms.

The webinar will be Tuesday, Dec. 18, at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

On its website, Paper Software says Contract Tools analyzes a document for such elements as provisions, defined terms, cross-references, and more. Analysis takes about two seconds or less for most contracts, and the software updates its analysis instantly.

The process takes place on the user’s personal computer, rather than on a remote server, the company says.

Register or get more details.

Image by Kārlis Dambrāns

A jury trial in Qualcomm’s wide-ranging legal war with Apple has been set to begin April 15 in San Diego federal court, with a settlement looking unlikely at this point, reports The San Diego Union-Tribune.

U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel scheduled the trial at hearing Friday. Qualcomm had sought to begin the trial in February, but Curiel said the April date was needed to accommodate the court’s schedule.

Qualcomm Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf had previously told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that the San Diego cellular technology firm was “on the doorstep of finding a resolution” to the dispute with Apple, according to Union-Tribune reporter Mike Freeman.

But Apple attorney William Isaacson told Curiel on Friday that a settlement wasn’t in the cards.

Read the San Diego Union-Tribune article.

Reuters is reporting that a U.S. judge in California has granted preliminary approval to a $48 million settlement for investors who said Volkswagen AG made false and misleading statements over its excess diesel emissions.

Reuters reporter explains:

Lawyers for the investors, who include police and other municipal pension funds, had estimated that the maximum they could have recovered was $147 million. But Judge Charles Breyer said the settlement agreed in August appeared “fair, adequate and reasonable.”

The German automaker admitted in September 2015 to secretly installing software in nearly 500,000 U.S. cars to cheat government exhaust emissions tests, writes Reuters reporter David Shepardson.

Read the Reuters article.

The CEO of Dallas-based AriseBank was arrested by the FBI on Wednesday for allegedly duping hundreds of investors out of more than $4 million in a splashy cryptocurrency scheme that promised federally insured accounts and brand-name credit cards, The Dallas Morning News reports.

Jared Rice Sr.’s arrest followed his indictment on three counts each of securities fraud and wire fraud, said Erin Nealy Cox, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, according to Morning News business editor Paul O’Donnell.

Rice was accused of lying to would-be investors by claiming that AriseBank could offer consumers FDIC-insured accounts and traditional banking services, including Visa-brand credit and debit cards, in addition to cryptocurrency services..

Read the Morning News article.

The Texas Supreme Court has held that the discovery rule delayed the running of the statute of limitations on behalf of the holder of a recorded right of first refusal to purchase mineral interests, reports the Energy & the Law blog of Gray Reed & McGraw.

Gray Reed partner Charles Sartain explains: “The trustees sued the Tregellases for buying the minerals without allowing the Trust to exercise its ROFR, contending that a contract was formed when they sued more than four years after the Tregellases’ purchase; the suit was their acceptance of the right to purchase the minerals, they said.”

The appellate court held that the trust suffered an injury when the minerals were sold, but the discovery rule delayed limitations.

Read the article.

Amy Boardman Hunt of Muse Communications offers some advice in a new post on how to combine “helping organizations I care about” with marketing and business development.

“Whatever your favorite cause is – whether it’s sports, politics, animals, social issues, children’s issues, or the arts – there are countless ways to indulge that passion while building your professional network,” she writes.

She provides some real-world examples of lawyers who have found impressive ways to combine their personal passions with business development.

Read the article.

A discussion on the Troutman Sanders website addresses the current state of the law governing a key link to remote contracting — hyperlinks — with the goal of advising how to successfully incorporate by reference separate contract terms using hyperlinks for purposes of contract formation.

“In a series of recent decisions, courts are developing an increasingly consistent view of what is required to successfully incorporate contract terms by reference using hyperlinks,” write Alan Wingfield and Troy Jenkins. “This emerging consensus focuses on four elements: labeling of the hyperlink; the location and prominence of the hyperlink; the accessibility of the information hyperlinked; and the consumer’s assent.”

They discuss those four elements and offer a list of rules to do and another list of methods to avoid.

Read the article.

The first in a series of posts on royalty calculation and payment from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius focuses on issues related to defining the relevant scope of royalty calculations in an agreement.

“While the specific terms governing a royalty will vary based on numerous factors, including the nature of the products and the underlying licensed materials and the contemplated commercialization structure, many concepts are useful across the board.” according to the post’s authors, Mike Pierides and Eric J. Pennesi.

They discuss fixed amounts vs. percentage of revenue, gross vs. net revenue, revenue from initial sales and renewals and add-ons, specific revenue exclusions, and discounts.

Read the article.

Barnes & Thornburg has added James Van Horn as a partner in the firm’s Finance, Insolvency and Restructuring Department in Washington, D.C.

Van Horn works with senior management, investors, creditors and other stakeholders in matters ranging from out-of-court workouts and pre-packaged and pre-arranged Chapter 11 reorganizations to cram down plans of reorganization and sales of substantially all assets. He represents corporate debtors, secured creditors, asset purchasers, official committees of unsecured creditors, liquidating trustees, receivers, investors and other stakeholders in bankruptcy courts and other courts throughout the United States.

“Jim is a seasoned bankruptcy attorney with significant restructuring experience across the manufacturing, retail, energy and real estate industries,” said Karen McGee, managing partner of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. “He’ll complement and expand our creditors’ rights and bankruptcy representation capabilities in the Beltway and nationally.”

Previously, Van Horn was a partner at McGuireWoods. He holds an MBA in finance, is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor, and a Certified Valuation Analyst. He was a senior consultant in the bankruptcy and restructuring services practice of FTI Consulting, Inc. and a senior associate in the business recovery services division of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, as well as an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business teaching corporate finance and restructuring.

Van Horn earned his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business; and he received his B.A. from Pennsylvania State University.

Lawrence “Larry” M. Hadley has joined Glaser Weil as a partner and chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Department. Hadley focuses his intellectual property litigation practice on patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.

In a release, the firm said he has trial and appellate experience before both federal and state courts, and the International Trade Commission.

He works in the firm’s Century City and Orange County offices.

“Larry is a welcome addition to lead the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Department. His experience working on unique and broad intellectual property litigation in the technology and material science industries adds tremendous value and enables the firm to offer supplementary resources to better serve our clients,” said Patricia L. Glaser, Chair of the firm’s Litigation Department.

He has experience as a commercial ship and naval officer and licensed pilot.

Hadley earned his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School, where he was Order of the Coif. He received a B.S., with high honors from the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

Zapproved has published a new guide that outlines the five best practices for conducting fast, defensible internal investigations.

The guide can be downloaded from Zapproved website at no charge.

An internal investigation is exactly what it sounds like: an inquiry into an organization’s internal operations, Zapproved says on its website. Internal investigations frequently involve allegations of wrongdoing, such as embezzlement, sexual harassment, discrimination, or wrongful termination. However, an internal investigation may also be conducted in response to a regulatory compliance concern initiated by agencies like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or as part of a due diligence process before a merger or acquisition.

The goal of an internal investigation is to either detect and respond to wrongdoing or dispel suspicions. Organizations should respond to investigations in a way that curtails any specific incident of wrongdoing and discourages similar future violations. The overarching goal is to create an open, productive work environment that is neither distracting nor discriminatory.

Download the guide.

General Data Protection Regulation requirements might look like a new bureaucratic threshold for doing business in the European Union. But sooner or later, a strict regulation in this area is likely to occur in every country, points out Vladislav Nekrutenko in an article for IoT Evolution.

The acceptance of the California Consumer Privacy Act 2018 and the Brazil Personal Data Protection Law are good examples in this regard, he explains.

His article details some steps that can help a company fulfill its obligations in contracts with third parties and mitigate risks regarding third parties’ data misuse.

Read the article.

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Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed takes a look at commercial leases that provide a right of termination to only one of the parties to the lease. such agreements raise the question: “Is this really a contract if one party can walk away at any time?”

The author, James E. Walson, provides a short answer: Unilateral termination rights without any limitation or condition render a contract illusory and make that contract terminable by either party. If, however, the contract places minimal limitations on the unilateral termination, even if not rigorous or burdensome, the contract is not illusory and will be upheld.

“When drafting unilateral termination provisions that require minimal conditions to their being triggered, one should be cognizant that some condition or burden must be placed on the terminating party so as not to void the entire agreement,” Walson writes.

Read the article.

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta is out of the running to be President Donald Trump’s attorney general following a Miami Herald report that he oversaw a sweetheart deal for a wealthy financier accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, according to two people close to the president.

Acosta was a federal prosecutor in Florida before going to Washington, the two advisers said.

Herald report Anita Kumar explains:

The investigation, which reported that Acosta, then U.S. attorney, cut a secret deal to allow billionaire Jeffrey Epstein to serve only 13 months in a county jail, is “clearly something” that is being widely circulated among Trump aides, one of the people said. The agreement “essentially shut down an ongoing FBI probe” and granted immunity to “any potential co-conspirators,” according to the story.

Read the Miami Herald article.

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Reuters is reporting that a federal judge on Thursday raised the prospect of not approving CVS Health Corp’s deal to buy insurer Aetna Inc, which closed earlier this week, during a routine portion of the legal process.

“I was reviewing your motion, which, of course is not opposed. And I kind of got this uneasy feeling that I was being kept in the dark, kind of like a mushroom,” Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia told lawyers for the Justice Department and the two companies, noting that the American Medical Association, among others, had objected to the deal.

“I’m very concerned, very concerned that you all are proceeding on a rubber-stamp approach to this,” he told them, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Read the Reuters article.