The National Transportation Safety Board is well known for its sleuthing on plane crashes. However, oil and gas executives often need better education about how the agency tackles one of its other responsibilities—investigating pipeline accidents, advise attorneys with the national law firm LeClairRyan.

The catastrophic gas explosions that destroyed dozens of homes in Massachusetts this month have called attention to the NTSB’s role in investigating such incidents, noted Mark A. Dombroff, an Alexandria-based member of LeClairRyan and co-leader of its Transportation Industry practice. “Most, but not all, in the pipeline business are aware that something like this will immediately trigger a federally mandated and led investigation,” he said. “But their counterparts in aviation tend to be far better prepared to contend with the highly specific—and high-stakes—investigative process relied upon by NTSB.”

Read the article.

Some state attorneys general and the U.S.  Department of Justice are looking into no-poach agreements that some companies are including in their franchise operating agreements, reports Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

“Such clauses typically prohibit franchisees from hiring employees directly from the franchisor or other franchisees for up to six months following the end of their employment. [Washington State Attorney General Bob] Ferguson has been touting the ongoing success of his investigation with respect to fast food chains, and franchise-based chains in other industries appear to be his next target,” according to the authors.

“Any employers that currently utilize no-poach agreements or are considering doing so should be sure to examine whether there are valid pro-competitive justifications for the agreement that outweigh any anti-competitive effect and whether the benefits of the no-poach agreement are worth the risk of the potential governmental or private challenge that is likely to occur.”

Read the article.

Equipment leasing presents a company with an opportunity to acquire the use of equipment without using its own cash or its bank line of credit, according to a post on the website of Steptoe & Johnson.

“An understanding of the unique features of equipment lease contracts should help a company work with its bank to structure and document a mutually acceptable lease agreement,” writes Andrew J. Kalgreen.

His article discusses end-of-term purchase and return options, maintenance requirements, tax benefit protection, third-party liability protection, disclaimers of product warranties, and termination risks.

Read the article.

Unless your name is on the door or you’re already a major rainmaker, it’s a safe bet that your law firm’s marketing team isn’t spending much time helping you achieve your personal marketing goals, writes Amy Boardman Hunt in a post for Muse Communications.

She offers some advice for any attorney who is looking to take their marketing matters into their own hands.

Her post covers such issues as how to get clients, using content marking, building a contact list for your professional network, keeping your online presence up to date, and checking on your other online profiles.

Read the article.

Lurking in every legal department budget is a giant uncertainty: the outside counsel spend, warns a post on the website of Xakia. According to Altman Weil’s Chief Legal Officer Survey, law firms account for 49.3 percent of legal budgets – the single largest category.

“As consumers of legal services know, when the outside counsel spend is governed by hourly billing, it’s inherently hard to predict, as it can vary with the phase of a project, the demands of the other side, even the habits and styles of the lawyers involved,” according to the post.

Much has been written about the philosophies behind alternative fee arrangements and efforts to align law firms and their clients on value. Instead, because it’s budget season, the paper takes a look at the most popular (and budget-friendly) fee structure and how to implement it for greater success in 2019.

According to Norton Rose Fulbright, the most popular alternative fee arrangements are:

Fixed/flat fee – 77 percent
Capped fee – 53 percent
Blended rate – 42 percent
Performance/success fees – 21 percent
Contingent fees – 25 percent

Read the article.

Download a legal budget white paper and budget template.

Bloomberg Law reports that K&L Gates LLP is facing a $100 million legal malpractice suit from a Texas semiconductor company, Quantum Materials Corp., over an alleged conflict of interest.

Reporter Sam Skolnik explains that the plaintiff’s petition alleges that the law firm represented lenders in a legal action against the company while also representing Quantum. The petition filed Oct. 16 in District Court of Hays County, Texas, seeks punitive damages.

The complaint says that Quantum retained K&L Gates in 2016 as corporate counsel, and the representation was never ended. But when Quantum became involved in a dispute with two lenders, K&L Gates lawyers represented the lenders against Quantum, according to the complaint.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

A former Foley & Lardner partner was suspended two years by the state Supreme Court for lying to the IRS during an audit of two wealthy estates connected to a major area business, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“The firm fired Adam Wiensch, 55, in 2016 when it learned he had falsified documents related to the transfer of wealth from the owners of Carma Laboratories to their children, a move that attempted to save the family millions in taxes,” writes the Journal Sentinel‘s Bruce Vielmetti.

The court’s opinion recounts Wiensch’s earlier testimony that he had been facing “several highly disruptive and personal” issues at the time of his offenses, and was dealing with depression and alcoholism.

Read the Journal Sentinel article.

The New York Times reports on the Heritage Foundation’s “Federal Clerkship Training Academy,” which required applicants to keep the training materials secret and to pledge that they wouldn’t use any of the training materials “for any purpose contrary to the mission or interest of the Heritage Foundation.”

The report by Adam Liptak says application materials told prospective clerks that “generous donors” were making “a significant financial investment in each and every attendee.”

“But legal experts said the effort by Heritage to train and influence law clerks raised serious ethical questions and could undermine the duties the clerks have to the justice system and to the judges they will serve,” according to Liptak.

A few hours after the Times report went online, the foundation announced that it was suspending the program.

Read the NY Times article.

Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C. announced that five attorneys have joined the firm’s St. Louis office as associates. The new attorneys are Celine L. George, Kathleen M. Howard, Scott C. Johnston, Amy C. Moorkamp and Hunter B. Rouse.

“We are excited to welcome Celine, Kathleen, Scott, Amy and Hunt as our new fall associates in St. Louis,” said Greensfelder Chief Executive Officer Timothy R. Thornton. “Each of them brings significant experience and credentials that will benefit our clients across a broad section of legal practice areas.”

A member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group, George was a summer associate at Greensfelder in 2016 and 2017. She received her J.D. from Washington University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Rhodes College.

Also a member of the Litigation Practice Group, Howard was a Greensfelder summer associate in 2017. In addition, she previously interned at the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Missouri and worked as a legal assistant for the Missouri Public Defender System. She received her J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Saint Louis University.

Johnston joins the Business Services Practice Group at Greensfelder, where he worked as a summer associate in 2017. Prior to law school, he worked as a tax accountant at BKD, LLP in Kansas City, Mo. Johnston received his J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law. He also holds a Master of Accounting and a Bachelor of Science, both from the University of Kansas.

A member of the Litigation Practice Group, Moorkamp was a summer associate at Greensfelder in 2017. She previously was a law clerk for the Missouri Office of the Public Counsel in Jefferson City. In addition, she interned for Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Moorkamp received her J.D. from the University of Missouri School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Missouri.

Rouse is a member of the Business Services and Real Estate practice groups. He worked as a summer associate at Greensfelder in 2017. Previously, he interned for the Fayette County Attorney’s Office in Kentucky and at a real estate management company. He also founded and operated a small business in the food industry. Rouse received his J.D. from Washington University School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Kentucky.

Hanzo announced the launch of Hanzo Investigator for eDiscovery, which the developer says can leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the identification of social media profiles during ediscovery investigations.

In a release, the company says Hanzo Investigator for eDiscovery takes what is typically a slow and manual pursuit, and automates it—standardizing the investigation process so that it’s efficient, consistent, and defensible.

Hanzo says the new product deals with social media investigations in the following ways:

• Automation removes human error and outperforms manual approaches to investigation.
• Quickly identifies an individual’s social media and shows a timeline of the person’s posting activity across sites.
• Highlights relevant content within posts, comments, photos and videos.
• Legally defensible collections of social media can be loaded into platforms such as Relativity, providing the ability to browse preserved sites in native format.
• Ongoing monitoring of individuals’ activity and recapturing sites over time.

NAVEX Global will present the 2018 Ethics & Compliance Virtual Conference as an online event Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018.

This year’s ECVC focuses on putting the ideals of ethics and compliance into practice. Find out how your program should perform through regulatory scrutiny, leadership influence and program enhancements, then deliver quantifiable proof of success.

The conference will feature:

• 4 Learning Tracks
• 3 High-Profile Keynotes
• 13 Hour-Long Sessions
• No Travel; No Cost
• 6000+ Peers for Networking
• Dozens of Free Resources
• Live Speaker Q&A
• On-Demand Access

Register for the virtual conference.

As extreme weather becomes more commonplace, agricultural and livestock operations are increasingly facing civil and criminal enforcement and regulatory crackdowns for water runoff contamination caused by events beyond their control. Across the country, ag operations and feedlots have been the focus of a growing number of enforcement actions, including those filed by state attorneys general. Often there are large civil monetary penalties, according to a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.

“In many cases, small ag operations can be compliant with regulations before a historic flooding event and still face financial penalties that push family-owned businesses to the brink of bankruptcy or worse,” said attorney Chris Carrington of Denver-based Richards Carrington, who advises farm and ranch owners in legal and regulatory proceedings.

“More and more, governmental entities are under community and political pressure to take action, and that’s often at the expense of due process and fairness. It’s important for these businesses to know and appreciate the law and the forces at play before a catastrophic event occurs.” Carrington is addressing these topics in a series of presentations to the Colorado livestock and agriculture industries.

Barnes & Thornburg LLP has added new attorneys to its Chicago, Columbus, Grand Rapids, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Diego and Washington, D.C., offices.

Stephanie Duffy is of counsel in the Columbus office, where she is a member of the Real Estate Department. She has 15 years of experience in the industrythe firm said.

Duffy earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law and her B.A. from Emory University.

Louise Dyble is an associate in the Chicago office, where she is a member of the firm’s Environmental Department. Dyble focuses her practice on regulatory matters and litigation related to water, energy and air.

Dyble earned her J.D. from University of California, Berkeley, School of Law in 2016, and her Ph.D. in 2003 and her B.A., magna cum laude, in 1995, from the University of California, Berkeley.

Steve Inman is of counsel in the San Diego office. As a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, Inman advises clients on complex insurance coverage matters, insurer bad faith, contract disputes, consumer protection laws, and business torts, including unfair competition, breach of fiduciary duty, and consumer fraud.

Inman earned his J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where he was a member of the Loyola of Los Angeles Int’l & Comp. Law Review and the St. Thomas More Law Honor Society. He earned his B.A. from Brigham Young University.

Garrett Llewellyn is of counsel in the Los Angeles office, where he is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department. Llewellyn counsels clients on complex commercial litigation matters, including disputes associated with breach of contract, unfair competition and similar business torts, breach of fiduciary duty, and consumer fraud. His clients have included asset management companies, hedge funds, national and international corporations, hotels, and individuals.

Llewellyn earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Pepperdine University. He received his B.A., summa cum laude and with honors, from San Diego State University.

Matthew Michaels is an associate in the Washington, D.C., office. He is a member of the firm’s Corporate Department. Michaels focuses his practice on various aspects of federal procurement law, including regulatory compliance, bid protest and size protest, small business contracting, the GSA Schedule, and corporate transactions.

Michaels earned a J.D., cum laude, from The George Washington University Law School and earned a B.A. from Skidmore College.

Matthew Misichko is an associate in the Chicago office, where he is a member of the Corporate Department and the Associations and Foundations Practice Group. Misichko counsels a range of nonprofit organizations and associations, as well as privately held and family-owned entities, on formation, structuring and governance.

He earned his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law and his B.S. with highest honors from the University of Illinois.

Noushan Noureddini is an associate in the Los Angeles office, where she is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department. Noureddini has experience defending manufacturers, distributers, and sellers of medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products in product liability, negligence, employment, and general commercial litigation matters.

Noureddini earned her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School and she received her B.A. with high distinction and honors from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Kelsey Schmidt is an associate in the Chicago office, where she is a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Department. She defends employers against claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and wage and hour violations before agencies and in state and federal courts.

Schmidt earned her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2015 and her B.S., magna cum laude, from Creighton University in 2012.

Kevin Stanek is an associate in the Columbus office. Stanek is a member of the firm’s Government Services and Finance Department and joined the firm with almost 10 years of government experience. He represents clients on policy matters and legal issues before the Ohio General Assembly, executive agencies, and state boards and commissions and serves as counsel to governmental agencies on various matters, including financial transactions.

He earned his J.D. from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 2013 and his B.A., cum laude, from The Ohio State University in 2007.

Suzanne Sutherland is an associate in the Grand Rapids office. She is a member of the firm’s Real Estate Department and focuses her practice in the areas of development and construction matters and the acquisition, leasing, sale, and financing of real property, as well as on environmental compliance and enforcement.

Sutherland earned her J.D., cum laude, from Wayne State University Law School and her B.B.A. from Grand Valley State University.

Timothy Wong is of counsel in the Minneapolis office, where he is a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Department. Wong has provided labor, employment, and benefits-related counsel, and defense against discrimination claims and charges guidance, to employers for more than three decades. Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg, he spent nearly 20 years at 3M Corporation, where he served as associate general counsel and as legal director of the Asian Pacific Region..

Wong earned his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School, cum laude, and his B.S. from Northwestern University.

Bloomberg Law’s 4th annual Talent and Diversity Forum brings together industry leaders to share insights on what can actually increase diversity in the legal industry.

The event will be November 8, 2018, 8 a.m. to noon, in the offices of Bloomberg Government, 1101 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 2005.

With the emergence of new technologies and increased data analysis, the industry has seen significant shifts in recruiting and retention strategies and the emergence of an operations and value-driven business model, Bloomberg says on its website.

The half-day program will bring together corporate diversity champions, general counsel, and industry experts to offer up the newest ideas for bridging the ongoing diversity gap, from using technology to analyze data on prospective attorneys to ways to adapt an organization’s overall diversity initiatives to best suit an in-house legal team.

Key topics will include:

• Harnessing diversity in the changing business of law
• Using data and technology to increase diversity
• Workshopping scenarios to tackle diversity issues

Request an invitation.

Above the Law reports that Baker McKenzie released a joint report last week that admits the way the firm handled the alleged sexual assault by a partner at the firm involved “a number of shortcomings … which we very much regret.”

A partner in the firm’s London office was accused of assaulting an associate after a firm event six years ago, recalls Above the Law editor Kathryn Rubino. “The associate reported it to the firm, and they investigated. But instead of getting rid of the offending partner, the firm just sanctioned him and reached a settlement with the associate who was victimized. It was only after the story became public that the firm bowed to pressure and the accused partner left the firm.”

Read the Above the Law article.

The Associated Press reports that Florida’s next governor and not incumbent Gov. Rick Scott will get to pick three new justices to the state Supreme Court, the court ruled in a decision with major implications in this year’s gubernatorial campaign.

“In a major rebuke to Scott, the Supreme Court concluded that the Republican governor exceeded his authority when he started the process to find replacements for the three justices,” the AP reports.

Because of age limits of 70, three justices must retire at midnight Jan. 8, the same day Scott is scheduled to leave the governor’s office. Scott, claiming he had authority to name the replacements, last month asked a nominating commission to start accepting applications with a Nov. 10 deadline.

Read the AP article.

Two companies facing multiple lawsuits over a summer tourist boat accident in Missouri that killed 17 people have invoked an 1851 law that allows vessel owners to try to avoid or limit legal damages as they also seek settlement negotiations with victims’ family members, reports the Chicago Tribune.

“If a judge concluded that the federal law cited by Ripley [Entertainment Inc.] and Branson Duck Vehicles applies, claims for damages over the July 19 accident on Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri, could be consolidated into a single federal court case,” explains the article, from the Associated Press. “The companies’ petition states that under the federal law, they would not owe any damages because the boat carried no freight and was a total loss.”

Read the Chicago Tribune article.

Sidley Austin LLP announced that Tom Duley has joined the firm as a partner in its global Life Sciences practice. Duley has experience advising international and domestic clients in the life sciences sector on multifaceted strategic partnering and commercial transactions, the firm said in a release.

In addition to his experience serving clients as a partner in a multinational law firm, earlier in his career, Duley served as senior in-house corporate counsel at PDL BioPharma. Duley’s experience also includes cross-border transactions, including working with clients to develop and commercialize products in China. He advises on intellectual property licenses, sponsored research agreements, co-promotion and material transfer agreements, as well as litigation settlements, M&A and capital markets transactions.

“Tom’s addition is confirmation of Sidley’s ongoing commitment to delivering the full spectrum of services to clients in the life sciences space,” said Sharon Flanagan, partner and member of the firm’s Executive Committee. “Tom’s arrival strengthens the Northern California, Asia and European teams working in this dynamic area, and his experience as a strategist and legal adviser to companies throughout the corporate life cycle significantly expands both our regional and global life sciences capabilities.”

Earlier this year, Duley was named “Licensing & Collaboration Attorney of the Year” by LMG Life Sciences. The LMG Life Sciences Awards recognize top legal professionals operating in the life sciences market.

Dallas business trial law firm Loewinsohn Flegle Deary Simon won the No. 1 spot for the Elite Trial Lawyers award, based on research by VerdictSearch, The National Law Journal and Law.com.

Three of the firm’s co-founders, Alan Loewinsohn, Craig Simon, and Matt Ray, accepted the award during a reception at the Las Vegas Bellagio Hotel on October 5.

The firm’s recent litigation includes a trial victory that resulted in a $6 billion verdict – the largest verdict of 2017 and one of the Top 10 verdicts in U.S. history.

Read details about the honor.

Backdating legal documents is frequently permissible. However, under other circumstances, it can be fraudulent or illegal, warns Elizabeth A. Whitman in a post on the website of Whitman Legal Solutions LLC.

Her article discusses when legal documents might be backdated and how legally to do so when it is appropriate.

She explains that sometimes a document must be backdated to make it accurate, how backdating is accomplished, when it is illegal to backdate a document, and how to assure the use of backdating is legal.

Read the article.