A recent decision from the Northern District of Illinois illustrates the pitfalls that could arise from current insurance industry practices involving the issuance of privacy statements and insurance policies if done without the appropriate precautions, according to a report by Carol J. Gerner and Cinthia Granados Motley for Claims Journal.

“The process of issuing an insurance policy, either directly or through an employer group, requires care and deliberate action when it comes to issues of proper integration, documentation and transmittal,” they write.

“In Dolmage v. Combined Ins. Co. of Am., (No. 1:14-cv-3089, N.D. Ill. Feb. 23, 2016), the court denied the defense motion to dismiss a breach of contract claim based on a ‘Privacy Pledge’ document that was included in insurance policy documents provided to employees of Dillard’s department store (Dillard’s). The decision raises a novel theory by plaintiffs and warrants attention given the number of ‘privacy statements’ consumers receive in the mail every day from banks and credit card issuers and the use of third-party vendors in the management of personal data.”

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An article on the website of ContractRoom considers some of the advanced legal technology options that exist to assist in most of the daily functions of practicing law today.

These functions include legal research, document review and evidence compilation, synthesizing research and developing a case, writing legal advice, drafting documents off templates, drafting documents with multiple parties, getting sign-offs and approvals from multiple parties, staying on top of contractual requirements, and collating evidence requested in litigation.

Options are offered for the various functions.

Read the article.

Morae Legal has posted a discussion about disruption in legal service delivery, involving Morae Legal Chief Strategy Officer Joy Saphla and Pearson plc Senior Vice President & General Counsel Bjarne Tellmann.

In this conversation, Tellmann asserts that the paradox of the massive increase in necessary legal work due to new legislation and regulation — coupled with fewer jobs for attorneys — is foundation for disruption in the practice.

The discussion focuses on how this disruption has altered legal service delivery, including changes in the models general counsel can use to staff matters and build legal teams in new and creative ways.

The conversation covers:

• How in-house teams are changing and growing with highly specialized experts.
• Optimal allocation between in-house and outsourced work.
• Specific examples Pearson has employed to reduce costs and become more efficient within their legal department.

Download the conversation.

A coalition of U.S. state attorneys general received guidance from well-known climate scientists and environmental lawyers in March as some of them opened investigations into Exxon Mobil for allegedly misleading the public about climate change risks, documents seen by Reuters showed, Reuters is reporting.

The report says Peter Frumhoff of the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has urged action on climate change, and Matt Pawa, who litigated against Exxon in a global warming case, were listed as presenters at a March 29 meeting of more than a dozen state prosecutors. That information came from emails between the offices of attorneys general in New York and Vermont.

Environmental groups are pushing in court, at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and in the offices of pension funds to demand more accountability on climate issues from big oil companies,” the report says.

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Twenty-four states are suing to block the Obama administration from implementing its new clean power regulations — the cornerstone of a promise that the United States will reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming, but some Texas energy companies are not as unanimous in their opposition. That’s because Texas’ energy sector is transforming rapidly, reports Mose Buchele for NPR.

“We really see what we are promoting as a very Texas way to do this,” says Brett Kerr, a lobbyist and spokesperson for Houston-based Calpine Energy, the largest independent power producer in the country. Kerr says Calpine consumes 15 percent of the gas produced in Texas.

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On April 6, 2016, after more than five years of anticipation, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued the final fiduciary rule and related guidance. The final fiduciary rule amends and expands the definition of a fiduciary that provides “investment advice” to reflect changes in the financial industry and the state of investment advice as it exists today, reports Sherman & Howard LLC.

“The final rule focuses on ‘conflicts of interest,’ and serves to sweep in a large number of investment advisers who were not previously treated as fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). To temper the scope and impact of the final rule, the DOL also issued two new prohibited transaction exemptions (along with certain amendments to existing exemptions),” the report says.

in the article, the firm offers guidance intended to address concerns of these investment advisers with respect to certain prohibited transactions under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code, while still protecting retirement plans and participants.

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Though most business-to-consumer transactions do not involve the signing of contracts, a lot of business-to-business transactions do, which is why it is important to remain current on the law to ensure that your electronically signed contracts are enforceable, writes John Di Giacomo for Practical Ecommerce.

“In the United States, the federal government has adopted the E-Sign Act, which states that a signature cannot be denied legal effect simply because it is made in an electronic form,” he writes. “The E-Sign Act preempts state law concerning electronic signatures to the extent that states haven’t adopted their own electronic signature laws.”

He also discusses the enforceability of e-signed contracts in the European Union.

Read the article.

Microsoft sued the U.S. government Thursday, arguing that a law that can prohibit technology companies from telling customers when law enforcement comes looking for their data is unconstitutional, reports The Seattle Times.

This action is seen as the latest high-profile challenge to the reach of law enforcement into cyberspace, following Apple’s fight against an FBI order to disable an encryption measure on an iPhone connected to the San Bernardino mass shooting.

“When law-enforcement agencies get a warrant to grab email or other data stored online, they can request a court order to bar Internet service providers from informing the user their documents were seized,” the report says. “Microsoft said it has received about 5,600 federal demands for consumer data in the past 18 months, almost half accompanied by such gag orders.”

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Some lawyers at Reed Smith, already unhappy about low morale, attorney layoffs and lateral losses, voiced their displeasure at the way the firm’s potential merger with Pepper Hamilton was announced, according to a report on Above the Law.

Kathryn Rubino quotes one source as saying, “So far the merger has led to bickering in the hallway. Morale has taken another nosedive.”

Another quote: “I mean the partners are happy cuz they can avoid bringing in business again, just buy someone else’s. The associates are just like great, dust résumé off.”

Read the article.

A recently disbarred Kansas City lawyer pleaded guilty Wednesday to embezzling more than $1.2 million from St. Luke’s Health System, reports The Kansas City Star.

Alan B. Gallas, 64, previously worked for a law firm that collected from patients who were behind on payments to the hospital system. He waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Kansas City to mail fraud.

“Gallas admitted that from 2009 to July 2015, he defrauded St. Luke’s Health System out of $1,224,264,” the report says. “He must pay that amount in restitution as part of Wednesday’s plea agreement.”

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The argument for corporate longevity is quite simple: achieving something strategic, significant, and sustainable almost always takes time, writes Wendell P. Weeks, chief executive officer of Corning, in an article posted by McKinsey & Company. Longevity is particularly important for innovation because time and sustained investment are needed to solve really tough problems. To help explain why, he considers an example from the history of his company.

He tells the story of Corning’s early experiments with optical technology in an effort to solve the problem of strained copper lines for phone carriers.

“Today, more than two billion kilometers of optical fiber have been installed worldwide, and a single fiber can transmit the entire collection of the US Library of Congress from Florida to London in less than 25 seconds. This life-changing invention would not have been possible without a long-term focus and sustained investment—a pattern that has repeated itself throughout Corning’s history,” he writes.

Read the article.

A physician signed a non-compete covenant, agreed to be enjoined if he breached, and allegedly did breach. But when his former employer asked a Providence, Rhode Island Superior Court judge to enter an injunction, the judge refused to prevent patients from being treated by a doctor of their own choosing, reports Paul E. Freehling of Seyfarth Shaw on the firm’s Trading Secrets blog.

The case involved a physician employed by a provider of health care services principally to nursing home residents. He signed an employment agreement with a non-competition covenant but several years late, he left the employer but continued treating its clients.  The company sued him and sought an order preventing him from competing with the provider.  The judge ruled, however, that the requested order would violate Rhode Island public policy.

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The protracted time for a construction case to get to trial and the attendant cost and expense has led the construction bar away from the courthouse and into the arbitration room, writes Ira M. Schulman of Pepper Hamilton LLP.

The prudent negotiation of an arbitration clause is as important to an arbitration as jury selection and jury charges are to litigation, Schulman explains.

He offers 10 individual pieces of advice, covering such topics as who can demand arbitration?, where will the arbitration be held?, how much discovery will be permitted?, how much discovery will be permitted?, and modification of award.

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An office of Economic Policy Report published in March 2016, entitled “Non-Compete Contracts: Economic Effects and Policy Implications,” estimates that 18% of all workers, or nearly 30 million people, are covered by non-compete agreements, reports Barry J. Waters on the website of Murtha Cullina. The Treasury Department is concerned that the prevalence of these agreements raises important questions about worker welfare, job mobility, business dynamics, and economic growth.

The article reports on the conclusions reached by the Treasury Department.

And it offers five take-aways for lawyers and employers.

Read the article.

Compliance Group will present a complimentary webinar on HIPA compliancy for business associates Thursday, April 21, beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

HIPAA compliance for business associates has become critical, especially when they deal with medical professionals, Compliancy Group says on its website. This webinar will explain the law, what business associates need to know and do to be compliant, and how to differentiate a firm to acquire new and maintain current clients.

The webinar will cover:

• The steps on how to become HIPAA compliant as a Business Associate
• What an effective BAA should include
• How to help existing and new healthcare clients with compliance
• Why it is important to differentiate yourself as HIPAA compliant

Register for the webinar.

The global law firm Reed Smith is in talks to combine with the smaller Pepper Hamilton of Philadelphia, the firms confirmed, according to a report on Bloomberg BNA.

“Based on these preliminary discussions, we see many potential benefits to joining forces,” said a Reed Smith spokesman, in a statement. “There remains a significant amount of work to do with Pepper Hamilton to assess those benefits and before any transaction would be ready to bring to the Reed Smith partnership.”

“If the two firms move forward to completion, Reed Smith, which has 1,620 lawyers in the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East, would acquire Pepper Hamilton’s 490 lawyers scattered throughout 13 U.S. offices,” the report says.

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A Georgia lawyer who admitted to stealing hundreds of thousands from clients was sentenced to nearly four years in prison and ordered to pay restitution, reports The Florida Times-Union.

Before Chief U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood sentenced him, Donald Carlton Gibson told Wood that he had tried his very first case in the courtroom where he stood before her with a “surreal sense of shame…”

“Instead of that man full of promise,’’ Gibson said, “I am here to be judged for what I am. I’m a thief.”

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Donald Trump’s campaign lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, the former chairman of the Federal Election Commission and a partner in Jones Day, will be instrumental in helping the candidate navigate the labyrinthine delegate and convention rules as the Republican presidential nomination fight enters the home stretch, according to a profile published by The Washington Post.

“For a while, McGahn’s colleagues at Jones Day either didn’t know the firm was representing Trump or didn’t mind. That changed late last month when McGahn organized a meeting between the candidate and more than a dozen lawmakers at the firm’s Washington office,” the report says.

A recent report by David Lat, a former federal prosecutor who runs the blog Above the Law and closely monitors the chatter within the nation’s white-shoe legal shops, quoted a number of his Jones Day sources, anonymously, saying that they were deeply embarrassed by the Trump affiliation.

Read the article.

BanbooHR will present a complimentary webinar designed to help companies’ human relations departments become more strategic to solve more imminent business problems.

The webinar will be Tuesday, April 19, beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

On its website, the company says the webinar will begin with an economic perspective around the pressures business is putting on HR to upskill themselves, and then will go into a discussion of the strategies and principles that can be used to escape the operational handcuffs holding executives back from fulfilling this higher-value promise.

Topics will include:

• Learn what Strategic HR actually means
• Learn how to escape the operational and become strategic
• Learn how to gain relevance, influence and authority in your organization
• Learn immediate steps you can take to reinvent your department
• Learn to think and speak the language of business

Speakers will be Angela Watson, Enterprise Account Executiv of eFileCabinet, and Rusty Lindquist, VP of Strategic HR Insights of BambooHR.

Register for the webinar.

Partner Cynthia Brotman Nelson has been named chair of Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP’s hospitality industry team, effective April 1.

Nelson has more than 25 years of experience representing and consulting institutional and entrepreneurial clients, with an emphasis in the hospitality industry. She represents clients in the development, acquisition, disposition, leasing and financing of commercial enterprises, both domestic and foreign, including hotels and mixed-use developments, shopping centers, multifamily housing developments, office buildings, industrial properties and unimproved land.

Her practice includes senior and mezzanine financing services, complex workout and debt restructuring, joint ventures, management agreements, franchise agreements and buying, selling, developing and ground leasing of all types of real estate products. Nelson consistently has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America© and Chambers USA as one of the nation’s leading leisure and hospitality lawyers.

“Cindy is one of the premier real estate and hospitality attorneys in the country,” says Christopher A. Peckham, Associate General Counsel at Ashford Inc., a provider of asset management and advisory services to companies within the hospitality industry. “Not only does she offer a vast wealth of substantive knowledge and experience, she is also extremely efficient and cost-effective. She is our go-to attorney for all of our transactional matters and has handled billions of dollars in acquisitions, dispositions and financings. We rely heavily on Cindy.”

“Cindy is one of the brightest minds in the hospitality space,” says Leslie Ng, Chief Investment Officer of the global hotel management company Interstate Hotels. “I have worked with her for over 20 years, and during that time she has represented my company’s interests in billions of dollars of hospitality acquisitions, related financings and dispositions. She has that rare ability to quickly focus on those items that are truly important in a transaction while tending to all the necessary details.”

One of Nelson’s responsibilities as the chair of the hospitality industry team will include leading the firm’s efforts with the annual Dallas Hotel Conference, where she has participated as a speaker since 2009. Each year, the Firm-sponsored event attracts a wide range of hospitality industry attendees from across the U.S.

“For more than a decade, our hospitality industry team has represented some of the most recognized names in the hospitality industry in hotel and resort acquisitions, dispositions and financings worldwide, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean,” says Nelson. “It is an honor to take over as the group’s chair, and I look forward to leading the team’s ongoing commitment to maximizing value and efficiency for our clients.”