DISCO Expands Products Portfolio, Acquires Legal Hold and Workflow Technology Assets
AUSTIN, Texas — February 24, 2022 — Legal technology leader DISCO (NYSE: LAW) today announced it has acquired legal workflow products Hold360 and Request360, as well as related regulatory and alert solutions, from Congruity 360, LLC. These critical legal workflow capabilities will integrate with DISCO’s market-leading cloud-based ediscovery platform and provide a modern, digital solution for corporate legal hold obligations and legal request compliance.

Hold360 and Request360 are next-generation, streamlined technology solutions that eliminate the challenges from legacy solutions, which relied on human processes, teams of attorneys and legal professionals, and limited technological solutions to ensure compliance with legal preservation obligations.

With Hold360 and Request360, DISCO will expand its solution set to address the legal hold requirements of customers, including the ability to hold data and documents in place electronically rather than recreate, store, and manage copies of duplicative data. Further, silent hold capabilities allow legal teams to easily enact holds, without the need to engage IT departments to ensure retention of sensitive information. The easy-to-deploy solutions and workflow allow corporate legal teams to save time and resources and improve their compliance with state and federal laws.

“The legal hold product team that is joining DISCO has built modern, complete solutions for the legal workflow needs of today, complementing DISCO’s solutions that empower legal departments to focus on delivering better legal outcomes,” said DISCO Chief Product Officer Kevin Smith. “We are excited to further demonstrate how great technology can empower legal teams, save time and money, increase efficiency, and ensure compliance. This also addresses the unmet needs of our legal services partners, many of whom have relied on legacy services to fill this critical gap for their customers.”

“When you look at the legal technology market, there are few companies that have enough disruptive DNA to upset the status quo. DISCO has the product-centricity, go-to-market scale, and velocity to drive real change,” said John Sanchez, founder of Hold360 and Request360. “We are excited to join the DISCO team and accelerate our contribution to transforming how legal work is done in the modern era.”

About DISCO

DISCO (NYSE: LAW) provides a cloud-native, artificial intelligence-powered legal solution that simplifies ediscovery, legal document review and case management for enterprises, law firms, legal services providers and governments. Our scalable, integrated solution enables legal departments to easily collect, process and review enterprise data that is relevant or potentially relevant to legal matters.

References to “DISCO”, “our,” or “we” in this press release refer to CS Disco, Inc. and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis.

Nevada lawyer Dan Polsenberg has been elected President of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Polsenberg is a partner in the Las Vegas and Reno offices of Lewis Roca.

The Appellate Academy is one of the most prestigious appellate organizations in the country. It is an exclusive, invitation-only membership, comprised of 350 of America’s best lawyers who do appeals.

With over 30 years as a litigator, Polsenberg has personally argued 285 appeals and authored briefs in over a thousand more. These cases cover the legal field, ranging from contracts to constitutional law and from torts to tax. He has garnered the reputation as the Nevada lawyer for a “big appeal.”

Polsenberg is past president of both the State Bar of Nevada and the Clark County Bar. Twenty years ago, he was inducted as the first Nevadan to be a fellow of the Appellate Academy. Polsenberg is the second Lewis Roca lawyer to serve as President of the organization.

For the next year as President, Polsenberg looks to implement initiatives to diversify the lawyers who practice appellate law throughout the United States. He will also focus on efforts to expand the areas in which the Appellate Academy will file “friend of the court” briefs. Polsenberg also wants to have the Academy develop reforms to improve court rules.

Continuously ranked by top legal publications including Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation, The Best Lawyers in America, and three-times as the number one lawyer by Mountain State Super Lawyers, Polsenberg has earned the respect of his peers as one of the nation’s top lawyers.

About Lewis Roca

Lewis Roca is an Am Law 200 law firm serving clients globally in complex litigation, intellectual property, business transactions, gaming, government relations, labor and employment, and regulatory counseling. Its offices are located in Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Reno, Silicon Valley, and Tucson. To learn more about the firm, please visit us at our website at www.lewisroca.com.

Ball Janik LLP is pleased to announce that Nikesh J. Patel has joined as the newest land use & development associate in the firm’s Portland office. Patel will assist the firm with various legal matters surrounding affordable housing, mixed-use, commercial, and community development. Patel’s experience includes local government procedures, highlighted by his time as an honors attorney with the City of Portland and an associate in a real estate and land use group at a major international law firm.
“Nikesh is a welcomed addition for the firm’s Portland office,” said Heather Oden, Ball Janik’s Chief Operating Officer. “His knowledge and experience in the local area are invaluable, and we are excited to see his contributions help the office grow and add to our offerings for clients.”
Patel’s experience includes assisting clients in their development goals by working collaboratively with local governments and communities to establish common objectives. He has advised city bureaus on housing and development programs and assisted in legislation and administrative rules. Patel takes great pride in shaping the future of land use. As a Portland native, he sees it as his responsibility to ensure he contributes to the longstanding health of his community by assisting local community organizations.
“I am thrilled to be joining a law firm with the industry reputation that Ball Janik has,” said Patel. “Ball Janik holds a strong reputation in the region as an industry leader in real estate and land use law. The firm is dedicated to its clients and has significantly contributed to the Portland community since its inception. I cannot wait to see what we all accomplish together.”
Patel graduated cum laude with his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Oregon in 2014. He received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2017. He is a member of the Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the Oregon Chapter of NAIOP, the Urban Land Institute, the Oregon State Bar, and the Washington State Bar. In law school, Patel served as a law clerk at the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in Washington, D.C. for Senator Ron Wyden and published an article with the Minnesota Journal of International Law titled, “An Emerging Trend in International Trade: A Shift to Safeguard Against ISDS Abuses and Protect Host-State Sovereignty.” He also interned at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
About Ball Janik LLP
Ball Janik LLP is a bi-coastal comprehensive services law firm focused on real estate, land use, construction, and business litigation. As a bi-coastal law firm with offices in Florida and Oregon, we service clients in the areas of affordable housing, bankruptcy, and creditor rights, community associations, construction and design, construction defect disputes, corporate, financial services, hospitality, insurance recovery, investigations and white-collar crime, public agencies and schools, and renewable energy.
Since our firm’s inception, we have expanded our capabilities, professionals, and geographic footprint. In doing so, we have earned a national reputation for upholding the rights of our clients.
Ball Janik LLP has been recognized by Chambers USA, US News & World Report and Best Lawyers®, The Best Lawyers in America©, and Corporate International. Ball Janik LLP’s success and integrity have repeatedly made it one of “Oregon’s Most Admired Professional Firms,” according to the Portland Business Journal’s survey results of CEOs throughout the region.

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.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that six attorneys in the firm’s Healthcare Practice Group have been appointed to leadership positions with the American Health Law Association (AHLA), beginning July 1.

The firm’s attorneys newly appointed as AHLA leaders are Justin K. Brown, Alé Dalton, Amy S. Leopard, Russell B. Morgan, Janus Pan and Wendi Rogaliner.

AHLA is the nation’s largest, nonpartisan, nonprofit educational organization devoted to legal issues in the health care field. Its mission is to provide a collegial forum for interaction and information exchange to enable its members to serve their clients more effectively; to produce the highest quality non-partisan educational programs, products, and services concerning health law issues; and to serve as a public resource on selected health care legal issues. Members practice in law and consulting firms; academic, in-house, and in a variety of public sector work settings and represent the entire spectrum of the health care industry.

Based in Bradley’s Birmingham office, Brown will serve as vice chair for the Educational Programming of the Enterprise Risk Management Task Force. He represents hospitals and healthcare providers in a variety of transactional, regulatory, and operational matters.

Based in the firm’s Nashville office, Dalton will serve a two-year term on the Young Professionals Council. Her practice focuses on providing counsel during mergers and acquisitions. She has experience handling acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures involving hospitals, physician practices, ambulatory surgery centers, and other providers, and regularly advises clients in matters involving clinical research and telemedicine.

A partner in the firm’s Nashville office, Leopard will serve a second term on the Board of Directors and Nominating Committee At-Large. Leopard regularly provides trusted counsel to healthcare providers, entrepreneurs, and service providers on licensing, payment, regulatory compliance, privacy and technology issues.

A partner in the firm’s Nashville office, Morgan will continue to serve on the Dispute Resolution Service Council. He has extensive experience representing healthcare providers in all aspects of their business, including payor disputes, compliance issues, internal investigations, technology disputes and qui tam litigation.

Based in the firm’s Nashville office, Pan was appointed vice chair of the Regulation, Accreditation, and Payment Practice Group. Pan assists healthcare entities in transactional and regulatory matters. She has advised clients on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, and worked on hospital mergers and acquisitions.

A partner in Bradley’s Dallas office, Rogaliner will continue to serve on the Journal of Health and Life Sciences Law editorial board. Rogaliner’s practice focuses on complex regulatory and compliance matters in the healthcare industry. She has extensive experience in regulatory compliance matters, including service as a legal IRO for entities under a corporate integrity agreement with the Office of Inspector General, and is routinely called upon to advise her institutional clients in their day to operations and transactions within the heavily regulated healthcare industry.

Mitigating contract risk is more important than ever in today’s business environment. But, how do you determine which contract risks are acceptable for your business? How do you uncover hidden risk and minimize your exposure to it?

Join us on Friday, May 14th at 1:00 PM ET where our panel will discuss Best Practices for Mitigating Contract Risk using proven and data-driven contract management techniques.

By attending this webinar, you will learn:

-Steps and tools necessary to identify risk in your contracts
-Methods for assessing and scoring risk probability and consequence
-Solutions to mitigating contract risk

Unable to attend? Register anyway and we will send you the webinar recording.

Organizations that rely on Slack to facilitate collaboration and business communications know that the content within can be responsive to discovery obligations or crucial for internal investigations. Unfortunately, native Slack exports do not make it easy to collect all of the necessary data, get relevant insights, narrow the scope, and easily export the data in a review-ready format.

Slack exports are produced in complex and difficult-to-read JSON file formats. Moreover, targeting a collection is limited and Slack exports will include message content and links to attached files, but not the files themselves—meaning collections can be incomplete.

In this session, learn more about the ediscovery challenges legal teams face when managing Slack data and learn how to overcome them. You’ll also see a quick demo of how Hanzo Hold can help corporate legal teams manage their Slack discovery workflows.

Register.

Speaker

Brad Harris, VP of Product, Hanzo

Brad Harris is the VP of Product at Hanzo, a pioneer in the contextual capture, and preservation of dynamic web and collaboration content for corporate legal and compliance departments. He leads product vision and innovation for the company. Brad has more than 30 years of experience in the high technology and enterprise software sectors, including assisting Fortune 1000 companies to enhance their e-discovery preparedness through technology and process improvement. Brad is a frequent author and speaker on data preservation and e-discovery issues and is a member of The Sedona Conference WG1 and WG6.

Berkeley Law Executive Education and The Peer 150 announce the opening of registration for The General Counsel Institute, a virtual professional development program for mid-career in-house counsel taking place over four half days in June 2021.

The General Counsel Institute is Going Beyond Legal.

The multi-day, virtual program for in-house attorneys will bring together a wide range of executives from the C-Suite and beyond to discuss how they work with, and are impacted by, in-house legal professionals. Sessions will include fireside chats between CEOs and their GCs, presentations by CFOs and CIOs, and talks by other leaders who will share their experiences working cross-functionally to achieve organizational goals.

The program will run over four half days in June.

Learn more and register.

Michael Best is pleased to announce the 2021 recipients of the Michael Best Diversity & Inclusion Scholarship, given to Samantha Contreras, and the Michael Best University of Wisconsin Law School Diversity & Inclusion Scholarship, bestowed to Mason Higgins and Veronica Mantilla.

The two scholarships are hallmarks of the firm’s long-standing diversity, equality, and inclusion efforts that provide opportunities and programming to help make the legal community and Michael Best a more inclusive culture and environment.

The UW-Madison Diversity & Inclusion Scholarship is a collaboration between Michael Best and the University that began in 2017 and is given out to a second-year law student at the institution. Three past recipients of the scholarship have joined the firm full-time, with the fourth starting in the fall of 2021.

At UW-Madison, both Higgins and Mantilla are involved in several organizations. Mantilla is part of the university’s Latinx Lawyer Association, Women’s Law Student Association, and the Society for Education and Law Policy. She has also worked as a Law Clerk for Alliant Energy in Madison Wisconsin. Higgins is involved in several organizations on campus as well, including the Black Law Students Association, UW Mock Trial, and The Criminal Court Appeals Project. He has also worked as a Law Clerk for Krekeler Strother, S.C. in Madison, Wisconsin.

This is the inaugural year for the Michael Best Diversity & Inclusion Scholarship, launched as a result of the successes of the aforementioned scholarship. This too is available to second year law students, but open to any ABA-accredited law school in the country. This year’s recipient, Samantha Contreras, hails from the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Contreras is the Vice President of the Hispanic Law Student Association and the Admissions Liaison to the Black Law Students Association at Notre Dame and works directly with admissions to help find prospective members for both groups.

All three will be receiving tuition assistance for their third year of law school and the opportunity to participate in the Michael Best’s Summer Associate Program.

This month, Virginia became the second US state to enact comprehensive data privacy legislation of general applicability. On March 2, 2021, Virginia’s Governor, Ralph Northam, signed the Consumer Data Protection Act into law. The law’s requirements will take effect on January 1, 2023, which is the same day that requirements under the new California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) become operative.

In this program, our speakers will highlight how Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act affects the data privacy landscape in the US and how it may impact your organization. We also will discuss steps you can take now to prepare for the new requirements under the Consumer Data Protection Act and how to maintain a privacy program that can adapt to the changing legislative and regulatory landscape in the United States. Our speakers will address:

• The evolving nature of the data privacy landscape and our predictions for 2021 and beyond;
• An overview of the Consumer Data Protection Act, including to whom it applies and what it requires;
• How the Consumer Data Protection Act differs from other significant data privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act/CPRA and the EU General Data Protection Regulation; and
• Strategies for maintaining a nimble data privacy compliance program that can adapt to the changing landscape.

Speakers:
• Lisa J. Sotto, Chair of the Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice, Hunton Andrews Kurth, New York
• Aaron P. Simpson, Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth, New York
• Holly A. Brady, Associate, Hunton Andrews Kurth, Virginia
• Robert T. Bohannon, Director of Government Affairs, Hunton Andrews Kurth, Virginia

Register now.

Modern corporate websites incorporate interactive features like sliders, videos, dropdowns, forms, and personalized customer journeys to aid in storytelling and communicating effectively with customers. However, these same interactive features challenge most archiving solutions and demand powerful tools for capturing this data reliably and comprehensively. In this session, join us to experience how Hanzo ensures your websites are captured with high fidelity and are immutably stored to meet your ongoing compliance obligations.

Speaker
Justin Kreamer, Senior Enterprise Executive, Hanzo

Justin is a Senior Enterprise Executive at Hanzo. He consults with Fortune 500 companies desiring to transform the efficiency and effectiveness of their compliance and ediscovery initiatives. Justin brings specific experience in helping large enterprises proactively manage complex data sources such as dynamic web content and collaboration application data.

Register Today!

Michael Best is pleased to announce that the firm’s Venture Best Practice has been recognized in Pitchbook’s 2020 Annual Interactive Global League Table.

Published annually, the tables are compiled using the completed deal count for specified deal type, region and other criteria. Only publicly disclosed transactions and/or transactions confirmed by PitchBook’s primary research team are included.

The Venture Best team ranked in the following categories:

#1 Great Lakes Region
#3 Mountain Region
#10 Most Active in the US
#11 Most Active in the WORLD
Top 20 Most Active in South, New England, Southeast, West Coast and Mid Atlantic

Leading this initiative for the Venture Best Practice was Galen Mason, who was recently named Co-Chair of the Venture Best team and the Venture Capital & Private Equity Sub-Group. Prior to taking the helm, the group was led by partner Melissa Turczyn in Madison. Under her tenure, the practice expanded beyond Wisconsin into key markets, including Denver, Austin, and Chicago.

Enterprises who’ve adopted Slack know the content adds up quickly across channels, direct messages, and group communications. Information governance is critical for mitigating risk. However, making informed decisions about preservation and scoping discovery is also essential for controlling downstream costs while meeting your duty to preserve.

In this session, Brad Harris, Hanzo’s VP of Product, will share insights about how to effectively manage the sheer volume of Slack data for discovery. Additionally, attendees can see a high-level demo of how Hanzo Hold can help streamline Slack data discovery.

Speaker
Brad Harris, VP of Product, Hanzo

Brad Harris is the VP of Product at Hanzo, a pioneer in the contextual capture, and preservation of dynamic web and collaboration content for corporate legal and compliance departments. He leads product vision and innovation for the company. Brad has more than 30 years’ experience in the high technology and enterprise software sectors, including assisting Fortune 1000 companies to enhance their e-discovery preparedness through technology and process improvement. Brad is a frequent author and speaker on data preservation and e-discovery issues and is a member of The Sedona Conference WG1 and WG6.

Register today!

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP will present a free webinar, “Using Persuasion Techniques to Achieve Litigation Success: Part One,” featuring Fitch Even partners Karl R. Fink, Nikki Little, and Timothy P. Maloney.

The webinar will take place on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, at 9:00 am PST / 10:00 am MST / 11:00 am CST / 12 noon EST.

In the fourth century B.C., Greek philosopher Aristotle described three key methods of persuasion that can be used to influence your audience—ethos, pathos, and logos. These persuasion techniques are used in all types of communication in our everyday lives. And when complex issues are involved, such as in intellectual property litigation, effectively applying these principles becomes even more important.

During this webinar, we’ll explore the ways these modes of persuasion can be used to effectively communicate throughout the life of a case, covering the following:

• An introduction to the concepts of ethos, pathos, and logos
• How to integrate persuasion techniques when developing case themes
• The importance of building a team that can communicate and persuade
• How to select and prepare effective fact witnesses

In April we will present Part Two, which will cover additional aspects of a case, including expert witnesses, communications with the court, and trial.

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

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

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that the firm scored a 90 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2020 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which is the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees.

Medlock and Bradley’s Inclusion and Diversity Committee, which is chaired by partner Anne Marie Seibel, led the effort to ensure the firm had practices and policies in place to participate in the CEI survey. The committee is tasked with identifying and implementing inclusion and diversity initiatives across all the firm’s offices. In 2020, the Inclusion and Diversity Committee implemented new programs aimed at improving recruitment, retention and advancement of diverse attorneys, held firm-wide social justice discussion groups and panel discussions, and supported the firm’s affinity groups in their activities.

The 2020 CEI ranks employers that took concrete steps to ensure greater equity for LGBTQ workers and their families in the form of comprehensive policies, benefits and practices. The rating criteria includes non-discrimination policies across business entities; equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families; and supporting an inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility.

Pandemic-related pressure and political disruption are expected to create significant uncertainty in 2021—and as governments grapple with these challenges, enforcement authorities are likely to uncover bribery and corruption issues. In this climate, businesses face compliance risks across a range of industries and regions, according to a new report by global law firm Hogan Lovells.

The Global Bribery & Corruption Outlook identifies a number of compliance and enforcement trends, and areas in which enforcement is on the rise.

“Over the course of 2021, we expect to see continued cross-border enforcement activity and collaboration, the alignment of European corporate criminal liability laws with existing U.S. laws, and a more global crackdown on bribery and money laundering,” said Stephanie Yonekura, global head of Hogan Lovells’ Investigations, White Collar, and Fraud practice.

Businesses face uncertainty on a number of fronts. Countries that had hoped to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic this year have instead enacted further restrictions. The United Kingdom is adjusting to life after Brexit, and the United States is transitioning to a new administration.

“Despite these unpredictable times, we have identified some unifying trends in key industries and jurisdictions around the world,” Yonekura said. “For example, in the U.S., even though the new administration has just begun to shape its legislative and regulatory priorities, there is broad agreement that enforcement activity involving corporate fraud will only increase in coming years.”

Industries in the hot seat

As governments plan for recovery from the economic downturn inflicted by the pandemic, the financial services sector can expect to see a global rise in enforcement activity, including actions brought under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the U.S.

“Financial services institutions should anticipate and prepare for heightened attention from the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, and regulators worldwide in anti-bribery enforcement,” said Hogan Lovells partner Ann C. Kim, co-editor of the Global Bribery & Corruption Outlook. “Given the current economic climate, now is the time to examine compliance efforts and identify and remediate any issues, before enforcement officials come knocking.”

Technology companies also find themselves in the hot seat.

“2020 saw no shortage of governmental scrutiny of technology companies, and it is not lost on us that the very companies that were in the crosshairs of enforcement authorities were the ones helping the world to keep turning during the pandemic,” Yonekura said. “We expect government authorities to continue their focus on the technology sector, including a likely surge in FCPA enforcement actions in the U.S.”

The Global Bribery & Corruption Outlook examines enforcement in other industries as well, including:

• Life sciences – The race to find therapeutics and a vaccine in the fight against COVID-19 has put the spotlight back on international clinical trials, and companies are increasingly turning to AI to spot compliance issues.

• Sports, media, and entertainment – Businesses in this sector, among the hardest hit by the pandemic, face compliance challenges as they begin to re-open, such as the potential for vendors and third parties seeking to use in-kind donations, such as tickets to events, to cut through government bureaucracy.

• Aerospace, defense, and government services – The industry saw arguably the largest anti-corruption settlement in enforcement history, and tighter controls are likely ahead.

• Private capital – Developments in Europe expand the risks companies can face when bribery and corruption is uncovered at a newly acquired entity. The report also looks at acquisition risks in the U.S. and UK.

Around the World

Written by Hogan Lovells attorneys from offices around the world, the Global Bribery & Corruption Outlook examines enforcement trends in a number of regions.

“The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will continue to shape enforcement activity around the world,” noted partner and report co-editor Liam Naidoo. “But, as we explore in the Outlook, ongoing political and economic changes may have a greater impact in the longer term in some key jurisdictions.”

Regional highlights include:

• China – The digital transformation of Chinese retail companies in a post-COVID-19 era have given rise to compliance risks and challenges.

• Europe – In Spain and Germany, there is movement towards greater alignment with U.S. and other European jurisdictions when it comes to the criminal liability of companies.

• Latin America – Progress on the anti-corruption front, which had built up in Latin America in the wake of the 2014 Car Wash investigation, was impacted in 2020 by political developments, economic instability, and the COVID-19 crisis. Nevertheless, significant corruption investigations are underway.

• Southeast Asia – The report contains feedback from lawyers across the Asia-Pacific region on what the next 12 months will bring. In jurisdictions such as Vietnam and Indonesia, lawyers observe a “Wild West vibe” to compliance and ethical business practices.

As the world begins to step out of the darkness of the pandemic, the financial support that governments have put in place will start to wane, and with that, the fraud, corruption, and white-collar crime that may have lay hidden since March 2020 will begin to surface. It is not too late to review and improve corporate compliance programs, and such action may help mitigate issues yet to come to light.

The Global Bribery & Corruption Outlook can be viewed here: https://www.hoganlovells.com/en/news/2021-global-bribery-corruption-outlook

DENVER (January 12, 2021) – Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that Andrew J. Kline has joined the firm in Denver as a senior counsel in the firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice and Cannabis Law Industry Group.

Kline brings a rare combination of public policy, cannabis law, coalition building and prosecutorial expertise to the firm, following decades of service in the highest levels of government and in the private and non-profit sectors. Drawing on his fourteen years of experience as a federal prosecutor, and public service working as policy advisor to then-Vice President Biden and counsel to then-Senator Biden, Kline will represent clients in some of most sensitive areas of law and policy.

Most recently, Kline had been leading public policy for the cannabis industry at the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), the industry’s preeminent trade organization for the state-legal cannabis industry, and was previously president of the National Association of Cannabis Business. Prior to joining the cannabis industry, Kline held a variety of high-profile positions in government and the private sector. Kline’s experience as a federal prosecutor includes six years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia. He also served as a federal prosecutor for six years in the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section, with the DOJ’s Criminal Division, and in the Enforcement Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission. Kline has first-chaired over forty criminal jury trials, twelve bench trials, and argued numerous criminal appeals.

At NCIA, Kline led public policy development and created and led its Policy Council – the “think tank” for the cannabis industry. Under Kline’s leadership, the Council developed public policies to promote, grow, and protect state-legal cannabis businesses. The Council’s work served to inform and influence members of Congress, Executive Branch officials, state legislators and regulators, the media, and industry stakeholders on matters critical to the future of the burgeoning industry.

Kline earned his J.D. from the Pepperdine University School of Law and his B.S. from Emerson College. He also has an M.P.A. from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Kline is admitted to the Bar in Colorado, California, and Washington, DC.

Perkins Coie is a leading international law firm that is known for providing high value, strategic solutions and extraordinary client service on matters vital to our clients’ success. With more than 1,100 attorneys in offices across the United States and Asia, we provide a full array of corporate, commercial litigation, intellectual property and regulatory legal advice to a broad range of clients, including many of the world’s most innovative companies and industry leaders as well as public and not-for-profit organizations.

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP will present a free webinar, “Means Plus Function Claim Construction in Patent Prosecution and Litigation,” featuring Fitch Even partner Jon A. Birmingham.

The webinar will take place on Wednesday, January 27, 2021, at 9:00 am PST / 10:00 am MST / 11:00 am CST / 12 noon EST.

Means plus function claim construction is being applied by courts and the USPTO when the term “means” is not explicitly used. When does this happen, and what is the impact? Understanding the law of means plus function claim construction, as well as its application in litigation and patent prosecution, can provide answers.

During this webinar, we will discuss these topics and more:
• How to identify means plus function claim terms
• How to construe means plus function claim terms
• How to avoid a means plus function claim construction in patent prosecution
• How to use means plus function claim terms in patent prosecution
• Indefiniteness and means plus function claim terms
• Differences between the Doctrine of Equivalents and means plus function equivalents

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

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

Register for the webinar.

As companies continue to operate in a remote work environment, many are looking at ways to improve their contract management processes. On December 11th at 12:00pm ET, the Contract Logix team will be hosting a webinar on Best Practices to Successfully Manage Contracts in a Remote World.

Join us to learn 5 best practices you can leverage to overcome the challenges of managing contracts when your employees, customers, and vendors are working remotely.

Some key topics that we’ll cover include how to:

• Make your contracts securely accessible from anywhere at any time.
• Quickly search for any and all information in your agreements.
• Request, create, process, and execute contracts remotely.
• Automate alerts for key dates and obligations.
• Get real-time reports on your contracts’ stage, status, and performance.

In Era of Remote Engagement, Actionable Guidance Remains Crucial in Law Firm Communications, New Study Finds

Incumbent law firms have advantage in the battle for clients’ attention, but substantive content creates openings for challenger firms

Chicago, December 1, 2020 – By bringing in-person client interactions to a virtual halt, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a digital content explosion as law firms compete for the attention of clients and prospects. A new study of in-house counsel shows that providing substantive, actionable guidance remains the best way to rise above the noise, preserve existing client relationships, and win new ones.

These findings are detailed in the report, “How to Win and Protect Client Relationships in the Age of Remote Engagement,” released today by strategic communications firm Greentarget, legal consultancy Zeughauser Group, and B2B branding agency Right Hat. The August 2020 survey of 75 in-house lawyers, including 37 general counsel, offers important guidance for law firms anticipating an extended period of remote outreach.

The survey’s top findings include:

• Stick to Substance: 53 percent of respondents say they most want communications from outside counsel that relay substantive legal or business information. And substantive legal or business information is also most likely to generate a response from in-house counsel, especially for incumbent firms. For challenger firms, content that provides actionable guidance is the best route to sparking a conversation.
• Incumbent Firms Beware! 68 percent of in-house counsel say communication from existing outside counsel is of greatest value, but 31 percent say they place great value on communications from firms introduced to them by friends or colleagues. This suggests a clear opening for challenger firms with the right connections and approach.
• Pick Up the Phone – to Call or Text: Amid the age of digital communication, in-house lawyers most prefer the simplicity and intimacy of a telephone call or text. Picking up the phone affords outside counsel the chance to check in on a client personally before raising an emerging business or legal issue.
• Stay Relevant to be Read or Shared: More than half of in-house lawyers surveyed are willing to give communications from existing law firms (56 percent) and unfamiliar law firms (50 percent) at least a perfunctory read for relevance. Twenty-eight percent go further, saying that they appreciate good content sent from both types of firms, and they forward these communications to peers when appropriate.
• Perspective Wanted on Pressing Legal and Business Issues: 69 percent of in-house counsel say they want content on COVID-19’s impact on the economy and their businesses; nearly as many (65 percent) want content on business and legal topics not related to COVID-19. When we asked in-house counsel to name issues they’d like to hear about from firms, diversity, equity and inclusion topped the list.
• Forget Zoom Cocktail Hours: Seeking to fill the vacuum created by the inability to entertain clients, some firms have gotten creative with virtual social events. But virtual entertainment has little appeal for most in-house lawyers; 51 percent of respondents say they simply are not interested, and 40 percent say that they don’t want to engage with law firms in this manner.

What Law Firms Should Do
The report concludes with a series of recommendations for breaking through in the age of information overload, particularly given the increased flow of digital communication clients are receiving during the pandemic.

These recommendations start by reminding outside counsel that phone calls and texts are a welcome alternative to email; that evaluating content for its relevance, urgency, novelty and utility will distinguish it from the bulk of what clients are receiving; that all communication to clients and prospects should be customized; that incumbent law firms should avoid complacency; that investing in prospects can differentiate a firm seeking to develop a new relationship, and that bigger and bolder thought leadership projects – like research reports and podcasting – can show clients that a law firm is sensitive to their preferences and priorities.