Houston-based Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing has added nine attorneys.

The nine hires include Masood Anjom, associate; Jack Burleigh, of counsel; Cameron Byrd, associate; Nathan Campbell, associate; Scott W. Clark, of counsel; Hilary S. Greene, associate; Foster C. Johnson, associate; and Doug Salisbury, associate.

AZA is a trial firm working with high-stakes litigation for multinational companies, also representing individuals and mid-sized businesses with serious legal issues. The firm also manages company investigations, helping company boards, in-house counsel, and audit committees identify problems and ensure compliance before litigation ensues.

Read more about the new hires.

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a rare setback Wednesday to companies trying to avoid potentially expensive class-action lawsuits when justices ruled that offers of full compensation to the lead plaintiff in such a case do not automatically end the legal challenge, reports USA Today. The 6-3 decision was written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“An unaccepted settlement offer, like other unaccepted contract offers, creates no lasting right or obligation,” wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the 6-3 opinion. “Once unaccepted, the offer is off the table.”

“The case was among several on the court’s docket this term that could lead to more or fewer class-action lawsuits,” the report says.

Read the article.

Akerman LLP has announced the expansion of the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Practice Group  with two senior lawyers joining from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, partners Thomas Kearney and Mary (Molly) Calkins. They join the firm’s Washington, D.C., office, working in federal and state compliance as well as operational support capabilities.

“Tom and Molly bring a tremendous combination of experience in financial rulemaking and enforcement, with a thorough understanding of the compliance challenges resulting from CFPB actions,” said William Heller, chair of Akerman’s Consumer Financial Services Practice Group. “They build upon our team’s extensive experience in the home loan space, adding a deep understanding of evolving federal and state laws governing bank and non-bank consumer debt originators and servicers.”

Kearney joins Akerman from the CFPB’s Office of Regulations where he played a key role in the development and drafting of multiple mortgage originations related rulemakings. He most recently led the team responsible for the final Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rule. Kearney also drafted substantial portions of the CFPB’s Truth in Lending Act — Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure or Know Before You Owe rule and the Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage rules. He handled outreach, guidance and training on various CFPB efforts under Dodd-Frank, in addition to providing guidance to Congress, federal agencies, and other CFPB offices on legal and regulatory issues arising under HMDA, RESPA and TILA. Prior to the CFPB, Kearney worked for several years as in-house counsel for a provider of mortgage compliance services to national banks, securitizers, non-depository mortgage lenders and other financial services companies.

Calkins joins Akerman from the CFPB’s Division of Supervision, Enforcement & Fair Lending, where she led investigations into a broad array of potential consumer protection violations. Her enforcement matters involved fair lending, auto finance, mortgage lending and servicing, credit cards and bank deposit products, credit reporting, student loans, and debt collection. As a founding member of the Bureau, Calkins also coordinated the CFPB investigations with state attorney generals and other federal regulators such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Trade Commission, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Prior to her work at the CFPB, Calkins was counsel at the FDIC’s Professional Liability & Financial Crimes Section, where she investigated and litigated claims arising from bank failures, reviewed mortgage loan files, analyzed claims for loan putbacks, and ascertained potential liability of bankers as well as third party vendors and service providers. Calkins is an experienced financial services litigator, covering the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Truth in Lending Act, Truth in Savings Act, Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts or Practices and Dodd Frank Act issues.

eSignLive has published a white paper that’s designed to help secure the enforceability of electronically signed contracts and agreements.

“Today, businesses of all sizes are moving their customer transactions to the web. As the adoption of electronic signature technology grows, so does the number of e-signature solutions in the market,” the company says on its website. “Because these solutions are all ‘ESIGN/UETA compliant,’ you may think they will all provide the same level of enforceability in the event of a dispute. This is false.”

“Using an electronic process to capture a customer’s signature provides stronger evidence than is possible with paper and more importantly, has been proven to reduce the risk of legal disputes. But what exactly is “electronic evidence”? What are the best practices for capturing and archiving all the digital fingerprints that customers leave when they transact with you online? How can this evidence help enforce e-contracts? And how can you use it to avoid going to court altogether?”

The white paper, which can be downloaded, presents the recommendations of three legal experts: Pat Hatfield and Greg Casamento, partners at Locke Lord LLP, and Frank Zacherl, litigator and partner at Shutts & Bowen LLP.

Download the white paper.

Winston & Strawn has compiled a list of more than 20 major news developments involving contract settlements and ongoing contract negotiation during the final month of 2015.

The list is published on Lexology.com.

Read the article.

U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co. on Friday said it would pay $830 million to settle a federal class action lawsuit involving allegations the company failed to adequately inform investors about heart risks from its now-recalled Vioxx pain medication, according to a report on the Business Insurance website.

“The drug was approved by U.S. regulators in 1999 as a new type of treatment for pain and quickly became a blockbuster product, ultimately used by an estimated 20 million Americans,” according to a Reuters report. “But the company in 2004 recalled Vioxx from the market after a colon-polyp prevention study showed it more than doubled the risk of heart attacks or stroke after 18 months of use.”

The company’s cash payment for the settlement and fees will be about $680 million after reimbursement from insurance policies, Merck said.

Read the article.

The recent problems experienced by Finish Line should be instructive to all users and providers of technology products and services, according to a report posted by FisherBroyles LLP.

The Indianapolis specialty retailer acknowledged a problem with deployment of a new warehouse and order management software system. Stores sales dropped 5.8 percent due to the disrupted supply chain issues that failed to maintain adequate inventory to meet demand in its stores. And the company replaced its CEO.

Such situations often result in major litigation between customer and vendor, and often claims by shareholders of the customer, the report says.

It lists concerns that should be addressed by customers and vendors when drafting such agreements.

Read the report.

See the video here.

Strong economic growth coupled with low interest rates resulted in a perfect storm for acquisition finance, with plenty of cheap debt available to fund deals, MergerMarket reports in its Global M&A roundup for 2015 for legal advisors.

During 2015 the value of cash & equity transactions increased to US$ 699.8bn, up 43.5 percent, compared to 2014’s annual total (US$ 487.7bn), reflecting a balance between cheap loans and cash piles on balance sheets.

Law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher holds on to the number one spot for deal value for another year while Latham & Watkins jumps from fourth to second last year. Cravath, Swaine & Moore makes an enormous leap from thirteenth place in 2014 to third in 2015, the report says.

“Attractive tax laws have resulted in Ireland and the UK becoming the most targeted countries by US companies in 2015. Ireland (36 deals, US$ 190.7bn) received the bulk of investment from the Allergan/Pfizer deal, whilst the UK (244 deals, US$ 61.8bn) benefited from the US$ 18.2bn acquisition of Visa Europe by US-based Visa Inc.,” according to the report.

Read the report.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed prohibiting application of pre-dispute arbitration agreements to class litigation involving certain consumer financial products, according to a report published by Carlton Fields on its website.

“Citing concerns that such agreements ‘effectively prohibit’ class litigation and prevent consumers from obtaining remedies for harm caused by providers of consumer financial products or services, the proposal would apply to most products subject to Bureau oversight,” the report says.

“The Bureau’s proposal would prohibit inclusion of arbitration clauses that block class action claims in contracts with consumers for credit cards, checking and deposit accounts, prepaid cards, money transfer services, certain auto loans, auto title loans, small dollar or payday loans, private student loans, and installment loans.”

Read the report.

Dickinson Wright LLP will present a free webinar highlighting many of the “must do” or “must consider” matters for compliance with franchise disclosure legislation in U.S. The event will be Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 3 p.m. EST.

This webinar will provide basic practical assistance to those preparing, registering and delivering franchise disclosure documents, the firm says on its website. Some of the information is directed to all persons involved in the disclosure process and some of the information is intended for those persons that must make determinations about what disclosures must be made. The emphasis of the webinar will be on common disclosure errors and how to avoid them.

Register for the webinar.

President Obama’s executive action to expand gun sale background checks has opened up a legal can of worms, specifically the president’s bid to broaden the definition of who’s a dealer — and therefore must get a license and conduct background checks, reports Fox News.

“Under current federal law passed by Congress, only federally licensed dealers must conduct background checks on buyers. The law does not specify whether this applies to online sales and other areas — so those selling or trading guns on websites or in informal settings such as flea markets often don’t register,” the report says.

It adds that questions of interpretation of the executive action may have to be settled by the courts.

Read the report.

An article by Stephen J. Bagge in the Carlton Fields PropertyCasualtyFocus blog describes an Eleventh Circuit’s ruling that provides persuasive language for applying contractual liability exclusions under D&O policies to alleged business torts that are related to or dependent on the existence of contractual liability.

“This is significant, in that plaintiffs are increasingly seeking insurance coverage for contractual disputes,” Bagge writes. “As the court’s opinion demonstrates, D&O policies are not intended to insure contracts entered into by insureds: that is why D&O policies routinely contain contractual liability exclusions.”

The case was Bond Safeguard Ins. Co. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., No. 14-15233 (11th Cir. Oct. 5, 2015), in which the plaintiff sought to recover payments it had made under certain surety bonds.

Read the article.

An article published by Norton Rose Fulbright outlines 10 important points of law to consider when leasing or financing aircraft in the United States, ranging from registration to dealing with insolvency.

Alyssa Marie Vazquez, a partner in the firm’s New York office, prepared the list.

Other topics include owners trusts, security perfection, New York choice of law, enforcement of foreign judgments, aircraft requisition, the law governing security over aircraft, deregistration of aircraft, and the use of Irrevocable De-Registration and Export Request Authorization.

Read the article.

​Much ado has been made over a North Carolina court’s ruling this past summer in RREF BB Acquisitions, LLC v. MAS Properties, LLC, 2015 NCBC 58, recognizing a cause of action for so-called “duty to negotiate in good faith,” writes Richard A. Prosser of Poyner Spruill.

“Undoubtedly, this is a noteworthy development in the law of contracts and a caveat for practitioners and their business clients,” he explains. “A closer consideration, however, reveals that the claim may not be as novel as it appears at first blush and the risk of unintended liability perhaps not as significant.”

He lists four relevant points for consideration.

Read the article.

Dan Harris writes in the Above the Law blog about how U.S. companies relying on a Letter of Intent (LOI) or a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) detailing the terms of their proposed China deal may be exposing themselves to substantial liability.

“Most U.S. (and many European companies) assume that no party is exposed to any liability during the negotiation period as liability arises only after the parties have executed a formal, written contract. If their written document states that it is non-binding, no liability can arise,” he writes. But the rule in China is the opposite.

Read the article.

The New Year is a good time for a company to analyze any form documents that may need to be revisited, including one of the most important in protecting your business, your liability waiver, writes Chelsey Ziegler in the Health & Fitness Law blog.

She writes that this analysis tends to be often overlooked until something tragic happens.

“The timing is also quite perfect for this because for new clients, this will be the first time being presented with your revamped form and, for existing clients; it tends to be a practical statement to say ‘everyone is required to resign the 2016 waiver that is now in place.'”

The article discusses the enforceability of waivers, consideration, applicable risks, representations and warranties, release language, and five pitfalls to avoid when drafting waivers.

Read the article.

Through newly-forged deals, the music-streaming service Pandora has put an end to royalty disputes with Broadcast Music and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, according to a report published at AppleInsider.com.

The report says Pandora had been licensing songs from the two groups under rates set by the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, which intervened because the parties couldn’t agree, according to the Wall Street Journal. Pandora sued ASCAP in 2012 in a bid to get rates lowered, while Broadcast Music sued Pandora in 2013, hoping to get rates hiked.

“The latter request was granted earlier in 2015, leading to an appeal by Pandora. With a formal arrangement under its belt, the appeal has been withdrawn,” the report says.

Read the article.

The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a California appellate court’s refusal to enforce an arbitration provision in a contract, concluding that the court’s decision is incompatible with the Federal Arbitration Act and prior Supreme Court precedent, reports John G. Papianou of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP.

DirecTV, Inc. v. Imburgia involved two DirecTV customers who sued the company in California state court, claiming early termination fees in their service agreements violated California law, Papianou wrote in an article published by Lexology.com. DirecTV cited a provision in the service agreement that called for binding individual arbitration of all disputes between DirecTV and its customers. The trial court denied the request and DirecTV appealed.

He wrote that the message is clear: arbitration agreements that waive class actions or class arbitration are enforceable. And state-court judges must enforce them.

Read the article.

Dow Chemical and DuPont, two of America’s biggest chemical companies, will merge and then split again into three companies, the companies said Friday.

The Washington Post reported the merger will result in an entity worth $130 billion.

“The resulting company, DowDuPont, will be split after 18 to 24 months via tax-free spin-offs into three independent, public companies focused on agriculture, including seeds and pesticides; materials, including coatings, plastics and industrial chemicals; and specialty products, including chemicals key to the electronics, biosciences and health industries,” The Post reports.

Read the article.