Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, facing gender-bias claims by ex-partner Ellen Pao, may not get access to her performance reviews, complaints about her and other personnel records it sought from her other employers in a case that has focused attention on discrimination in Silicon Valley, reports Bloomberg News.

The report says Pao asked a state court judge in San Francisco to block demands Kleiner sent to social media company Reddit Inc. for those records and documents relating to an anonymous letter Kleiner’s lawyers said urged them to question Reddit workers about run-ins with Pao.

In a tentative ruling Jan. 20, Judge Charles Geerhart said the firm’s subpoenas targeting records at Reddit, where Pao works now, and BEA Systems Inc., where she was before joining Kleiner, were overbroad or not relevant to the case. Pao’s lawsuit is scheduled for trial on Feb 17, Bloomberg News reports.

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The National Law Journal has posted a list of five questions that every general counsel should consider in the wake of the Sony hacking.

The hacking episode — as well as recent favorable rulings for the plaintiffs in class action lawsuits pending against Target — have brought cybersecurity to the forefront of many corporate boards’ and general counsel’s agendas in the coming year.

The Journal says the focus will only increase in light of the legislative proposals. This is a complex topic that crosses multiple legal disciplines and business functions, and cybersecurity risk-mitigation requires thorough planning tailored to the particular data, business practices, and infrastructure of an organization, taking into consideration the threats facing the organization.

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K&L Gates will present a webinar discussing Fair Labor Standards Act compliance and highlighting common violations found in the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) enforcement initiative in the Marcellus Shale, which involved back wage payments of nearly $4.5 million for oil and gas workers in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The one-hour webinar will be Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time.

On its website, the firm says K&L Gates lawyers Amy L. Groff and Michael A. Pavlick will provide an overview of how employers in the oil and gas industry can comply with Fair Labor Standards Act requirements and avoid common wage and hour violations.

Register for the webinar.

Clean Energy Group and Croatan Institute have posted an on-demand webinar on the first comprehensive study of U.S. institutional investors’ appetite for green bonds.

On the Clean Energy States Alliance site, the organization says the study, “What Investors Want: How to Scale-Up Demand for US Clean Energy and Green Bonds,” provides a blueprint for growing the market for fixed-income securities to finance clean energy projects and solve climate problems.

In this webinar, guest speakers from Clean Energy Group and Croatan Institute discuss their findings.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 20 declined to take up a challenge by retailers to the Federal Reserve’s controversial rules for debit card “swipe fees,” according to a Reuters report.

Businesses pay the fees to banks when customers use debit cards to purchase goods or services. The fees reimburse banks for costs involved in offering debit cards.

Reuters says the high court’s rejection of the appeal means a March 2014 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that upheld the rules stays intact.

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Aruvio has posted a free on-demand webinar on managing spreadsheet risk and enforcing spreadsheet policies at all enterprise levels.

On its website, Aruvio says data and information captured on spreadsheets may be the most critical components for running any business. At the enterprise level, the overwhelming volume of existing spreadsheets and documented data creates incredible risk for displacement, loss or improper modification. Managing this spreadsheet risk and enforcing spreadsheet policies at all enterprise levels is crucial for achieving successful Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC). How do you know whether you are truly reducing your enterprise’s spreadsheet risk?

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McDonald Hopkins presents a complimentary on-demand webinar giving advice on the proper steps to take when an employer terminates a worker’s employment.

Faced with aggressive governmental agencies and increasingly knowledgeable employees, employers must be prepared with effective offensive and defensive strategies for addressing employment-related issues, the firm says on its website.

The webinar covers such topics as insufficient and/or inaccurate investigations and documentation, not recognizing when severance is an option, failing to properly handle reductions in force, and proper exiting procedures.

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Imperative Information Group has prepared a free on-demand webinar designed to walk employers through the process of preparing a background screening policy that helps ensure a safe and productive workforce while staying out of regulators’ and plaintiffs’ attorneys’ crosshairs.

The presentation covers such topics as the legal and safety reasons employers conduct thorough background checks, employers’ responsibilities under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, considerations in developing a background check and due diligence policy,Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its application to background checks, and state-specific laws governing background checks.Watch the on-demand webinar.

Ken Adams of the blog Adams on Contract Drafting has published online a question-and-answer exchange with the China Law Blog on the role that English-language contracts play in Chinese commercial life.

His Q&A exchange is with Steve Dickinson and Dan Harris.

The discussion covers such topics as: which language controls in a dual-language contract, how Chinese lawyers respond to English-language prose in contracts, whether Chinese lawyers draft contracts in English, contract provisions that make no sense in China, and other hot-button provisions.

Read the exchange.

Practical Law and Honigman Miller Schwartz & Cohn LLP present a free on-demand webinar focusing on common supply contract negotiating and drafting errors and challenges, steps to avoid disputes, and if a dispute arises, how to best position your client in the dispute resolution process.

On its website, Practical Law says its attendees can expect to discover when and why supply contracts should be used (or not used), how to win the battle of the forms, how to avoid issues that arise from the use of email in the process, and much more.

Free registration is required to see the recorded webinar.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Sears and Overstock will have to pay software development company Droplets Inc. $15 million for patent infringement, a Harrison County, Texas, federal jury decided Friday.

The case began Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas-Marshall Division with U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap presiding, according to a report in the Marshall News-Messenger.

The report said the jury of six men and two women rendered a verdict in favor of Droplets, ordering e-commerce site Overstock to pay Droplets $4 million and Sears to pay $11 million for directly and indirectly infringing on Droplets patents. Droplets was seeking a royalty of $32 million.

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National Defense magazine has published a paper on the challenge of establishing an effective compliance program, especially when the definition of the gold standard in ethics can be interpreted differently across various cultures.

Jessica Bejarano, chief ethics and compliance officer for PAE, a provider of integrated global mission services based in Arlington, Virginia, wrote the article.

“Enforcement of government contract regulations has become increasingly vigilant,” she wrote. “An effective compliance program, as opposed to one that looks good on paper and sits on the shelf, is critical to satisfying and exceeding the U.S. government’s requirements.”

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Nearly 51 percent of the 450 financial reporting executives polled at KPMG’s 24^th Annual Accounting and Financial Reporting Symposium pointed to the specter of future regulations as a key concern, with another 16 percent citing the navigation of current regulatory compliance issues as a top worry. Tax compliance (22 percent), and data infiltration and IT security (11 percent) also were identified as leading concerns.

“In this heightened environment of regulatory guidance, it is critical that companies understand the current and pending compliance issues, and the ripple effects on many aspects of their business operations,” said Thomas Duffy, KPMG’s national managing partner for Audit.

Read the report.

DLA Piper has posted a paper about a $185 million punitive damages award won by a plaintiff in a pregnancy discrimination suit.

Joseph Domenick Guarino and Kevin Connelly wrote that Rosario Juarez began as a retail salesperson in San Diego at AutoZone in 2000. She was promoted to Parts Sales Manager but was unsuccessful in seeking advancement to store manager until she complained of discrimination and threatened a lawsuit. Her career became even more difficult after she became pregnant in 2005.

After she gave birth, she was demoted and later fired.

At trial, a jury set punitive damages at $185 million, more than 200 times the compensatory damages award and $25 million more than Juarez’s attorney asked the jury to grant in punitive damages

Read the paper.

Frank R. Jimenez

Raytheon Companyhas announced the appointment of Frank R. Jimenez as general counsel for the company, effective Jan. 19.

Jimenez, 50, previously served as general counsel of the Navy from 2006-2009, and was one of seven Senate-confirmed Pentagon civilians of four-star equivalent rank overseeing the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. He succeeds Jay B. Stephens, who is retiring from Raytheon on March 31 after serving 12 years as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.

Prior to joining Raytheon, Jimenez served as general counsel, secretary and managing director, corporate affairs of Bunge Limited, a Fortune Global 200 agribusiness and food company with 35,000 employees and $60 billion in 2013 revenues.

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Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams, Ltd. will present a free seminar on Jan. 29, 2015, where speakers will be discussing topics focused on the manufacturing industry. The seminar will be held at the Union League Club of Chicago from 8:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.  with breakfast included. The address of the seminar site is Union League Club of Chicago, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., Room 700, Chicago, IL 60603.

The seminar will have three 30-minute presentations, each presented by a member of ORBA’s Manufacturing Industry Group.

There is no charge to attend this program, but seats are limited. Organizers are asking that any planning to attend register on or before Jan. 27.

Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams (ORBA) is a full-service accounting, tax and financial services consulting firm dedicated to helping our clients achieve their goals and build success since 1977.

Register for the seminar.

Davis & Kuelthau has published a white paper explaining a new law that retroactively extended through the end of 2014 more than 50 tax breaks that had expired on December 31, 2013. Senior attorney Mark G. Kmiecik and shareholder Robert A. Mathers wrote the paper.

On December 19, 2014, President Obama signed into law the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (HR 5771). Otherwise known as the “Tax Extenders” Act, this is the law that retroactively extended the tax breaks that had extended at the end of 2013.

While there were discussions of making permanent a number of these extenders, particularly the Bonus Depreciation and Section 179 deductions, Congress ultimately passed on making any of these provisions permanent and punted the fate of the extenders to 2015 and the incoming 114th Congress. So, yes, that means that these very same provisions expired as of December 31, 2014, leaving tax practitioners with the same tax planning uncertainties in 2015.

Read the white paper.

Equifax Workforce Solutions will present a free webinar discussing best practices for incorporating electronic records throughout the life of a mortgage loan, as well as the power of electronic signatures as a tool for achieving compliance with the ever-increasing regulatory burden.

The webinar will be Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 12 p.m. Central time.

Margo Tank, counsel for the Electronic Signature and Records Association (ESRA), will explain the legal foundations for electronic signatures, the reasons electronically-signed mortgages are undergoing rapid growth, and recent developments in the regulatory environment for electronic signatures and trusted third-party records.

Tank will be joined by Jeff Knott, 2015 ESRA chairman. Knott, who is also Assistant Vice President of Product Management for Equifax Verification Services, will provide insights on technology issues related to electronic signatures.

Tank, who is also a partner at financial services law firm BuckleySander LLC, will discuss best practices for electronic signatures in such areas as:
–Validating identity
–Getting consent to electronic documents
–Demonstrating the document made it into the correct hands
–Making sure the eSigned document is tamper-evident

Register for the webinar.

Thomas Sabatino

Walgreens Boots Alliance top attorney Thomas Sabatino is the latest executive to leave the company, according to a report in The Chicago Tribune.

Sabatino will join Hertz Global Holdings as senior executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel starting Feb. 9.

“Sabatino had been general counsel for the former Walgreen Co. since 2011 and chief administrative officer since last year,” The Tribune reports. “He will remain with the company until the end of January, a month after Walgreen’s acquisition of Alliance Boots closed Dec. 31 and formed holding company Walgreens Boots Alliance.”

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DTI Marketing presents a complimentary on-demand webinar offering insights on controlling eDiscovery costs and risks.

DTI says the webinar features a powerhouse panel of in-house legal executives from Walmart, Swiss Re, Travelers and Credit Suisse.

Discussion topics include:

– Optimizing internal eDiscovery protocols and educating law firms about them

– Tracking costs to gather accurate historical data

– Using historical data to better predict costs and negotiate fees

Watch the on-demand webinar