Hanzo, a pioneer in dynamic web content preservation from enterprise collaboration applications and complex websites, is pleased to announce continued momentum with impressive year-over-year revenue growth, strong adoption, and usage, and customer success with Hanzo Hold, its solution for empowering organizations to apply legal holds to collaboration data and meet the duty to preserve data for litigation, compliance and HR purposes.

2020 was the year that accelerated digital transformation initiatives. As of Q1 2021, Hanzo Hold’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) has tripled year over year. Hanzo also saw two trends over that time. Not only has the user base increased by over fourfold (4X), usage by customers increased significantly (over 10X when compared to a year ago) as Slack data becomes increasingly relevant to investigations and discovery obligations.

Hanzo Hold empowers corporate legal teams to quickly and defensibly collect, preserve, and investigate data for ediscovery from collaboration applications. Customers are using the Hanzo Hold to reduce risk and effectively manage ediscovery volumes to limit downstream costs.

Read the full Hanzo Hold Postmates Case Study.

Barnes & Thornburg is pleased to announce that Minneapolis partner and Intellectual Property Department member Jeff Stone secured the 11 millionth patent issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The patent was issued for longtime client 4C Medical Technologies Inc.’s (“4C Medical”) invention, AltaValveTM, a prosthetic mitral valve replacement technology, currently being evaluated in clinical research studies. The milestone patent was awarded on May 11, 2021, three years after the USPTO issued its 10 millionth patent.

This invention is a device that delivers, positions, and repositions the prosthetic heart valve (AltaValveTM) in a patient’s heart chamber to treat primary and secondary mitral regurgitation. The implantation of the device is completed using a catheter, a minimally invasive procedure designed to expand patient population to those who are at high risk for open-heart surgery. It is currently the only device that preserves the native mitral valve and has potential to treat patients with failed mitral valve repair.

With more than 700 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from offices in Atlanta, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, New York, Ohio, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, Texas and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com or on Twitter @BTLawNews.

(May 12, 2021) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has released the results of its ninth annual survey, completed by 1,160 in-house lawyers, C-suite executives and human resources professionals.

The Littler® Annual Employer Survey, 2021 finds employers navigating a host of issues in the transition to a post-pandemic future – chief among them addressing differences in employers’ plans and employees’ preferences when it comes to hybrid work models and returning to physical workplaces. The survey report also explores executives’ COVID-19 vaccination policies, key regulatory changes expected to impact the workplace in the next year and more.

Divergence in Employer and Employee Views on Post-Pandemic Work
Only 4 percent of the employers surveyed believe that most of their employees who can work remotely would like to return to full-time in-person work and 71 percent believe most would prefer a hybrid model (i.e., a mix of remote and in-person work). However, 28 percent of those employers plan to have most employees return full time and in person, and 55 percent are planning to offer a hybrid model.

This disconnect may be attributed to the unique set of challenges associated with hybrid working models – from scheduling obstacles and physical office changes to maintain social distancing efforts, to ensuring employees working from home don’t feel left out or passed over for opportunities. This tracks with the 73 percent of respondents who expressed concern about workforce management issues that come with employees split between in-person and remote work.

A Cautious Approach to COVID-19 Vaccination Issues
With the increased availability of COVID-19 vaccines, employers now face the thorny issue of whether to ask members of their workforce to voluntarily disclose if they’ve been vaccinated. Given the potential privacy and discrimination liabilities, employers are moving forward with caution: 41 percent of respondents say they will ask employees to voluntarily disclose, while 32 percent say they will not, and 27 percent are still unsure.

The survey, which follows Littler’s COVID-19 Vaccine Survey Report, finds employers still largely encouraging their employees to get vaccinated, with 84 percent providing information to employees about vaccinations. Nearly half (48 percent) are offering paid time off to employees to receive the vaccine and/or recover from its side effects – up from 33 percent who indicated taking this action two months earlier.

Workplace Regulation Concerns Abound
On the regulatory front, most employers (81 percent) are concerned about how changes to paid sick and family leave requirements will impact their businesses in the next year. Other top areas where respondents expect an impact from employment law-related changes include income equality measures (64 percent); inclusion, equity and diversity considerations (55 percent); and healthcare (51 percent).

With expectations of more gridlock in Washington, evolving state and local agency regulations are high on executives’ radars, with 83 percent expressing moderate or significant concern over associated enforcement and compliance expectations over the next 12 months. Respondents expressed a similarly high level of concern about the impact of enforcement and compliance in relation to the U.S. Department of Labor (79 percent), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (76 percent) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (70 percent).

Additional Key Findings
Addressing Crisis Fatigue and Employee Well-Being: Most respondents are worried about the pandemic’s lasting impact on employee mental health and well-being, with 52 percent moderately to extremely concerned and only 3 percent not concerned at all. Many employers are also making strides to address issues of “crisis fatigue” and employee burnout, with 84 percent offering mental health services and/or Employee Assistance Programs and 52 percent providing in-house well-being programming.

Designing the Post-Pandemic Workplace: Employers are also making changes to their physical offices due to COVID-19. More than half (55 percent) are redesigning their office layouts or considering doing so and 31 percent say the same of office hoteling – whereby employees reserve desks for the day to help companies save space and facilitate flexible work schedules. While 27 percent are focused on reducing the size of their office space, only 2 percent are looking to relocate operations out of cities or densely populated areas.

Navigating Workplace Transformation: With COVID-19 accelerating the reliance on technology in the workplace, employers are taking steps to equip their employees with the technological skills they need to succeed in the future. Nearly half of respondents (49 percent) are developing internal training programs for current employees; 24 percent are hiring more employees with strong technology skills; and 22 percent are conducting an analysis to identify needed skill sets to guide talent planning and job training.

Managing a Global Workforce: Respondents from large companies (with more than 10,000 employees) identified a range of concerns in operating or doing business outside of the United States. Several pandemic-related challenges rose to the top of respondents’ list, including pandemic-related travel restrictions (56 percent), COVID-19-related workplace safety rules (40 percent) and managing remote workers who telecommute from abroad (31 percent). However, even with the pandemic’s unprecedented disruption to global workforce management, the longstanding challenge of data privacy issues and protecting confidential information across borders emerged as the primary concern for 60 percent of respondents.

ROANOKE, Va. (May 12, 2021) – The Virginia law firm Gentry Locke is pleased to welcome Partner Karen L. Cohen in Richmond. Cohen will work in the firm’s land use practice group, where she will focus on assisting clients with obtaining local approvals for solar and energy storage projects to implement the Virginia Clean Economy Act.

In addition to her extensive land use and zoning experience, Cohen’s practice includes representing developers, individuals, and businesses in land purchases and sales, due diligence, zoning analysis, the entitlement process, commercial leasing, and the preparation of deeds, easements and covenants. Cohen also advises clients on disputes involving real estate contracts and environmental issues; construction; commercial leasing; and business and financing. She will also be a member of the firm’s outdoor advertising team.

Prior to entering the legal profession, Cohen worked as an architecture associate. After completing law school, she clerked for the Honorable Leonie M. Brinkema in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, before entering private practice.

Cohen received her B.S. degree in architecture from the University of Virginia, her M.S. in real estate development from George Mason University, and her J.D. magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center.

Buchalter is pleased to announce new additions to its Board of Directors – Damaris Medina, a Los Angeles and Orange County-based Shareholder, who is also the first Hispanic female in this position, Kevin Lytle, Shareholder in the Phoenix/Scottsdale office, and Matthew Covington, Shareholder in the San Francisco office.

Medina, recognized by numerous industry publications, including the Los Angeles Business Journal as a Woman of Influence in Health Care, for her professional achievements, is also Chair of the Women at Buchalter Committee and a member of the Strategic Planning and Recruiting Committee. As Chair of the Health Care and Life Sciences Industry Group and member of the Litigation and Health Care Practice Groups, Medina represents hospital systems and a diverse array of other health care clients in high stakes litigation in federal and state court, as well as in arbitration. Medina has successfully litigated numerous large exposure reimbursement cases against major health plans and recovered millions of dollars on behalf of health care providers. She also advises hospital systems and other health care providers on managed care contracting, revenue cycle strategies, and risk and compliance issues. She joined Buchalter in 2017.

Lytle serves as Co-Chair of the REIT Transactions and Compliance Industry Group and is a member of the Employee Benefits Committee. He represents clients in a broad range of real estate transactions involving sales and acquisitions, leases, sale-leasebacks, construction and permanent loans, acquisition loans, refinancings, loan and lease modifications and inter-creditor agreements. Representing public and private real estate investment trusts, family offices, private equity, and other commercial entities, Lytle also has experience in business entity creation, including bankruptcy-remote structuring and commercial landlord-tenant law. Typical matters handled by Lytle relate to commercial properties, shopping centers, gas station/convenience stores, office buildings, industrial properties, and auto dealerships. He joined the Firm in 2018.

Covington, also recently appointed Managing Office Shareholder in San Francisco, focuses his practice on franchise, real estate, environmental, and commercial disputes. Among other clients, he routinely represents energy and petroleum companies. Covington’s technical background is particularly useful in technically complex cases. He has represented clients in complex matters involving refinery operations, cogeneration plants, and geotechnical investigations. Covington joined Buchalter in 2017.

Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm, today announced litigation partner Megan Costa DeVault has been appointed to the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading network of independent law firms with 150 member firms and more than 22,000 lawyers worldwide. DeVault will work alongside 16 other Board members across the globe, and is one of only five members residing in the United States.

DeVault has been intensely involved with Lex Mundi for more than 10 years, including her nomination and participation in Lex Mundi’s Business Management Program in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, Judge School of Business where she was among 40 lawyers from 29 countries selected for this intensive training. She will serve a four-year term on the Board, where she will focus on rolling out Lex Mundi’s strategic plan, including its recruiting, retention, and branding efforts, while furthering its mission to provide integrated and high quality legal services worldwide. Over the same period, she will lend her business training to assist the audit committee with analyzing the organizations financial statements and reviewing related policies.

A first-chair trial lawyer, DeVault prosecutes and defends complex commercial, business, and real estate litigation in state and federal courts. On behalf of Fortune 500, publicly traded, and privately owned business, including builders, developers, investors, family enterprises, and corporate fiduciaries, she litigates contractual disputes, complex commercial matters, and derivative suits, including serving as lead counsel in dozens of trials and arbitrations. In addition to her thriving practice, DeVault is a member of Akerman’s Board of Directors.

Member law firms of Lex Mundi are located throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean. Akerman was elected as Lex Mundi’s USA-Florida member in 2006 after undergoing the network’s rigorous assessment procedure that, among other things, evaluated the firm’s quality, responsiveness, management structure, reputation, use of technology, training programs and ethical standards.

Lansing – May 10, 2021 – Dykema, a leading national law firm, today announced the addition of Andrea M. Cascarilla to its Government Policy & Practice Group as a government policy advisor in the firm’s Lansing office. Cascarilla, who was included on the Crain’s Detroit Business 2020 “50 Names to Know in Lobbying” guide, joins Dykema from Acuitas LLC, where she was the Senior Legislative Director.

In her previous role, Cascarilla was responsible for managing various clients and played a significant role in several successful appropriations efforts, from healthcare and education to infrastructure and economic development. She was recognized by former state Reps. Aaron Miller, R-Sturgis and Isaac Robinson, D-Detroit, as well as the Michigan Mental Health Counselors Association, for her work on PA 96 of 2019—a law that ensures Michigan’s licensed professional counselors can continue to provide treatment to hundreds of thousands of residents in need.

In addition to her work at Acuitas, Cascarilla serves as a Board Member for Eaton County Land Bank, Board Vice President for Cristo Rey Community Center, and a Trustee for Delta Charter Township.

Cascarilla earned a B.A. in Economics from Michigan State University.

Nationally recognized Fort Worth attorney earns prestigious Blackstone Award  

FORT WORTH, Texas – Acclaimed trucking and transportation attorney Steve Laird has been named the recipient of the 2021 Blackstone Award, the Tarrant County Bar Association’s most prestigious honor.

The Blackstone Award is presented annually during the TCBA’s Law Day Celebration to an attorney whose career embodies ethical ideals, courage and service to the legal profession. The award is named after British jurist and judge Sir William Blackstone. His “Commentaries on the Laws of England” is considered the foundation of legal education in England and North America.

Starting his career in 1980 in the San Antonio office of what was then one of the largest firms in the Southwest, Laird litigated and handled appellate arguments in an “extraordinary number of cases for a second-year attorney,” he said. That courtroom experience became the foundation for his career as a trial lawyer now widely considered to be among the nation’s leading truck accident attorneys. Last year, he was one of a select group of attorneys to be among the first in the nation to earn Board Certification in Truck Accident Law from the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is also Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board Legal Specialization and as a Civil Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy.

Laird’s reputation as a client-first, unflinching litigator came into focus early in his career when his work spurred General Motors to lift the veil of corporate secrecy surrounding known fire risks associated with defects in one of its popular truck models. GM had kept the defects out of the public eye through an excessive use of confidential settlements. His fight to open the files helped shed light on the defects, putting pressure on GM to resolve the issue.

Announcement of the Blackstone Award was made during TCBA’s annual Law Day Celebration, held May 3 via Zoom amid ongoing COVID precautions. An in-person presentation will be announced at a later date.

Government agencies can now access IPRO’s Live EDA and AI analytics via CDS’s FedRAMP-Certified Cloud Environment.

May 10, 2021—TEMPE, AZ—IPRO today announced a partnership with Complete Discovery Source (CDS) to offer IPRO’s eDiscovery Enterprise solution to U.S. government agencies through CDS’s FedRAMP-certified Federal Cloud Services (FCS) platform.

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) establishes rigorous security standards for cloud services providers to the U.S. government. FedRAMP-certified since 2018, CDS provides eDiscovery services and solutions including leading-edge technology, advanced analytics, and secure scalable infrastructure to federal and state government agencies across the United States.

The CDS Federal Cloud supports the full suite of IPRO eDiscovery Enterprise capabilities, including Live EDA and AI Active Learning, that allow agencies to think more upstream and significantly reduce the amount of time spent on document collection and review.

Foley & Lardner LLP represented Spectrum Dermatology (Spectrum), the largest dermatology practice in Arizona, in a recapitalization and partnership with Pinnacle Dermatology (Pinnacle), a dermatology platform owned by Chicago Pacific Founders.

The partnership with Spectrum is the next step in Pinnacle’s strategy to build a leading, multi-state dermatology practice platform. Spectrum, which will continue to operate under the same name, brings seven locations and 31 providers serving Scottsdale and Greater Phoenix to Pinnacle. Under the new partnership, Spectrum’s founder Dr. Nancy Kim will join Pinnacle’s board of directors.

The Foley team was led by partner Roger Strode and included partners Steve Gerenraich, John Palmer, Mike Woolever and Matthew Impola, and associates Allie Shalom, Stephanie Schwartz, Laura Burlot, Arthur Vorbrodt and Candace Flatley.

Venable LLP is pleased to announce that the firm’s director of career development, Traci Mundy Jenkins, became the 2021-2022 President of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) during the association’s annual business meeting on April 30, completing her one-year term as president-elect. NALP is one of the most distinguished legal recruiting and professional development associations in North America, playing an essential role in cultivating an ethical hiring process and building diverse and inclusive legal teams.

As NALP’s president, Jenkins will serve as the chief volunteer and the leader of the board of directors of the organization. Her responsibilities include developing short-term and long-term plans for the organization, working with other officers to prepare the annual budget, and supervising and providing direction for sections, committees, groups, and task forces. Following the completion of her term, Jenkins will serve as immediate past president for one year.

An associate alumna of Venable, Jenkins has broad experience in legal recruiting and development. She has served as founder and managing partner of a recruiting and consulting company and as assistant dean at the American University Washington College of Law, where she spent a total of 15 years, and has an extensive history of association and community leadership. At NALP alone, during her 18 years with the organization, Jenkins has held positions as board member, vice chair of the Annual Education Conference, vice chair of strategic planning for the Lawyer Professional Development Section, and an elected member of the Nominating Committee, among other roles. Jenkins has also previously served as president of the Washington Area Legal Recruitment Administrators Association (WALRAA), president of the Burke-Fairfax Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., and president of Housing and Community Services of Northern Virginia, and in leadership positions for a number of other community groups.

Jenkins earned her B.A. in Economics from Wellesley College and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm, has expanded its Corporate Practice Group with Jason Northcutt in Washington, D.C. He joins as a partner from Bass, Berry & Sims. Northcutt works with leaders in the government contracting, aerospace and defense, manufacturing, industrial services, life sciences, tech-enabled services, and other business services industries.

Northcutt has more than 20 years of experience advising a wide variety of financial sponsors and corporate clients in mergers and acquisitions transactions. His clients include leading middle market private equity funds and corporations in the government contracting, manufacturing, industrial services, life sciences, tech-enabled services, and other business services industries. As part of his private equity practice, Northcutt advises private equity sponsors in deploying capital in control investments and counsels portfolio companies on debt and equity financings, corporate governance, and executive compensation matters. He also assists both publicly and privately held companies in structuring and managing complex transactions.

ROANOKE, Va. (May 6, 2021) – The Virginia law firm Gentry Locke is pleased to welcome John Danyluk to its Richmond office. Danyluk will work in the firm’s criminal and government investigations practice.

With experience in criminal defense, investigations, financial liability determinations and issues related to misconduct, Danyluk is well-positioned to help clients facing increasing legal and government scrutiny. As a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Texas, he litigated more than 1,000 federal cases, including six jury trials, 14 bench trials, and 70 revocation hearings. He has also worked closely with FBI and Army CID agents on investigatory matters to aid in case development.

Prior to joining the firm, Danyluk served for more than four years in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps in Texas and Germany. He has been recognized with the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal and the 2018 Client Services Award for Excellence (estate planning, income tax, and consumer finance).

Danyluk received his B.A. degree from the University of Richmond and his J.D. from the University of Richmond School of Law.

Randy Johnston, Robert Tobey, Chad Baruch receive honor

DALLAS – All three name partners at Dallas law firm Johnston Tobey Baruch – Randy Johnston, Robert Tobey and Chad Baruch – have been named to the list of the Best Lawyers in Dallas 2021 by D Magazine.

Johnston and Tobey are honored in the area of Professional Nonmedical Liability Litigation and Baruch in Appellate law. This is the 11th time D Magazine has honored Johnston and Baruch, and the 10th such honor for Tobey.

Johnston is known as one of the state’s foremost authorities on issues of legal ethics and handles cases involving professional malpractice. Tobey is a trial lawyer and is the immediate past president of the Dallas Bar Association. Baruch is a member of the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors and is certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Each year, attorneys in Dallas vote for the lawyers they believe are among the best at what they do. A blue-ribbon panel later reviews the results and D Magazine publishes the list, which is available in the May 2021 issue and at dmagazine.com.

Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that Scott H. Rothstein has joined the Insurance Practice Group in the firm’s New York office as senior counsel, further expanding the firm’s extensive insurance and financial services practice. Rothstein joined the firm from Mutual of America, where, as executive vice president and deputy general counsel, he was leading the group responsible for securities and insurance regulatory matters in support of variable annuity, life insurance, mutual fund and retirement services operations. Prior to this position, Rothstein served as executive director of the New York State Commission to Modernize the Regulation of Financial Services.

With over two decades of in-house experience in insurance and financial services, Rothstein advises highly regulated companies on corporate and regulatory matters, with a focus on insurance regulation, securities regulation of variable annuity products and mutual funds, and the distribution of securities and insurance products. He has extensive experience counseling clients on securities and insurance regulatory issues, including preparation of registration statements and prospectus updates, sales practices and disclosure rules, insurance product design/contract drafting, holding company regulation and corporate governance matters. He also regularly advises clients on the Advisers Act, Investment Company Act and broker/dealer regulatory compliance.

ATLANTA – Chamberlain Hrdlicka welcomes Associates Zack Anderson, Brent Bartlett, Gabriella Cole, Jamihlia F. Johnson and Peter D. Rehm to the firm’s growing Atlanta office. Anderson joins the Commercial Litigation and Construction practices, Bartlett, Cole and Johnson join the Tax Controversy and Litigation practice and Rehm joins the International Tax practice. These attorneys are the latest additions to Chamberlain’s Atlanta office, which has been experiencing rapid growth in 2021, adding six additional lawyers to its headcount since January.

Zack Anderson
Anderson represents owners, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and other businesses in various construction and commercial matters. Prior to joining Chamberlain Hrdlicka, his practice focused on representing sureties, insurers, contractors and subcontractors in federal, state and bankruptcy courts. Before attending college, he worked in the construction industry and as a commercial truck driver where he gained experience that provides him with valuable knowledge and insight that is helpful in his practice.

Anderson earned his undergraduate degree from Georgia Southern University and his law degree from Duke University School of Law.

Brent Bartlett
Bartlett represents clients in all levels of their matters with the IRS, from examination and appeals to litigation in the United States Tax Court and Federal District Court. Prior to joining Chamberlain Hrdlicka, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Cary Douglas Pugh of the United States Tax Court and an extern for Senior Judge Mary Ellen Coster Williams of the United States Court of Federal Claims. Before transitioning to tax, Bartlett was a commercial litigator at law firms in Georgia and Florida, practicing in the areas of eminent domain, construction and real estate. He has represented and advised a wide range of clients in a variety of complex commercial matters.

Bartlett earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University, his law degree from Emory University School of Law and his Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center.

Gabriella Cole
Cole advises clients before federal, state and local taxing authorities and in all federal and state courts in which tax disputes are litigated. She has experience managing both federal and state audits and appeals from inception through the final decision, and helping strategize for litigation. Prior to joining Chamberlain Hrdlicka, Cole led an initiative to work with lobbyists, state congressional members, the Texas comptroller and tax policy group to change the interpretation and application of the Texas research and development tax credit.

She earned her undergraduate degree from Kennesaw State University, her graduate degree from C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston and her law degree from University of Houston Law Center.

Jamihlia F. Johnson
Johnson counsels businesses and individuals with disputes before the IRS and taxing authorities. She represents taxpayers at all stages of review including at the level of tax audits and examinations, appeals and litigation. Prior to joining Chamberlain, Johnson worked on corporate finance deals for a Chicago based firm. She was also a senior associate at the national office of PwC, and a manager at Deloitte Tax, where she routinely advised Fortune 500 multinational corporations, high net-worth individuals, as well as foreign governmental entities and investors on United States international cross-border tax planning opportunities relevant to inbound, outbound and financial products transactions.

Johnson serves on the board of Mujeres Latinas en Acción, and serves as secretary on the executive board of the Young International Fiscal Association (IFA) Network. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law and her Master of Laws in Taxation from Northwestern University School of Law.

Peter D. Rehm
Rehm advises individual and corporate taxpayers in disputes with the IRS. He has extensive experience in international tax matters including structuring, M&A, foreign tax credits, the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, tax treaties, withholding taxes, and outbound and inbound transactions. Prior to joining Chamberlain Hrdlicka, he served as an international tax associate, senior associate and manager during his tenure at PwC and as a M&A tax manager at KPMG.

Rehm earned his undergraduate degree from the University of North Georgia, his law degree from Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law and his Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP will present a free webinar, “Design Patents in the U.S. and Japan: Leveraging the Differences in Laws to Maximize Protection,” featuring Fitch Even partner Calista J. Mitchell and Konishi & Nakamura partner Tomohiro Nakamura.

The webinar will take place on Thursday, May 20, 2021, at 9:00 am PDT / 10:00 am MDT / 11:00 am CDT / 12 noon EDT.

Design patent laws can differ significantly from one country to another. A lack of understanding of these differences can result in not obtaining the broadest patent protection possible. This webinar will provide an overview of the basics of the design patent laws in the U.S. and Japan and then examine how applicants can take advantage of unique opportunities each country’s laws have to offer.

In particular, the presenters will address the following topics:
• Patentability requirements for designs in the U.S. and in Japan
• Best practices for preparing a priority application in one country that is suitable for filing in the other
• Unique filing or prosecution strategies permitted in each country
• Enforcement considerations
• Highlights of Japan’s New Design Act of 2020 and the implications and opportunities for applicants filing secondary applications in Japan

CLE credit has been approved for California and Illinois and is pending for Nebraska. Other states may also award CLE credit upon attendee request.

Register for the event.

Following the live event, a recording of the webinar will be available to view for one year at www.fitcheven.com.

3 May 2021- Luminance has announced that Ireland’s leading provider of information security and risk management solutions, Ward Solutions, has adopted Luminance’s cutting-edge AI platform to assist their in-house legal and data protection team when responding to Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) arising under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Ward Solutions have opted to adopt Luminance’s AI-powered eDiscovery solution instead of outsourcing this work to expensive third party providers, allowing Ward to analyse vast datasets in record time and maintain maximum compliance, whilst also reducing overall costs.

Luminance’s eDiscovery platform uses a combination of both supervised and unsupervised machine learning to read and form an understanding of the firm’s vast dataset. Luminance’s ability to automatically identify Personally Identifiable Information (PII) such as party names, security numbers and addresses ensures that Ward Solutions are able to rapidly identify personal information within documents collated in response to a DSAR. By using Luminance’s revolutionary bulk redaction feature, the legal team can then isolate all of the relevant information and remove irrelevant data, a process that would be extremely resource and time-intensive to do manually.

Luminance is used in over 300 law firms and organisations across the world. The company was recently recognised as a ‘Future Fifty’ firm by Tech Nation.

DALLAS – Bailey Brauer PLLC, is proud to announce the promotion of Ben Stewart to partner in the Dallas-based litigation boutique, effective May 1.

Stewart’s practice focuses on representing clients in federal and state courts in matters including contractual disputes, breaches of fiduciary duties, insurance coverage, officer/director liability, and other complex litigation.

He also serves as a mediator and assists companies with both internal and governmental investigations, including responses to civil investigative demands from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Stewart has earned repeat recognition to Texas Super Lawyers’ Rising Stars listing of the top young attorneys in the state. He earned his law degree from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has added Alan L. Merriman as an associate in its New Haven office. Merriman joins Littler from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), where he was a field attorney from 2014 to 2021.

During his time at the NLRB, Merriman handled hundreds of unfair labor practice charges and representation case investigations involving both petitions and elections. He has managed several unfair labor practice hearings before administrative law judges and has successfully negotiated resolutions to a variety of complex labor matters.

Littler’s Labor Management Relations Practice Group is comprised of attorneys, including several former NLRB attorneys, with deep experience representing management in all aspects of labor relations. The group counsels companies on such issues as lawful union avoidance, managing the myriad issues that arise during union elections, collective bargaining and labor arbitrations. Littler’s attorneys have brought thousands of matters before the NLRB and regularly navigate unfair labor practice charges through investigations, favorable settlements, hearings and appeals.

In addition to his legal practice, Merriman currently serves as a Major, Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer for the National Guard. His duties in that role include serving as Special Victims’ Counsel for service members who report sexual assault and harassment and providing counsel on cyber law and ethics issues. He also regularly advises the Connecticut National Guard command on sexual harassment and assault prevention and response actions.

Merriman is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and was the 2005 Connecticut National Guard Soldier of the Year. He received his J.D. and B.S. from the University of Connecticut.