National law firm Wilson Elser announced that Arron Nesbitt, partner, and Linda Knight, of counsel, have joined the firm’s Denver office.

“Arron and Linda are excellent additions to the firm,” said Joseph Bermudez, regional managing partner of Wilson Elser’s Denver office. “Their abilities as litigators in several of our key practice areas will add tremendous value to Wilson Elser and for our clients.”

Formerly a partner with Taylor Anderson LLP in Denver, Nesbitt focuses his practice in the areas of wrongful death, catastrophic personal injury, mass tort and other complex matters in state and federal courts nationally, routinely for product liability and trucking clients.

Nesbitt also is a trial attorney, averaging one jury or bench trial per year over the course of his 17-year career.

Admitted to practice in Arizona, California, Colorado and Texas, Nesbitt also serves as defense counsel for excess carriers in specialty insurance litigation and has served as national product liability counsel for various manufacturers of automobiles, medical devices, stun guns and other products.

Nesbitt, who is AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell, obtained his B.A. degree from Northern Arizona University (1993) and his J.D. degree from Golden Gate University School of Law (1999).

Knight, previously an associate with Taylor Anderson, practices in a variety of civil litigation defense areas, including specialty insurance litigation for primary and excess carriers, premises liability, product liability, tort defense, real estate litigation and general commercial litigation.

Selected for inclusion in Rising Stars for Colorado Super Lawyers, Knight earned her B.A. degree from the University of Denver (2004) and her J.D. degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law (2007), where she was a member of the Appellate Team and staff editor of the Transportation Law Journal.

The national law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP announced that Chicago partner Mark W. Bina has been reappointed to the Illinois Supreme Court’s Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC).

Bina will serve another year on the commission which is the state agency overseeing the licensing and discipline of all Illinois-licensed attorneys. He also sits on the ARDC’s Hearing Board which serves as a fact-finder conducting evidentiary hearings for attorneys charged with misconduct, and also sits on the ARDC’s Oversight Committee.

Bina is a member of the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Health Law Practice Groups, working in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. In his health care practice, Bina works on regulatory and compliance issues, including disciplinary proceedings, administrative agency appeals, fraud and abuse issues, internal and governmental investigations, subpoenas, and risk mitigation.

He received his law degree from John Marshall Law School and his bachelor’s degree, with distinction, from Indiana University.

In petrochemical projects, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts are often negotiated after the technology licenses have been negotiated between the technology licensors and the project owner, write Sean Goldstein, Jean Shimotake and Raymond Azar of White & Case LLP.

“Both sets of agreements are also typically settled before financing is sought for the project. Given the significant interrelationship between the EPC contracts and license agreements, and common lender requirements for the bankability of such project documentation, these timing differences may give rise to a number of issues.” they write.

They discuss issues for the EPC contractor, project owner and lenders, along with possible solutions.

Read the article.

A second federal judge in Washington ruled Tuesday that a conservative legal watchdog group may question the State Department and potentially several top aides to Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton about her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, reports The Washington Post.

U.S. District Senior Judge Royce C. Lamberth granted a request from Judicial Watch, which has sought public records of talking points used by Susan E. Rice, then the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, in television appearances after the deadly Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya.

“His decision came about five weeks after another federal judge in Washington, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, ruled that current and former top State Department and Clinton aides could be questioned under oath about her email arrangement in a separate Judicial Watch FOIA case,” the newspaper says.

Read the article.

Trump University isn’t the only Donald Trump endeavor that has landed in court, reports Mother Jones magazine.

“The tycoon has launched — or lent his name to — a slew of business ventures that have yielded frustrated customers and investors who have sought legal recourse. There are hundreds of lawsuits extending over 43 years that name Trump or one of his businesses,” says the magazine.

The report includes a list of some of those legal skirmishes that began when Trump joined his father’s business and continue through his run for the GOP nomination, such as Trump Management, Trump Tower, Trump’s Atlantic City casinos, Trump SoHo, Trump Baja, Trump Model Management, and more.

Read the article.

A cousin and the self-styled common-law wife of the late John O’Quinn, the man deemed “King of Torts” by Forbes after his death in a Houston car accident in 2009, are engaged in a fight over the place of interment of the litigator’s body. That fight has seen the alleged “wrongful disinternment” of his body from a gravesite on the lawyer’s 5,000-acre Texas ranch to a Louisiana cemetery, reports The Houston Chronicle.

O’Quinn’s won more than $21 billion in verdicts and settlements for his clients, estimates his charitable foundation.

O’Quinn, who died at 68, and Darla Lexington were together for more than a decade and shared his River Oaks home but never married. Lexington accuses Service Corporation International affiliate Geo. H. Lewis & Sons of failing to get her permission to move O’Quinn’s casket or inform her that he’d been buried in Louisiana.

Read the article.

An increasing presence in contractual transactions is the automatic renewal clause known as the “Evergreen Clause,” writes Andrew C. Voorhees of Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., LPA.

“An Evergreen Clause allows for an agreement to continue for a defined period if the existing agreement is not renegotiated or properly cancelled within a specified time. Evergreen Clauses can be found in both consumer and commercial contracts, including Residential Lease Agreements, Advertising Contracts, Gym Memberships, and many other service-based agreements,” he explains. “The question is whether Evergreen Clauses are enforceable, as their effect is to automatically bind a contracting party to an agreement beyond the original contract term.”

Read the article.

“Boilerplate” is standardized language used in common documents to reduce the time spent in negotiation and document preparation, explains Brad Reid, Senior Scholar, Dean Institute for Corporate Governance and Integrity at Lipscomb University, in an article published on the HuffingtonPost. He says it would be a mistake not to analyze boilerplate, because it may vary.

His article provides a brief and incomplete educational overview of some forms of boilerplate.

He covers such topics as choice of language provision, dispute resolution provisions, arbitration or mediation provisions, waiver of a jury trial, amendment and anti-waiver language, amendment and anti-waiver language, assignments and delegations, third party beneficiaries, force majeure, and more.

Read the article.

About a year after Erin Callan took over as C.F.O. of Lehman Brothers, the then-150-year-old investment-banking institution that turned out to be at the heart of the financial crisis, Callan downed a bottle of sleeping pills on Christmas Eve. It was also six months after Callan resigned from the firm under mounting pressure, and just three months after Lehman filed for bankruptcy, according to a story in Vanity Fair.

In a new book, she tells how she went from being one of Wall Street’s most powerful female executives to feeling like she was set up to take some of the blame for one of the biggest financial collapses in modern history.

She writes how she had been in the job for just three months when she alone was tasked with delivering financial results to investors spooked by Bear Stearns’ fire-sale to JPMorgan, for $2 a share, just two days earlier. Both Lehman’s president and CEO gave her the job of assuring investors that was not the case, the magazine article says.

“Since I was the sole presenter on the call, every public statement about Lehman that was part of the speech and the Q&A is totally attributed to me. Just me,” she wrote.

Read the article.

A legitimate fear among companies negotiating license agreements exists, and that is the fear of the license counterparty filing for bankruptcy, reports Christopher A. Ward and Cortney E. Mendenhall of Polsinelli PC.

“Given the business interruption that ultimately could occur as a result of a restructuring event, it is vital for practitioners to address bankruptcy or insolvency issues upfront during the negotiation of the license agreement,” they write. “This is especially true for licensees who often rely heavily, if not exclusively, on a licensor for significant aspects of their business.”

They discuss several negotiation and drafting tips that practitioners can utilize to help protect their licensee clients in the event of a bankruptcy filing under chapter 11, of Title 11, of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”) by the licensor counterparty.

Read the article.

Portland, Oregon-based Compli offers an on-demand webinar designed to help companies avoid unethical conduct that can drag them into news headlines, costing the companies dearly by impacting both their reputation and their bottom line.

The webinar covers the key elements for a successful ethics and compliance program, and how to keep your company from making the same costly mistakes.

Speakers are Ambyr O’Donnell, corporate law consultant, and Rick Ruden, Complí’s resident ethics and compliance expert. The discuss:

• New and noteworthy ethics and compliance issues emerging in the media
• The 5 key elements of a successful ethics and compliance program
• How these issues impact you

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Buying or selling a business is a detail-intensive ordeal, and one of the most crucial parts of the final sales agreement is the non-compete agreement, according to an article posted by Brad Denton of Denton Peterson, PC.

“A non-compete agreement is a contract where the seller agrees not to compete directly with the buyer within mutually agreed-upon parameters. Clearly, any potential buyer is obligated by common sense to have this agreement set in stone before completing a big transaction. If no non-compete agreement is in place, nothing prevents the seller from setting up shop next door with the same product right after the sale is finalized,” the article says.

He covers such topics as geographic limitations, time period restriction, blue pencil rule, step-down provisions, and selling businesses vs. employment contracts.

Read the article.

As Donald Trump rolls through the political calendar, his campaign has already begun focusing on a new battle that may have a broader set of consequences — finding delegates who will be loyal to his cause at the Republican National Convention, reports ABC News.

“Part of the battle has come in the form of emails to delegates and supporters trying to lock down crucial votes. The other half is a five-person task force that has been quietly being trying to amass the 1,237 votes needed,” the network reports.

“Emails obtained by ABC News show the Trump campaign calling on supporters in Michigan to watch for precinct-level delegates who may defect to a rival candidate during a contested convention”

Read the article.

Now that Marco Rubio is out of the race, for the first time in U.S. political history, every presidential candidate — of both parties — supports at least states’ rights to do as they please with regard to marijuana legalization, according to a report in Rolling Stone.

Bernie Sanders, who pledges to end the drug war, is the most progressive on marijuana policy. And fellow Democrat supports states’ rights to legalize, but proposes to reschedule instead of deschedule cannabis, the newspaper says.

Donald Trump believes there should be more research on cannabis. Ted Cruz says he would not support legalization, but he believes states have a right to determine the legality for themselves. John Kasich also is opposed to marijuana use, but would defer to states’ rights, the report says.

Read the article.

A former vice president of the drugmaker that drew national criticism for raising the price of a parasite-fighting medication by 5,000% testified he was fired weeks after telling CEO Martin Shkreli the increase “was not justified,” reports USA Today.

The report says Howard Dorfman, also the former top lawyer for Turing Pharmaceuticals, told a Senate committee he joined managers who told Shkreli and other company officials that hiking the price from $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill “would have a severely negative impact on Turing’s business and reputation.”

Shkreli later resigned from Turing and now faces unrelated federal securities fraud charges.

Read the article.

In previous articles on employee separation agreements, Jonathan Orleans of Pullman & Comley, LLC discussed provisions that must – under federal law, specifically the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act – be included in employee separation agreements if the employee’s release of potential claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act is to be valid.

“And as I’ve pointed out previously, even if the employee is under 40 (and therefore isn’t protected by ADEA), it’s still wise to write the agreement in clear, understandable language and to have the employee confirm that he or she is entering into it knowingly and voluntarily,” he writes.

In a new article, he discusses some other provisions of employee separation agreements that his clients often ask about.

Read the article.

Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm, announced that trusts and estates lawyer Dale Noll has been appointed president-elect of the National Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Bar Association.

Noll will be installed as president of the country’s largest organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied legal professionals in 2017. During his tenure, he will preside over the 28th annual Lavender Law Conference and Career Fair, a leading industry event that brings together lawyers, law students, law firms and government agencies to exchange information about the important issues impacting the LGBT community. As president, Noll also will work with the board of directors to advance the National LGBT Bar Association’s mission to promote advocacy and equal access to the law for the diverse LGBT community.

In a release, the firm said Noll is a devoted LGBT advocate. He joined the National LGBT Bar Association in 2012, where he served on its finance committee for two years, and was then appointed to the board of directors as Association Treasurer. He was the 2015 co-chair of the Miami Dade County Gay and Lesbian Lawyers Association and was previously a gala committee member of the Broward County Gay and Lesbian Lawyers Network. He regularly speaks on marriage equality and estate planning issues for alternative families and same sex couples.

At Akerman, Noll represents trustees, personal representatives and beneficiaries in a wide variety of fiduciary issues and assists them in their roles as fiduciaries in administering estates and trusts. A particular focus of his practice is the representation of fiduciaries, beneficiaries and other interested parties in high-conflict, complex, and high-profile guardianship, trust and probate matters.

Akerman is a longtime champion of diversity in the legal profession and a demonstrated leader in the LGBT business community. In 2016, Akerman received its second perfect 100 percent rating on the 2016 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the national benchmarking survey administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for workplace inclusion and equality, and has earned the “Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality” distinction. Akerman also was ranked for another consecutive year among the nation’s top 50 law firms for diversity by The American Lawyer. The collective recognition Akerman has received is a testament to the firm’s continuing hiring and professional development practices that support a diverse group of men and women.

Beck Redden LLP to announces that partner Kat Gallagher has been selected by Lawyer Monthly magazine as a recipient of the 2016 Women in Law Award in recognition of her  legal expertise and contribution within the area of litigation. The award recognizes and honors the achievements of women that have challenged, influenced or changed the practice of law over the last 12 months across the globe.

“With more than 25 years practicing law, Kat Gallagher has distinguished herself as an elite trial lawyer with outstanding instincts for how to best tell her client’s story in the most persuasive and compelling manner,” the firm says in a release.

“She is a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, a preeminent association of trial lawyers limited to the top one percent of lawyers in any given jurisdiction,” the release continues. “In addition, she is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL) – membership in the Academy is limited to only 500 Fellows in the U.S.   Kat is also an Associate in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

Read the release.

WB Mills, PLLC announces the addition of Cynthia Dashiell as of counsel to the Dallas-based IP law firm.

With her addition to the firm, WB Mills, PLLC, expands its trademark, copyright and business litigation practice to include patent law, the firm says in a release. Dashiell also works in  trademark and copyright law.

In a release, the firm says Dashiell has more than 10 years of experience as an intellectual property attorney and spent nine years as an engineer in the areas of industrial, manufacturing and safety engineering. In her practice, Dashiell prepares patent applications (provisional, non-provisional and design) in the electrical and mechanical arts in various technological areas including: telecommunications (both packet switched and circuit switched), medical, thermal insulation, HVAC, agricultural and food processing equipment and software implementations. Additionally, Dashiell provides patent validity analysis and has experience with reexamination proceedings.

Dashiell also prepares and prosecutes trademark applications with the United Sates Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

“We are honored to have Cynthia join our firm as Of Counsel. With her strong knowledge and understanding of both patents and intellectual property, she will prove an extraordinary asset to the firm as we continue to grow,” said Wendy B. Mills, Attorney and Manager of WB Mills, PLLC.

A 2003 graduate of Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth, Texas, Dashiell graduated cum laude, was a staff member on the Texas Wesleyan Law Review, and served as a member of the Phi Delta Phi International Legal Honor Fraternity. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Mitratech has published a white paper titled “Catching the Wave: Legal Technology Spend at $3 Billion and Growing,” based on a comprehensive third-party survey of the domestic legal technology landscape. That paper is now available for free downloading.

The company said the survey was conducted to help understand the trends impacting the legal technology landscape, the size of the legal technology market, and the growth rates across each segment of that market.

Goals were to discover: What are the trends impacting the legal landscape and how are they impacting demand for 3rd party legal software? What is the structure of the buyer landscape and how does it segment by size? And how much is currently spent on software by legal departments and law firms today?

Download the white paper.