Laurie J. Rust has joined Littler as a shareholder in the firm’s Denver office. Rust, a labor and employment litigator, joins from Gordon & Rees.

“Laurie is a seasoned attorney whose client-centered approach will be an excellent addition to the firm,” said Alan McLaughlin, Denver office managing shareholder. “Her deep experience complements Littler’s singular employment law focus and we are excited to have her as part of the team in Denver.”

In a release, the firm said Rust represents employers in state and federal courts in matters involving the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the Family Medical Leave Act, among others. She routinely defends companies against employment-related charges and claims before administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Colorado Civil Rights Division, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, and the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

The firm said Rust has achieved a number of significant victories on behalf of her clients including dismissal of whistleblower retaliation claims, securing summary judgment on Title VII, Equal Pay Act and ADEA claims, and negotiating a favorable resolution of a Department of Labor wage and hour audit. During her first week at Littler, Rust secured summary judgment on NDAA and breach of contract claims.

The release continues:

In addition, Rust counsels employers on a wide range of issues, such as hiring, employee discipline and termination, accommodating disabilities and leaves of absences, wage and hour compliance, restrictive covenants, immigration compliance, recreational and medical marijuana, social media and trade secrets. She works with companies to draft employment agreements, employee manuals, severance agreements, and other employment policies and procedures. Rust also provides training on harassment and all aspects of employment law.

“I was attracted to Littler because of its reputation for delivering the highest quality legal services combined with its deep commitment to providing clients with new and innovative approaches to the law,” Rust said. “Littler is unmatched in the labor and employment space and I am excited to be part of such a growing and evolving law firm.”

Rust has spoken and published on a wide range of labor and employment topics and has been recognized in the industry as a Rising Star by Law & Politics. She earned her J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School and her B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Christopher K. Veatch has joined Perkins Coie’s White Collar & Investigations practice group as a partner in the Chicago office. Veatch joins the firm from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where he was most recently Chief of the National Security & Cybercrimes Section at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

As Section Chief, Veatch led complex investigations of cyber, national security, fraud and financial crimes

Veatch joins the firm shortly after Perkins Coie’s recent hiring of two others from government positions: Adam Schuman in New York (former Special Counsel for Public Integrity in the New York State Governor’s Office) and Kevin Feldis in Anchorage (former First Assistant United States Attorney in Alaska).

“Perkins Coie is an industry leader with a deep national bench of white collar attorneys who provide strategic counsel to our clients in highly consequential matters,” said Markus Funk, Chair of Perkins Coie’s White Collar & Investigations practice. “Chris’s distinguished career with the DOJ was notable for his exemplary track record in investigating and prosecuting national security and cybercrime enforcement matters. His confidence and superb attention to detail are an asset in advising clients on the complex, sensitive and challenging problems they face in these highly regulated sectors, and the respect he enjoys among his peers is exceptional.”

Before and during law school, Veatch spent five years as a police officer. He earned his law degree (magna cum laude and Order of the Coif) from the Indiana University Mauer School of Law and joined the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a Staff Attorney in the Enforcement Division, where he investigated violations of the federal securities laws, including insider trading, market manipulation and offering and financial fraud. In 2005, he joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and within five years was promoted to be a Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Section. Less than a year later, he was chosen to be the Deputy Chief of the newly-created National Security Section (as it was then known), and for the past five and a half years, Chris served as the Section’s Chief.

In a release, the firm said:

During his time as a federal prosecutor, Veatch took a series of cases to trial, and successfully argued his victories and other matters on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Among the complex and sensitive matters he has investigated and prosecuted are those involving cybercrime, securities, bank and accounting fraud, international bribery and money laundering schemes, copyright infringement, theft of trade secrets and economic espionage, and export control and U.S. sanctions programs, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, Arms Export Control Act, International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Export Administration Regulations, Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, Iranian Transactions Regulations, and other Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions programs, as well as other national security matters, including those involving international and domestic terrorism.

“Chris is a perfect fit for the Chicago Office. He is a proven first-chair trial lawyer in complex cases and is well-known and well-liked by many of our current partners already,” said Chris Wilson, Managing Partner of Perkins Coie’s Chicago office. “Chris adds even more depth to our national White Collar and Investigations practice, and he will be an important part of growing our Chicago office going forward. Most importantly, Chris provides a vital resource to our clients seeking guidance in the increasing regulatory environment surrounding cyber and securities enforcement. I’m delighted to welcome him to the firm.”

In its determination to reverse a two-decade slump in U.S. stock listings, the SEC might offer companies an extreme incentive to go public: the ability to bar aggrieved shareholders from suing, reports Bloomberg.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has privately signaled that it’s open to at least considering whether companies should be able to force investors to settle disputes through arbitration, an often closed-door process that can limit the bad publicity and high legal costs triggered by litigation, writes Benjamin Bain.

“But allowing companies to shield themselves from shareholder lawsuits would almost certainly enrage investor advocates and Democratic lawmakers, a combination that helped defeat a 2012 attempt by private-equity giant Carlyle Group LP to prohibit investor suits as part of its IPO,” Bain explains.

Read the Bloomberg article.

Senior officials with the National Labor Relations Board have expressed concern over a plan outlined by the board’s new general counsel to demote the senior civil servants who resolve most labor cases, reports The New York Times.

Peter B. Robb, the agency’s general counsel and a Trump appointee, outlined the proposal this month in a conference call with the civil servants

“Under the proposal, those civil servants — considered by many conservatives and employers to be biased toward labor — would answer to a small cadre of officials installed above them in the National Labor Relations Board’s hierarchy,” explains Noam Scheiber.

The result could be result in a system friendlier to employers named in complaints of unfair labor practices or facing unionization drives.

Read the Times article.

Monday’s blowout near Quinton, Oklahoma, that killed five workers is the deadliest oil and gas incident since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. As this incident moves from the recovery of the victims to the cleanup and investigation stage, a prominent Texas trial lawyer says the industry must use this tragedy as a signal to self-reflect and take stock of their safety procedures, according to a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.

“When it comes to rig blowouts, somebody made a mistake,” says trial lawyer Frank Branson of The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson, who has handled numerous oilfield tragedies, including involvement in a 2015 onshore rig explosion where three men died in a well blowout near Midland, Texas.

“Every driller and operator knows that well control must be maintained at all times. That’s rule number one on these rigs. A failure to control the well is inexcusable and absolutely preventable. With so much at stake, companies like Patterson-UTI and Red Mountain Energy must make worker safety – not shareholder profits – the overriding priority.

“Patterson-UTI, one of the largest onshore rig operators in the U.S., has been called out for its safety shortcomings by name in Congressional reports and has been fined by OSHA following earlier oil and gas well fatalities. As the families of those killed search for answers, it’s clear that relatively toothless regulations are not enough to ensure the safety of hardworking oilfield workers. In cases like these, American jurors will be called upon to determine who was at fault and return a verdict that will make sure these companies put worker safety first.”

Royalty owners are seeking class-action status in a lawsuit against Talisman Energy USA, Inc. over claims the company manipulated production volumes for wells operated in the Eagle Ford shale basin in South Texas, according to a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media and Marketing.

Attorneys for plaintiffs Rayanne Regmund Chesser, Gloria Janssen, and Michael and Carol Newberry filed a motion Jan. 22, 2018, seeking class certification in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas and named lawyers Bryan O. Blevins Jr. and Mike Hamilton of Provost Umphrey Law Firm, L.L.P., to represent the class. The lawyers estimate approximately 4,000 royalty owners could be involved.

“It’s clear that Talisman knew what they were doing when the company voluntarily commingled production from different wells and then allocated net sales in violation of best oilfield practices and Texas law,” said Blevins. “We intend to prove that the amounts paid to the royalty owners were based on manipulated production volumes.”

The lawsuit charges that from Jan. 1, 2013, to June 1, 2016, Talisman failed to report, account for and make royalty payments based on its lease agreements. In addition, the company is accused of altering wellhead production volumes by as much as 20 percent and paying royalties based on estimated sales volumes instead of the actual amount of oil or gas sold or saved.

In 2010, Talisman entered the Texas oil and gas market in a joint venture with Statoil. In July 2013, the agreement was revised, with Statoil assuming half the well operations and Talisman operating the other half. Shortly after that, royalty owners noticed a difference in reported production volumes from Talisman compared to Statoil.

Talisman Energy USA is an indirect subsidiary of Calgary, Alberta–based Talisman Energy Inc., which was acquired by Repsol S.A. in 2015.

The case is Rayanne Regmund Chesser, Gloria Janssen, Michael Newberry and Carol Newberry v. Talisman Energy USA, Inc. No. 4:16-cv-02960 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.

Houston-based  Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing has added six litigators to its trial, the firm announced.

The new hires include:

• Matt Caldwell, with experience advising clients on regulatory and compliance matters, especially involving tax and accounting questions
• Monica Cooper,  a trial lawyer with civil and criminal experience
• Shahmeer Halepota, a commercial litigator with mediation, international arbitration, and state and federal trial experience
• Kyle A. Poelker, who handles all types of complex commercial litigation in state and federal court
• Paul Turkevich, a commercial litigator who handles a variety of business disputes
• Patrick Yarborough, a commercial litigator with experience representing clients in all aspects of litigation, including mediation, arbitration and trial

Read details about the new hires.

Willkie has announced the following attorney promotions, effective January 1, 2018.

Partners
Daniel Backer – Real Estate – New York
Mark Fine – Corporate – London
Bradley Friedman – Corporate – New York
Matthew Haddad – Corporate – New York
Geri Anne McEvoy – Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits – New York
Robert Rizzo – Corporate – New York
Heather Schneider – Intellectual Property – New York
Maximilian Schwab – Corporate – Frankfurt
Spencer Simon – Intellectual Property – New York
Axel Wahl – Corporate – Frankfurt

National Partner
Jennifer Tait – Corporate – London

Counsel
Ryan Brizek – Asset Management – New York
Mia Hayes – Communications & Media – Washington
Daniel Mencaroni – Asset Management – New York

Special European Counsel
Igor Kukhta – Corporate – Paris
David Lambert – Corporate – Paris

Employment and labor law Littler has expanded into Italy with the addition of a six-lawyer team in Milan led by Italian principals Carlo Majer and Edgardo Ratti.

Inn a release, the firm said this move marks the fourth European country Littler has entered in just over two years following expansion into Germany, France and the United Kingdom and brings its global footprint to more than 75 offices in 17 countries.

“Our strategy of combining forces with the best labor and employment law practitioners in key international markets has proven to be successful and we are excited to add Italy to our global platform,” said Tom Bender and Jeremy Roth, co-managing directors of Littler, in a joint statement. “In the last few years, we have established a presence in Europe’s three largest economies. Expanding into the fourth largest European economy by adding this talented team was a natural next step in deepening our services to the global employer community.”

Majer and Ratti each have nearly two decades of experience practicing labor and employment law in Italy and advising global and domestic companies. They join Littler Global with a team of four attorneys based in the Milan office.

“Littler provides an unparalleled platform to counsel Italian companies, as well as clients doing business in Italy, on all of their labor and employment needs,” said Majer and Ratti, in a joint statement. “Our deep experience in Italian labor and employment matters, coupled with Littler’s global reach, exceptional reputation for counseling multinational employers and technological capabilities, will provide significant value to our collective clients.”

Majer, who was previously a partner with the Italian labor and employment law boutique Lexellent, counsels clients on labor relations matters, corporate reorganizations and restructurings, and employment-related litigation. He is recognized as a leading labor and employment lawyer in Italy by Chambers & Partners and Legal 500, and is a member of the International Bar Association’s Employment and Industrial Relations Law Committee and the Italian Association of Employment Lawyers.

Ratti joins after a 20 year successful career started at labor and employment law boutique LabLaw, where he was a partner together with Majer. With extensive experience in labor law, Ratti advises clients on labor relations matters, restructurings and litigation.

“Adding an office in Milan led by two well-known and respected attorneys in the Italian market will expand our capabilities in Europe and further solidify our reputation as an international labor and employment powerhouse,” said Stephan Swinkels, a Littler shareholder who helps lead the development and integration of the firm’s global practice. Peter Susser, Littler’s Global Practice Leader and chair of the firm’s International Employment Law practice, added that “bringing Carlo and Edgardo’s team into Littler’s global platform will provide clients with seasoned Italian labor and employment counsel and further our ability to offer a localized approach in the many jurisdictions in which they do business.”

Eric T. Fingerhut has been appointed as the Office Managing Member of Dykema’s Washington, D.C., office. He succeeds Paul Laurenza, who served in the role for eight years.

“Dykema has been an active legal, legislative and policy counsellor in Washington, D.C., for four decades, spanning seven presidential administrations,” said Fingerhut. “I’m proud of the mark we’ve made in the District, and excited for the opportunity to lead our top-notch team of professionals as we help clients navigate a regulatory and legislative landscape that is evolving and unfolding with unprecedented speed.”

In a release, the firm said Fingerhut, who is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group and Immediate Past Leader of the Trademark Practice, has more than 25 years of experience counselling clients on all aspects of global brand identity and reputation management. He advises many of the world’s best-known brand names in automotive, retail, food, hospitality and technology industries on trademark, copyright, right of publicity, advertising, marketing, domain name and new media legal issues. Additionally, Fingerhut litigates infringement, dilution, cybersquatting and unfair competition cases in U.S. district and appellate courts, as well as domain name arbitration proceedings and oppositions and cancellations before the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

An active member of the Washington, D.C., legal, service and arts communities, Fingerhut is a Past Chair of the D.C. Bar Council on Sections; a Board Member of HumanitiesDC (formerly known as the Humanities Council of Washington, DC); and a former Director of the Washington Area Bicyclists Association.

Fingerhut earned a J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and a B.S. from Boston University.

DLA Piper announced that Joel Athey has joined the firm’s litigation practice as a partner in Los Angeles.

Athey, who previously served as the managing partner of Holland & Knight LLP’s Los Angeles office, focuses his practice on white collar criminal defense, US Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement, private securities litigation, internal corporate investigations, banking and regulatory investigations and litigations, consumer protection matters and complex civil litigation.

“As we continue to strategically grow our Los Angeles offices, including our local Litigation team, Joel’s practice will strengthen our capabilities in the areas of white collar criminal defense, securities and financial services litigation, among others,” said Stuart Liner, co-managing partner of the firm’s Los Angeles offices. “DLA Piper’s national and global platform is an ideal home for his litigation practice, and we believe Joel’s strong reputation and network of relationships in the legal community will be highly beneficial to our clients.”

In a release, the firm says Athey represents individuals and corporations in criminal investigations and prosecutions in federal and state courts, and works with clients in criminal grand jury investigations, post-indictment prosecutions, at trial, and sentencing. He represents companies conducting internal investigations of alleged wrongdoing and advises companies on compliance matters. He also represents companies and individuals in SEC and FTC investigations and enforcement actions.

In addition, he represents clients in a wide range of civil litigation matters, including defending legal professionals against fraud-based allegations and venture capitalists accused of misleading investors. He works with companies and banks in defending securities litigations. Athey has also represented officers and directors of failed financial institutions in criminal and regulatory investigations, and in post-takeover FDIC proceedings.

“Joel is a highly skilled and well-regarded litigator whose depth of experience in areas important to our clients makes him a valuable addition to the firm,” said Loren Brown, co-chair of DLA Piper’s global and US Litigation practices. “Particularly in Los Angeles, the demand for lawyers with experience in SEC enforcement and private securities litigation has grown substantially, and we are pleased that our clients will have the opportunity to be represented by an attorney of his skill and reputation.”

Athey received his J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law and his B.S. from Rutgers University.

Since merging with Los Angeles-based Liner LLP in October, DLA Piper has continued to expand its presence in the region, beginning with the addition of leading entertainment and IP litigator Douglas Emhoff, a partner in the firm’s Media, Sport and Entertainment sector who joined from Venable, where he was the chief architect of its substantial West Coast expansion.

Three lawyers in the family law boutique Orsinger, Nelson, Downing & Anderson, LLP have earned board certification in family ;aw by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. They are Chris Oldner, Holly Rampy Baird and R. Porter Corrigan II.

“We could not be more proud of Chris, Holly and Porter for receiving this well-deserved recognition,” says firm partner Keith Nelson.

Thirteen of the firm’s 17 attorneys are now board certified in family law, a distinction earned by less than 1 percent of Texas attorneys. In addition, Oldner is the second firm attorney certified in two practice areas, with his other certification being in criminal law.

A former state district court judge, Oldner joined the firm in 2017 after serving three full terms in the 416th District Court in Collin County, where he presided over criminal and civil cases, including family law bench and jury trials. He earned his law degree from the Texas Tech University School of Law and is a graduate of Baylor University.

A recent honoree on D Magazine’s 2018 Best Lawyers Under 40, Baird handles divorce and complex property division, modification actions, enforcement actions and child custody litigation. She has also earned spots on the Texas Rising Stars list of the Top 100 Up-and-Coming lawyers and the Top 50 Up-and-Coming Women lawyers.

A six-time Texas Rising Stars honoree, Corrigan has extensive experience in family law issues, such as divorce and child custody cases. A native of San Antonio, he is a graduate of St. Mary’s University School of Law and The University of Texas at Austin.

Image by Montgomery County Planning Commission

Aetna has agreed to pay $17.2 million and to implement a “best practices” policy regarding sensitive policyholder data, in order to settle class action litigation brought against it arising from a mass mailing sent by one of its mailing vendors, according to a post on the website of King & Fisher.

Eric Begun explains that the newly announced settlement provides some important lessons in contract law, as well as some useful information on data breaches.

The federal class action litigation was brought against Aetna and its mailing vendor in 2017 based on the vendor’s use of glassine envelopes to communicate HIV medication information to Aetna insureds. The envelopes revealed that the named addressee was contacted about options for filling HIV medication prescriptions. The litigation alleged violations by Aetna and its vendor of several laws and legal duties related to security and privacy.

The contract lessons for customers and vendors that arise from the events in question, which were identified in the earlier post, remain the same. Do your contracts for non-IT and non-healthcare services fully consider the risk of privacy and security litigation? Do your contract’s indemnification and limitation of liability clauses contemplate the possibility of class action litigation? Before entering into a contract, have you considered whether the specific vendor services being provided to the particular customer in question implicate laws you hadn’t considered? And, have you considered which specific aspects of vendor services may directly impact potential legal liability, and have you adequately identified and addressed them in the contract?

Read the article.

Exterro has published part 1 of the 2018 Judges Report, which provides an in-depth examination of how the bench views these e-discovery issues: attorney proficiency, judicial competency, how to resolve e-discovery mistakes effectively.

The report, which can be downloaded at no charge, includes:

• 10-page report on how 30 federal judges feel about e-discovery competency in their courtrooms
• Expert insights from judges on how to solve e-discovery mistakes
• Why only 23% of the judges surveyed agreed with the statement, “The typical attorney possesses the legal and technical subject matter knowledge required to effectively counsel clients on e-discovery matters.”

Download the report.

Image by Kārlis Dambrāns

Fortune is reporting that  Qualcomm has been hit with a massive $1.23 billion antitrust fine in the European Union, for illegally paying billions of dollars to Apple to make sure that its components were used in iPhones and iPads.

Reporter David Meyer writes: “The payoffs ensured that rival manufacturers of LTE baseband chipsets—the components that let mobile devices connect to cellular networks in order to provide internet connectivity—had no chance of getting into Apple’s devices for half a decade.”

The commission found that Qualcomm effectively shut down competition in the market, no matter how good competitors’ products were.

Read the Fortune article.

There will be a lot of familiar faces in U.S. District Judge Dan Polster’s courtroom in Cleveland on Jan. 31, when lawyers gather for a hearing on multidistrict litigation against the nation’s opioid manufacturers and distributors, writes Daniel Fisher, a contributor for Forbes.

“The prospect of the biggest payday since the $200 bill­­ion tobacco settlement in 1998 has drawn many of the same plaintiff lawyers who appear again and again in big tort cases over everything from VW diesels to Vioxx to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster,” according to Fisher.

Some of those firms include Simmons Hanly Conroy, the Lanier Firm, Seeger Weiss, Lieff Cabraser, Motley Rice and Weitz & Luxenberg.

Read the Forbes article.

Former Dentons associate Michael Potere once said he wasn’t afraid of jail time for trying to extort his former employer, according to Above the Law, but now he has been sentenced to five months in prison.

Kathryn Rubino explains that Potere used access to a partner’s email account to download sensitive information about the firm. Then he threatened to release the information unless the firm gave him $210,000 and a piece of artwork.

Prosecutors had asked for a three-month prison sentence, but the U.S. district judge handling the case sentenced him to five months, plus a year of supervised release.

Read the Above the Law article.

In an upcoming webinar, LawGeex will demonstrate how modern legal teams are revolutionizing their daily contract review processes.

The 45-minute event will be Wednesday, Feb. 21, beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

On its website, LawGeex says the webinar will show how modern legal teams are revolutionizing their daily contract review processes. This will be a practical look at using on-the-ground solutions for contract review automation.

The webinar will cover:

• What is contract review automation?
• How are leading legal teams using this technology today?
• How to dramatically reduce the time and cost of contract review and approval.
• A live demonstration of contract review automation in action.

Register for the webinar.

Companies like Apple, American Airlines, Bank of America and AT&T have been giving bonuses to their workers in the wake of the new U.S. tax law, but fewer employers are putting their tax savings into a boost in base pay, points out Jena McGregor for The Washington Post.

“A number of companies, including Walmart and many banks, have announced increases to their minimum wage or other adjustments to salaries. But the number of companies offering bonuses — or who say they may do so — are thus far higher,” she writes.

She quotes Ken Abosch, the North American compensation practice leader for Aon: “Salaries represent the single largest percentage of direct labor costs [for employers]. Any time you give someone an increase in their salary, it’s an annuity. It’s not a one-time event like a bonus. It’s additive and it compounds.”

Read the Post article.