The national law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP has announced that 12 of its associate attorneys have been admitted as partners as a result of superb performance and the promise of furthering the future for the firm and its clients. The new partners are in the firm’s Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Tampa offices.

The new partners are Daniel J. Ark, Nicole A. Bashor, Jonathan W. Hackbarth, Brian A. Hartstein, Ryan S. Lovitz, Patrick J. Murphy, Lauren G. Raines, Rowan P. Smith, Martha Jahn Snyder, Valerie P. Vidal, Cathleen T. Yu, and Marian M. Zapata-Rossa.

Firm Managing Partner Fred Lautz, who supervises the partnership across the firm’s 10 nationwide locations from its founding office in Milwaukee, said, “These new partners have exceptional legal skills and provide terrific, business-aware client service. We are confident they will help Quarles & Brady grow and thrive well into the future.”

“All new partners must be outstanding representatives of the legal industry,” added Firm Chair Kimberly Leach Johnson. “As associates, they have done a superior job and we are certain they will continue their outstanding work as partners.”

The attorneys’ new status as partners becomes effective on October 1.

About the Attorneys:

Daniel J. Ark (Milwaukee office) practices in the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group and specializes in patent prosecution and counseling. His background in materials science and engineering provides him with a broad technical base that is of particular value to clients having needs in the overlapping areas of materials, mechanical, electrical, or chemical arts.

Nicole A. Bashor (Chicago office) practices in the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. She helps clients obtain, enforce, and defend against patents involving primarily mechanical, software, chemical, and medical device technologies.

Jonathan W. Hackbarth (Milwaukee office) practices in the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice Group. He defends corporations, financial institutions, financial advisors, and individuals against securities lawsuits in state and federal courts across the country, as well as against securities investigations and regulatory actions brought by state and federal securities regulators.

Brian A. Hartstein (Chicago office) practices in the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. He represents and counsels management on a wide range of labor and employment issues, with an emphasis in employment discrimination litigation.

Ryan S. Lovitz (Milwaukee office) practices in the firm’s Business Law Practice Group. He represents public companies in connection with securities law compliance, corporate governance matters, and offerings.

Patrick J. Murphy (Milwaukee office) practices in the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice Group. He represents policyholders in several industries in connection with various types of claims, including third-party environmental, asbestos, and “personal and advertising injury” claims under commercial general liability policies.

Lauren G. Raines (Tampa office) practices in the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Real Estate Practice Group. She focuses on commercial real estate finance and enforcement, , with substantial experience in commercial lending, complex real estate transactions, loan workouts, debt restructurings, and foreclosures.

Rowan P. Smith (Phoenix office) practices in the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group with a focus on patent prosecution and counseling. He represents clients in many technology areas with a focus on those involving computer science and electrical engineering.

Martha Jahn Snyder (Madison office) practices IP Litigation as part of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. She primarily represents plaintiffs and defendants in litigations revolving around patent and trademark infringement, and the theft of trade secrets. Martha also assists clients with obtaining protection of their intellectual property and managing their IP portfolios.

Valerie P. Vidal (Milwaukee office) practices in the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice Group. She defends and enforces the rights of corporations and financial institutions in matters involving complex contractual disputes, business torts, loan enforcement and lender liability claims.

Cathleen T. Yu (Phoenix office) practices in the firm’s Business Law Practice Group. Her practice includes the representation of clients in corporate finance, securities, mergers and acquisitions, and business transactions in industries including health care, aviation, education, financial services, manufacturing, and biotechnology

Marian M. Zapata-Rossa (Phoenix office) practices in the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. Her practice includes employment litigation defense and advising employers on all aspects of the employer-employee relationship with a focus on providing clients with business-oriented solutions to identify and mitigate risk.

About Quarles & Brady LLP
Quarles & Brady is a full-service AmLaw 200 firm with more than 475 attorneys offering an array of legal services to corporate and individual clients that range from small entrepreneurial businesses to Fortune 100 companies, with practice focuses in health care and life sciences, business law, labor and employment, real estate, data privacy and security, and complex litigation. The firm has offices in Chicago; Indianapolis; Madison; Milwaukee; Naples, Florida; Phoenix; Scottsdale; Tampa; Tucson; and Washington, D.C.

Scott Sherman of Branscomb PC was recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2016 Trusts & Estates “Lawyer of the Year” in Corpus Christi, Texas. He and 12 of his Branscomb colleagues won recognition in the Best Lawyers peer review guide.

Other lawyers from the firm include:

Jeff Dickerson: Corporate Law

Jim Clancy: Commercial Litigation

Omar Leal: Trusts and Estates

Kenton McDonald: Tax Law; Litigation and Controversy – Tax

Jim Robichaux: Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation;
Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants

Scott Sherman: Trusts and Estates; Litigation – Trusts and Estates

Mike Stukenberg: Trusts and Estates

Scott Taylor: Energy Law

Craig Williams: Real Estate Law

Pat Autry: Litigation – Bankruptcy

Rhonda Jolley: Banking and Finance Law; Real Estate Law

Grady Jolley: Real Estate Law

Sandra White: Litigation – Labor and Employment

As legal analytics and benchmarking become an increasingly important tool for the office of the general counsel, Mitratech, a provider of Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) solutions, has announced that Huron Legal’s Sky Analytics solution has qualified as a Certified Legal Analytics Partner.

“Leveraging the power of legal analytics drives tremendous value for legal departments seeking to improve their overall performance,” noted Jason Parkman, Mitratech CEO. “Huron Legal’s Sky Analytics solution offers exceptional insight into legal benchmarking data, and our mutual clients are already realizing the benefits of combining their own internal analytics with benchmarked law firm data. As a long-time partner of Huron Legal, we look forward to deepening our relationship through this program.”

Huron Legal’s Sky Analytics solution provides in-house legal departments with a web-based platform to access on-demand legal spend information and analytics. The platform provides a snapshot of legal matters handled by outside counsel and other vendors as well as access to similar information provided by other participating companies for purposes of benchmarking. The dashboard also offers legal departments key performance indicators and trend metrics which can be flexibly analyzed, including by time frame, practice area and business unit. Huron Legal’s Sky Analytics law firm scorecards measure and benchmark specific activities of law firms and lawyers, including rates, billing practices, staffing and matter efficiency.

“The combination of Mitratech’s ELM platforms with the Sky Analytics solution’s real-time legal benchmarking platform creates powerful visibility and transparency for legal departments,” said Doug Ventola, Huron Legal Managing Director. “Many of Mitratech’s clients were some of the earliest adopters of Sky’s solutions, and we are excited to now bring this partnership to their rapidly growing client base at large.”

Mitratech’s Certified Legal Analytics Partner program certifies analytics providers that offer market-leading solutions, deliver a unique value proposition to legal departments, can be integrated with Mitratech’s award-winning ELM platforms, and that are fully trained on Mitratech products.

ABOUT MITRATECH

Mitratech is the most trusted, market-leading provider of fully-integrated enterprise legal management solutions for global legal departments of all sizes, including more than 25% of the Fortune 500 and more than 240 legal departments. Mitratech’s offerings are used by over 65,000 corporate users and 9,000 of their external partners (including 100% of the Am Law 200) in over 140 countries. These solutions include the TeamConnect and Lawtrac product platforms, both of which offer end-to-end matter management, spend management, e-Billing, legal hold, contracts management, reporting, and compliance solutions. Mitratech clients are able to prove demonstrable value creation for their organization by automating legal workflows, improving business outcomes through actionable data and insight, increasing collaboration with external partners, and reducing overall legal spend.

ABOUT HURON LEGAL

Huron Legal is the premier provider of comprehensive solutions for electronic discovery and litigation management, information governance and compliance, law department management, and legal analytics. Our consultants and technology-enabled services assist law departments of major global corporations and their associated law firms to reduce legal spend, minimize risks, and create efficiencies. Huron Legal is not a law firm; it does not offer, and is not authorized to provide, legal advice or counseling in any jurisdiction.

Charles Sartain, writing in Gray Reed & McGraw’s Energy and the Law blog, uses a football metaphor to describe how a negotiating party could fail to score an enforceable contract while near the end of the negotiation process.

He describes a case involving the sale of a 2,232-acre Texas ranch and the sale of an oil and gas lease on the property. A broker agreed to sell the tract even though he didn’t have a brokerage agreement, and time was of the essence. During the process, the broker and the seller made offers and counteroffers about the commission and other benefits to the broker.

The appellate court found that a counteroffer operates as a rejection of the original offer, thus no agreement was reached.

Read the article.

In a case involving “clickwrap” and “signwrap” agreements, the Eastern District of New York denied a motion to dismiss and compel arbitration filed by an in-flight wifi provider, according to Buckley Sandler LLP in its InfoBytes blog and posted on JDSupra.

“At issue in the motion to dismiss was the enforceability of two separate agreements used to enroll customers, and in particular terms in those agreements related to mandatory arbitration and exclusive venue, which the defendant sought to invoke,” the firm wrote.

Plaintiffs argued that the agreements should not be enforced because the website design was intended deliberately to hide terms and were never seen or agreed to by them. The court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss and compel arbitration, concluding that the agreement was unenforceable.

Read the article.

The national law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP has announced that Robert Stracks has joined the firm’s Chicago office in its Business Law Practice Group.

Stracks assists broker-dealers in the municipal securities industry with respect to regulatory matters and municipal securities offerings. Prior to joining Quarles & Brady LLP, he spent more than 40 years as inside and outside counsel to several municipal securities dealers with full responsibility for legal and compliance matters, including general supervisory and operating procedures, primarily disclosure and due diligence matters with respect to new offerings, continuing disclosure matters, municipal advisor regulation, supervisory controls, annual compliance reviews and continuing education programs.

He received his law degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School and his bachelor’s degree, with distinction, from the University of Michigan.

About Quarles & Brady LLP
Quarles & Brady is a full-service AmLaw 200 firm with more than 475 attorneys offering an array of legal services to corporate and individual clients that range from small entrepreneurial businesses to Fortune 100 companies, with practice focuses in health care and life sciences, business law, labor and employment, real estate, data privacy and security, and complex litigation. The firm has offices in Chicago; Indianapolis; Madison; Milwaukee; Naples, Florida; Phoenix; Scottsdale; Tampa; Tucson; and Washington, D.C. Additional information can be found online at quarles.com, as well as on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), a national non-profit organization dedicated to ending discrimination against transgender people, has brought its “Name Change Project” to Michigan. The “Name Change Project” provides legal assistance for transgender people who are seeking to legally change their names to reflect their true identities as men and women.

“It is often intimidating and difficult for transgender people to navigate the legal system for a name change,” said TLDEF Executive Director Michael Silverman. “With pro bono support from attorneys at Dykema Gossett PLLC and other potential Michigan law firms who wish to participate, TLDEF will help transgender Michigan residents through the name change process.”

“We’re excited to be expanding our ‘Name Change Project’ into Michigan,” Silverman added. “It is vital for transgender people to match their legal names with who they are. Doing so makes it far easier for them to live their lives free from discrimination in employment, housing, health care, and public accommodations. We’re tremendously grateful to Dykema for helping us to get the project up and running in metro Detroit, and look forward to further partnerships with attorneys in the state to help us expand to additional areas.”

On Thursday, Sept. 24, TLDEF and Dykema will host a training for other Michigan attorneys who would like to volunteer on the on the project.

Dykema has earned a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for the past two-years. The CEI is nation’s benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees. The firm is joining TLDEF’s “Name Change Project” to demonstrate its commitment to diversity and inclusion, while bringing a vital resource to underserved transgender community members who are trying to bring their legal documents in line with their true selves.

“We are thrilled to help improve the lives of transgender people in Michigan through this ‘Name Change Project’ collaboration with TLDEF,” said Heidi A. Naasko, Dykema’s Pro Bono and Diversity Counsel. “This firm is dedicated to serving communities in need. Assisting transgender people through the legal process of a name change to become their authentic selves illustrates that commitment.”

“Without the correct legal name I feared for my safety. As a transgender woman, being called by the wrong name in public made me a target for transphobic violence,” said 28-year-old TLDEF Name Change Project Client Racquelle Trammell. “The project helped me with something I couldn’t do alone. Trust me I tried. When I attempted to do this by myself I walked away disheartened, having been talked down to by officials and misunderstood. With this program I had someone who knew the ins and outs of the courtroom and legal system and how to file the paperwork precisely. I truly recommend this program to anyone who has had a hard time going through the name change process. I was able to walk across the stage with associate of arts in June as my authentic self and that was the most affirming thing that has ever happened to me.”

“Exploring a legal name change felt very daunting. For one thing, I certainly knew I couldn’t afford the out-of-pocket expenses that were required,” said 52-year-old TLDEF Name Change Client Kara Marie Ramsey. “TLDEF along with Dykema compassionately and respectfully eased that burden, walking beside me every step of the way and navigating the legal logistics for which I had no comprehension. Prior to completing my legal name change I had to present a driver’s license with my birth name. It was quite humiliating and embarrassing having to explain to various officials why both the picture and name weren’t reflective of the woman standing before them. Now, with my legal name change, I have peace of mind, having updated my birth certificate, driver’s license, credit cards, voter registration, health insurance cards and many more vital documents. The “Name Change Project” truly saved my life.”

“Not having a legal name that reflects who I am as a transgender man has created major challenges including lost job opportunities and being outed and shamed in public places. It’s taken an emotional toll and made me feel incomplete,” said 25-year-old Jay Eric Theden, who is in the process of changing his name through the “Name Change Project”. “I believe that my life will be a lot easier once my name is officially changed. I will finally be able to begin a new chapter as my true self.”

Since the program began as a pilot project in 2007, TLDEF’s “Name Change Project” has helped more than 2,000 people in nearly a dozen cities including Albany, Atlanta, Buffalo, Chicago, Houston, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Rochester.

MIAMI – The general counsel of Stiles, a developer in South Florida and elsewhere, will return to the private practice of law by joining Greenberg Traurig’s Fort Lauderdale office. Denny O’Shea, the incoming Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority Chairman, will serve as chair of the firm’s Real Estate Development & Land Use Practice in Broward and Palm Beach counties. He is set to start in early October.

“When I wanted to get into the real estate development business in this region, I chose the best, with a great team culture and extraordinary leader in Terry Stiles. I of course know many law firms in the region from decades of working here and when I decided to now spend the rest of my career practicing law, I only turned to one firm, the best, Greenberg Traurig,” said O’Shea in a release.

“We recently decided to expand our leadership structure and I will become Executive Chair of the firm. While that job will involve overall strategy, international matters and shareholder compensation, among other things, I also intend to use this unique time in the Broward and Palm Beach markets to get back to my roots in local real estate development. When Denny called, it took me about 5 minutes to get incredibly excited about what we and the balance of our great team can now do together as we grow and area development heads north from Miami: his combination of real world experience, leadership talent and legal and business acumen is unmatched in this market, and the trust and friendship he engenders in literally everyone who knows him, are what make Denny a special guy I have long called my friend and now will be proud to call my partner,” said Richard A. Rosenbaum, Greenberg Traurig Chief Executive Officer. Rosenbaum has worked closely with O’Shea for over 25 years and spoke to his remarkable professionalism, integrity and character.

The release continues:

“Greenberg Traurig is a place I know well, and there is no one I trust more as a leader and friend than Richard Rosenbaum, who also understands the unique value we can deliver together in today’s market. We bring deep local knowledge and relationships built over many years as well as a collaborative firm’s network and experience in all the key US and global markets so important to this region: there is no other firm that offers this combination in Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach. And at this stage of my life, I frankly find Richard and Greenberg Traurig refreshingly ‘old school’: when he shakes your hand, you can bank it, the bureaucracy is virtually nonexistent, the focus is on the client, and the two of us have understood this real estate market for the last three decades,” said O’Shea.

O’Shea has been active in South Florida’s development community for 37 years, beginning his career in construction and developmental law. O’Shea has also served as Chair of the Economic Development Council of Broward County; the City of Ft. Lauderdale Unsafe Structures Board; and the Downtown Council of the Chamber of Commerce. As General Counsel for Stiles, O’Shea oversaw a staff of project managers and support personnel for the development of office, industrial and retail projects. He was responsible for project conceptualization, financial analysis, governmental approvals, architectural and construction coordination, and tenant lease up.

During his tenure at Stiles, O’Shea also previously served as the head of development. Before joining Stiles, a longtime firm client, in 1996, O’Shea was vice president of development for Broward County’s proposed Blockbuster Park development, working first for Wayne Huizinga, and then for Viacom, where he was responsible for selling the properties. Previously, he had been a partner in a well-respected Broward County real estate and land use law firm, and then became the head of development of the Florida division of what was then the largest homebuilder in the United States.

Terry Stiles, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Stiles, said, “When it comes to judgment, integrity, and trust, there is no one better than Denny O’Shea, with whom I have worked for a long time. I am in full agreement with his choice of firm for this next phase of his career and look forward to continuing to work with him.”

A Fort Lauderdale native, O’Shea studied economics at Harvard and also is a graduate of the University of Florida School of Law.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, multi-practice law firm with approximately 1800 attorneys serving clients from 37 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm is among the 2015 BTI Brand Elite and among the most “Tech Savvy.” It was on the 2013-2015 BTI Client Service 30 listings of firms “most recognized by clients for providing excellent client service,” and one of the 2014 BTI Client Relationship Scorecard “Power Elite,” based on the nature and strength of its client relationships.

Agiloft, Inc., a provider of agile business process software, announced that its Contract Lifecycle Management solution has won PCMag’s highly coveted Editors’ Choice Award, the publication’s highest rating.

Analyst Ken Contrata declares that Agiloft’s solution “might be the most customizable contract management system we tested. Deployable on-premises or as a cloud service, it’s fast, full-featured, and can scale to any workload.”

“We are honored to receive the Editors’ Choice award from PC Magazine for our Contract Management solution,” said Colin Earl, CEO of Agiloft. “Our solution consistently receives top ratings from business users on Capterra and G2 Crowd, and it’s great to be recognized as the best solution in the market by PC Magazine’s analysts as well.”

In PCMag’s review, in which Agiloft earns an “Excellent” rating, Contrata notes that Agiloft “steps out from among its countless peers not only due to its customizability, but also its ease of use.” Indeed, Agiloft’s Contract Management solution can be configured to meet the exact needs of any organization, no matter how sophisticated, thanks to its adaptive platform that enables deep and rapid customization without the need for custom code. Every aspect of Agiloft’s system can be customized, from look and feel to complex approval workflows, using just a browser.

Contrata also praises Agiloft’s scalability, stating that the solution “can adeptly take care of contract management from a single user to many users within huge, multinational corporations.” Agiloft’s contract management system is currently in use at organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies, including a global Top 3 pharmaceutical company.

In a release, the company said that Agiloft Contract Management comes with all the functionality needed to manage the complete contract lifecycle:
• One-click contract creation: Dates, fields, and formulas are automatically inserted into familiar MS Word or PDF templates for rapid contract assembly
• Flexible approval workflows: Automate even the most complex approval routing processes, whether sequential, parallel, conditional, or a combination
• Automatic redlining: Capture all changes to your contracts and view redlined comparisons to streamline contract review
• DocuSign integration for secure, legally enforceable digital signature capability
• Centralized contract repository with full text search of contracts and attached files
• Built-in OCR: Automatically convert image files such as JPG, PNG, or PDF into fully searchable text documents
• Automatic notifications of contract and approval requests and upcoming renewal opportunities
• Precise permission settings, down to the field level, to ensure compliance with the most stringent privacy standards
• Complete audit trail, automatically created for every contract, to mitigate risk and meet Sarbanes-Oxley compliance requirements

Contrata notes that “Agiloft has a bevy of useful features that go beyond the basics. First and foremost, Agiloft comes with a 90-day, unconditional, money-back guarantee. While not exactly a feature, it is nice to see a company that puts profits on the line for customer satisfaction.”

Read the complete review here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2488136,00.asp

Reprinted from http://www.pcmag.com with permission. © 2015 Ziff Davis, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

About Agiloft
Over 2.5 million users at organizations ranging from small enterprises to U.S. government agencies and Fortune 100 companies depend on Agiloft’s innovative applications for Help Desk, Contract Management, Custom Workflow, and more. Agiloft specializes in automating processes that are too complex for competing vendors. Our best practice templates and agile technology ensure rapid deployment and a fully extensible system. For more information, visit http://www.agiloft.com.

Texas Super Lawyers has recognized 13 Beck Redden LLP attorneys in its 2015 annual award listing.  This list of top Texas attorneys, a Thomson Reuters publication, is based on peer recognition and professional achievements. Of those nominated, only five percent of the total lawyers in the state are selected for inclusion.

The following Beck Redden attorneys recognized as 2015 Texas Super Lawyers:

Austin

Eric J.R. Nichols – Business Litigation

Houston

Fields Alexander – General Litigation

David J. Beck – Business Litigation

Alistair B. Dawson – Business Litigation

Kathleen A. Gallagher – Civil Litigation: Defense

Geoffrey A. Gannaway – Business Litigation

Thomas E. Ganucheau:  Civil Litigation: Defense

David M. Gunn – Appellate

David W. Jones – Insurance Coverage

Connie Pfeiffer – Appellate

Russell S. Post – Appellate

Joe W. Redden, Jr. – Civil Litigation: Defense

Curt Webb – General Litigation

Oil prices, which held below $50/bbl in August 2015, are projected to remain below $60/bbl through 2016, writes Michael P. Lennon Jr., a partner in Mayer Brown. “As a result, the conventional belief is that oil and gas disputes will rise in the latter part of 2015 and into 2016, triggered in some measure by the banks’ next round of reserve-based redeterminations for oil and gas companies. Whether it is for this reason or some other, financial strain in the industry is likely to spin off disputes between producers and service companies and/or among working interest partners. Infrastructure and construction disputes also will be in the mix.”

His article outline three steps that could maximize opportunities for dispute avoidance. “If a dispute is not avoided, a party taking these steps should also be in a better position to manage and, hopefully, prevail in an eventual dispute,” he writes.

Read the article.

The Fourth Court of Appeals in Texas recently held that surface owners control the matrix of the underlying earth; thus, a surface owner can give permission to drill through the subsurface to an adjacent lease, reports Lauren N. Randle in The Energy Law blog published by Liskow & Lewis.

The case is Lightning Oil Co. v. Anadarko E&P Onshore, No. 04-14-00903-CV, 2014 Tex. App. Lexis 8673 (Aug. 19, 2015).

“According to the court of appeals’ decision, there was also no evidence that Anadarko would conduct a seismographic survey which could constitute a trespass under Texas law,” the article says. “Moreover, Lightning offered no evidence that Anadarko has bottomed or opened a well within Lightning’s lease. Absent proof of these actions and without the right to exclude Anadarko from drilling through Lightning’s mineral estate, Lightning’s claim of trespass failed.”

Read the article.

Five lawyers with the Austin-based business litigation firm George Brothers Kincaid & Horton LLP have earned selection to the 2016 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, the nation’s oldest and one of the most prestigious guides to the legal industry.

Name partners R. James George Jr., D. Douglas Brothers, Mark L. Kincaid and B. Russell Horton and Of Counsel Julie A. Ford are being honored based on nominations from other lawyers, votes from their peers in the same practice areas and a review by the publication’s editors.

Brothers earned individual distinction as Austin Lawyer of the Year for bet-the-company litigation. A Best Lawyers honoree since 2008, Brothers also was recognized for his work on behalf of plaintiffs in commercial litigation and legal malpractice cases. During more than 30 years as a practicing attorney, Brothers has compiled a track record of wins for both plaintiffs and defendants in trials, appeals and arbitration proceedings covering a variety of business disputes.

This is the 30th consecutive year that George, an acclaimed First Amendment lawyer, has been recognized among the country’s leading attorneys. During more than 40 years of legal work, he has argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and represented celebrities that include rap artist Tupac Shakur and TV personality Phil Donahue. He is recognized in Best Lawyers for his work in First Amendment cases, bet-the-company litigation and commercial litigation.

Kincaid is being honored in Best Lawyers for the second year for his extensive work in commercial and insurance litigation. The former head of a Texas state agency that advocated for insurance consumers, Kincaid has won landmark rulings before the Texas Supreme Court.

Horton is listed in the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers for his work in securities litigation, marking his third consecutive selection to the exclusive listing. He represents plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial disputes and patent, trade secret, antitrust and securities litigation.

This is Ford’s 10th year to earn a spot in Best Lawyers based on her work in First Amendment law and litigation. She has successfully represented TV networks, publishers, record producers and newspapers for nearly three decades.

George Brothers Kincaid & Horton LLP is nationally recognized for exceptional representation in high-stakes commercial litigation including intellectual property, securities, insurance, professional liability, media and First Amendment disputes. The firm’s partners are seasoned trial lawyers who have earned the respect of clients, adversaries, and colleagues, the firm said in a release.

Four attorneys from Dallas’ Sayles Werbner are being honored among the state’s top attorneys in the 2015 Texas Super Lawyers listing, which recognizes legal leaders in various areas of the law.

Firm co-founder Richard A. “Dick” Sayles once again earned a spot on the Top 10 list based on the number of nominations he received from other Texas attorneys. This is the seventh time Sayles has been selected to the Top 10, and the sixth year in a row. He also was named among the Top 100 lawyers in Texas and the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He was chosen for his work in business litigation.

Fellow firm co-founder Mark S. Werbner also earned selection to the 2015 list of Texas’ best attorneys based on his business litigation expertise. Like Sayles, Werbner was named to the Top 100 lists for Texas and Dallas/Fort Worth, marking his 13^th consecutive appearance on each. In addition, attorney William S. Snyder marks the eighth consecutive year he’s been recognized in the prestigious annual listing for his representation of clients in business litigation matters.

Also honored is firm attorney Mark D. Strachan, earning a place on the Texas Super Lawyers listing for the fifth year. He was chosen for his work in intellectual property law. Earlier this year, Strachan worked with Sayles, Werbner and fellow firm attorney Darren P. Nicholson on behalf of client Commil USA to win a favorable ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court in one of the most closely watched patent cases to reach the nation’s highest court in years.

In August, the firm, led by Mark Werbner, helped a group of victims of overseas terrorism attacks secure a confidential settlement with Jordan-based Arab Bank in the first lawsuit in U.S. history where a foreign bank was held liable for providing material financial support to terrorists.

In a release, the firm said Sayles Werbner maintains an international reputation as a proven trial law firm in complex business litigation, intellectual property matters, life-altering personal injury cases, product safety claims and practically every type of case that requires courtroom expertise.

The Texas-based Orsinger, Nelson, Downing & Anderson, LLP, announces that T. Hunter Lewis has rejoined the family law boutique as an associate in the Dallas office.

A family law litigator and appellate attorney, Lewis began his legal career at the firm in 2010, before moving to Kinser & Bates LLP in 2012. His practice is focused on divorce; child custody, possession and support matters; complex marital property division; pre- and post-marital agreements; questions of paternity; and LGBT-related issues.

“We were very happy to be able to bring Hunter back to our firm,” says firm co-founder Keith Nelson. “Having worked with him previously, we already know he is an exceptionally talented attorney who understands the excellent client service we’ve established at this firm and his experience will further complement our existing expertise in family law appellate cases.”

Lewis has been selected three times to the Texas Super Lawyers listing of the leading attorneys in the state based on his work in Family Law, a unique accomplishment for an attorney of his age. He also was selected to the 2016 The Best Lawyers in America listing and is a member of The National Advocates: Top 40 Under 40.

He is a frequent author and lecturer on Family Law topics and is active in local and statewide Family Law organizations, holding multiple leadership positions in the Family Law Section of the Dallas Bar Association and serving on the Legislative Bill Review and Auction committees of the Texas Family Law Foundation. He also serves on the Mock Trial Committee of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers.

Lewis is a 2010 graduate of Baylor University School of Law. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Baylor University in 2007.

With 13 lawyers and offices in Dallas, San Antonio and Frisco, Texas, Orsinger, Nelson, Downing & Anderson, LLP, is one of the largest firms in Texas focused solely on trials and appeals in family law cases, the firm said in a release. Five partners are Fellows in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Every firm partner is a member of the Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists and all are Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Orsinger holds additional board certification in Civil Appellate Law.

Diodes Inc. (Nasdaq: DIOD) and Pericom Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq: PSEM) have entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger that provides for the acquisition of Pericom by Diodes in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $400 million.

The boards of both companies have approved the transaction, which is still subject to approval by Pericom’s shareholders, as well as other customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. It is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Latham & Watkins represents Pericom Semiconductor in the transaction with a corporate team led from the firm’s Silicon Valley office by partner Tad Freese, with associates Chad Rolston, Benjamin Liss and Jeremy Gibb. Advice has also been provided on intellectual property matter by partner Anthony Klein and associates Isabel Chon and Nicole Fritz; on tax matters by partner Grace Chen and associate Jessica Chen; on employee benefits matters by partner Jay Metz and associate Lilly Fang; and on antitrust matters by partner Joshua Holian. All of the attorneys are based in Silicon Valley, except for Grace Chen and Joshua Holian who are based in San Francisco.

Farrell Fritz’s Director of Finance, Michael (Mike) L. Fallarino, will be a recipient of Long Island Business News’ “CFO of the Year” award. He will be honored at a reception on Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 6 p.m. at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, NY.

Fallarino, a Levittown, NY, resident, joined Farrell Fritz in 1996. He has in-depth experience in all financial matters, including financial statements and analyses, budgeting, billing, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, benefit administration, insurance and accounting systems, the firm said in a release.

The release continues:

Outside of work, Mike supports the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island. As current vice chairman, he sits on several committees, including the executive, finance and audit committees. Prior to joining the board of directors in 2012, he was a member of the business advisory board. Mike has also been an active member in his community, serving on many boards and organizations.

The CFO of the Year program will recognize Long Island’s top financial officers for their outstanding fiscal leadership and asset management, contributions to their company’s performance, their contribution and commitment to their profession and organizations, as well as their involvement in the community.

Minimum license quantities can become critical in an audit by Oracle, writes Julie Machal-Fulks in an article published in Scott & Scott’s Oracle Audit Blog.

For many Oracle products, like Database, the license agreement or ordering documents contain minimum license requirements. Often, quantities of licenses necessary to satisfy the minimum licensing terms varies based on the edition of the license in question. For instance, she writes, customers are required to purchase additional Oracle Database Standard One Edition and Standard Edition Named User licenses in increments of 5. Database Enterprise Edition requires customers to purchase 25 Named User licenses in increments of 25 per processor.

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Hogan Lovells announcse that Peter H. Walsh will join the firm as a partner in the Litigation & Arbitration practice group, co-located in the firm’s Minneapolis and Denver offices.

Walsh joins Hogan Lovells from UnitedHealth Group (UHG), where he was Senior Deputy General Counsel and Chief of Litigation and Government Investigations. Before that he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Denver.

“Peter’s significant experience as a public-company executive and government official and his proven ability to provide practical solutions to clients will be an invaluable asset to the firm,” said Dennis Tracey, head of Hogan Lovells’ Litigation practice for the Americas. “He is a strong and versatile litigator with true leadership skills and an extraordinary track record.”

During his eight-year tenure as a senior executive at UHG, a Fortune 14 international healthcare company, Walsh gained extensive crisis management and healthcare experience, the firm said in a release. He handled the most significant legal matters, including the largest stock-option backdating investigation in U.S. history, numerous congressional and government investigations and hundreds of cases ranging from regulatory enforcement proceedings to complex securities and healthcare class actions.

“Peter has earned tremendous respect in the Minnesota business community and beyond. He will be a valuable asset to our Minneapolis office and to our clients. I’m thrilled he’s part of the Hogan Lovells team,” said Norm Coleman, former Minnesota U.S. Senator and Of Counsel with Hogan Lovells.

As a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado in Denver, Walsh obtained convictions in a variety of high-profile securities, tax, accounting, and other economic-crimes investigations and jury trials. Throughout his career, Walsh has worked closely with numerous federal and state regulators and law enforcement agencies, from the SEC, FBI and IRS to state Attorney’s General and local police.

“As a Minneapolis resident who spent nine years practicing law in Denver, Peter is well-equipped to collaborate with teams in both offices seamlessly,” said Cole Finegan, Hogan Lovells’ regional managing partner for the Americas as well as managing partner for the Denver Office. “His familiarity with the companies, challenges, and opportunities in both regions is truly unique.”

Walsh earned his B.A. in History from Middlebury College and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He began his legal career in 1997 at Hogan & Hartson, which later became Hogan Lovells.

About Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells is a leading global legal practice providing business-oriented legal advice and high-quality service across its exceptional breadth of practices to clients around the world.

“Hogan Lovells” or the “firm” is an international legal practice that includes Hogan Lovells US LLP and Hogan Lovells International LLP. For more information, see www.hoganlovells.com.

A federal appellate court has denied Google’s breach of contract claim relating to assignment of the invention of an employee of another company, reports Dennis Crouch in the patent law blog Patentlyo.

An employee of a non-profit company developed a personalized information service – the subject of the patent that he filed – as an outside project. Later he sued Google for alleged patent infringement. Google contacted the developer’s employer and obtained a quitclaim deed over “any rights” in the patent held by company. Then Google argued in court that the developer had breached his employment agreement by failing to assign rights to the patents to his employer.

The alleged breach of contract was in the 1990s, so the statute of limitations came into play. But the site of the suit, Delaware, has a “discovery rule” that tolls any statute of limitations for the period in which an injury is “inherently unknowable.” The district court and the Federal Circuit found in favor of the developer, Crouch reports.

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