Litigators are settling more cases as labor agencies and federal courts fill up with business-friendly appointees, reports Bloomberg.

“While employers across the U.S. paid a record amount in settlements for workplace violations last year, don’t expect this to mark the beginning of a trend. Think of it more as the storm before the calm, as labor lawyers rush to lock in payouts ahead of a shifting legal landscape,” writes Rebecca Greenfield.

She quotes Paul DeCamp a lawyer at Epstein Becker & Green who represents employers:

“I think that what we see is a race to settle. I’ve seen it in my practice. Cases that plaintiffs’ counsel felt very strongly about and seemed more bullish and willing to go to trial—since the election they were more eager to settle those cases.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

Anne S. LaWer has joined Employment and labor law firm Littler as a shareholder in the San Jose office. LaWer joins from GCA Law Partners in the Bay Area.

“Anne’s deep knowledge of employee benefits compliance matters and experience advising clients on a wide range of benefits and compensation issues makes her a natural fit for Littler,” said Eric C. Bellafronto, office managing shareholder in San Jose. “Given the rapidly evolving regulatory framework both nationally and in California, Anne is a strong addition to our San Jose office – one of many in our firm that was recently recognized with a ‘Tier 1’ ranking in the 2018 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® ‘Best Law Firms’ list.”

In a release, the firm said LaWer has experience advising on employee health and welfare, retirement and stock compensation plans, administrative and statutory compliance, and designing and drafting plans. She counsels employers on matters related to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Her practice also includes advising on Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor compliance programs, healthcare privacy and security, executive compensation matters, and employee benefits issues in mergers and acquisitions.

“I’m excited to join Littler, which has an impressive global reputation for advising employers on some of the most complex and significant labor and employment compliance issues, and I am thrilled to help expand Littler’s already outstanding employee benefits practice,” LaWer said. “I was also drawn to Littler’s commitment to innovation and efficiency, which is especially important to clients in Silicon Valley.”

LaWer  is a member of the San Francisco Chapter of the Western Pension & Benefits Council’s program committee and has served as co-chair of the Barron Park Elementary School Site Council and as president of the Barron Park Elementary School Parent Teacher Association.

LaWer received her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law and her B.A. from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Dykema announced that Reed R Heimbecher has been appointed as office managing member of its Minneapolis office. Heimbecher also serves as leader of the firm’s Intellectual Property Transactional Group.

Heimbecher has more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of worldwide intellectual property law—including a seven-year stint in-house as vice president of intellectual property for a medical device business with a billion dollars of annual sales. His practice focuses on patent and trademark prosecution, patent portfolio management, intellectual property due diligence, and client counseling.

Prior to joining Dykema, Heimbecher managed his own firm, which received recognition as a “Go-To Law Firm for Patent Prosecution” from a Fortune 500 company.

Heimbecher earned a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of Law, and a B.S., with honors, from the University of Colorado. He clerked for Judge Rich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Before attending law school, Heimbecher, whose undergraduate degree is in aerospace engineering, was an engineer for a large military contractor where he carried out performance and aerodynamic analysis and trajectory simulations of Tomahawk cruise missiles. In that role, he also worked on launch vehicles for putting large payloads into outer space.

Hogan Lovells announced that Kevin Keenan has joined the firm’s Houston office as a partner in the Infrastructure, Energy, Resources, and Projects practice.

“We are delighted that Kevin has joined us” said Philip Robb, Global head of the firm’s Infrastructure, Energy, Resources, and Projects practice. “He has a strong background and global experience, and already works with many of our existing energy clients. Kevin gives our practice the additional strength to expand our client services in the energy space in general, and in LNG in particular. ”

Prior to joining Hogan Lovells, Keenan was a partner at Baker Botts, where he served as Deputy Department Head of Global Projects in Houston. He has built a global practice in the energy infrastructure and transportation sectors, with a focus on LNG project development and shipping.

“I look forward to leveraging Hogan Lovells’ robust global platform to better serve my clients and, in so doing, not only expand my practice but help further grow the practices of my new partners and help augment what is already a tremendous energy and infrastructure group at Hogan Lovells,” said Keenan. “I assist clients around the world with cross-border transactions and the value of this platform, driven not only by its breadth but also by the talent that Hogan Lovells deploys within it, cannot be overstated. I’m delighted to be a part of it.”

In a release, the firm said Keenan’s clients range from large integrated oil and gas companies to joint ventures, state-owned companies, private equity funds and project start-ups. He has experience in the LNG project development space, having negotiated dozens of LNG sale and purchase agreements, terminal use agreements, master sales agreements, capacity swaps, port liability agreements and various other instruments needed to get an LNG project off the ground.

The release said he also has experience in commercial shipping, primarily as it relates to transporting LNG but also involving crude oil, coal and other commodities. Over the past 15 years he has negotiated more than 75 charters (time, voyage and bareboat) for LNG tankers, oil tankers, coal barges, FPSOs and FSRUs and more than 60 shipbuilding contracts and vessel modification contracts for the same types of vessels, primarily with shipyards in South Korea, Japan, China, the Middle East and Europe.

Keenan has also assisted clients with a number of refinery projects, including expansions at several refineries along the US Gulf Coast, an expansion in Aruba, and a new build modular refinery in Asia.

“Kevin will be a great addition to the Houston office as we continue to add depth and breadth to our transactional, intellectual property, and litigation practices focused on serving energy industry clients here and around the world,” said Bruce Oakley, Managing Partner of the Houston Office.

Keenan earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and his B.A. from Idaho State University. He is admitted to practice in Texas.

Zapproved has published a report providing insights from a PREX17 summary on meeting the new GDPR rules by May 2018. The summary may be downloaded free of charge.

In May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will go into effect, requiring companies that do business in Europe to adjust their strategies for data management. The GDPR standardizes data protection law across the member countries, but it doesn’t specifically address preservation and discovery for U.S. legal proceedings.

The PREX17 session summary, “Data Privacy, the GDPR and Security All in One” explores the practical considerations for this transition with insight from Intel’s Dan Christensen, U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte and Jeane Thomas, Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP.

It discusses strategies to address:

• Article 30 requirements for detailed record keeping
• U.S vs EU perspectives on cross-border discovery and personal privacy rights
• ISO2l701 certification

Download the summary.

Reuters is reporting that a loophole in the new U.S. tax law could allow multinational corporations like Apple Inc to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes on profits stashed overseas, according to experts.

Reporter David Morgan explains that the loophole involves the tax rates — 15.5 percent or 8 percent — that companies must pay on $2.6 trillion in profits they are holding abroad.

Stephen Shay, a senior lecturer at Harvard Law School, said the loophole clearly is the result of rushed legislation. He explained that a U.S. multinational could manipulate its foreign cash positions and potentially save  money by shifting profits to the lower rate from the higher one.

Read the Reuters article.

A federal judge has ordered a pair of attorneys for an environmental group to pay $52,000 in legal fees to an energy company because, the judge said, they filed a “frivolous” legal challenge to a fracking waste injection well in Pennsylvania, according to a report by StateImpact, a reporting project of NPR member stations.

“U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Paradise Baxter of the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled the attorneys, Thomas Linzey and Elizabeth Dunne, should pay part of Pennsylvania General Energy’s (PGE) legal fees for advancing a “discredited” legal argument that had already been defeated in prior decisions,” writes reporter Reid Frazier. “In addition to the fine, the judge referred Linzey to the state Supreme Court Disciplinary Board for additional discipline.”

In her opinion, Baxter wrote:

The continued pursuit of frivolous claims and defenses, despite Linzey’s first-hand knowledge of their insufficiency, and the refusal to retract each upon reasonable request, substantially and inappropriately prolonged this litigation, and required the Court and PGE to expend significant time and resources eliminating these baseless claims.

Read the StateImpact article.

Washington Technology will present a complimentary webinar on Jan. 25, 2018, to discuss new compliance requirements for securing government data contractor networks. The webinar will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

Speakers for the one-hour event will be Ron Ross of NIST; Maria Proestou, CEO of Delta Resources; and Susan Cassidy, partner, Covington & Burling.

Government and industry experts will:

• Offer advice and guidance on what contractors should be doing to ensure compliance.
• Provide insights on best practices in areas such as training, risk management and planning for in the future.
• Help to prepare attendees for meeting this requirement and maintaining compliance for their government customers.

Register for the webinar.

Dennis Garcia, an assistant attorney general of Microsoft Corp., offers a collection of best practices that all lawyers can embrace to help earn trust during the contract lifecycle.

“In our rapidly changing and highly competitive legal and business environments, earning trust is more important than ever—especially during contract negotiations as that may be the first opportunity for parties to work with each other,” Garcia writes for Bloomberg Law.

He discusses several practices under the headings: actively learn about the other party, be empathetic, provide thoughtful rationales on contract issues, meet face-to-face, embrace smart risk-taking, don’t over-lawyer, little things mean a lot, small and empowered negotiating teams, always keep your cool, and post-contract signing.

Read the article.

Former Indiana Senate Majority Leader Brandt Hershman has joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Washington, D.C., office as an of counsel attorney in the firm’s Government Services and Finance Department. Hershman will be an integral member of the Federal Relations Group.

Hershman, who served 17 years in the Indiana senate before recently announcing his resignation, is widely recognized for his experience in the areas of tax, energy, telecommunications and agriculture.

“It is an honor to join a firm of Barnes & Thornburg’s caliber and I look forward to working with the exceptional attorneys who are counseling clients on issues critical to their businesses, such as taxes, economic development and infrastructure” Hershman said.

Hershman, who represented constituents in Senate District 7, focused his efforts on tax reform and economic development during his tenure. He led the effort to usher in telecommunications deregulation legislation that has brought more than $5 billion of investment in infrastructure throughout Indiana.

“We are excited to welcome Brandt to Barnes & Thornburg,” said Karen McGee, managing partner of the Washington, D.C. office. “His experience in public service and background in tax policy, telecommunications, and other areas will be a tremendous asset to our clients as a member of our growing Washington, D.C.-based Federal Relations group. It will be a privilege to work with someone who has had a huge impact on public policy throughout his 17-year political career. We congratulate him on his service to Indiana and look forward to working with him.”

In addition to serving in the Indiana Senate, Hershman previously served as managing partner and general counsel for The DeNovo Group. He also served as executive director of the Program on Continuing Education for Public Officials at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

He also has served in several staff positions in the U.S. Congress and its members, including district operations director for the U.S. House of Representatives; press secretary for Buyer for Congress; and presidential writer in the Executive Office of the President in The White House.

A graduate of Purdue University, Hershman earned his law degree from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. He also earned two executive certificates, one in comparative tax policy and administration from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and one in finance and financial management services from Cornell University.

He is admitted to practice in the state of Indiana and before the U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana and the Indiana Supreme Court.

The law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP announced that Michael Wieber has joined the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group, Employee Benefits team, as of counsel in its Milwaukee office.

Wieber focuses his practice on tax and fiduciary aspects of 401(k) plans, pension plans, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), executive deferred compensation arrangements, and flexible spending plans. He has significant experience in ERISA fiduciary law, including investment advisory and management services, and in mergers and acquisition.

“We are pleased to bring Mike onto the Quarles & Brady team, as his significant corporate and financial expertise will make an immediate, valuable contribution,” said Sean Scullen, national chair of the Labor & Employment Group.

Prior to joining the firm, Wieber spent 19 years at BMO Financial Group. Before BMO, he worked as an associate at Foley & Lardner, LLP focusing on ERISA and Employee Benefits Law.

“I am excited to return to private practice, especially at Quarles & Brady as a member of its Employee Benefits team. I feel as though I have a unique practical perspective that I’m looking forward to sharing with clients and the firm,” said Wieber.

Wieber earned his law degree, with honors, from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and his bachelor’s degree, with highest honors, from the University of Notre Dame.

Dykema announced that Jeffrey G. Huron has been appointed as the office managing member of the firm’s Los Angeles Office. He succeeds Mike Wippler, who now serves on the firm’s Executive Board.

In a release, the firm said Huron, who is a member of the firm’s Business Litigation Practice Group, has more than 25 years of experience litigating and arbitrating business, real estate and entertainment disputes. His clients have included individuals, financial institutions, lenders, real estate investors and developers, and receivers. Huron has experience in appellate matters and has authored numerous articles relating to his litigation and appellate practice.

“We’ve been thrilled with the growth of our Los Angeles office since its establishment 15 years ago,” said Peter Kellett, Dykema Chairman and CEO. “We’re excited Jeff is bringing his leadership capabilities into this role to build upon the momentum Mike Wippler established over the past five years.”

Outside of his practice, Huron also serves as Vice Chair of the California State Bar Financial Institutions Committee. Prior to joining Dykema, he founded and managed his own firm, the Huron Law Group.

Huron earned a J.D. from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, and a B.A. from Marquette University. He has been recognized in Southern California SuperLawyers for Business Litigation every year since 2010.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP announced that Brant K. Brown, former associate general counsel at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA), has joined the firm as counsel in the Washington office.

In a release, the firm said Brown’s hire is the latest regulatory addition to the firm’s Washington office in recent months, following former Chairman (and Director of the Office of Enforcement) of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Norman C. Bay and former Acting General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel for the Department of the Treasury Priya R. Aiyar, who joined the firm in September.

“Brant’s strong reputation and experience bring added depth to our team of asset management attorneys who regularly advise clients on complex SEC and FINRA issues,” said Jim Burns, Willkie partner and former SEC Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets. “He is well regarded and highly accomplished, and will be a tremendous asset to our clients as they navigate the changing SEC and FINRA regulatory environments.”

Brown has experience working with self-regulatory organizations and broker dealers on a range of regulatory, compliance and enforcement-related matters. At Willkie, he will advise asset management and private equity clients on regulatory matters they face as they navigate the complex legal environment, according to the firm.

Brown joins a team at Willkie of former senior attorneys from numerous branches of federal government and other regulatory agencies, including SEC, CFTC, DOJ, FCC, DOC, FERC, ITC and NTIA, Treasury, as well as the White House and State Department.

Brown served in FINRA’s Office of General Counsel for 13 years, most recently as associate general counsel. He was responsible for advising senior management, departments and committees of FINRA on complex regulatory initiatives and rule proposals, developing and drafting regulatory notices and rule filings for submission to the SEC, and preparing materials for FINRA’s Board of Governors. He also regularly counseled FINRA’s Departments of Market Regulation, Transparency Services and Finance and worked closely with SEC staff on multiple high-profile regulatory initiatives, including establishing FINRA trade reporting requirements for trading activity in the Treasury market and representing FINRA in a significant role on the Consolidated Audit Trail Initiative. At FINRA, he was the recipient of several honors, including the FINRA Chairman’s Award, FINRA’s highest award.

Prior to his time at FINRA, Brown was an associate in the securities group of a large Washington law firm where he advised clients on securities laws and rules and represented firms and individuals in securities enforcement matters.

“I am excited to join Willkie’s outstanding Asset Management team,” said Brown. “Willkie has a preeminent practice in providing sophisticated advice to a wide range of clients, and I look forward to being a part of this talented and dedicated group.”

Brown received a J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School and a B.A., magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University.

A new book by the former general counsel of American Airlines tells the story of the company’s journey from the brink of insolvency following the loss of two of the airline’s jets in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks through the most successful corporate bankruptcy and restructuring in U.S. history.

The Dallas Business Journal, with The Texas Lawbook, has an advance copy of Gary Kennedy’s “Twelve Years of Turbulence: The Inside Story of American Airlines’ Battle for Survival,” scheduled for release in February.

According to writer Mark Curriden, the book reveals that American Airlines paid lawyers and financial advisers involved in the bankruptcy proceedings $300 million – or $500,000 a day. It also goes behind the scenes of the terrorist attacks of 2011.

Read the Dallas Business Journal article.

Brian Krzanich
Image by AP Photo/Intel Corporation,Bob Riha, Jr.

Two U.S. lawmakers are calling for an investigation into whether Intel’s chief executive, Brian Krzanich, improperly sold company stock after learning of a serious security flaw in the tech giants’ microchips before it was publicly disclosed, reports The Washington Post.

Intel’s stock price went down after the announcement of the flaw.

Reporter Renae Merle writes: “Intel learned of the security flaw in June and several months later, in late November, Krzanich exercised and sold nearly 900,000 company shares and stock options, making about $24 million, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The sales reduced Krzanich’s holdings in company stock by 50 percent to the minimum number of shares he’s required to own, according to Intel corporate policy.”

Read the Post article.

Salle Yoo, who resigned as general counsel of ride-hailing giant Uber in September, reportedly came up with an idea to foil government raids on the company’s computers: set up a system to wipe the data when the cops come through the door.

Bloomberg, citing three people with knowledge of the system, reports that, between spring 2015 until late 2016, Uber used a system designed to thwart police raids in foreign countries.

When authorities showed up at Uber offices, employees could page a number that alerted specially trained staff at company headquarters in San Francisco.

Citing a raid in Montreal, the report says, “When the call came in, staffers quickly remotely logged off every computer in the Montreal office, making it practically impossible for the authorities to retrieve the company records they’d obtained a warrant to collect. The investigators left without any evidence.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

When a U.S. company decides to hire an employee in another country, the question of whether to send the applicant an offer letter inevitably arises, writes Samina Weil in the Fisher Phillips Cross Border Employer Blog.

“Sending an offer letter prior to the final contract is normal practice in the US. But this is not the case in other jurisdictions, and for good reason,” she explains.

She describes how some U.S. employment practices differ from those in foreign jurisdictions and how to approach the problems those differences can cause.

“Do not be tempted to send an offer letter (or seek legal advice before doing so), but have a contract drawn up for the position for which you are hiring and personalize it to the individual you want to hire,” she warns.

Read the article.

J. Brandon Sieg of Vandeventer Black LLP addresses the question of what is meant when a contract requires an architect or engineer to “defend, indemnify, and hold harmless” the project owner for specific (or not so specific) types of claims that might arise in the future.

Regarding duty to defend, he explains that: “If you agree to similar language in your design contract, then you are agreeing to hire the project owner’s lawyer to defend a lawsuit filed against the project owner.”

He also covers responsibilities that go with indemnification and “hold harmless.”

Read the article.

Regulatory compliance is an area of fundamental concern – not only for strategic investors – but also for financial institutions contracting for services from financial technology providers, warns Adam Chernichaw, a partner in the New York office of White & Case.

“Where a financial institution classifies a product or service being procured as an ‘outsourcing,’ its vendor risk management (VRM) function will carefully scrutinise the proposed relationship,” Chernichaw writes. “The VRM function will usually take the position that regulators will look at the service provider as an extension of the institution. Accordingly, the institution is required to impose contractual obligations on the provider so that the provider acts as the institution itself would act when it comes to compliance.”

In his article he emphasizes the importance of parties to align on the contractual VRM requirements that will be sought by the financial institution, and whether the fintech provider can meet those obligations.

Read the article.

Legal blogs are a relatively low-cost way for lawyers to promote their expertise and demonstrate their knowledge to clients, prospective clients and referral sources, points out Amy Boardman Hunt of Muse Communications.

“Blogging is also an excellent way for solos and small firm lawyers with niche practices to spur business development and raise their profile in a competitive marketplace,” she writes on her firm’s blog.

She warns against posting content that amounts to thinly veiled self-promotion: “Not only will smart readers see through this ruse, most readers will quickly exit such a page. That kind of ‘bouncing’ isn’t good for your search engine optimization.”

In her post, she walks the reader through the nitty-gritty of writing compelling content that ranks high in online search results.

Read the article.