Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce the election of 15 new partners and the promotion of 11 new counsel, effective January 1, 2022.

“Each of these attorneys has been a very significant contributor to the firm on many fronts, and we are grateful for the excellent service and valuable perspectives they provide to our clients,” said Eversheds Sutherland Co-CEO Mark D. Wasserman. “This outstanding group, which spans all of our practices and sectors as well as seven of our US offices, will be a large part of our continued growth and success as they embark on the next stage of their careers.”

The following attorneys have been elected partner:

Umar R. Bakhsh (Intellectual Property), resident in the Atlanta office, counsels clients on various aspects of intellectual property procurement and enforcement as well as licensing, purchases and other transactional matters. He is experienced in patent and trademark prosecution, litigation, privacy and cybersecurity matters, and providing evidence of use and freedom to operate opinions. His clients are leaders in the software, e-commerce, cybersecurity, consumer electronics, wireless communication, gaming and control system spaces.

Joshua L. Belcher (Energy), resident in the Houston office, has a national, multidisciplinary practice counseling clients in the utility, power and pipelines sectors. He guides clients through mergers and acquisitions, financings, project development and energy commodities transactions, with a focus on helping companies identify and manage complex environmental business risks in the context of the transaction and ongoing operational compliance. He has extensive experience in both the development and acquisition of utility-scale and customer-sited energy projects.

Kathleen Dempsey Boyle (Real Estate), resident in the Chicago office, counsels clients on all aspects of commercial real estate, development and redevelopment, acquisitions and dispositions, and on different types of leases, including drafting and negotiating ground leases, build-to-suit leases, and existing building leases. She represents developers, landlords and tenants regarding retail, mixed-use, office, warehouse and industrial projects.

Ronald D. Coenen Jr. (Insurance), resident in the Washington DC office, advises financial institutions, such as life insurance companies and fund complexes, on complying with regulatory requirements under the federal securities laws. He provides advice regarding various types of securities offerings and asset management vehicles, including variable and index-linked annuity contracts, mutual funds and ETFs.

Thomas F. Dugan (Real Estate), resident in the Washington DC office, represents clients in a broad range of commercial real estate transactions. He provides counsel to master and special servicers in the acquisition of servicing rights for structured finance transactions for agency, commercial mortgage-backed securities, single-asset single-borrower and whole business securitizations.

Dwaune L. Dupree (Capital Markets), resident in the Washington DC office, counsels investment funds and business development companies (BDCs) on a broad range of corporate, regulatory, compliance and corporate governance matters. He also advises clients on various capital markets transactions, and ensures compliance with federal securities laws and regulations promulgated by the SEC.

Kevin Finnegan (Insurance), resident in the New York office, counsels insurance and financial services clients on a broad range of transactions and issues, including mergers and acquisitions, strategic transactions, regulatory compliance and general corporate matters. He has helped clients structure and complete sales and purchases of insurance companies and other entities, acquisitions of blocks of insurance business using reinsurance, company formations and related capital raising, and a variety of other transactions, and advises clients on related regulatory issues.

Issa J. Hanna (Investment Services), resident in the New York office, assists broker-dealers, investment advisers, investment funds, insurance companies and distributors in navigating the regulatory requirements applicable to their businesses. His experience includes guiding clients through day-to-day compliance issues, representing them before federal and state regulators and self-regulatory organizations, developing agreements, policies and procedures and disclosures to effectuate various business initiatives, and counseling clients through regulatory issues arising out of transactional matters.

Ben Marzouk (Investment Services), resident in the Washington DC office, advises financial institutions on compliance with federal and state securities laws, including SEC and FINRA rules and regulations. His securities regulatory experience, which covers broker-dealers, investment advisers, and investment funds, also extends to anti-money laundering compliance and digital asset transactions.

Aaron C. Moody (Finance, M&A & Private Capital), resident in the Atlanta office, focuses his practice on critical business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, financings, venture capital investments and private placements. He also provides general corporate representation and advice to clients and negotiates complex commercial arrangements.

Ian S. Shelton (Litigation), resident in the Austin office, has a national disputes and appellate practice with a focus on class action, energy, construction and complex commercial litigation. He is licensed in both Texas and California and advises corporate and individual clients in commercial and technology disputes, including business torts and intellectual property disputes.

Brandi A. Taylor (Litigation), resident in the San Diego office, counsels technology companies in product development with a focus on global data privacy compliance. She regularly advises clients building and integrating emerging technologies, including augmented and virtual reality, as well as video game developers and social media platforms. She also assists companies in preparing and implementing multijurisdictional privacy compliance programs.

Kyle E. Wamstad (Energy), resident in the Atlanta office, represents clients in various transactional and regulatory matters in the electric power, renewable energy, natural gas, crude oil and refined products sectors. His recent transactional experience includes purchase and sale, asset purchase, power purchase, procurement, interconnection, transportation/transmission service and asset management agreements.

Sean D. Wissman (Insurance), resident in the Washington DC office, represents clients on a wide variety of corporate transactions. Much of his practice has been focused on the insurance industry and he routinely represents insurance companies on mergers and acquisition, reinsurance, and other transactional matters.

Michael J. Woodson (Litigation), resident in the Austin office, advises clients on complex commercial litigation matters with an emphasis on enforcement and all aspects of labor and employment issues. He represents clients in various business disputes, including trade secret cases, non-compete issues, discrimination, harassment and retaliation, FLSA, FMLA, WARN, and other federal and state statutes. Additionally, Michael assists clients in all matters concerning traditional labor issues.

The following attorneys have been promoted to counsel:

Charles C. Capouet (Tax), resident in the Washington DC office, advises clients on the full range of state and local tax matters, including sales and use, excise, income and transfer taxes. He instructs clients on the taxation of cloud computing and digital goods. He counsels clients in tax controversy matters, including administrative protests before state tax authorities across the United States. He also counsels on tax compliance and policy matters.

Elizabeth S. Cha (Tax), resident in the Washington DC office, counsels clients on state and local tax matters, including sales and use taxes, telecommunications taxes and other taxes imposed on regulated entities. Liz represents clients in tax controversy and counsels clients on state tax planning, structuring and integration. She also counsels clients on unclaimed property matters, such as voluntary disclosure and audit management.

Andrea L. Gordon (Litigation), resident in the Washington DC office, advises clients on white collar, compliance, SEC and FINRA matters. She has extensive experience conducting internal investigations, evaluating and developing corporate compliance programs and representing both corporate and individual clients in regulatory inquiries, administrative proceedings and complex commercial litigation. She also focuses on matters involving the FCPA and anti-money laundering.

Jeanne M. Waters (Capital Markets), resident in the New York office, counsels investment funds and business development companies (BDCs) on a variety of corporate, regulatory, compliance and corporate governance matters. She advises clients on compliance with the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940. She regularly counsels clients on a broad range of issues facing funds and their boards of directors, including corporate governance and compliance matters, disclosure issues and strategic planning. She also represents clients in various public and private offerings.

Hunter D. Raines (Finance, M&A & Private Capital), resident in the Atlanta office, advises clients on complex and transformative business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestures, joint ventures, private placements and venture capital investments. He also regularly provides general corporate advice to clients ranging from small startups to established enterprises, as well as corporate governance advice to individual shareholders and partners.

Sarah Razaq Sallis (Litigation), resident in the Washington DC office, was formerly an attorney in FINRA’s Department of Member Regulation and offers clients a decade of securities industry regulatory and enforcement experience. She advises broker-dealers, investment advisers, investment companies, financial institutions, public companies, and individuals in private litigation and arbitration matters, as well as examinations, internal investigations and prosecutions by FINRA, the SEC, the NYSE, the DOJ and state securities regulators. She uses her deep understanding of the federal securities rules and regulations to help clients successfully navigate complex securities enforcement matters.

Alexander F.L. Sand (Insurance), resident in the Austin office, advises clients across sectors on a broad range of cybersecurity and data privacy matters, with a focus on financial services and technology companies. He regularly advises clients on complex and evolving privacy and cybersecurity regulations, including CCPA/CPRA, GLBA, HIPAA, CDPA, CPA, FCRA, NY DFS cybersecurity regulations, NY SHIELD Act, MA data security regulations and state data broker requirements. He also advises clients responding to data breaches and related regulatory investigations.

Jim L. Silliman (Litigation), resident in the Houston office, represents clients in the energy, construction and offshore services industries in complex commercial and maritime litigation. He advises them on complex contract disputes, business tort claims, bankruptcy matters, and catastrophic offshore Jones Act claims in state and federal courts at both the trial and appellate levels and in arbitration. He also serves clients in emergency and crisis response efforts, internal investigations and general business advice.

Laura Taylor (Tax), resident in the Washington DC office, focuses her practice on employee benefits and executive compensation matters. She regularly counsels clients on compliance with the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), as well as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), HIPAA and various other federal and state laws relevant to employee benefit plans and executive compensation.

John M. Zerwas, Jr. (Energy), resident in the Austin office, advises clients on regulatory and transactional matters involving energy and electric utility issues. He frequently represents electric utilities, retail electric providers, generation companies and power marketers before various state and federal regulatory agencies, including the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

John Allen Zumpetta (Insurance), resident in the Washington DC office, counsels clients on unclaimed property and insurance regulatory matters. His unclaimed property practice focuses on defending clients in multistate unclaimed property audits, assisting clients in voluntary disclosure programs, and advising clients on a wide range of unclaimed property compliance issues. With respect to insurance clients, he advises on regulatory compliance, insurance and reinsurance transactions and corporate governance matters.

About Eversheds Sutherland
As a global top 10 law practice, Eversheds Sutherland provides legal services to a global client base ranging from small and mid-sized businesses to the largest multinationals, acting for 70 of the Fortune 100, 61 of the FTSE 100 and 128 of the Fortune 200.
With more than 3,000 lawyers, Eversheds Sutherland operates in 74 offices in 35 jurisdictions across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. In addition, a network of more than 200 related law firms, including formalized alliances in Latin America, Asia Pacific and Africa, provide support around the globe.
Eversheds Sutherland provides the full range of legal services, including corporate and M&A; dispute resolution and litigation; energy and infrastructure; finance; human capital and labor law; intellectual property; real estate and construction; and tax.
Eversheds Sutherland is a global legal practice and comprises two separate legal entities: Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP (headquartered in the UK) and Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP (headquartered in the US), and their respective controlled, managed, affiliated and member firms. The use of the name Eversheds Sutherland is for description purposes only and does not imply that the member firms or their controlled, managed or affiliated entities are in a partnership or are part of a global LLP. For more information, visit eversheds-sutherland.com.

Farrell Fritz is pleased to announce the promotions of Philip A. Butler and Peter J. Sluka to counsel effective January 1, 2022.

Philip A. Butler, a Merrick, NY, resident, is a land use & municipal attorney in the firm’s Hauppauge office. He received his J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law and his B.A. from Hofstra University.

Peter J. Sluka, a Rockville Centre, NY, resident, is a commercial litigation attorney in the firm’s New York City office. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from St. John’s University School of Law and his B.S. from Fordham University.

Eight attorneys joined the Houston and San Antonio offices of Chamberlain Hrdlicka in the recent months, adding to the Commercial Litigation; Labor & Employment; Appellate; Intellectual Property; Insurance Litigation; International Tax; Tax Controversy; Tax Planning & Business Transactions and Trusts & Estates practices. The firm has added a total of 12 new attorneys in Texas and 21 nationwide since January 2021, as it continues its growth in Texas and nationally.

Earlier this year, the Houston Business Journal named the firm among its 2021 Middle Market 50 in recognition of the firm’s growth. In the past two years, Chamberlain Hrdlicka has also expanded its services by adding Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditor Rights, Data Security & Privacy, Technology & IP Transactions, and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Audits & Investigations practices, adding 27 new attorneys in Texas.

“In the increasingly competitive legal job market, we are gratified to be able to continue adding talented attorneys to our team,” said Larry Campagna, managing shareholder for Chamberlain Hrdlicka. Thanks to our midsize, entrepreneurial structure, we provide our new attorneys with an accelerated opportunity to develop their practices under the mentorship of experienced attorneys. These exceptional new lawyers know that our clients expect the sophistication of a big law firm with the personal service that our mid-size firm allows.”

Amber Ali
Ali joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Commercial Litigation practice an associate, where she will focus on litigating and arbitrating contractual disputes between businesses. She brings several years of experience in litigating and resolving contractual disputes; and matters involving products liability, premises liability, and personal injury, having represented a wide variety of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses and individuals. Prior to starting her legal practice, she interned for former Justice Evelyn Keyes of the Texas First Court of Appeals.

Ali received a bachelor’s degree in political science, cum laude, from the University of St. Thomas, where she was also in the Honors Program. She earned her law degree from South Texas College of Law Houston. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Houston Bar Association, the Houston Young Lawyers Association and the South Asian Bar Association.

Timothy Dean
Dean joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Tax Planning & Business Transactions practice as an associate, having previously worked as a summer associate with the firm. Prior to joining Chamberlain Hrdlicka, he also worked as a student extern at the Internal Revenue Service.

Dean graduated from the University of the Incarnate Word with a bachelor’s degree in biology. He has received his law degree, cum laude and as a member of the Order of Coif, from Loyola Law School, where he also earned a master of laws degree in taxation. When at law school, he received the Gregory W. Goff Award for superior academic achievement in the Tax Law curriculum. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas.

Amy Jo “AJ” Foreman
Foreman joined the firm as an associate in the Commercial Litigation practice, where she focuses primarily on commercial litigation, labor & employment and appellate matters. Prior to joining Chamberlain Hrdlicka, Foreman clerked for The Honorable Juan F. Alanis in McAllen, Texas. Before embarking on her legal career, she worked in fundraising for several esteemed arts organizations, including NPR and the Smithsonian.

Foreman graduated from the University of Houston with a bachelor of fine arts degree and received a master’s degree in arts management from American University. She earned her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center, where she was an active member of the mock trial team, winning awards for her advocacy at local and national competitions. While in law school, she defended many students in their Honor Board proceedings. She was also the chief notes & comments editor for Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy.

William McMichael
William McMichael joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Commercial Litigation practice as an associate. He is a trial lawyer who maintains a nationwide practice with an emphasis on complex insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, having successfully represented both insurance carriers and policyholders in state and federal courts in more than a dozen states across the nation. He also represents a variety of clients in a commercial litigation matters throughout the State of Texas.
McMichael graduated with a bachelor’s degree, with honors, in history from the University of Texas at Austin, and went on to graduate with Special Distinction from Baylor Law School. While at Baylor Law, McMichael served as a member of the Baylor Barrister Society and the Baylor National Mock Trial Team, earning recognition as the top trial advocate in his class. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas – Litigation and Insurance Sections, the Houston Bar Association, the Bar Association of the Fifth Circuit, and the Baylor Law Alumni Association. He is also a Life Member of the Texas Exes.

S. Ryan Reneau
Reneau joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s tax practice as senior counsel. He focuses his practice on international tax planning, corporate structure optimization, and transaction efficiency, with a holistic approach that balances immediate cash tax consequences, financial statement implications, and long-term positioning for the future. He has more than 10 years of experience counseling a broad range of publicly traded and privately owned clients as both an external advisor and in-house team member. Reneau is also a Certified Public Accountant and Charted Financial Analyst charter holder. Prior to joining Chamberlain Hrdlicka, he worked as a senior manager within the tax group of a multinational corporation leading the tax accounting and quantitative analysis functions. He has also worked with a Big Four accounting firm in the international tax services practice.

Renau has graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, summa cum laude, from Texas State University – San Marcos. He has earned his law degree at Baylor Law School, where he was a member of the Law Review, and a master of laws degree in Taxation from the New York University School of Law. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas – Tax Section.

Damon Sima
Sima joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Intellectual Property practice as an associate, bringing experience in civil litigation in federal courts and Patent Trial and Appeal Board, where he represented plaintiffs and defendants in disputes involving patent litigation matters. He has also helped clients obtain patent licenses and evaluate the strength of infringement allegations. Prior to starting his legal career, Damon was a professor at Lamar University’s College of Engineering, where he taught courses at both undergraduate and graduate level. He also has years of experience in different industries as a design engineer and technical manager.

Sima has earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology; a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Khaje Nasir Technical University; as well as a master’s degree in industrial systems and engineering and a PhD in advanced manufacturing processes from Rutgers University. He received a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center, where he served as an article editor at Houston Business and Tax Law Journal. He has been published in numerous research publications and has received a considerable number of citations.

He is a member of the Houston Intellectual Property Lawyers Association; Atlas IP Inns of Court, Houston Chapter; Licensing Executive Society, Executive Committee Member (Houston Chapter); Intellectual Property Student Organization; the American Intellectual Property Law Association; Houston Young Lawyers Association; the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Karen Tate
Tate joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Trusts & Estates practice as Senior Counsel. She focuses her practice primarily on estate, gift and income tax planning for high net worth individuals.

Tate graduated from the Texas A&M University. She received her law degree, magna cum laude, from the Texas Tech Law School. She has also earned a master of laws degree in taxation from the University of Houston Law Center.

Daizia Williams
Williams joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s tax practice as an associate. Prior to joining the firm, she worked as a law clerk to the Honorable Kathleen Kerrigan of the U.S. Tax Court in Washington, D.C. She has also worked as an intern for the Honorable Juan F. Vasquez of the U.S. Tax Court and as an extern for the Department of Justice Tax Division’s Appellate Section in Washington, D.C. While in law school, she’s also worked as an intern for a solo practitioner tax attorney.

Willliams graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She earned her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center and the master of laws degree in Taxation, with honors, form Georgetown University Law Center. She is a member of the San Antonio Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas – Tax Section, and the American Bar Association – Tax Section.

“The world’s largest coal port has announced it will now be powered entirely by renewable energy. The announcement from Port of Newcastle comes as coal power generation in Australia’s national electricity market fell to its lowest level in the final three months of 2021. Though the port,” reports Royce Kurmelovs in The Guardian.

“It continues to export an average of 165Mt of coal a year, the move is part of a plan to decarbonise the business by 2040, and to increase the non-coal portion of its business so that coal only makes up half its revenue by 2030. It has signed a deal with Iberdrola, which operates the Bodangora windfarm near Dubbo in inland New South Wales.”

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“New York-listed offshore driller Valaris has been awarded four new contracts, adding close to 300 days to its project backlog. In the US Gulf of Mexico, Kosmos Energy hired the 2012-built semisub Valaris DPS-5 for a one-well project. The contract should commence in February this year and last for 105,” reports Adis Ajdin in Splash 247.

“Valaris also clinched a one-well deal with an undisclosed operator in the US Gulf for the 2010-built jackup Valaris 144. The contract is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2022 with a minimum duration of 68 days. Meanwhile, Western Gas awarded a one-well contract for the 2011-built semi Valaris MS-1 offshore Australia.”

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“Stanley Johnson has been a rare bright spot for the Los Angeles Lakers since joining the team on a hardship exemption 10-day contract. His energy and defense were so impressive that he managed to start three of the five games he spent on the team and averaged 25.2 minutes per game for the,” reports Sam Quinn in CBS Sports.

“That doesn’t mean he’ll be gone forever. According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, there is mutual interest in another contract between the two sides, and Lakers coach Frank Vogel said we still hope to have him back when asked about Johnson on Monday. So why isn’t Johnson still a Laker? In all likelihood, it’s only a technicality.”

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“Another month, another sign of Southern California’s housing crunch, as signed contracts for single family homes in L.A. County fell by nearly 17 percent in December from a year earlier, according to a report published today by the appraiser Jonathan Miller. Miller’s report measured December signed,” reports Trevor Bach in The Real Deal.

“Contracts in a swath of the market from Downtown Los Angeles to the Westside, covering eight price segments. Signings decreased last month in six of those tranches, including 38 percent year-to-year drops in signings for single family homes priced between $300,000 and $500,000 and $500,000 and $700,000. The exceptions were homes.”

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“Big Law firms face a tall task this year repeating their financial performance in 2021, when a surge in demand for premium lawyers’ time drove revenue increases not seen since before the Great Recession. Law firm leaders got a taste of what 2021 would be like in the last three months of 2020 as,” reports Roy Strom in their Bloomberg Law.

“A hot economy brimming with liquidity began powering some of their most important practice groups. Deal flow never let up: Private equity transactions surged to a record last year and helped the broader mergers and acquisitions market set an all-time high with more than $5 trillion in deals. Add it all up and law firms saw their top line.”

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“A premier provider of specialty industrial contracting and environmental services throughout the United States, has announced Chad Horner as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. Horner joined AIS in April 2019 and has served as interim general counsel since September 2020. The decision to,” reports Business Wire in their blog.

“I am absolutely honored, humbled, and thrilled to be named Senior Vice President and General Counsel of ASRC Industrial, a company that I have grown to love during my time here, Horner said. It’s an exciting time at AIS, and I look forward to continuing to work with the leadership team and our fantastic employees in growing this company.”

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“The estate of a former police dispatcher will receive $1 million as part of a settlement with the township over alleged racist discrimination he faced within the Wall Police Department. The township will pay $500,000 to the estate of Nicholas Curcio, who spent 22 years as a police dispatcher and was promoted,” reports Mike Davis in Yahoo News.

“The rank of communications supervisor before he charged with official misconduct and placed on unpaid leave. He was eventually acquitted of all charges. The other half of the settlement sum will be covered by the town’s insurance carrier. Curcio, 51, died earlier this year. An obituary and court records did not detail. Who represented Curcio.”

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“Potentially dozens of former students of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet may be compensated after the dance company settled a multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit involving a past instructor accused of taking photos of young women and teenage girls for years. The RWB has agreed to a $10-million settlement,” reports Bryce Hoye in CBC.

“The case against it and former instructor and photographer Bruce Monk. An approval hearing is scheduled for next month. It’s been a very long, difficult road for the women who’ve been involved in this case, said lawyer Margaret Waddell of the Waddell Phillips law firm. I think that they all feel a sense of relief, that they’ve reached.”

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“I’m gazing at my crystal ball to divine what’s in store for Big Law from return-to-office to DEI and more. It’s that time of the year when I gaze into my crystal ball to see what lies ahead for Big Law. Here’s what I predict for this new year The big day for the big return will be set back indefinitely. Senior,” reports Vivia Chen in Bloomberg Law.

“partners and their Wall Street counterparts will rant about how remote work endangers firm culture, the sacred apprenticeship model, collaboration, and Western civilization itself. But who’s taking them seriously anymore? Eventually, the masters of the universe will realize they can’t control the Covid virus and stop pestering the troops.”

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“Wenzel was a partner at Swiss law firm Kellerhals Carrard where he acted as WADA’s external legal counsel for over a decade before his departure at the end of 2021. During his 11-year stint at Kellerhals Carrard, Wenzel handled hundreds of doping-related cases before the Court of Arbitration for,” reports Geoff Berkeley in Inside The Games.

“Sport for WADA and other anti-doping organisations, including International Federations and National Anti-Doping Organisations. Wenzel is now set to form part of WADA’s leadership team as general counsel and as part of the office of the director general based in Lausanne in Switzerland. WADA says Wenzel will have overarching.”

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“It was among the country’s deadliest coronavirus outbreaks: One in every three residents of a New Jersey nursing home for frail military veterans died as the virus raced unchecked through the state-run facility. The 101 residents who died in the first eight months of the pandemic included both,” reports Tracey Tully in The New York Times.

“Regina Costantino Discenza’s parents, who had been living at the complex, Menlo Park Veterans Memorial Home in Edison, N.J., for about two years when the virus began ravaging long-term care centers throughout the Northeast. Three days after her father died, her mother tested positive for the virus. Now, in a sober acknowledgment.”

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“WSFS Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: WSFS), the parent company of WSFS Bank, announced today that it finalized a settlement to resolve litigation against the counterparty to the 2010 stock purchase agreement by which WSFS purchased Christiana Bank & Trust Company (Christiana Trust),” reports Globe News Wire in their blog.

“WSFS will receive $15 million under the settlement and anticipates a positive earnings per diluted common shares (EPS) impact of approximately $0.23 per share (after-tax) during the fourth quarter of 2021. In the litigation, WSFS sought to enforce an indemnity arising from the stock purchase agreement and recover all remaining amounts.”

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“Even though announcements may be slower in the new year, bonus season is still in effect. We continue to live in unprecedented times, and in 2021, that translated into one of the wealthiest Biglaw firms of all keeping associates nervously waiting with bated breath until the bitter end to find out,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above The Law.

“Morgan Lewis & Bockius came in 7th place in the most recent Am Law 100 ranking, taking home $2,446,000,000 gross revenue in 2020. This firm can certainly afford to pay out big bonuses, but beginning in mid-December, we started receiving messages from worried associates, wondering why the firm hadn’t made an announcement yet.”

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“The Walt Disney Company has hired Horacio Gutierrez as senior executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective February 1. Gutierrez will join Disney having previously worked at Spotify as head of global affairs and chief legal officer. He will succeed Alan Brave,” reports Ben Maiden in Corporate Secretary.

“Gutierrez’s areas of responsibility will include litigation, compliance, transactional law, securities law, regulatory matters, privacy protection, global ethics and patent, copyright and trademark issues. At Spotify, he led a team of legal, business, corporate communications and public affairs, government relations, licensing and operations.”

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“The agreement, announced Monday by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), marks the end of three years of litigation for Riot, a subsidiary of Chinese multinational entertainment conglomerate Tencent and developer of popular video games League of Legends and,” reports Kyle Brasseur in Compliance Week.

“The company must also retain a third party to conduct a gender equity analysis of employee pay, job assignments, and promotions for three years. The DFEH in October 2018 notified Riot of its investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation against female employees and contractors. When the company.”

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“The Canadian government announced Tuesday that it had reached what it called the largest settlement in Canada’s history, paying $31.5 billion to fix the nation’s discriminatory child welfare system and compensate the Indigenous people harmed by it. The agreement in principle forms the basis,” reports Catherine Porter in The New York Times.

“Final settlement of several lawsuits brought by First Nations groups against the Canadian government. Of the overall settlement, 40 billion in Canadian dollars, half will go toward compensating both children who were unnecessarily removed, and their families and caregivers, over the past three decades. The rest of the money.”

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“2021 was a monumental year for the sustainability-focused capital markets. Almost every type of financing vehicle related to climate tech and renewable energy hit all-time highs: SPACs, IPOs, M&A, Growth Equity, Venture Capital. While I am partial to the venture capital and growth equity stages, there has been,” reports John Tough in Forbes.

“The reason M&A is so exciting is because there is now a clear strategy delineation between firms inventing the new energy economy, adapting to this new framework, or trying to adjust exposure to catch minor tailwinds with the theme. But first, what is the new energy economy The new energy economy is the fraframework for our evolving.”

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