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When it comes to arbitration provisions in employment agreements, one size does not fit all. Arbitration has significant advantages and disadvantages. Deciding whether to include an arbitration provision in an employment agreement requires thorough consideration based upon an employer’s individual circumstances, according to a post in Trenam Law’s Employment Law Update.

The article discusses some of the pros and cons of adding such provisions.

Among the pros are class-action waivers, potential time savings and privacy. On the other hand, there’s the consideration of costs, because some employment arbitration regimes allocate many of the costs to the employer.

Read the article.

The doctrine of void contracts arose recently in an employment case in Florida, Griffin v. ARX Holding Corporation, writes Jason M. Knott for Zuckerman Spaeder LLP.

In that case, the plaintiff, Nicholas Griffin, had a prior conviction for extortion. ARX Holding hired him as its chief financial officer in 2009. But under federal law, an individual commits a crime if he has been convicted of a felony involving dishonesty and then willfully participates in the insurance business. Knott explains that Griffin could have obtained a waiver from insurance regulators, but he was unable to do so.

ARX fired Griffin, who sued, seeking an unpaid $215,000 bonus. But a court ruled that his employment contract was void from the outset.

Read the article.

Some women who filed gender discrimination claims against their law firms all said they were alienated to varying degrees for speaking out and taking action about what they experienced, according to a report by Bloomberg Big Law Business.

One of those interviewed, Kamee Verdrager, was an associate at Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris & Popeo when she sued the firm on claims of gender bias in 2009.

“Verdrager said Mintz Levin made specific efforts to discredit her after she filed her suit accusing them of demoting and then firing her because of her gender,” writes Stephanie Russell-Kraft. “Among other things, Verdrager alleges a male partner made sexually explicit comments toward her, and that she later received negative performance reviews because of a pregnancy.”

After firing her, Mintz Levin reported Verdrager to the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers for allegedly downloading private firm documents, but the board unanimously cleared her.

The article discusses the cases of other women who had similar experiences.

Read the article.

A Florida ice cream truck driver suffering financial woes and frustrated that his wife wanted to move back to New Jersey shot and killed her and his son and badly wounded an attorney before police ended a three-hour standoff Wednesday afternoon when they shot him, reports The Miami Herald.

Real estate lawyer Larry Harshman, 54, was shot five times at his Kendall law office earlier in the day. Harshman, who had drawn up paperwork for a home Jabado was forced to sell short three years ago, underwent surgery and was recovering in a hospital, police said.

WSVN 7 News talked to Harshman’s wife: “Now I find out that he came last week to tell Larry that he was getting divorced, that his wife wanted to leave him. And he was gonna take the kid. And Larry said, ‘Well, there’s nothing I can do for you because I’m not a divorce attorney.’” The suspect, Fadel Jabado, allegedly returned to Harshman’s office later and shot him in the stomach.

Articles: Miami Herald and 7 News.

U.S. prosecutors are bearing down on generic pharmaceutical companies in a sweeping criminal investigation into suspected price collusion, a fresh challenge for an industry that’s already reeling from public outrage over the spiraling costs of some medicines, reports Bloomberg.

David McLaughlin and Caroline Chen write that the antitrust investigation by the Justice Department spans more than a dozen companies and about two dozen drugs. A grand jury is examining whether some executives agreed with one another to raise prices, and the first charges could emerge by the end of the year, sources told the reporters.

“Among the drugmakers to have received subpoenas are industry giants Mylan NV and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Other companies include Actavis, which Teva bought from Allergan Plc in August, Lannett Co., Impax Laboratories Inc., Covis Pharma Holdings Sarl, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Mayne Pharma Group Ltd., Endo International Plc’s subsidiary Par Pharmaceutical Holdings and Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.,” according to the report.

Read the article.

China has become the second largest economy in the world due to its manufacturing expertise, superior logistics, lower labor costs, strong government support of business, including tax incentives, and lax oversight of environmentally risky practices. However, writes Jeffrey Klink, a former U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor and CEO of Klink & Co., organizations also are increasingly facing bigger and more complex risks in China.

“Vendor kickback schemes are endemic throughout China and only increasing. Theft of intellectual property remains a major issue for global businesses in China. Theft, embezzlement and fraud continue on as if no one is watching,” Klink says.

He discusses a case study about an American company that purchased a profitable Chinese manufacturing operation. Soon, however, the company began seeing increasing compliance issues regarding irregularities involving vendors and senior employees.

Klink & Co.’s investigation revealed, “Vendors, reportedly producing large quantities of goods for our client’s manufacturing needs, were located in alleyways, deserted buildings and residential apartments.” And many vendors were actually shell corporations based in off-shore banking locations.

He concludes his article with a seven-point list of takeaways of what the American company could have done differently.

Read the article.

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It’s common to see SaaS (software as a service) startups initially price their products on a monthly basis, then add an enterprise “Call Me” plan which hides behind it an annual contract. As the business increases its price point, it may eventually book contracts spanning two, three or even five years, explains Tomasz Tunguz, a venture capitalist at Redpoint.

“This pricing pattern has a certain rationale to it. It enables an early-stage software company to rapidly gather feedback,” he writes in the article. “At the outset, when the business prices on a monthly basis, the startup is looking for as much information about the strength of their product market fit as possible.”

“Annual contracts bring predictability to a SaaS startup. Revenues committed for 12 months, and the cash flow characteristics of annual prepay contracts are an enormous boon for the business, reducing the total amount of financing the might have to raise.”

Read the article.

A well-drafted arbitration provision can save companies from expensive and time-consuming class litigation, two defense attorneys say in a report published by Bloomberg BNA.

Mayer Brown LLP partners Kevin S. Ranlett and Archis A. Parasharami of Washington say advise that companies and their lawyers should draft service and employment contracts with recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on arbitration.

The two helped client AT&T Mobility draft an arbitration provision that was ultimately upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in one of those landmark cases, AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333 (2011).

The sections on the three tips are headed: “Don’t Create Uncertainty,” “Include Consumer/Employee-Friendly Terms,” and “Avoid Potentially Unconscionable Terms.”

Read the article.

Dallas-based law firm Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, LLP, is expanding its intellectual property practice with the addition of patent attorney Stephen L. Levine. His practice is focused on patent and trademark prosecution, portfolio management, and client counseling. 

The firm said Levine works with clients ranging from individual start-up companies to a Fortune 250 North Texas-based technology corporation on patents involving:

• Electronic devices and systems
• Semiconductor circuits, devices and fabrication
• Processor and memory architectures
• Signal processing
• Telecommunications
• Software systems and methods
• Electromechanical and mechanical systems
• Consumer devices
• Biomedical devices

He joins Carrington Coleman from the Dallas-based IP law firm Anderson & Levine LLP, which he co-founded in 1995.

“Steve has a unique set of experiences and expertise that will benefit both the technically focused client as well as our growing IP practice,” says Carrington Coleman Managing Partner Bruce Collins. “When I think of how his work meshes with what we are currently doing, I am excited for the future of this practice group.”

Earlier this year the firm added patent litigators Mark C. Howland, Samuel E. Joyner and Chijioke Offor to complement its existing copyright/trademark licensing, protection, and management work. The IP attorneys in the firm’s Dallas and Longview, Texas, offices also advise clients on data privacy and cybersecurity matters.

Levine is a 1988 graduate of The University of Texas School of Law and earned his undergraduate degree, with honors, from The University of Texas in 1985. As a former electrical engineering student, he was assigned to two shuttle missions as a NASA space program intern before entering law school.

Exterro has published its “2016 In-House Legal Benchmarking Report,” which allows readers to compare their legal processes to their peers and learn how other legal departments are trying to become more productive and reduce legal spend without sacrificing defensibility.

The report, with the subtitle “Reducing Costs, Increasing Productivity in Today’s Complex Litigation Environment,” is available for free downloading.

The publication:

• is a 24-page comprehensive report, which surveyed 76 in-house legal professionals
• Key topics include how legal departments are allocating spend, techniques used to manage legal operations and much more…
• Interesting stats, including: 77% of respondents will invest or evaluate some type of legal project management software in the next 1 – 2 years

Download the report.

For the fifth consecutive year, the commercial litigation and intellectual property firm Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C., or AZA, is being recognized among the nation’s Best Law Firms by U.S. News & World Report and The Best Lawyers in America.

Houston’s AZA is listed in the 2017 top tier of area metropolitan law firms for commercial litigation. The selection of Best Law Firms is based on a rigorous process that includes client and lawyer evaluations and peer review from other attorneys in the same practice areas, the firm said in a release.

Earlier this year nine AZA lawyers were selected for the 2017 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for their work in commercial and intellectual property litigation. The firm and its lawyers also received recognition in the Chambers USA 2016 guide, 2017 edition of Benchmark Litigation, and the  the 2016 Texas Super Lawyers list.

Read the article.

Dallas litigation boutique Estes Thorne & Carr PLLC has been recognized among the 100 largest women-owned businesses in North Texas by the Dallas Business Journal.

One of only two law firms to be included in the 2016 Top 100, this is the first time Estes Thorne & Carr has earned recognition, debuting at No. 58. When founded in 2008, the firm was among only a handful of women-owned law firms in Dallas and has since grown to be one of the largest and most respected in Texas.

“Some clients may come to us because we are a women-owned firm, but we’ve built lasting relationships based on the quality of our work and our dedication to seeing the client succeed,” said managing partner Jessica Thorne. “We are exceptionally proud of the accomplishments of this firm and that we have built a reputation as one of the leading litigation firms in North Texas on the basis of the work we do.”

Of the 65 companies reporting 100 percent female ownership to the Dallas Business Journal, Estes Thorne & Carr was the 35^th largest. To be eligible for the list, a company must self-report a minimum of 51 percent women ownership or control.

The national law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP announced that Chicago partner W. David Braun will receive the Niels Friedrichs Legacy Award from the German-American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest (GACC Midwest).

Braun will receive the award at the GACC Awards Gala, a nationwide celebration of excellence in German-American business, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Chicago on October 28. Under his guidance, GACC Midwest saw continuous growth of the organization through the introduction of many progressive initiatives, such as expanding the Chamber’s consulting services for medium-sized German businesses, and bringing German-style dual apprenticeship programs to the United States. His guidance has also led to the continued growth of the beloved Christkindlmarket in Chicago, including the newest location opening this winter in Naperville.

He joined GACC Midwest’s Board of Directors in 2000, becoming Chairman in 2003. In 2013, he was elected as the inaugural Chairman of the Board of the German American Chambers of Commerce (GACCs), comprising seven offices in the US. He currently serves as the Vice Chairman of the GACCs. He will step down as GACC Midwest’s Chairman in 2017.

The award is named after the Chamber’s first Managing Director of over thirty years, Niels Friedrichs. David Braun is the second recipient after former President & CEO of GACC Midwest, Simone Pohl, who received the award in 2015. “I’m very honored to receive this award,” said Braun. “I have enjoyed my time serving GACC and will continue to support them in the future.”

Braun is a member of the firm’s Business Law Practice Group, where he focuses on U.S. and foreign corporate, licensing, and antitrust law. He represents principally U.S. client interests in Europe and European clients in the U.S., including the establishment of new businesses and joint ventures; licensing of intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, including distributorships and sales representative agreements, antitrust counseling, and litigation with respect to such matters.

He received his law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School and his bachelor’s degree, with distinction, from the University of Illinois. He also studied law at the University of Munich and was a research assistant at the Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law in Munich.

Dallas-based trial and appellate law firm Godwin Bowman & Martinez PC  announced the promotion of senior attorneys Elisaveta “Leiza” Dolghih and Laci Bowman to shareholders and Stefanie Major McGregor to senior counsel, effective Nov. 1.

Additionally, the firm announced that shareholder Shawn McCaskill has been named to its Executive Committee as senior vice president and secretary.

“Leiza, Laci and Stefanie are all exceptional attorneys. We are pleased they have accepted these new positions,” says Godwin Bowman & Martinez Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Donald E. Godwin. “Similarly, Shawn is not only among the very best attorneys in the state, but a true leader as well. We look forward to the energy he will bring to the Executive Committee.”

In a release, the firm said:

Dolghih is a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Section, representing large companies, small business owners and individual employees in federal and state courts. Her practice includes a broad range of business and employment litigation. In addition, she counsels clients regarding compliance with employment-related statutes such as Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, Fair Labor Standards Act and employment agreements. She earned her law degree from Baylor Law School in 2006.

As a member of the Firm’s Family Law Section, Ms. Bowman represents clients in matters involving divorce, premarital agreements, common law marriage disputes, and suits affecting the parent-child relationship. Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, she is also active in the collaborative law community in North Texas and is a founder and past President of the Collaborative Law Professionals of North Texas.  Ms. Bowman has earned selection to the Texas Rising Stars listing of the top young attorneys in the state four times (2013-16.) She earned her law degree from Baylor Law School in 2008.

McGregor is a member of the Firm’s Civil Appellate and Commercial Litigation sections. She represents clients in both the prosecution and defense of a wide range of cases before state and federal courts on matters including complex litigation, environmental and oil and gas litigation, Family Law, property, and trust and estates disputes. She is a former clerk and Senior Research Attorney for the Louisiana Supreme Court. She has been selected five times (2009, 2010, 2014-16) to the Texas Rising Stars list. She earned her law degree from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 2002.

McCaskill is the Chair of the Firm’s Appellate Section. In addition to his appointment to the Executive Committee, he will continue as Chair of the Firm’s Opinion and Audit Committee. He is also a member of the Conflicts & Ethics Committee, the Judicial Campaign Committee and the Library Committee.

Active in his community, McCaskill is a member of the Southlake City Council, where he serves as Deputy Mayor Pro Tem. He has been selected three times (2014-16) to the Texas Super Lawyers listing of the leading lawyers in Texas. He earned his law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 1998.

A prominent San Francisco attorney returning to his home in El Cerrito, Calif., Thursday night was confronted by an assailant who shot him to death, according to a report on SF Gate.

Paramedics pronounced James Gilliland Jr., 62, dead at the scene on his front porch in the San Francisco Bay area.

“Gilliland was a partner at Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton LLP in San Francisco, where he headed litigation from 2013 to 2015. Specializing in patents, copyright and antitrust, he represented companies including Oracle, Sony, Williams-Sonoma and Levi Strauss and Co.,” write Kimberly Veklerov and Steve Rubenstein.

SF Gate reported that a police spokesman said it was not known whether Gilliland was stalked or followed, whether he was the victim of a robbery, or whether the victim and gunman knew each other.

Read the article.

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In the latest hit to the battered bank, Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $50 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused the bank of overcharging hundreds of thousands of homeowners for appraisals ordered after the homeowners defaulted on their mortgage loans, reports The New York Times.

Under the settlement, Wells Fargo will mail checks to more than 250,000 customers whose home loans were serviced by the bank between 2005 and 2010.

“The checks will typically be for $120, according to Roland Tellis, a lawyer with Baron & Budd, the law firm that represented Wells Fargo’s customers,” writes Stacy Cowley. “If a judge signs off on the settlement, as expected, the checks will be distributed next year.”

The settlement is the latest blow for Wells Fargo, after a scandal involving the creation of millions of unauthorized accounts for existing customers.

Read the article.

A small law firm that has given money to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Harry Reid, President Obama and many others is accused of improperly funneling millions of dollars into Democratic Party coffers, according to a report by the Center for Responsive Politics and the same team of Boston Globe investigative reporters featured in the movie “Spotlight.” CBS News summarized the report.

With only 10 partners, the Thornton Law Firm — dollar for dollar — is one of the nation’s biggest political donors, reports CBS News correspondent Tony Dokoupil.

“But according to the firm’s own documents – leaked by a whistleblower — days or even hours after making these donations, partners received bonuses matching the amount they gave,” according to the report.

The CBS report continues: “A Thornton spokesman said the bonuses are legal because they came out of each partner’s ownership stake in the firm. In other words, they were paid with their own money.”

Read the article.

Pearl Meyer and the National Association of Corporate Directors will present a complimentary Nov. 10 webcast to review key findings and analysis from research into executive pay practices and offer guidance on select actions that should be considered for 2017 plans and Q1 bonus payouts.

The webinar will be Thursday, Nov. 10, 2-3 p.m. EST.

Pearl Meyer’s annual fall survey of senior executives and compensation committee members, Pearl Meyer On Point: Looking Ahead to Executive Pay Practices in 2017, looks into pay level expectations and potential changes to annual and long-term incentive plans, as well as respondents’ opinion on various Dodd-Frank provisions affecting compensation.

Webinar presenters will be:

Howard Brownstein (moderator) is president and founder of The Brownstein Corp., a nationally-known turnaround-management firm. He regularly serves as an independent director and currently chairs the audit committee of PICO Holdings Inc., and also chairs the nominating and governance and the strategic planning and risk assessment committees of P&F Industries Inc.

David Seitz is a managing director with Pearl Meyer, located in Dallas and affiliated with the firm’s Houston office. He has nearly 30 years’ experience in compensation consulting and particular expertise in long-term incentive plan design. Additional areas of concentration include director compensation, performance metrics, and total compensation strategy, among others.

Register for the webinar.

Business law and trial attorney Marcos G. Ronquillo has joined Fishman Jackson, PLLC, as a name partner in the newly renamed Fishman Jackson Ronquillo, PLLC, in Dallas.

Attorneys Jose L. Gonzalez and Teresa Guerra Snelson have also joined Ronquillo at the new firm along with paralegals Rachel Rangel and Dora Clark.

“Jose and I take pride in the accomplishments of our trial teams over a span of three decades,” says Ronquillo. “Along with Teresa, we look forward to complementing the real estate and transactional practices at the firm. I also look forward to continuing my diverse law practice, community engagement and having my name on the door again.”

Ronquillo has more than 30 years of experience representing governmental agencies and businesses, including the Dallas Independent School District, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Fortune 500 companies in high-profile controversies focusing on public policy and social issues. He is a former name partner with Dallas legal icons Adelfa B. Callejo and Donald E. Godwin.

Ronquillo is the recipient of numerous professional honors. Latino Leaders magazine recently named him one of the “25 Most Influential Hispanic Lawyers” in the country. He also has been awarded a Presidential Citation by the State Bar of Texas and received the Outstanding Lawyer of the Year Award from the Texas Mexican Bar Association.

Ronquillo is  former president of the Mexican American Bar Association of Dallas, now known as the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association, and former chairman of the Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

“We are excited to have Marcos and his team join our firm to complement and expand our legal services to our clients in litigation, real estate and public-private partnerships,” says Fishman Jackson Ronquillo founding partner Edward Fishman.

For the fifth consecutive year, Farrell Fritz has received a Tier 1 Ranking by Best Lawyers. The listing will be in the 2017 Edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers’ “Best Law Firms.”

Farrell Fritz has been ranked as a Tier 1 firm on Long Island in Employment Law – Management, Litigation – Trusts & Estates and Trusts & Estates Law. The firm been ranked as a Tier 2 firm on Long Island in Health Care Law and Real Estate Law.

Rankings were derived from a combination of our clients’ feedback, peer review ratings and the information we provided in response to the Best Lawyers Law Firm Survey.