Although a settlement agreement may bind one or more parties to its confidentiality provision, an attorney’s signature under the words “approved as to form and content” does not impose any specific obligation on the attorney to maintain the confidentiality of the settlement, according to a recent California appellate ruling.

The Jackson Lewis California Workplace Law Blog discusses a case in which the court found the attorney was entitled to the granting of an anti-SLAPP motion in a case against him for breaching the confidentiality provision of the settlement, finding that he was not a party to that agreement.

“Recognizing that confidentiality is often a material term of a settlement agreement, the Court noted that a way to avoid this issue is to draft a settlement agreement that explicitly makes the attorneys parties to the agreement (even if only to the confidentiality provision) and explicitly requires them to sign as such,” according to the authors, Ellen E. Cohen and Hazel U. Poei.

Read the article.

When operating its business, an employer should consider whether and when to implement employment agreements with certain employees, explains Judy Yi in a post for Polsinelli.

When considering whether an employee should execute an employment agreement, employers should consider five factors.

Yi discusses those five factors, which include complex or specialized compensation, restrictive covenants, employment for a definite term, change in control, and specific post-termination provisions.

Read the article.

The terms “personal information,” “personal data,” “personally identifiable information,” and “PII” are often left undefined in contracts and treated as if they were terms of art for which there was a single definition, according to a post on the website of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.

“Because different statutes, regulations, and guidance documents define the terms differently, you could either say that they are not terms of art, or that they are terms of art that are highly dependent upon context,” the post says.

The article provides an example of one of the most expansive and one of the most-narrow definitions of near identical phrases, and illustrates the degree to which the meaning of such terms can differ depending upon context.

Read the article.

Bloomberg reports that a vote on unionization by 2,700 United Airlines in-flight catering workers can proceed over the company’s objections, the general counsel of the National Mediation Board ruled.

The hospitality union Unite Here had filed a petition, with support from three-quarters of United’s kitchen workforce, seeking a vote, but the airline filed a complaint alleging fraud and misrepresentation by the union before the petition was filed, contending that Unite Here organizers had shown up at workers’ homes claiming to be representatives of the airline conducting a poll, reports Josh Eidelson.

Eidelson reports that “NMB General Counsel Mary Johnson wrote that after interviewing employees, the agency’s investigators had determined that ‘there is no evidence that employees did not understand that Unite Here was a union and was not a representative of United.'”

Read the Bloomberg article.

Houston-based energy giant ConocoPhillips is expected to name Baker Botts corporate transactional partner Kelly Brunetti Rose of Houston as its new general counsel, according to a report in The Houston Chronicle.

The Texas Lawbook, via the Chronicle, reports that multiple legal industry sources confirm that Rose, who has represented ConocoPhillips and several other major oil and gas companies in dozens of billion-dollar mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and securities offerings, will replace retiring ConocoPhillips general counsel Janet Langford Carrig.

“Rose has led some of the largest oil and gas M&A deals in Texas over the past two decades. She has represented Halliburton, Shell Oil Company, Linn Energy and Waste Management in an assortment of large transactions,” writes Mark Curriden of the Texas Lawbook.

Read the Chronicle article.

The ABA Journal reports that a federal appeals court has overturned a $3 million award to the widow of a Reed Smith partner who blamed antidepressant labeling for her husband’s suicide.

“The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday against the widow, Wendy Dolin, in an appeal by GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of the antidepressant Paxil. Dolin’s husband, Reed Smith partner Stewart Dolin, was taking paroxetine, a generic version of Paxil, when he committed suicide in 2010,” writes reporter Debra Cassens Weiss.

Dolin’s widow had maintained the drug labels should have warned of an increased suicide risk, but the court found that the wording on the drug labels was mandated by the Food and Drug Administration, and Dolin’s labeling claim under Illinois law was pre-empted by federal law.

GSK countered that Stewart Dolin committed suicide because of job concerns. He had been a partner at Sachnoff & Weaver before it was acquired by Reed Smith in 2007. He was named chair of Reed Smith’s corporate and securities group, before becoming co-chair along with another lawyer in 2010, the ABA Journal reports.

Read the ABA Journal article.

On its face, ROI seems pretty straightforward – a basic math equation that determines the ratio between an investment’s profit and its cost. But with legal technology, this can get a little nebulous: Your department deals in time, not in widgets, according to a blog post on the website of Xakia.

“Perhaps that’s why 74 percent of law firms in the U.K. don’t even try to calculate the ROI of their legal technology projects, according to a March 2018 report by Lexis Nexis,” Xakia said in the post. “While no similar statistic was available for corporate legal departments, we’d make the educated guess that the majority aren’t monitoring their legal tech return – despite the fact that, as a recent Association of Legal Administration presentation put it, ‘ROI is the only technology acronym that matters.’

“Indeed, ROI is the language of the C-suite, and it’s imperative for in-house lawyers to show fluency. (Recall that one-third of CEOs and directors rank “controlling legal spend” as a top-three priority for law department performance.) You need to know your ROI to demonstrate that you are a good steward of company resources, to test and validate your decision-making, and to inform future projects in your legal technology roadmap.”

Read the article.

Following its recent annual meeting held in Lisbon, Portugal, the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) has published its third quarter 2018 Defense Counsel Journal (DCJ) with articles that focus on trending international law issues. Topics range from product liability in Latin America, to global business compliance with the European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), to the consequences of data breaches in Europe compared to the United States.

In a release, the IADC said the DCJ is a quarterly forum for topical and scholarly writings on the law, including its development and reform, as well as on the practice of law in general. DCJ articles are written by members of the IADC, which is a 2,500-member, invitation-only, worldwide organization that serves its members and their clients, as well as the civil justice system and the legal profession.

The current DCJ issue is available for free and without a subscription via the IADC’s website.

Also in the current DCJ issue, the IADC’s immediate past president, Andrew Kopon Jr., looks back at his year leading the organization while heralding the many talented lawyers who serve the IADC as members and active participants as committee leaders and members.

“What distinguishes the IADC from the pack of quality professional bar associations around the world? I believe the answer lies with the caliber of our members that continuously forge the extraordinary character of the IADC,” Kopon wrote in his DCJ letter.

In a separate article, IADC member Michael Franklin Smith reflects on the end to his two years serving as the DCJ’s editor, thanking IADC members whose articles helped him personally delve deeply into many vital subjects, also helping to inform his own law practice.

The third quarter 2018 issue of the DCJ includes the following articles:

— “Re-Examining ‘Carbon Copy’ Prosecutions: A Look Back and Spring Forward” – Explores the transnational trend of “carbon copy” prosecutions, which is when one jurisdiction files charges based on a guilty plea or similar charging document from another jurisdiction. The article explains why duplicative, serial enforcement actions are now part and parcel of the enforcement landscape, and have joined the international vernacular dealing with cross-border corruption matters.

— “Cyber Liability: Data Breach in Europe” – Looks at the consequences of data breaches in Europe and compares the situations in Europe and the United States with regard to the major features of such an event. The article’s authors review developing case law in this area, in particular in the UK where there have been some landmark decisions, as an indicator for where Europe seems to be heading. With recent regulatory changes in the European Union, the approach to dealing with data breaches in Europe and the United States is becoming more aligned.

— “Product Liability in Latin America” – Analyzes product liability in Latin America where the recent shift to a market-friendly approach in politics has made the region attractive for business development in a reduced players’ market. The article goes on to suggest that product defects present complex cross-border situations that require a product liability risk management team with knowledge of the relevant laws across the jurisdictions at play.

— “The General Data Protection Regulation – Another Key Compliance Area for Global Business” – Examines key provisions of the European Union’s recently implemented General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as well as what lessons may be drawn from the development and enforcement of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act-style provisions when considering the potential impact of the GDPR.

Although the main purpose of a law firm newsletter should be substantive legal information, it also provides a good opportunity to include more than just blog posts, writes Amy Boardman Hunt of Muse Communications.

“Think of your newsletter as your firm’s hometown newspaper, and let people know about the interesting stories, people, and events that make your firm unique,” she suggest in a blog post on the Muse website. “Don’t go overboard, of course. The main focus should be legal updates, but feel free to add one or two items that veer outside those confines.”

She offers suggestions for additional content to include, such as client case studies, client victories, practice area promotions, recent publications or media appearances.

“An email newsletter isn’t simply an electronic communication. It’s a chance to deepen your and your firm’s connection with your network. Use that opportunity to its fullest,” she writes.

Read the article.

Although she was facing a terminal illness, Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin died last week without a will or trust plan in place, according to news reports.

A post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing says she certainly isn’t the first high-profile person to die with a substantial estate and no will or estate plan. In fact, by most estimates, a majority of Americans may not have a valid will. In other cases, wills are out of date, poorly coordinated or self-prepared, according to Dallas estate planning attorney Sam Long of Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton, LLP.

“Planning in situations of progressive or life-threatening illness often becomes impractical and may give rise to contests and disputes,” says Long. “However, in one sense, everyone does wind up having a will – the state drafts it for them.

“Unfortunately, if left to the state, the heirs and fiduciaries under state law are not always as one would intend or assume. This can be an issue when there are minor or incapacitated beneficiaries. Among Ms. Franklin’s children is a son with special needs who will require financial and additional support throughout his life. A will or, more effectively, a trust is frequently used to insure those needs are met.

“Having no will also can cause additional expense and complexity, delay administration of estates, and sometimes cause a greater burden on heirs that could have been prevented with some planning. For many people, private wealth now is passed along by beneficiary designations, but wills still play a vital role in the succession of property at death.”

CobbleStone Software, developer of contract lifecycle management solutions, announced the release of Contract Data Discovery and Extraction Services.

The company said this service solves one of the most volatile pain points in the contract migration process through proprietary Al-powered data extraction.

“Previously, when organizations had a difficult time locating specific information in a sea of contracts, they had nowhere to turn for help. To complicate the contract lifecycle further, curating contract data proved to be a time-consuming and tedious endeavor,” the company said in a release.

CobbleStone’s Contract Data Discovery and Extraction Services gives contract professionals a way to enter all necessary data and key terms into one centralized system, the company said.

“At CobbleStone, we recognized a need that many users and potential users shared. They have mass amounts of data that isn’t organized and makes it harder to migrate to CobbleStone’s platform. What was once a daunting task typically handed off to lower-level employees, can now be accomplished in as little as 20 minutes. With our intelligent data extraction services, you can source the work to us and we take care of the rest,” said Mark Nastasi, Vice President. “Our 20+ years of contract management software experience allowed us to develop a 3-step process that blends machine-learning with ‘human-like’ evaluation.”

CobbleStone Software is committed to evolve and develop products and services that most effectively and efficiently benefit current and future clients.

Sarah K. Lash has joined Michael Best’s Chicago office as senior counsel in the Litigation Practice Group.

The firm said Lash represents clients in the banking and financial services industry, ranging from local credit unions to national banking institutions. Her experience includes appearing in both state and federal court in bankruptcy matters, residential and commercial mortgage foreclosure cases, title claims, breach of contract actions, consumer compliance, and replevin/detinue matters.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Sarah to our team,” said John Scheller, Litigation Practice Group Chair. “Sarah isan outstanding addition and will enhance the scope of our litigation counsel for our banking and financial services clients.”

In addition, Lash focuses her practice on SBA related litigation and compliance issues. Lash regularly publishes articles regarding SBA related compliance and regulatory issues and is a regular at the annual NAGGL conferences.

Prior to joining Michael Best, Lash was a partner at a Midwest-based firm, where she managed a team of attorneys in its New York and Chicago offices. Lash earned her J.D. from The John Marshall Law School in 2009 and received her B.A. and B.S., cum laude, from Ball State University in 2006.

Trial law firm Sayles Werbner is home to seven attorneys selected once again to the annual Best Lawyers in America listing.

Co-founders Richard A. “Dick” Sayles and Mark S. Werbner are included in the list, having earned recognition for more than a decade. Both men are on the 2019 list for their commercial litigation work and bet-the-company prowess; Werbner also is recognized for his white-collar criminal defense work.

Board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Civil Trial Law and Personal Injury Trial Law, Sayles’ record includes 150 cases tried to verdict, more than a dozen multimillion-dollar jury verdicts and significant defense wins, the firm said.

Werbner, who is board certified in Civil Trial Law and Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, also has tried more than 150 jury cases.

The 2019 edition of Best Lawyers in America includes the following Sayles Werbner shareholders:

· Shawn C. Long: Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants

· Darren P. Nicholson: Litigation – Intellectual Property

· Robert L. Sayles: Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants

· William S. Snyder: Commercial Litigation and Litigation – Securities

· Mark E. Torian: White-Collar Criminal Defense

The Best Lawyers in America guide is compiled annually from independent nominations. Prior nominees who handle similar cases review the nominations. Editors make the final selections, recognizing the top attorneys in the country based on their practice areas.

Seyfarth Shaw LLP announced the arrival of partner Charles E. “Chuck” Wall to the Public-Private Partnerships (P3) group and Construction practice in Washington, D.C. Wall joins from Troutman Sanders LLP, where he was a partner in Richmond, Virginia.

The firm said Wall’s P3 practice focuses on advising project stakeholders in the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of large-scale public infrastructure development projects. These projects, many of which involve long-term concessions with construction valued in the billions, include airports, highways, bridges, tunnels, transit, water/wastewater systems and other facilities.

“Chuck is a recognized leader in the P3 field and has successfully guided some of the largest and most complex infrastructure projects in the U.S.,” said Bennett Greenberg, co-chair of Seyfarth’s Construction practice. “The number and size of P3 projects is increasing substantially each year, in both the transportation and social infrastructure sectors. Chuck significantly expands our team’s reach and P3 capabilities.”

In addition to his P3 and infrastructure development practices, Wall advises clients on a broad range of construction and corporate matters, including design-build and other construction-related contracts, joint venture agreements and teaming arrangements.

“Chuck is an exceptional talent and a tremendous addition to the D.C. office,” said Robert Bodansky, managing partner of Seyfarth’s Washington, D.C. office. “He strengthens our already robust Construction practice and greatly enhances our P3 transactional capabilities.”

Wall is a frequent speaker on P3 topics and serves in leadership roles within numerous industry organizations. He received his J.D. from the University of Richmond, where he was a member of the University of Richmond Law Review, and earned his B.B.A. from the College of William and Mary.

Dallas insurance coverage and litigation attorney Meloney Perry, founder of Perry Law P.C. has been named to the 2019 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in recognition of her work in insurance law.

Perry has more than 20 years of experience defending insurance companies in coverage disputes, bad faith and class-action litigation. She serves as the primary regional counsel for a major national insurance firm. She also represents business owners across the country in insurance and business disputes in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado.

“I’m honored to be included among such a talented group of lawyers,” said Perry. “Our team works very hard for our clients, and being recognized by our peers is confirmation of this hard work.”

Perry was recently named Vice Chair of the Council of Chairs Committee for the State Bar of Texas after holding a position as the 2017-18 Chair of the Insurance Law Section. She is an author and presenter, frequently conducting seminars that focus on insurance coverage issues and the law.

This is the first selection to the respected peer-review listing for Perry. Recognizing the top 4 percent of practicing attorneys in the country based on their practice areas, The Best Lawyers in America is compiled through a process of independent nominations, followed by a review by prior nominees who handle similar cases. Editors make the final selections.

James A. Paretti Jr. has joined Littler as a shareholder in the Washington, D.C., office. Previously, Paretti was the Chief of Staff and Senior Counsel to Acting Chair Victoria A. Lipnic at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

In a release, the firm said Paretti, who has nearly two decades of labor and employment public policy experience, will be a member of Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI). Paretti’s arrival coincides with a spate of cases brought by EEOC, which has filed 16 new discrimination or harassment lawsuits in August alone, the firm said.

“Jim’s legal, practical and institutional insight and first-hand experience with the EEOC will be invaluable to clients and move WPI to the next level,” said Michael Lotito and Maury Baskin, co-chairs of WPI, in a joint statement. “At WPI, we’re focused on defining and shaping workplace policy not just for our current clients with interests on Capitol Hill and before federal agencies, but also for future generations who will enter the workforce.”

Paretti joined Lipnic’s staff following her appointment in 2010 and most recently advised on legal, enforcement and policy matters before the EEOC. As manager and primary representative of the Office of the Chair, Paretti oversaw the agency’s operations, participated in negotiations with other Commissioners and internal constituencies, and served as a liaison to regulated stakeholders and legislators.

Prior to joining the EEOC, Paretti served as Workforce Policy Counsel to the Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce. In this role, he developed policy, provided legal counsel and helped advance the membership’s agenda relating to labor and employment law, healthcare and pensions. Paretti’s congressional experience also includes serving as Legislative Director (1994) and Special Counsel and Director of Communications (2002-2003) for U.S. Representative Marge S. Roukema (R-NJ).

“Jim is a key influencer in Washington with a wealth of first-hand experience addressing the equal employment opportunity issues facing the 21st century workplace,” said Alison N. Davis, Littler’s office managing shareholder in Washington, D.C. “His reputation in the Beltway as a savvy policymaker precedes him, and he’ll play an instrumental role in expanding the firm’s influence across a range of employment and labor law matters.”

In private law practice, Paretti represented a range of employers in federal and state employment and labor litigation, and has litigated matters in state and federal court, and before national and state administrative agencies. He is experienced in labor relations, collective bargaining negotiations, grievance arbitration, union organization campaigns, and proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, the firm said.

He received his J.D., cum laude, from the New York University School of Law, where he was an editor of the NYU Law Review. He received his A.B. from Harvard College.

A federal judge slashed attorneys’ fees in a $115 million data breach case settlement between Anthem Inc. and its customers, according to Bloomberg Law.

“The Aug. 16 ruling by Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California closes the long-running lawsuit against Anthem. The case stemmed from a 2015 breach that exposed Social Security numbers, birth dates, and health-care data of 78.8 million customers,” explains reporter Daniel R. Stoller.

The judge ruled that attorneys for the class action plaintiffs are entitled to $31 million in fees, $2 million in expenses, and $132,000 for other operation costs. Class attorneys had requested $37.95 million in fees, or roughly one-third of the total settlement fund, which Koh approved Aug. 15.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

Bloomberg Law reports that rising demand and rates pushed law firm revenue up 5.5 percent in the first half of 2018, the strongest performance since the recession.

The information is based on a report by Citi Private Bank’s law firm group.

“The 40 out of 50 largest firms which reported their metrics outperformed,” writes reporter Elizabeth Olson. “The biggest reported a revenue increase of 6.8 percent. Roughly 3.2 percent came from rising demand, and 4.8 percent from higher bill rates.”

Firms in the next category, ranked by size, had slightly lower rates of revenue growth, while smaller, niche firms reported sightly stronger growth.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

A Dallas County jury awarded more than $242 million to a family after finding that manufacturer defects in their Lexus ES 300 caused their children to suffer serious and permanent injuries during a rear-end collision in 2016, reports The Dallas Morning News.

The jury found that the front seats of Benjamin and Kristi Reavis’ 2002 Lexus ES 300 were, as the plaintiffs argued, “unreasonably dangerous.” And the company didn’t warn the family about that danger, which amounted to gross negligence, jurors agreed. Their verdict included more than $143.6 million in punitive damages.

The family’s legal team presented evidence they said showed engineering, design and structural issues with the front seat backs of the vehicle, according to reporter Marc Ramirez.

“This is a danger that Toyota has known about,” attorney Frank Branson said in a press release, representing the family. “This company has had plenty of time to design around these safety shortcomings.”

Read the Dallas News article.

Image by James Tourtellotte

Above the Law reports that Cardinal Donald Wuerl has tapped Jones Day to represent him on matters relating to a grand jury report that alleged the sexual abuse of thousands of victims at Catholic dioceses across Pennsylvania.

Wuerl, as the former bishop of Pittsburgh, allegedly failed to remove priests accused of abuse from their ministries, according to the report.

Editor Kathryn Rubino quoted from a Law.com report that Wuerl has already been on the offensive:

“[Archdiocese of Washington general counsel Kim Viti Fiorentino], Wuerl’s in-house lawyer, has attacked the Pennsylvania grand jury report and its depiction of Wuerl. In an interview with her archdiocese’s weekly newspaper published Tuesday, Fiorentino said the investigatory process and resulting report, ‘narrowly targeted the Catholic Church in six dioceses in Pennsylvania and was generated in a process that suffered from significant legal flaws.’”

Read the Above the Law article.