Knowledge Nomads’ Summer Legal Conference in Berlin July 23-29, 2017, will feature sessions on law in the age of hyperconnectivity, legal issues in the sharing economy, and the legal fallout from Volkswagen’s emissions scandal.

The event will be at Berlin’s Radisson Blu Hotel.

The CLE-qualified sessions will feature a diverse group of speakers, including a broad range of nationalities, backgrounds and ages.

Interspersed with the the presentations will be an arts and culture day with a choice of seven tailor-made tours, a trip to the home of Volkswagen, and a closing dinner on top of the German Federal Parliament Bundestag building.

Other side events will include guided tours, dinners, receptions, concerts, a gallery tour and more.

Register or get more information.

The family of the late Daniel Lilley, Maine’s highest-profile lawyer, is accusing a former bookkeeper of embezzling more than $850,000 from his law firm over a little more than four years, reports the Portland Press Herald.

Plaintiffs allege that Jaime Butler, the bookkeeper for Lilley’s Portland law firm, repeatedly wrote checks to herself totaling $844,000 and also improperly diverted $12,000 in cash.

The family’s lawyer said  that “Butler issued herself ‘dozens of checks’ in some months and that the alleged embezzlement began almost immediately after she was hired as the law firm’s bookkeeper in early 2013,” writes Edward D. Murphy.

Read the Press Herald article.

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A small Rhode Island law firm has filed a lawsuit against its insurance company after the insurer refused to pay $700,000 in lost billings following a ransomware attack on the firm that locked down the firm’s computer files for three months, reports CloudNine’s eDiscovery Daily Blog.

Doug Austin‘s report, based on a story in the Providence Journal, explains that Moses Afonso Ryan Ltd. is suing its insurer, Sentinel Insurance Co., for breach of contract and bad faith. The insurer denied the plaintiff’s claim for lost billings over a three-month period when the documents were frozen by a hacker’s ransomware attack. The hacker encrypted the law firm’s computer files, offering to unlock them if a ransom were paid.

The suit says the infection disabled the firm’s computer network, meaning lawyers and staffers “were rendered essentially unproductive.”

Read the eDiscovery Daily Blog article.

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Unhappy with his boss and former friend’s close association with the Trump administration, David Magerman aired his concerns about Renaissance Technologies President Robert Mercer in a February interview with the Wall Street Journal, according to a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media.

Although the hedge fund’s legal department had assured the research scientist that his interview would not violate company policy, Magerman was fired shortly after publication of the article, which labeled Mercer a racist.

The former partner is now fighting back with a wrongful termination lawsuit, which should serve as a cautionary tale for all companies, says Dallas labor and employment attorney Leiza Dolghih of Godwin Bowman & Martinez.

“It is important for a company to establish and enforce clear rules on media interaction, particularly in situations such as this where you have high profile leadership or there is a potential for controversy. Here you had an employee who claimed that the Chief Compliance Officer orally told him that his interview was authorized,” she says. “No matter how respected he may have been at the firm, Magerman was known to have divergent views that were likely to be explored during the course of the interview. Even in instances where an employee is allowed to talk with the media, you cannot give them blanket assurances about repercussions.”

A group of lawyers who formed a company called Blackbird to file patent lawsuits against tech and retail firms may have chosen the wrong target, writes Jeff John Roberts for Fortune.

“On Thursday, that target — the Internet security company Cloudflare — responded to Blackbird’s legal action with a scorched earth campaign to take down Blackbird and shred its patents,” according to the report.

Cloudflare took the offensive to the next level by offering a $50,000 bounty to anyone who could provide “prior art” that could invalidate Blackbird’s claim — including Blackbird’s other patents. Cloudflare provided a list on those patents on a separate website.

Read the Fortune article.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Anita Shodeen slapped down a fee request from Weil Gotshal, writing, “By any measure the fees requested in Weil’s motion are staggering.”

Joe Patrice, writing for Above the Law reports on the case, quoting from Law360 (sub. req.).

Weil Gotshal submitted a request for $976,000 for fees for its representation of TCTM Financial FS, Wellman’s senior secured lender, during the months of September and October of last year, the report says. The judge criticized Weil’s billing rates, the number of attorneys assigned and its lack of specificity in billing entries, trimming its fees to $488,452 and denying about $32,200 in additional costs.

“Based simply upon the number of attorneys and hours billed leads to the inherent conclusion that there was a distinct lack of billing judgment exercised by Weil in its representation of TCTM,” Shodeen wrote.

Read the Above the Law article.

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Dinsmore & Shohl LLP will present a complimentary webinar titled “Effectively Using Offers of Judgment” on Thursday, May 18, at 11 a.m. Central time.

In the third webinar series of the year, Brittany Kirk will provide an introduction to Offers of Judgment, discussing how to leverage this risk-shifting tool to avoid litigation and its associated costs.

This presentation will discuss:

• When is the Offer of Judgment an effective litigation tool
• How to draft a precise Offer of Judgment
• Using Offers of Judgment to moot class actions after Campbell-Ewald
• State Offer of Judgment statutes

Anyone with questions may contact Missy Davis: melissa.davis@dinsmore.com

Register for the webinar.

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A St. Louis jury has awarded a Virginia woman a record-setting $110.5 million in the latest lawsuit alleging that using Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder caused cancer, according to an Associated Press report.

The verdict for Lois Slemp comes after three previous St. Louis juries awarded a total of $197 million to plaintiffs who made similar claims. About 2,000 state and federal lawsuits are in courts across the country over concerns about health problems caused by prolonged talcum powder use.

“Slemp, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012, blames her illness on her use of the company’s talcum-containing products for more than 40 years,” the AP report says. “Her cancer has spread to her liver. Although she was too ill to attend the trial, an audiotape of her deposition testimony was played. In it she said: ‘I trusted Johnson & Johnson. Big mistake.'”

Read the AP article.

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The top lawyer at Fox News finds herself the subject of speculation about whether she may be following the company’s former president out the door in the wake of complaints of sexual harassment or racial discrimination at the network.

Financial Times reports that Dianne Brandi, executive vice president of legal and business affairs, is named in three lawsuits that the network is contesting.

In one of the suits, Andrea Tantaros, a Fox News host, filed a suit against the company and Brandi, alleging that Brandi failed to investigate allegations of misconduct. Fox News and Brandi have denied the allegations in all the suits.

The Washington Post reports that Brandi was one of the senior executives “who engaged in a concerted effort to silence Tantaros by threats, humiliation, and retaliation.”

Hollywood Reporter has a story saying that Brandi is particularly vulnerable if more heads roll at Fox News.

Read The Washington Post article.

Read the Financial Times article.

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Bloomberg is reporting that Kimberly-Clark Corp. sued its spinoff Halyard Health Inc., claiming it wrongfully refused to pick up the entire tab for a $454 million verdict against the companies over the safety of some of their surgical gowns.

The plaintiff claims Halyard agreed to indemnify Kimberly-Clark for all costs tied to a lawsuit that accused the companies of misleading consumers about the safety of their MicroCool surgical gowns.

In its suit, Kimberly-Clark claims that Halyard must pay its $350 million punitive-damages portion of the jury verdict in the class-action case, reports Jef Feeley.

Halyard Health, which makes surgical masks, gloves and pain-pump accessories, filed its own suit in California, claiming it’s not obligated to cover litigation costs.

Read the Bloomberg article.

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Sometimes a temporary restraining order, or TRO, can provide immediate relief from the court system when a party can show irreparable harm will be caused if someone is allowed to remain in control of assets that belong to the company, according to an article posted on the website of Mehendru P.C.

“It may be that a competitor has interfered with a business contract, an employee has stolen your trade secrets or breached a non-compete agreement, or a business partner has stolen from your company.  You have to go to court to protect the company though you’d rather not,” the post reads.

A judge can grant a TRO to stop an individual’s actions even without that person or his lawyer being in court. And a TRO provides immediate relief from the court system when a party can show irreparable harm will be caused if someone is allowed to remain in control of assets that belong to the company.

Read the article.

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Zapproved has published a free whitepaper revealing e-discovery insights on cases involving Volkswagen, Apple, Samsung and Takata. The paper can be downloaded.

• Apple
• Samsung
• Volkswagen AG
• Takata

While these cases paint a portrait of what not to do, they also illustrate why building a culture of compliance is so vital, Zapproved says on its website. The paper reveals three key takeaways:

• First, create and maintain a culture of compliance that champions ethical practices.
• Second, know the rules that apply to cross-border litigation, particularly discovery, and ensure that all participants understand those multinational rules.
• Finally, adopt smart, automated and secure e-discovery processes.

Download the white paper.

Plano, Texas attorney Jason Van Dyke was all set to begin a new chapter of his legal career as an assistant district attorney in Victoria County. So he was startled to receive notice that the District Attorney’s office had rescinded its job offer with no explanation. Van Dyke speculates the reversal could be related to media coverage of a Twitter exchange he had involving a case he was working on in 2014. He has since filed suit seeking answers from Victoria County.

In a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing, Rhonda Reddick quotes Dallas labor and employment attorney Leiza Dolghih of Godwin Bowman & Martinez, who says this is a cautionary tale for both employers and job-seekers.

The post continues:

“Many employers these days Google prospective hires and look them up on social media for any evidence of red flags that indicate that the applicant may be violent, unethical, unstable or simply have bad judgment. These behind-the-scenes, informal background checks often result in rejection, or even withdrawal, of a job offer,” she says.

While a Texas employer may reject a prospective candidate for a myriad of reasons, including social media activity, a prospective employee cannot be rejected on the basis of race, gender, religion, age or other protective categories – information that can often be gleaned from social media. If a candidate can show that a job rejection was based on information protected under employment law, there could be basis for a claim of discrimination.

“However, in this case, if the employer discovered what they considered unsavory comments, or possible evidence of poor judgment or lack of self-control, after offering Mr. Van Dyke a job, the withdrawal of that offer based on the newly discovered information, would be acceptable,” says Ms. Dolghih. “While everyone has the right to speak their mind freely, that speech may result in rather harsh consequences in terms of employment.”

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Theranos Inc. investors accused the company of threatening to file for bankruptcy protection if they don’t agree to give up their rights to sue the firm over its flawed blood-testing business, reports Bloomberg Law.

Reporters Jef Feeley and Caroline Chen write that officials of Partner Investments LP and two other funds, which invested more than $96 million in Theranos preferred shares, said a lawyer representing the privately held medical-testing company suggested it would seek Chapter 11 protection if the investors won’t abandon their lawsuit and accept more equity instead.

Theranos officials have disputed the investors’ claims, saying they discussed the exchange offer with investors before the suit was filed.

“Having said it will no longer sell tests to consumers after running into trouble with U.S. regulators, Theranos and Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Holmes are fighting for the company’s life,” according to Bloomberg. “It’s facing multiple suits by investors who claim they were misled about the technology and want their money back, and it is refocusing on research.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

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Michael I. Goldberg, the SEC appointed receiver in charge of the Jay Peak Resort and Burke Mountain Hotel in Vermont, reached a settlement agreement with Raymond James that will significantly benefit the defrauded investors and creditors of the receivership estate, according to a news release from Akerman LLP.

Under the terms of the settlement, which must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Raymond James will pay $150 million to the receivership estate and the funds will be used to satisfy the claims of numerous investors and creditors while at the same time allowing the receiver to complete construction of the Jay Peak Resort. The settlement was achieved exactly one year from the date the case began.

The Akerman release continues:

The Jay Peak case involves the largest fraud in the history of the federal EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program. Raymond James allegedly assisted Ariel Quiros, owner of Q Resorts and William Stenger, president and CEO of Jay Peak, a Vermont ski resort owner by Q Resorts, in stealing and misusing millions of dollars raised from hundreds of investors. Raymond James vehemently denied any liability whatsoever. Since July 2016, Goldberg and Raymond James have been engaged in good faith, arm’s-length settlement negotiations. Upon court approval, the settlement will resolve all claims brought against Raymond James and bar any future claims that may arise from the activities associated with the Jay Peak Resort and Burke Mountain Hotel.

Goldberg said, “This settlement would not have been possible without Raymond James stepping up to the plate from the very beginning of this case in an effort to do the right thing. At all times throughout our negotiations, Raymond James acted professionally and honorably in a good faith effort to resolve the litigation. The way Raymond James approached this case is a benchmark for how other firms in a similar situation should handle such a case. I want to further thank my counsel, Jeffrey Schneider of Levine Kellogg and lead class counsel, Harley Tropin and Tucker Ronzetti of the Kozyak Tropin firm for their tireless work in helping me resolve this case and benefitting hundreds of investors and creditors. Finally, I want to thank the officials at the SEC and the State of Vermont for their unwavering commitment to protecting the defrauded investors and creditors since the very beginning of the case and helping us structure a settlement that is in the best interest of the receivership estate and the investors. The SEC’s investigation and lawsuit was the catalyst for this settlement.”

The settlement amount will be utilized as follows:

• $15.3 million will be used to satisfy the promissory notes payable to the investors of Jay Peak Hotel Suites L.P.
• $5.1 million will benefit Jay Peak Hotel Suites Phase II L.P., Jay Peak Penthouse Suites L.P., Jay Peak Golf and Mountain Suites L.P., Jay Peak Lodge and Townhouses L.P., Jay Peak Hotel Suites Stateside L.P. and Q Burke Mountain Hotel and Conference Center, L.P. by satisfying past due trade debt on the Jay Peak Resort and the Burke Mountain Hotel.
• $19.6 million will be used to complete the construction of the Stateside Phase VI project of which up to $2.2 million will be used to satisfy existing contractor liens.
• $67 million will be used to return the $500,000 principal investment each investor made in the Jay Peak Biomedical Research Park L.P.
• $6.6 million will be used to satisfy contractor claims against the Q Burke Phase VIII project and to repay other debt on the Burke Mountain Hotel.
• $10 million will be posted in a separate interest-bearing escrow account and be used if needed to repay up to twenty Q Burke Phase VIII Investors who may not be eligible to apply for permanent residency through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.
• $1 million will be used to refund the $500,000 investment of two investors in the Q Burke phase VIII whose I-526 petitions were denied prior to the date of the SEC Action.
• $25 million will be set aside to pay the fees of class counsel and other attorneys who brought suits on behalf of individual victims.

Goldberg is co-chair of the Fraud & Recovery Practice Group at top 100 U.S. law firm Akerman LLP. The case of Jay Peak is the largest EB-5 fraud scheme in U.S. history and the $150 million settlement represents the largest recovery of EB-5 investor losses.

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Partners at the law firm Chadbourne & Parke, in an unusual public gesture, voted on Thursday to expel from its ranks a female partner who filed a gender discrimination and pay inequity lawsuit against the firm last year, according to a New York Times report.

Campbell argued her case before the partners of the firm, but in a poll of the partnership conducted by telephone, she cast the only vote against expulsion. About 70 partners voted to expel her from the firm, Chadbourne said in a statement.

“On Monday, a federal district judge in Manhattan rebuffed her effort to block the vote, which her lawyers argued was retaliation for her lawsuit, which seeks $100 million and claims that the firm paid female partners less than their male counterparts and denied them advancement opportunities,” reports Elizabeth Olson. “Two other female partners have joined the lawsuit since it was filed in August in Federal District Court in Manhattan.”

Read the NYT article.

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The widow of a partner at the Reed Smith law firm won a $3 million verdict Thursday in a lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company that she blamed for her husband’s suicide, reports The Chicago Tribune.

“Wendy Dolin’s husband, Stewart, stepped in front of a CTA Blue Line train in the Loop on July 15, 2010. He had been taking paroxetine, a drug for depression and anxiety, and his widow claimed in her lawsuit that GlaxoSmithKline failed to warn her husband’s doctor of the drug’s increased risk of suicidal behavior, leading to his death,” writes reporter Grace Wong.

GlaxoSmithKline’s defense was that Dolin was taking a generic version of Paxil, manufactured by another company. But the judge hearing the case released the maker of the generic, saying it had no control of the drug’s label.

Read the Tribune article.

The bitter child custody trial pitting high-profile internet radio host Alex Jones against his ex-wife has begun in an Austin courtroom. Jones’ attorneys are arguing that the angry, volatile personality evident from his Infowars website and radio show is “performance art” and doesn’t reflect his fitness as a parent, according to a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.

“It’s going to be a fascinating tightrope for him to walk because the jury will have to decide who is the real Alex Jones,” says Austin-based Weisbart Springer Hayes attorney Geoff Weisbart, who is closely following the case. “He may be in a bit of a lose-lose situation because, if successful at trial, that defense could ultimately damage his credibility with his core audience. That’s obviously a risk he’s willing to take.”

Weisbart also notes the court of Judge Orlinda Naranjo is one of the few in the state that allows jurors to submit questions to the witnesses as a part of their testimony. “While the judge has made it clear that the focus is going to be on the best interests of the three children involved, it will be fascinating to see what questions the members of the jury have for Mr. Jones.”

A large patent-holding company called Unwired Planet reached a settlement with Apple at 1 a.m. on Monday, just hours before a jury trial was set to start in San Francisco, reports Ars Technica.

“Unwired Planet is the patent-holding remains of early mobile company Openwave, which acquired several hundred U.S. patents from Ericsson in early 2013, with Ericsson getting 20 percent of any patent settlements. Later that year, Unwired Planet sued Apple,” explains reporter Joe Mullin.

Law360, which first reported the settlement, said that Unwired Planet was seeking $33 million in royalties.

Read the Ars Technica article.

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Fresh allegations this week of misconduct by Fox News host Bill O’Reilly have reduced the likelihood that he’ll return to the network, reports Bloomberg, and now the company has hired law firm Paul Weiss to investigate the claims.

“Pressure is rising on Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox Inc., the parent of the conservative-leaning news network, to make a decision on O’Reilly’s fate as advertisers flee his show. O’Reilly, the channel’s most popular host, pulls in tens of millions of dollars a year in ad revenue, “writes Anousha Sakoui. “The network has said he’ll return to his show April 24 after a previously scheduled vacation.”

Marc E. Kasowitz is the lawyer representing O’Reilly during his legal trouble.

Read the Bloomberg article.

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