Acacia Research Corp., the largest publicly traded patent-assertion entity, won a $22.1 million verdict against Apple, reports Ars Technica.

An East Texas jury found that Apple infringed US Patent No. 8,055,820, owned by Acacia subsidiary Cellular Communications Equipment LLC. Reporter Joe Mullin writes that the patent describes a method of how cell phones can use “buffer status reporting” so that phone networks can optimize data usage. The patent originated at Nokia, which sold the patent to Acacia in 2013.

Acacia, in the class of companies that critics refer to as “patent trolls,” buys patents from others, splits the proceeds from litigation with the original patent owner. Acacia-related entities have filed hundreds of lawsuits.

“The company used to advertise a 50/50 split with patent owners and inventors, but its specific arrangement with Nokia is unknown,” according to the report. “The verdict, reached last week, is a validation of Acacia’s increasing interest, announced a few years back, in buying portfolios of patents from large companies, rather than individual inventors.”

Read the article.

The ABC affiliate in San Antonio reports that in the last six years, lawyers working in the Greater San Antonio area have tripled the number of commercials they run on TV from about 50,000 to more than 180,000 a year, according to data from Nielsen AdIntel.

The flashy commercials have given some South Texas personal-injury lawyers a unique reputationm writes Josh Skurnik, citing the example of Jim Adler, who bills himself as the “Texas Hammer.” Adler can be seen in TV spots standing on semitrucks telling viewers he “will hammer the big trucking companies down to size.”

Adler told KSAT 12 how his script writers and directors helped him come up with the character:

“He agreed with them that he needed a more memorable character than his predecessor ‘Jim Adler, the smart tough lawyer.’ Through acting lessons, an eye for production and bilingual showmanship Adler said he became the grandfather of the unique style of personal injury advertising found in South Texas.”

And it worked.

Read the article.

The trustee for a bankrupt company decided to drop his lawsuit after watching his expert witness cross examined by an attorney from Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C.(AZA), clearing AZA’s clients of claims that they received fraudulently transferred company assets, the firm reports in a news release.

Rodney Tow, trustee for the estate of the Peterson Group Inc., a Houston real estate development company, had watched AZA’s John Zavitsanos examine his expert witness over whether Peterson Group was solvent and what company assets remained. The legal dispute involved a series of shopping centers and other properties worth more than $30 million.

The night of the expert’s failed testimony Tow informed Zavitsanos that he was completely dropping the case, which was in the third week of trial to a jury in the 269^th District Court in Harris County.

See a video and read about the case.

The celebrated “freedom of contract” is not absolute, writes Glenn West for Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP’s Global Private Equity Watch.

“The right of contracting parties to obligate themselves to one another has always been subject to certain statutory limitations, as well as those imposed by the common-law principles that govern the enforcement of contracts generally. A recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Caudill v. Keller Williams Realty, Inc., 2016 WL 3680033 (7th Cir. July 6, 2016), serves as a reminder of one of those common-law principles—the idea that, as a general rule, parties should not be penalized for breaching a contract,” he writes.

“Parties relying on agreed damages clauses on both sides of the Atlantic should continue to draft such provisions based upon the current interpretation, in the applicable jurisdiction, of the ancient principle of the common law that abhors a penalty for a contractual breach,” West advises.

Read the article.

The Federal Circuit has affirmed a Western District of Texas decision disqualifying counsel for plaintiff Dynamic 3D Geosolutions LLC and dismissing its patent infringement complaint Schlumberger Ltd. without prejudice, reports IPWatchdog.

Dynamic alleged that defendant Schlumberger’s “Petrel” software infringed Dynamic’s ‘319 Patent, for systems and methods of combining seismic and well log data into a real-time, interactive three dimensional display.

But Schlumberger raised a potential conflict of interest and filed a motion to disqualify Dynamic’s counsel, Charlotte Rutherford. Rutherford previously was deputy general counsel for intellectual property at Schlumberger. The district court found that Rutherford’s work at Schlumberger was substantially related to her current work and “the evidence created an irrebuttable presumption that she acquired confidential information requiring her disqualification,” according to the report by Joseph Robinson and Robert Schaffer.

Read the article.

Image by Gage Skidmore

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are asking the Justice Department to investigate the circumstances surrounding a $25,000 donation the Donald J. Trump Foundation made to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi at a time when her office was considering whether to open a fraud investigation of Trump University, according to a Washington Post report.

The committee’s Democrats allege that the donation in 2013 “may have influenced Mrs. Bondi’s official decision not to participate in litigation against Mr. Trump,” and asks Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch to explore whether federal bribery or other laws might have been violated, report Matt Zapotosky and David A. Fahrenthold.

In a separate case, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said on CNN Tuesday that his office was “concerned that the Trump Foundation may have engaged in some impropriety” and had “been looking into the Trump Foundation to make sure it’s complying with the laws that govern charities in New York.”

Read the article.

Frank L. Branson

In an article on its website, the Law Offices of Frank L. Branson tallied some of the firm’s recent victories, including a $10.9 million verdict for the families of two north Texas grandmothers who died as a result of injuries from the crash of a the Choctaw Casino chartered bus.

In that case, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma refused to take responsibility for its role in ensuring the safety of its guests and offered only $50,000 to settle the case, the firm says on its website. At trial, testimony established a critical finding that the Choctaw Casino had retained the right to control the charter bus and its driver.

In another case, the firm won $4.45 million in actual damages and another $598,500 in exemplary damages for a physician who was forced out of a partnership in two medical imaging center businesses.

The firm has been honored by Best Law Firms in America Metropolitan Tier I, Texas Super Lawyers, and more.

Read the article.

Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016
New York

Bloomberg BNA and Bentham IMF will hold an executive briefing and reception that explores how firms are integrating financing into their litigation practices.

The event will be Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016, at Bloomberg LP, 120 Park Ave., New York, from 4:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m., with a networking reception to follow.

Law firms face increasing pressure to help clients gain affordable access to the courts as skyrocketing legal costs and other factors make litigation more expensive. Financing provided by litigation funders is helping firms meet this demand while also accomplishing strategic objectives, Bloomberg says on its website.

Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of University of California Irvine School of Law and author of the forthcoming book,Closing the Courthouse Doors, will deliver a keynote speech on how the upcoming election can change the course of the Supreme Court’s recent decisions and create a new era of wider access to civil justice.

Following Dean Chemerinsky, a panel of top legal and funding professionals will discuss the impact of funding on the U.S. legal system, and how law firms are taking measured risk to increase profits and accomplish growth objectives. Finally, the panel will look at the benefits to corporate clients, as well as plaintiffs.

Register for the event.

The news of Gretchen Carlson‘s $20 million settlement with 21st Century Fox is sending shock waves through the legal world, especially in employment and labor law circles, according to a LawNewz.com report.

Rachel Stockman spoke with several legal experts about the settlement, including one who called this a “watershed moment for sexual harassment cases.”

Some of the experts said the case could open the door to more sexual harassment claims in the workplace, and some were surprised by the high dollar amount that 21st Century Fox agreed to pay.

The article quotes Washington, DC, employment lawyer Tom Spiggle as saying this case could convince victims of sexual harassment that the laws on the subject still have teeth.

Read the article.

Image by Borealnz

Kentucky lawyer Alex R. White has filed a class action complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Lawyer.com LLC and World Media Group LLC, alleging violation of New York and other state consumer protection statutes, reports Legal NewsLine.

Reporter Jenie Mallari-Torres writes that the complaint claims White and his class suffered damages to the reputations of their business and professional careers when users posted unflattering reviews on the defendants’ website. Some the lawyers and judges had grades of “D” or “F”.

“White alleges the defendants enriched themselves at the expense of lawyers who have not authorized the disclosure of their personal and professional information, bombarded attorneys with unsolicited emails from ‘potential clients. as part of its efforts to sell premium memberships on its website which cost hundreds of dollars a month and promoted attorneys and law firms based solely on how much money was paid,” according to the report.

Read the article.

Image by Mark Moz

Over the past two years, a growing number of U.S. banks has capped their directors’ earnings, but the ceilings are so high that they primarily serve to fend off potential shareholder litigation rather than control the pace of pay increases, reports Olivia Oran in a Reuters article.

The banks’ caps can be triple what directors now get paid, according to data and filings reviewed by Reuters.

“For the most part, these limits aren’t really going to affect director pay, other than the fact that it’s really just a protection for them,” said Bill Gerek who advises companies on executive pay and governance matters at Korn Ferry. “What’s the cost?”

Oran reports that consultants and lawyers say having any ceiling makes a company less likely to be targeted in a lawsuit from shareholders.

Read the article.

Image by Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine

A law firm in Montgomery, Ala., says it received nearly 26,000 phone calls from people inquiring about a possible link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer after its clients won a total of $127 million in two verdicts earlier this year, reports AL.com.

Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C. reported 12,221 open cases from the 25,916 calls it had received as of Thursday. In a statement, the firm said it now has 867 cases filed nationwide against Johnson & Johnson regarding talcum powder products, which plaintiffs have claimed are linked to cases of ovarian cancer.

“In February a City of St. Louis Circuit Court jury awarded the family of Jacqueline Fox $72 million, finding Johnson & Johnson liable for her ovarian cancer that led to her death,” reports Kent Faulk of AL.com. “In May another jury in St. Louis found Johnson & Johnson liable for ovarian cancer linked to genital use of its talcum powder products and awarded a South Dakota woman, Gloria Ristesund, $55 million.”

“Though it’s been discussed as a hypothesis and carefully studied for decades, there is no proven linkage between talc and ovarian cancer,” Gene Williams, outside counsel for Johnson & Johnson, told Legal NewsLine.

Read the article.

Image by NY Photographic

A new startup, Legalist, is looking to make money from the practice of bankrolling lawsuits, reports Business Insider. The startup plans to fund those that it calculates has a chance to win.

Although Eva Shang, its cofounder, is a Thiel Fellow, she said the company won’t be funding lawsuits like the one Peter Thiel backed when Hulk Hogan successfully sued Gawker. The fellowship means that Shand took a $100,000 investment from Thiel’s foundation to help build Legalist.

“In a presentation at Y Combinator’s Demo Day on Tuesday, Shang argued that litigation funding is poised to become an ‘explosive asset class.’ The startup has funded one lawsuit for $75,000 and expects a return of over $1 million once the case is over. That money will then be reinvested in other lawsuits, and the process will repeat itself,” reports Biz Carson.

Legalist uses an algorithm tocalculates the odds of winning the case and the time scale in which it would finish.

Read the article.

Reuters is reporting that prominent Texas lawyer Mikal Watts was acquitted on Thursday of charges he made up thousands of fake clients to sue BP Plc for damages that the oil company caused in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill, court records show.

A Mississippi federal jury found Watts and four other defendants not guilty of charges related to an alleged scheme to defraud a program set up by BP to compensate people who suffered economic losses from the spill, writes Jonathan Stempel. The jury found two other defendants guilty.

“The U.S. Department of Justice had accused the defendants of submitting claims on behalf of more than 40,000 people who had not agreed to be represented by Watts’ firm, or else were identified with stolen or bogus Social Security numbers and other personal information,” reports Stempel.

Read the article.

Four workers injured in a flash fire last week at the Sunoco Logistics terminal in Nederland, Texas, remain hospitalized with severe burns and related injuries. Two of the workers have retained Matthew Matheny and Edward Fisher of the Provost Umphrey law firm to represent their interests, and the attorneys have already secured a preservation agreement covering the accident site and will be leading an investigation on behalf of their clients.

“It’s important to preserve the location and allow investigators and experts to better determine the causes of the accident and what might have prevented this tragedy,” says Matheny in an article posted by Androvett Legal Media & Marketing. “We’ll be talking to witnesses and examining any records of safety and maintenance procedures at the facility. Obviously this horrible accident should not have happened, and we’re prepared to find out why.”

According to initial reports, at the time of the accident the workers were doing some welding at the Sunoco facility, which handles crude oil, condensate, naphtha, base and extract oils.

CNN is reporting that Kentucky’s attorney general is suing health-care giant Johnson & Johnson for millions of dollars, saying the company “concealed and misrepresented” the risk of its transvaginal mesh products to doctors and patients.

In the lawsuit, AG Andy Beshear alleged Johnson & Johnson’s medical device company, Ethicon, didn’t provide enough information about possible adverse effects to more than 15,000 women in Kentucky who had the transvaginal mesh implanted.

The company called the suit justified.

“The lawsuit says women have reported chronic pelvic pain, pain associated with intercourse and/or the loss sexual function, and other health problems,” according to the report by Steve Almasy.

Read the article.

Houston trial law boutique Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C., or AZA, once again is being recognized as one of Texas’ top commercial litigation firms after earning a spot in the 2016 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

In addition to being ranked as a top Texas firm, AZA partners Joseph Ahmad, Demetrios Anaipakos, John Zavitsanos and Todd Mensing received individual recognition from Chambers USA.

In the firm’s Chambers USA profile, AZA lawyers are described as, “Robust litigation specialists with a fast-growing reputation as a feared opponent for established national firms. Especially strong experience in representing clients in the technology and energy arenas.”

Published by London-based Chambers and Partners, Chambers USA is known worldwide for its thorough guides to the legal profession.

Read more about the announcement.

A federal appeals panel in Chicago has tossed out a settlement intended to end a shareholder class action brought over the Walgreens Boots Alliance merger, saying the lawsuit and related settlement did nothing more than contribute a quick $370,000 payment to the plaintiffs’ lawyers, reports the Cook County Record.

“The type of class action illustrated by this case — the class action that yields fees for class counsel and nothing for the class — is no better than a racket,” wrote Judge Richard Posner in the unanimous decision. “It must end. No class action settlement that yields zero benefits for the class should be approved, and a class action that seeks only worthless benefits for the class should be dismissed out of hand.”

The firms representing the plaintiffs were Pomerantz LLP, of Chicago and New York; DiTomasso Lubin P.C., of Oakbrook Terrace; Friedman Oster PLLC, of New York; Law Office of Alfred G. Yates Jr. P.C., of Pittsburgh; and Levi & Korsinsky LLP, of New York, reports Jonathan Bilyk.

Read the article.

Gilead Sciences Inc. is entitled to receive the attorney fees it incurred related to hepatitis C patent litigation with drugmaker Merck & Co Inc., a U.S. district judge has ruled, reports Reuters.

“In June, Gilead was freed from paying up $200 million in damages for infringing two Merck patents related to Gilead’s blockbuster drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni, after a U.S. judge found a pattern of misconduct by Merck including lying under oath and other unethical practices,” writes Anya George Tharakan.

The court found that Giliead could receive relief from the cost of its legal fees in defending against the Merck challenge.

Read the story.

In late June, the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District, reiterated that in a breach of contract case, lost revenue alone is typically an improper measure of damages, accordingn to a report from Roetzel & Andress.

Thomas P. Wert described the case: In HCA Health Services of Florida, Inc. v. CyberKnife Center of the Treasure Coast, LLC, 2016 WL 3540956 (Fla. 4th DCA, June 29, 2016), CyberKnife entered into a contract with a hospital. Under the contract, CyberKnife was to provide equipment and the site to the hospital for radiosurgery treatments to patients for five years. The hospital agreed to pay CyberKnife $5,150 plus sales tax “per click” for each treatment. The contract also provided that “in no event shall either party be entitled to consequential or punitive damages.”

Less than a year after the contract went into effect,  the hospital terminated the contract, citing federal regulations that would make “pay-per-click” agreements illegal beginning.

“Because CyberKnife failed to submit proof of lost profits at trial, it will collect nothing from the hospital even though the hospital terminated the contract almost two years before it actually could have under the contract,” Wert wrote.

Read the article.