Wal-Mart Stores Inc. would have to spend an additional $4.95 billion if it were to raise the minimum wage for its hourly employees in the United States to $15 per hour from the current $10 per hour, according to an estimate by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research, Reuters is reporting.

Study found that 1.1 million of the big retailer’s 1.5 million employees are paid hourly wages. An estimated 979,000 employees would get an increase if Wal-Mart went to $15 per hour.

Labor groups have been demanding a $15 minimum wage for the company’s workers, and the “Fight for Fifteen” movement has been a topic of discussion during the U.S. presidential campaign, reports Nandita Bose.

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Oil & Gas Journal will discuss highlights of the publication’s annual Midyear Forecast in a free webinar scheduled for July 15 at 10 a.m. CDT.

“The Midyear Forecast is a special report that uses first-half data to update projections that appeared in OGJ’s Annual Forecast and Review this past January,” the Journal says on its website. “Both reports project oil and gas markets through the end of the year worldwide, analyze demand product by product in the US, and highlight trends that will carry on beyond the current year. The webcast also will discuss political developments important to the oil and gas industry.”

Presenters will be OGJ Editor Bob Tippee and Senior Editor-Economics Editor Conglin Xu, who will summarize the Midyear Forecast projections in key categories, note important changes from January’s forecasts, and examine reasons for the adjustments.

Register for the webinar.

Knowledge@Wharton and AKO Foundation have published the first of four reports designed to explore how firms can enhance their understanding and implementation of corporate governance.

The report, which features insights from Wharton faculty and other experts, considers five key topics: the relationship between corporate governance and the purpose of a firm; whether firms have a moral responsibility; the link between corporate governance and compliance programs; the impact of corporate culture; and the role of leadership and boards of directors.

Future reports in this series will examine themes such as moral philosophy, corruption and business for peace.

Download the report.

David Lat of Above the Law muses on the effect the most recent round of pay increases for BigLaw associates could have on the people who ultimately make the pay raises possible: the clients.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore recently announced it will start paying first-year associates annual salaries of $180,000, and some other firms have followed suit.

The article quotes some current and former in-house counsel with reservations about the Biglaw pay raises. “I understand that junior attorneys need training, but considering how much money these large firms make, why should the client have to pay for it?,” asks one in-house lawyer.

Another in-house lawyer said, “clients don’t notice the change, if at all, until the next negotiation over rates.”

“If firms try to pass too much of their increased overhead on to clients, the clients will balk — and in this day and age, with competition from great boutiques and alternative legal services providers, clients have significant leverage,” writes Lat.

Read the article.

Reuters is reporting that Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay a $1 million fine to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges that security lapses at the Wall Street bank enabled a former financial adviser to tap into its computers and take client data home, the regulator said.

“The settlement resolves allegations related to Galen Marsh’s unauthorized transfers from 2011 to 2014 of data from about 730,000 accounts to his home computer in New Jersey, some of which was hacked by third parties and offered for sale online,” reports Jonathan Stempel for Reuters.

“According to the SEC, Morgan Stanley violated a federal regulation known as the Safeguards Rule by failing to properly protect customer data, allowing Marsh to access names, addresses, phone numbers, and account holdings and balances,” the report says.

Read the article.

A federal judge has shot down a motion by Oracle to overturn a jury verdict that found Google’s use of Java application program interfaces (APIs) in Android was “fair use.” The verdict also rejected Oracle’s claim that the mobile system infringed its copyrights.

Ars Technica reports that U.S. District Judge William Alsup’s stinging rebuke rejected Oracle’s arguments on every front.

“The final jury charge culminated an exhaustive and iterative process of proposals by the judge followed by critiques by counsel,” Alsup wrote.

Read the article.

In their first U.S. court appearances, two Israeli men pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges that they broke into a dozen companies’ computer networks, including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., to facilitate a global network of criminal activity, reports The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News.

Gery Shalon and Ziv Orenstein have been in custody in Israel since their arrest last summer. They were extradited to the United States to face the charges.

“Federal prosecutors accused the three men and their accomplices of carrying out data breaches at a dozen companies and turning the stolen information, including customers’ email addresses and phone numbers, into hundreds of millions of dollars,” reports Nicole Hong for The Journal. “The hacking allegedly facilitated a host of other crimes, including illegal internet casinos, pump-and-dump schemes, a payment processing service for other criminals and an unlicensed bitcoin exchange.”

Read the article on The Wall Street Journal or Bloomberg News.

DLA Piper announced that Joe Kernen has been named managing partner of the firm’s Philadelphia’s office and Nancy Rappaport chair of the office Litigation practice. Kernen succeeds Carl Buchholz, and Rappaport succeeds Kernen in the litigation role.

Buchholz, who passed away on May 23, 2016, served as office managing partner since 2014. He led the office through significant expansion and substantially raised its profile locally and regionally, while championing its deep commitment to pro bono service focused particularly on veterans, seniors and education. The Philadelphia office is currently comprised of more than 100 employees, including approximately 55 lawyers.

In a release, the firm said:

Kernen, who joined DLA Piper legacy firm Piper and Marbury as an associate months after it opened its Philadelphia office in 1992, maintains a diverse litigation practice with an emphasis on commercial disputes and class action matters for international, national and local clients. He also regularly counsels and defends companies in employment matters. In his previous role as office litigation practice group leader and hiring partner, he was integrally involved in the office’s recent expansion.

Rappaport focuses her practice on product liability and mass tort litigation, including the defense of multinational manufacturers in catastrophic injury cases arising from the use of consumer and commercial outdoor power equipment, agricultural and construction equipment, and exposure to asbestos and chemicals. She also acts as national counsel for various manufacturers, litigates cases in state and federal courts nationwide, and counsels clients in preparing manuals and warranties for new products.

Quarles & Brady LLP has announced that the firm’s Washington, D.C. office has a new location. The firm is now located at 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20006.

“Our expansion and relocation allows us to better execute on the firm’s strategic goal of enhancing our presence in the D.C. market,” said Larry Cote, Washington, D.C. office managing partner. “The design of our new office maximizes the efficient use of space through same-sized offices and several collaborative work areas, which encourages teamwork, assists in recruiting top talent, and greatly supports our efforts to provide exceptional service to our clients.”

In a release, the firm said:

The space, designed by Chemistry in PlaceSM, focuses on flexibility, collaboration, and client service. The office will house a permanent collection of photographic images of Washington, D.C. taken by students from the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at George Washington University. The new office also showcases the latest innovative products in furniture and floor covering from Steelcase and Milliken.

“This new office space is perfect for what we need moving into the future,” said Kelly Williams, Washington, D.C. office manager. “1701 Pennsylvania gives us the opportunity to expand, and we are looking forward to adding additional members to our D.C. office.”

The office will retain its existing phone and fax numbers. The firm occupies suite 700, located on the seventh floor of the building. To learn more about 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue, click here.

Practical Law will present a free 75-minute webinar in which Matthew A. Karlyn, partner with Foley & Lardner LLP and co-author of “A Guide to IT Contracting: Checklists, Tools and Techniques,” to discuss practice tips on data privacy and security provisions of SaaS and other cloud service agreements, including a discussion of recent trends and issues.

The webinar will be Wednesday, June 15, at 1 p.m. EDT.

Data privacy and security are key issues for businesses who seek to upload their information onto the cloud, the company says on its website. Customers need assurance that the software as a service (SaaS) or other cloud service provider will maintain effective policies and practices to safeguard the confidentiality and security of their information.

In seeking this assurance, it is not enough for the customer to conduct due diligence of the provider’s practices because those practices, like the laws and regulations that govern them, can be a fast-moving target. Only by the skillful drafting of the customer’s cloud service agreement can counsel aim to ensure that the customer’s confidential, trade secret, and personal information stay well protected and that both the service provider and customer remain compliant with data privacy and security laws.

A key case is the pending replacement of the EU-US safe harbor framework with stringent requirements of a new, EU-US Privacy Shield for the handling of personal data. It is crucial to businesses that their cloud service agreements include terms broad enough to anticipate such legal developments, technological advances, and changes in standards and practices.

In this program, attendees will:

• Learn how to avoid common errors in data security, privacy, and disaster recovery provisions and provide for proper data protection both during and after the term of the cloud agreement.
• Explore effective remedies for breaches of data privacy and security.
• Consider the requirements of the EU-US Privacy Shield and its anticipated impact on cloud service customers and providers and the terms of their cloud service agreements.

A short Q&A session will follow.

Presenters:

• Matt Karlyn, Co-Chair Technology Industry Team, Foley & Lardner
• Paul Connuck, Senior Legal Editor, Intellectual Property & Technology

CLE credit is available for: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington. CLE credit is being sought for: Louisiana, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia CLE can be self-applied for in: Florida.

Register for the webinar.

While subscription services (sometimes referred to as auto-renewal programs) can be lucrative, companies should be mindful of the applicable laws to avoid the costs of fighting off the type of lawsuits that led to Sirius XM Radio settling an auto-renewal case for $3.8 million and Angie’s List settling a similar suit for $2.8 million, warn Andrew Klungness and Aaron Ginsburg on Bryan Cave’s Retail Law blog.

They discuss the the three main categories that various states use to regulate automatic renewal programs as they relate to contracts.

“Given the significant penalties and potential litigation costs associated with non-compliance, companies should work with experienced professionals to maximize compliance without adversely impacting the business,” the article says.

Read the article.

Anyone who has purchased a product online or downloaded software for a computer, tablet or mobile device has likely encountered “browsewrap” and “clickwrap” agreements, write Carolyn S. Toto and Kimberly Buffington on Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman‘s Social Media & Games Law Blog.

In the article, they write, “Such agreements are the bread and butter of companies that sell or license products or provide services via websites or web applications. Clickwrap agreements require a user to affirmatively click a button to affirm his or her assent to the agreement’s terms, whereas with a browsewrap agreement, the user’s assent to the agreement’s terms is inferred from the user’s use of the website. (Often, the terms of a browsewrap agreement are accessible from a hyperlink placed on one or more webpages of the company’s website.)”

The discuss a few recent cases that have addressed what exactly constitutes a valid, legally binding and enforceable contract.

Read the article.

The International Tax Controversy Update is an annual event where private and government tax professionals to discuss current events and best practices relating to International Tax Enforcement and Voluntary Disclosures. The event will be Wednesday, June 22, 8:30 a.m. to noon, in Paramus, NJ.

Topics will include:

*Current Events in Civil and Criminal Tax Enforcement
*Defending against the IRS assessment of “Continuation Penalties” for failure to file information returns.
*Gotchas: The unanticipated consequences of late filing, amended return filings and quiet voluntary disclosures and best practices for penalty mitigation
*Voluntary Disclosure Updates
*When and why does the IRS/DOJ impose penalties against banks, financial advisors and return preparers for their client’s failure to file FinCen Form 114 and other information returns?

Register for the event.

The International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), an organization that works for fair and effective alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practices worldwide, has spoken out against Donald Trump’s attacks on adjudicators.

In a release, CPR said it took this position in response to recent statements made by Trump questioning the impartiality of Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel because of his Mexican heritage, and also questioning whether a Muslim judge could fairly preside over a case involving him.

“Those who sit as judges and adjudicate cases have a well-established responsibility to be fair and impartial,” said CPR President and CEO Noah Hanft. “This obligation is one that all adjudicators, including neutrals on CPR’s own panel of distinguished neutrals that includes many former Judges, take with extreme seriousness. Indeed, it is critical to maintaining both the integrity and stability of the dispute resolution process. Therefore, accusations that judges are biased, based solely upon factors such as their ‘heritage,’ are both dangerous and irresponsible and anathema to basic precepts of justice.”

Hanft concluded, “As an organization committed to improving the way disputes are resolved and driving diversity within the profession, we consider the implication that one’s family background renders him or her biased and unable to adjudicate a matter fairly and without conflict to be a great affront. We call upon other ADR providers, and the legal and business community that relies upon a fair and stable judicial framework, to similarly condemn these statements.”

Jason Tomitz has joined Farrell Fritz as a tax associate in the firm’s Uniondale office.

Prior to joining Farrell Fritz, Tomitz was an associate at Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel, LLP in New York, NY. He was a summer associate at the same firm from June to August 2010. He  was a legal intern at Monteiro & Fishman, LLP from June to August 2009.

Tomitz, a South Huntington, NY resident, earned his Juris Doctorate, summa cum laude, from Hofstra University School of Law, where he was a research assistant to Dean Nora Demleitner from June 2009 to April 2011. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Albany.

He is admitted to practice in New York and is a member of the New York State Bar Association.

A blog post on the Cooley M&A site discusses the “option to acquire” structure, which addresses both the needs of a target company to develop a product or business on the one hand and the desire by a buyer to identify growth opportunities on the other.

“In an option to acquire transaction, the buyer agrees to pay the target an option fee in exchange for the exclusive option to acquire the target for a fixed price during an option period subject to certain conditions and agreements that are set forth in a fully negotiated and executed acquisition agreement,” the post explains. “As part of the arrangement, the parties may also enter into a collaboration agreement covering certain development activities of the target during the option period, with the achievement of the developments functioning as milestones to the buyer’s ability to exercise its option to buy. The collaboration agreement is usually separate from the option and acquisition agreement. Sometimes, the specific terms of the option may also be set forth in a standalone option agreement that is separate from the acquisition agreement.”

While options to acquire are fairly common in the medical device and life sciences industries, the option also provides attractive opportunities for funds and companies in other industries as well, as a way to get an inside track on new technology, the firm writes.

Read the article.

FisherBroyles, LLP has a warning for employers dealing with an employee who is doing — or is suspected of doing — illegal drugs: Situations of this kind are fraught with potential for large legal fees, company embarrassment, and major diversion of management time if you become involved in formal proceedings — even if you eventually win.

Drugs permeate our society. It’s on the news, in social media, and all over movies and television. It may also be in your workplace when you discover that your awesome SVP Frank Fantastic’s belief-suspending prior year’s sales record might be due to — or despite — a little cocaine habit combined with his daughter’s ADHD meds.

Some questions you want to consider — do you know this hotshot is doing illegal drugs or abusing alcohol or prescription drugs, or do you just suspect? Is Frank’s employment terminable at will or only for cause if he is a party to an employment contract? Is a substance addiction a “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act?

While the answers to such questions depend on the particular facts in each situation, one thing we can tell you is tread lightly, navigate carefully. You want to minimize involvement in such proceedings if at all possible.

The firm offers advice on how to proceed: maintain a clear anti-drug policy, manage the situation with care, review employment agreement, remember that the ada protects recovering addicts, and be proactive in future employment agreements. The article expands on each of those points.

Read the article.

Just one day after Cravath, Swaine & Moore announced an increase in associate salaries, bringing first-years’ pay up to $180,000, BigLaw firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley, & McCloy told its associates that it would match the new scale, according to Above the Law.

The site also reports that California litigation boutique Hueston Hennigan matched the new salaries only about four hours after Cravath’s announcement.

David Lat, Above the Law managing editor, wrote that Milbank Tweed has more than 600 lawyers and $700 million in annual revenue.

Read the article.

A federal judge found a pattern of misconduct by Merck & Co., including lying under oath and other unethical practices, freeing Gilead Sciences Inc from paying any damages for infringing Merck’s patents with its lucrative treatments for hepatitis C, Sovaldi and Harvoni, according to a Reuters report.

The ruling follows a March 24 jury verdict that ordered Gilead to pay $200 million in damages, based on findings that Merck’s patents were valid.

In this week’s ruling, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman said Merck deceptively used confidential information from Pharmasset, Inc, a company Gilead bought in 2011.

“Freeman also said Merck cannot enforce the patents because Merck’s own lawyer gave inconsistent and untruthful testimony during the trial. ‘Merck’s acts are even more egregious because the main perpetrator of its misconduct was its attorney,’ she said,” reports Andrew Chung.

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A French labor court Tuesday awarded Jérôme Kerviel, the Société Générale SA rogue trader convicted in 2010 of bringing the bank to the brink of collapse, a total of €450,000 ($511,000) because he was fired without “real or serious cause,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

According to the report: “Société Générale ‘could not pretend it hadn’t long been aware of the unauthorized trades conducted by Mr. Kerviel,’ judges wrote in their ruling. The bank therefore can’t argue that Mr. Kerviel was at fault when it ‘previously tolerated similar practices,’ they added.”

In a previous trial, Kerviel was found guilty on charges of forgery, breach of trust and unauthorized computer use and sentenced to three years in prison. He was ordered to repay his former employer €4.9 billion.

Read the article.