Bloomberg Law reports that a New York lawyer who commingled his own funds with client funds in his personal bank account will no longer be practicing law.

Reporter Bernie Pazanowski writes that John Shasanmi used his personal account for client funds, rather than opening an attorney trust account or maintain bookkeeping record.

Shasanmi was investigated for professional misconduct and charged with two counts of larceny involving over $600,000 in client funds he allegedly used for personal purposes.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

ContractWorks has published a new guide:  Contract Management Software for the Small Legal Team: Why It’s Not Just for the Big Fish Anymore, to navigate contract management options so the right solution can be found.

The guide discusses:

• How small legal teams are benefiting from contract management software
• How new solutions are designed to be easy and affordable
• How customization and cloud storage means there’s software for every legal department
• How automation, AI and machine learning can elevate contract management

Download the free ebook.

In a new post on the Arbitration Nation site of Stinson Leonard Street, Liz Kramer has collected four recent decisions in which courts have found the parties’ dispute over the scope of an arbitration clause is not covered by their agreement.

Kramer considers the question: “Is this the new arbitration resistance? Some kind of “scope-a-dope,” in which courts that don’t take kindly to arbitration can hold up their hands and say ‘I accepted that the arbitration agreement was formed, and that it was valid, but under state contract law, I interpret this claim as outside the scope.’”

Read the article.

If you don’t want your emails to be binding contracts, don’t sign them, or better yet, don’t write them in the first place, warns a post in the Ohio Real Estate Law Blog of Kohrman, Jackson & Krantz.

The case involved the attempted sale of a high-end residential property in Ohio. The buyers argued that the sellers had agreed by a series of email exchanges (electronically signed) to sell their home to the buyers and that the sellers breached that agreement.

An appellate court remanded the case, explaining: “Given the circumstances surrounding the parties’ email exchange and later discussions, including that other terms of the sale had yet to be agreed upon, an issue of fact exists as to whether the parties had a present intention to be bound at the time of the email exchange, or whether the parties did not intend to be bound until execution of the more formal contract.”

Read the article.

Kerianne Kane has joined Northeast office of Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. (SDV) as an associate.

In a release, the firm said Kane has a background in state and federal litigation and a practice previously focused on issues involving Metro-North Railroad. Her experience includes defense of claims under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act and whistleblower complaints under the Federal Railroad Safety Act as well as defense of insureds in personal injury and property damage matters.

The firm said Kane is also experienced in complex litigation matters involving business disputes, securities fraud and intellectual property infringement.

Thousands of legal professionals are expected to participate in E-Discovery Day, scheduled for Dec. 4, 2018, to learn more about e-discovery and the vital role it plays within the legal process.

Exterro, one of the E-Discovery Day supporters, says this one-day industry-wide, vendor-neutral celebration, will feature an all-star lineup of complimentary in-person events and online webcasts. 34 leading legal organizations are proud to support E-Discovery Day and partnered together to host all events free of charge.

The event will include:

• 13 educational webcasts with e-discovery experts (e.g. federal judges, e-discovery managers, in-house attorneys and more)
• 7 in-person networking events located across the country

Get details or sign-up for an event.

Texas-based litigation boutique Hicks Thomas LLP announced that Houston appellate specialist and trial lawyer J. Stephen Barrick has been named a partner in the firm.

Barrick concentrates his practice on civil appeals in state and federal courts. The substantive area of his appellate practice includes contracts, oil and gas, intellectual property, insurance coverage, and catastrophic personal injuries. He has been listed as in the Texas Super Lawyers rating guide every year since 2012, is board certified in civil appellate law, and serves as the firm’s lead appellate lawyer.

He is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Read more about the announcement.

The former chief financial officer of Dewey & LeBoeuf spent a night in jail after missing the first of three payments on a $1 million fine, but was released early Friday morning when his current law firm paid the entire $1 million, reports the ABA Journal.

“[Joel] Sanders was sentenced in October 2017 to 750 hours of community service and ordered to pay the $1 million fine over a three-year period,” reports the Journal‘s Debra Cassens Weiss. “Sanders did not get any jail time, but Stolz had said failure to pay the fine would land Sanders in jail until he pays up, for up to one year.”

He was convicted for misleading lenders and bond buyers about the firm’s finances before its 2012 collapse.

Sanders missed his first payment and asked for resentencing because of “dire financial circumstances” and also alleged the fine was unconstitutionally excessive. A New York judge ordered Sanders to jail.

The next day, his current law firm paid the entire $1 million.

Read the ABA Journal report.

Bloomberg Law is reporting that corporate law departments are spending more, but less of that that money is landing in Big Law coffers, according to a new survey.

Altman Weil’s 19th Annual Chief Legal Officer survey revealed that most companies increased their spending between 2017 and 2018. But about a third of legal officers shifted work to lower-priced alternatives, the data indicated.

Survey participants said they received quality work and service at considerable reductions in cost with shifts to smaller firm, reports Bloomberg’s Elizabeth Olson.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

A Louisiana appellate court has added to the relatively sparse body of appellate rulings in pipeline expropriation matters with an unpublished opinion affirming that landowners whose property is expropriated must prove their entitlement to severance damages to a “legal certainty.”

Writing in the Liskow & Lewis Energy Law Blog, Laura Springer Brown discusses the case of  Enterprise Products Operating, LLC, v. Southwood Terminal, L.L.C.

In its ruling, the court affirmed a two-part test for severance damages: The landowner must prove a diminution in value, “and only then could the jury continue on to the issue of the amount of damages.”

Read the article.

While a commitment letter in the real estate lending process fleshes out any issues or misunderstandings between the parties prior to the preparation of the ultimate loan documents, it is important to be aware of some potential pitfalls and issues that it can present, warns Benjamin Bruner in a Dickinson Mackaman Tyler & Hagen web post.

The post outlines some of the dangers that cause problems for parties to the contract and then discusses some fundamental terms  that a commitment letter should include for the protection of the bank.

Read the article.

TCPAland reports on a reversal of fortune: The Northern District of Alabama has officially been reconsidered and reversed itself on a contractual consent decision.

The court originally ruled that the plaintiff “could not unilaterally revoke her consent to receive debt-collection calls because she agreed to provide that consent as part of a bargained-for exchange.”

The court revisited some of the authorities surrounding its original ruling, and decided that it was wrong, and that a consumer may freely revoke contractual consent unless some term in the contract limits that right. explains Shane Micheil of Womble Bond Dickinson.

Read the article.

Beth Stephens has joined FisherBroyles, LLP as a partner in the firm’s Atlanta office and Health and Pharmacy Law practice group.

“It is a pleasure to welcome Beth to FisherBroyles and to our dedicated team of Atlanta-based partners,” said Ted Lavender, an Atlanta-based FisherBroyles partner and member of the Health and Pharmacy Law practice group. “Beth’s significant experience involving ERISA and other diverse healthcare plan issues, along with her public policy background, will provide valuable insights and support for our healthcare clients.”

Stephens said, “I am very eager to continue my practice and contribute to the successes of FisherBroyles clients who benefit greatly from the firm’s cloud-based partnership model and the top-level experience of the firm’s former Big Law partners.”

In a release, the firm said Stephens focuses her practice on the representation of ERISA and other self-funded employer healthcare plans and their fiduciaries, as well as plan participants, in healthcare reimbursement disputes. She also defends clients under consumer protection laws, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and deceptive trade practices laws.

Prior to joining FisherBroyles, Stephens was the senior director of public policy & advocacy at Georgia Watch, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization. In that role, she developed educational resources for healthcare consumers, authored policy papers, and lobbied on behalf of consumers at the state and federal levels on various issues, including healthcare, access to civil justice, and financial services. Her work has included collaboration with government agencies, policymakers, legislators, academic partners, professional associations, advocacy groups, and other stakeholders.

Previously, Stephens was an attorney in the Health Law Unit at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, where she represented low-income Georgians in a variety of civil legal matters.

Stephens received her J.D. (magna cum laude) from the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Emory University.

Dykema announced the addition of Kenneth J. Sachs to its Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group as a member of the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office. Sachs joins Dykema after practicing in the Troy, Mich., office of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C., for more than a decade.

In a releqse, the firm said Sachs has experience advising clients regarding employee benefit plans, executive benefit programs and business planning. He also represents public and private entities concerning their corporate, fiduciary and governance responsibilities. Sachs routinely designs, drafts and establishes retirement plans, welfare plans, medical plans (insured and self-funded), fringe benefits and various other programs provided to employees.

The firm said Sachs also assists clients with audits, non-discrimination testing and the proper administration and funding of such plans. He also counsels clients in regard to incentive compensation programs, implications of mergers and acquisitions, contracts, and a variety of many other matters.

“We’re extremely happy to further expand our practice by adding an attorney with Ken’s experience and capabilities,” said Margaret Hunter, Leader of Dykema’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group. “His breadth of knowledge in a wide variety of employee benefits and executive compensation matters will serve as a tremendous resource to Dykema and its clients.”

Sachs earned an LL.M. in Taxation from Wayne State University Law School, a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School, and a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan.

If Pacific Gas and Electric Company is found liable for the devastating California fires now burning, the company’s customers could be on the hook to pay the bill, or even lead to a PG&E bankruptcy, according to The New York Times.

“Many fires in recent years have been caused by downed power lines serving California’s utilities. State officials have determined that electrical equipment owned by PG&E, including power lines and poles, was responsible for at least 17 of 21 major fires in Northern California last fall. In eight of those cases, they referred the findings to prosecutors over possible violations of state law,” write Times reporters Ivan Penn and Peter Eavis.

Some victims of the latest fires have sued PG&E, alleging negligence and health and safety code violations by the utility company.

Read the NY Times article.

Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch, who announced in July that he was leaving the company at the end of the year, has changed his mind, reports Recode.

Facebook is still dealing with legal and political crises, including multiple federal investigations into Facebook’s data and privacy practices that started earlier this year, writes Recode reporter Kurt Wagner.

Stretch was named in a I story as one of the few Facebook executives who knew that Russian hackers were using the service ahead of the election well before it was announced publicly — or even presented to Facebook’s board of directors. It’s unclear whether or not Stretch’s decision to stay had anything to do with that report, according to Wagner.

Read the Recode article.

Folio is reporting that American Media, Inc., publisher of The National Enquirer, Us Weekly, and several other celebrity and fitness titles, has appointed a new top lawyer after parting ways with Cameron Stracher, who had served for nearly 12 years as the company’s general counsel, media.

Jon P. Fine will take on the newly created role of deputy general counsel, media on AMI’s legal team and will report directly to executive VP and chief legal officer, Eric Klee, according to reporter Kayleigh Barber.

The New York Post reported there was a stormy encounter at lunch last week between Stracher, a media and libel law specialist, and David Pecker, the company’s embattled CEO. “When they got back from lunch at Cipriani Wall Street, Stracher began clearing out his desk,” according to Post reporter Keith J. Kelly.

A U.S. attorney in New York is looking into a possible payoff Pecker is alleged to have made to a former Playmate who was alleged to have had an affair with Donald Trump. The inquiry will see if the payoff right before the 2016 presidential election constituted an illegal campaign contribution by AMI.

Read the Folio article.

Heim Payne & Chorush has secured three of the legal industry’s most significant patent litigation honors, with recognition by Chambers USA, International Asset Management’s IAM Patent 1000, and U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms.”

Chambers USA singled out the firm and co-founder Mike Heim among the state’s top IP practitioners.

And the firm, along with Heim and partners Douglas Wilson and Eric Enger were recognized in the IAM Patent 1000, a global guide to patent firms and lawyers.

Most recently, the firm was included on the 2019 U.S. News & World Report and The Best Lawyers in America Best Law Firms list. Based on input from clients and peer lawyers,

Read more about the honors.

When your marketing efforts are met with obstacles based on time, money or other factors, one of the best and most-underutilized ways to make sure you are seen and heard is to be unique, advises Bruce Vincent of Muse Communications.

In an article on the Muse website, Vincent offers three major pieces of advice.

First, start by setting yourself apart. “But before revising your website or email newsletter to include your unique position, your first move should be to make sure that you stay within the rules that govern lawyer communications,” he cautions.

Second, listen to your clients. “Did your clients come to you after working with a different firm or lawyer? If so, ask them why they decided to hire you instead. What you hear may well determine exactly what it is that others think make you unique.”

And finally, make your delivery unique. “Once you have determined what to say about why you are unique, it is time to figure out how to best communicate in a way that will be as noteworthy as your message itself.”

Read the article.

A recent post on Robinson+Cole’s Manufacturing Law Blog discusses a recent court decision that underscores the need for manufacturers to exercise caution when seeking to impose post-employment restrictions on key employees.

Author Matthew Miklave explains that manufacturers often seek to bind employees to such restrictions (non-compete, non-solicitation and confidentiality obligations) in order to protect customer lists, pricing information and other confidential or “inside” information which gives them a competitive advantage in the market-place.

The case, Oxford Global Resources, LLC v. Hernandez, is an example of why these agreements must be carefully drafted to be effective when needed.

Read the article.