Exterro has published “The State of E-Discovery 2018,” the results of a survey of industry trends, practices and challenges. The publication is available for downloading at no charge.

Pulling from the most recent research into the economics, in-house legal departments, the judiciary, and more, this State of E-Discovery 2018 report provides a holistic overview of where e-discovery is, as an industry, today.

Download this complimentary report and learn:

• How trends in e-discovery are affecting in-house legal departments and law firms
• How technology is affecting the way professionals practice e-discovery
• Which challenges in-house legal departments and law firms need to address to continue growing

Download the survey results.

Two Texas Supreme Court decisions published on the same day confirm that retained acreage clauses that vary in language from one instrument to another will likely vary in effect, according to Gray Reed & McGraw’s Energy & the Law blog.

Authors Charles Sartain and Brittany Blakey explain that, depending on the language, the lessee might not be able to maintain all the acreage it planned on holding.

They discuss two cases on point: Endeavor Energy Resources, L.P. v. Discovery Operating, Inc. and XOG Operating, LLC v. Chesapeake Exploration.

Read the article.

Corporate counsel often hire external technology lawyers to review, draft, or negotiate technology contracts such as software licensing agreements because of their ability to identify software licensing issues, resolve complex licensing models, and compare the subject deal to the many other unique technology contract structures to solve problems, according to a blog post by Kirkpatrick Law.

There are a few technology contract types that should signal a need for a technology attorney to review, so the article lists some software examples to narrow the focus, but these could be true for other technology types.

The article covers one-sided enterprise agreements, the short and simple agreement, and the standard agreement.

Read the article.

A decision by the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Medix Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Dumrauf serves as a reminder to employers why restrictive covenants should be limited in scope and duration to what is necessary to protect the employer’s business, writes David J. Hochman in an alert for Roetzel & Andress.

“The District Court, applying Illinois law, granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss Medix’ suit with prejudice and without providing the plaintiff an opportunity to present evidence or to pursue discovery,” he explains. “The Court held that the covenant was overbroad on its face and, therefore, unenforceable because it prohibited the defendant from taking any position with another company engaged in the same business as Medix— without regard to whether his new position was similar to his position with Medix or whether his new employer competed with Medix.”

Hochman writes that the opinion demonstrates why it is so important to limit the activities prohibited by a restrictive covenant, as well as the geographic scope and duration, to what is reasonably needed to protect the employer.

Read the article.

Although a signed non-disclosure agreement will certainly make someone think twice before disclosing private information, the limitations of the NDA have become far too apparent to be ignored, warns Marwa Elzankaly in a blog post for McManis Faulkner.

“[T]he NDA does not keep someone from disclosing private information. It simply creates consequences if a person does,” she explains. “Once confidential information is disclosed, it is hard to undo the damage that has been done. Oftentimes, no amount of monetary recovery can really compensate for having had private information spread to the public.”

In the article, she discusses some other methods of protecting one’s business or personal information.

Read the article.

The Fifth Circuit has affirmed an order compelling arbitration, despite the fact that the parties seeking to compel arbitration were not signatories to the relevant arbitration agreement, according to a post on Carlton Fields’ Reinsurance Post.

Jason Brost explained that the case involved a real estate sale contract that contained an arbitration agreement under which the parties agreed to arbitrate any disputes “in accordance with the Comprehensive Arbitration Rules and Procedures administered by J●A●M●S/Endispute.”

The plaintiff claimed that the defendants in the case induced the buyer to enter into the 1998 agreement based on the false premise that he would get a properly constructed home. The defendants, who were non-signatories to the agreement, moved that the arbitration clause be enforced.

The appellate court found for the defendants.

Read the article.

Akerman LLP announced Scott A. Meyers has been named managing partner.

“Scott is a proven leader, accomplished member of our management team and exceptionally skilled at firm operations. Having Scott in this new role will accelerate our efforts to deliver an exceptional client experience through increased efficiencies across our firm,” said Akerman chairman and CEO, David I. Spector. “Prior to his appointment as managing partner, Scott served as the founding office managing partner of our Chicago office. During his tenure, he led the growth of that office from seven lawyers to nearly 60 in four years. He has the experience and esteem necessary to help lead Akerman as we build upon the firm’s vibrant legacy, and chart our next chapter.”

“I look forward to expanding upon the successes we achieved in Chicago and replicating them on a national scale,” said Meyers. In addition to serving as managing partner, Meyers will continue his complex commercial litigation legal practice focusing on securities, trade secrets, restrictive covenants and unfair competition, with an emphasis on hedge funds, investment advisers, private debt and equity funds, money managers and insurance brokerage companies.

The firm also announced the following leadership changes: Meg George succeeds Scott Meyers as office managing partner in Chicago. Beth Alcalde will serve as the firm’s inaugural professional development partner, overseeing professional development activities for the firm’s associates. Christopher Duke succeeds Alcalde as office managing partner of Akerman’s Palm Beach County, Fla., offices. Francisco Rodriguez will serve as deputy recruiting partner, responsible for identifying and recruiting lateral candidates to join Akerman’s growing enterprise.

Foley & Lardner LLP announced that Jessica Matelis, who most recently served as a senior counsel in the Division of Enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is joining the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as a partner in the Securities Enforcement & Litigation Practice.

While at the SEC, Matelis led investigations into a wide range of potential violations of the federal securities laws, including financial statement fraud, disclosure fraud, auditor misconduct, insider trading, conduct of investment companies and investment advisors, and market manipulation. In addition to her investigations, Matelis litigated a complex, multi-year insider trading case in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Prior to her time at the SEC, Matelis spent more than 10 years in private practice at international law firms in Washington, D.C., including a four-year stint as an associate at Foley. In her private practice, she represented public companies, boards of directors, officers, investment advisors, and accounting and auditing firms in various securities regulatory, enforcement and compliance matters before the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and other federal and state regulatory agencies.

“Jessica’s experience in private practice combined with her deep knowledge of the SEC enforcement process further strengthens and diversifies the firm’s Securities Enforcement & Litigation Practice,” said the group’s chair, Beth Boland. “Our attorneys and clients will particularly benefit from her recent government experience, and we are pleased to welcome her back to Foley.”

“The unique experiences and insights that Jessica brings from her time at the SEC in Washington, along with her specialized knowledge of the securities industry, enhances our effectiveness in representing clients before the SEC and PCAOB,” said Scott Fredericksen, managing partner of Foley’s Washington, D.C. office. “Jessica adds significant expertise to the firm’s already deep bench of securities and enforcement litigators and further expands the capabilities of our securities team in D.C.”

Dykema announced that Nicholas Wittner was inducted as a Life Member of the American Law Institute (ALI). He is of counsel to the firm and is located in its Bloomfield Hills office.

ALI bestows the honor on members who have devoted 25 years of service, contributing to ALI’s pivotal projects that have shaped the law.

Wittner received the honor at the May ALI Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., where U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G Roberts, Jr. awarded Associate Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg the Henry J. Friendly medal. Associate Justice Elena Kagan and former Solicitor General Paul Clement were also featured as speakers at the Members Reception.

In a release, the firm said ALI is the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law. According to the ALI website, “Membership in The American Law Institute is a distinct professional honor,” and the number of members that may be elected is limited to 3,000. The elected membership consists of eminent judges, lawyers, and law professors from all areas of the United States and from many foreign countries, selected on the basis of professional achievement and demonstrated interest in improving the law.

Wittner, who is also Professor of Law in Residence at the Michigan State University’s Law College, was elected an ALI member in 1993. At that time, he was serving as co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Product Liability Committee, which was working with ALI leadership on its Restatement, Third: Product Liability project.

After joining the ALI, Wittner worked on some of the most prominent Restatement projects, and especially the seven-year long new Restatement of Product Liability project. He has also been selected as a Restatement project Adviser, recognizing particular knowledge, experience, and perspective. In total, he worked on more than 10 projects, as well as serving as a webinar Chair and speaker on emerging legal issues.

According to ALI, “1993 WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR” – “Each of the [then-admitted members] is distinguished, as evidenced by their election to this prestigious institution. Their achievements are many, diverse, and remarkable.”

Wittner earned a J.D., cum laude, from Wayne State University Law School, where he was a Senior Associate Editor of the Law Review and recipient of a Silver Scholarship Medal, and a B.S., with high honor, from Michigan State University.

Law firm Hogan Lovells has appointed David McClune as its chief marketing officer.

New York-based McClune joined the firm on May 29. He most recently was CMO for Shearman & Sterling. McLune succeeds London-based global CMO Serena Simmons who is retiring in mid-June.

Said Hogan Lovells CEO Stephen J. Immelt: “We are delighted to add a professional of David’s caliber and reputation to work with our partners, lawyers, and marketing and business development (M&BD) team. Serena has been a strong presence at the firm for more than a decade. The success we have enjoyed across all the different parts of our M&BD activities, including our brand, our client development, our industry and sector marketing, and many others are a testament to her leadership and skill.”

“Hogan Lovells is widely recognized in the market as a successful and dynamic firm with unique trans-Atlantic strengths,” McClune said. “With it reaching the impressive US$2 billion revenue milestone last year, it is clear that this is a firm with strong strategic goals and a focus on delivering practical and creative solutions for clients around the world.”

He continues: “The Hogan Lovells marketing and business development team has a strong market reputation and operates on a genuinely global basis.”

In a release, the firm said McClune’s responsibilities at Shearman included global business development, marketing, client relationship strategies, corporate and media affairs, strategic pricing, and marketing communications across 27 countries. He also played a leading role in strategy development, looking at emerging or new markets; identifying strategic ‘practice gaps’; improving profitability of clients, practices and offices; lateral partner recruitment and integration; and the opening of new offices.

Before joining Shearman & Sterling in 2014, McClune spent 15 years at Allens Linklaters in Australia where he was Marketing Director. Earlier in his career, McClune was Global Executive Manager for public affairs at Australian Tourist Commission, where he worked on the country’s Olympic bid. He was also Chief of Staff and Senior Adviser on Policy and Media to the Health Minister for the Queensland Government.

Bloomberg Law reports that salaries of law firm associates got a healthy boost Monday when Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP announced that it will increase pay by $10,000 for lawyers in their first three years, and $15,000 after that.

That raise will bring starting salaries for associates to $190,000, up from the current $180,000, write Elizabeth Olson and Casey Sullivan.

Competition for legal talent has grown particularly fierce when it comes to the kind of complex, high-end transactions that Milbank specializes in, Scott A. Edelman, Milbank’s chair, told Bloomberg Law.

Read the Bloomberg article.

Above the Law reports that a judge has characterized a $60,000 fee request from Latham & Watkins to be “astonishing” and “aggressive beyond any convention.”

The firm, representing the defendant in two cases brought by a Harvard professor who sued an employee of his investment fund for allegedly recording conversations, won the case on the merits. So now Latham is attempting to recover legal fees, reports editor Kathryn Rubino.

Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Mitchell H. Kaplan criticized Latham for charging such a high fee “to file a brief that a first-year law student could write.”

Read the Above the Law article.

Nearly $4 million in fees are at stake in a California Supreme Court fight between a big law firm and a big client over broad advance conflict waivers the firm used in its client engagement letters, according to Bloomberg Law.

Reporter Joyce Cutler explains that Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP was “disqualified from representing J-M Manufacturing Co. Inc. in a $1 billion qui tam action because the firm concurrently represented one of the hundreds of defendants in an unrelated matter. The state appeals court held the advance conflict waiver J-M gave Sheppard Mullin didn’t absolve the firm of its duty to tell J-M about the specific conflict once it came to light.”

The question for this case of first impression is whether a law firm needs to tell a sophisticated client about a specific conflict when it arises, or whether the firm can instead rely a boilerplate advance conflict waiver in the client’s engagement agreement.

Read the Bloomberg article.

The Washington Times is reporting that the Supreme Court over the next month is poised to upend the way the country picks representatives to Congress, decide whether the First Amendment protects people who refuse to do business with same-sex couples and rule on whether President Trump’s tweets can be used in court to derail his agenda.

Reporter Alex Swoyer sees the case for some blockbuster rulings that will signal to lower courts how they should treat the unorthodox Trump.

“The biggest test comes on the president’s travel ban. His opponents have begged the justices to hold Mr. Trump’s campaign-era tweets against him, saying his comments about Muslims taint the travel policy he announced once he took office,” writes Swoyer.

Read the Washington Times article.

A group of 28 subcontractors at a Valero refinery in Texas City are suing the company and their employer, alleging that they suffered injuries and post-traumatic stress from an explosion at the plant less than two months ago, reports the San Antonio Business Journal.

The employees of  Beaumont-based Richard Industrial Group Inc. filed the lawsuit against their employer and Valero Refining Texas LP, a subsidiary of San Antonio-based refining company Valero Energy Corp.. Richard Industrial Group provides subcontracting work at Valero’s Texas City refinery, according to reporter Sergio Chapa.

“The workers are seeking damages based on claims that they suffered orthopedic injuries and hearing loss from the accident and are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder,” writes Chapa.

Read the Business Journal article.

Lawyers with Texas-based firm Deans & Lyons have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Denton County against The Float Spot, alleging the company’s negligence led to the drowning death of a 71-year-old woman in one of its aquatic sensory deprivation tanks.

In a release, the firm said Gloria Fanning died April 7, having spent eight days on life support following her first visit to the spa, located in Flower Mound, Texas. Advertised as the “world’s first tranquility studio,” The Float Spot encloses customers in sensory deprivation tanks filled with highly salinated water that increases a person’s buoyancy. The company touts myriad health benefits, while downplaying any potential risks from the enclosed floatation tanks, the firm said.

The release continues:

As a first-time customer, Ms. Fanning was given a brief orientation then left alone in the tank. According to the lawsuit, she later was discovered in a state of “distress” by an employee who initially called the business owner for guidance rather than calling 911 for assistance. Once paramedics finally arrived, they found Ms. Fanning unresponsive. She never regained consciousness.

“Gloria was promised an experience that was beneficial and completely safe. The company’s own website claims that accidental drowning is not possible, which is patently untrue and contradicts reports of others across the country who have died in a similar fashion,” said the Fanning family’s attorney, Michael Lyons, co-founder of Deans & Lyons.

“This is a rapidly expanding industry that lacks any of the regulation necessary to ensure that customers are kept safe inside these aquatic sensory deprivation tanks. It is too late for Gloria, but this has to change.”

The lawsuit, filed May 31, is Greta S. Anthony and David Porter v. Fc Acqua, LLC, dba The Float Spot and Raymond J. Thoma, Cause No. 18-4802-367 in Denton County District Court.

Pat Rafferty of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing offers some  tips to maximize your experience and develop business before, during and after a presentation at a conference or other event.

The article is divided into three sections, with the “Before” section discussing such topics as CLE approval, credibility and expertise, checking the guest list and getting the word out.

Other topics under the “During” and “After” headings include expanding your network, interactivity, making a lasting impression, using a personal touch, repurposing the content, and more.

Read the article.

Morgan Lewis authors, writing in the firm’s Tech & Sourcing blog, discuss how patent, copyright, and trade secret ownership works in the United States if there is no agreement in place to allocate these rights.

Striking an interest provision from a draft subcontract wasn’t enough to keep a party to the agreement from being required to pay interest, according to a review of a Missouri case by Jane Fox Lehman in Pepper Hamilton’s Constructlaw blog.

When the general contractor later failed to pay the subcontractor, the sub sued and won a verdict that included prejudgment interest at the rate of 9 percent pursuant to Missouri law. The general contractor appealed.

Lehman explains the outcome: “The court held that it could not consider the stricken interest provision because it was extrinsic evidence. ‘The rationale,’ it explained, ‘is that the writing excised from the agreement, whether by way of striking, erasing, or simply transferring the agreement to a new piece of paper without the stricken language, is not part of the agreement between the parties.’”

Because the parties had failed to reach an express agreement on an interest rate, the trial court’s ruling was upheld.

Read the article.

Segal McCambridge Singer and Mahoney, Ltd. has added Joseph L. Kish to the firm. Kish joins the firm as a shareholder in its Chicago office.

“We are excited to have Joe become part of our firm. Joe’s extensive experience and expertise in handling complex business litigation and his outstanding reputation within the Chicago legal community will be tremendous assets to the firm as we continue to expand and diversify our practice, both in Chicago and nationally,” said Mark Crane, Segal McCambridge managing shareholder.

The firm said Kish has experience in complex business litigation, including intellectual property matters, antitrust, business torts, fraud, breach of contract, technology and cybersecurity, employment, professional negligence and other areas of civil litigation.

“I was drawn to Segal McCambridge because of its national litigation practice and its plan for continued national growth. The firm has dedicated significant resources to this plan which will allow me to better service my current clients and, at the same time, allow me to expand my practice here in Chicago and across the country,” Kish stated.

Kish is licensed to practice in Illinois and California. Kish received his Juris Doctorate degree from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago and his B.G.S. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.