Former Netflix vice president of IT and current Yahoo CIO Mike Kail has been accused in a lawsuit of taking thousands of dollars in kickbacks while he was at Netflix.

Business Insider reported that Kail was Netflix’s vice president of information technology operations until August 2014. He was in charge of contracts and invoices for Netflix’s tech vendors, which included an enterprise software company called Vistara IT and a tech contract worker company called Netenrich.

What Netflix didn’t know, the video streaming company alleges, is that Kail had a side company called Unix Mercenary, which was taking a 12-15 percent commission on invoices being paid by Netflix. Netflix claims fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, according to Business Insider’s report.

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A Texas appeals court has rejected an argument that the association’s general counsel had an attorney-client relationship with a member embroiled in a lawsuit.

The decision, involving the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, addresses some important questions about the relationship between an association general counsel and the organization’s members, Associations Now reported.

“The case arose when a member of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association was sued after the proposed sale of the Nissan dealership went sour last year,” Associations Now said. “During discovery in the lawsuit, the lawyer for Baytown Nissan had a phone discussion about the conflict with TADA General Counsel Brenda Karen Phillips. The plaintiff in the case—the spurned potential buyer—sought to depose both lawyers about the substance of their conversation.”

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Shipman & Goodwin LLP, a full-service law firm with offices throughout Connecticut and in Washington, DC, recently made its website content accessible for clients and other visitors who have sight or hearing limitations. This move puts the firm among a small percentage of law firms nationally to have a website in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The firm ranks among the nation’s largest law firms on both the National Law Journal’s annual NLJ 350 survey and the Law360 400.

Firm leadership identified website accessibility as a priority in response to increased efforts by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to ensure that certain business and organization websites comply with the ADA, which requires that communication from public accommodations and commercial facilities must be accessible and usable to individuals with disabilities. While the broad definition of public accommodations does not include some types of private-sector businesses, recent actions brought by the DOJ signal that it might be prudent for companies such as law firms to make preparations for compliance.

For Shipman & Goodwin, “it wasn’t a question of whether or not the firm was required to make the website ADA compliant,” said Scott Murphy, the firm’s Managing Partner. “It was a natural step to take. Many of our clients either have sight and hearing limitations, or are in the business of helping those who do,” he said. All content on Shipman & Goodwin’s website is now readable by ADA screen readers that are able to re-represent content to either text to speech, sound icons, or braille output devices. And although the firm recognizes that many clients and visitors will not be impacted by the change, it was important to provide access to those who do require special assistance.

“As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act it is great to see a business so thoroughly embrace the principles of accessibility, effective communication and equality in the provision of its services,” said Michelle Duprey, Director, Department of Services for Persons with Disabilities, City of New Haven in Connecticut.

Client of the firm Jeff Bravin, Executive Director of the American School for the Deaf (ASD), agrees, and wishes more people would take the initiative to make their websites ADA compliant. “For nearly 200 years, ASD has strived to provide accessibility to information for our students and clients. We need more people to help level the playing field for people of all abilities,” he said.

“Every little step makes our community a better place,” added Ms. Duprey.

Shipman & Goodwin LLP is a full-service law firm with more than 160 attorneys and offices in Hartford, Stamford, Greenwich and Lakeville, Conn. and in Washington, DC. Founded in 1919, the firm serves the needs of local, regional, national and international clients, which include public and private companies, institutions, government entities and non-profit organizations. The firm also actively supports pro bono service and community involvement on both a firm-wide basis and among attorneys at all levels. For more information, visit www.shipmangoodwin.com.

Google has avoided a potentially costly legal precedent by settling out of court with a former Morgan Stanley banker in an online abuse case due to be heard in Britain’s High Court Nov. 24.

Daniel Hegglin was seeking an injunction to force Google to block all traces in its search results of online abuse against him, following a defamatory anonymous campaign of abuse.

But Google instead settled with Hegglin before the case started. His lawyer said the settlement “includes significant efforts on Google’s part to remove the abusive material” from search results and Google-hosted websites.

David Cook, cybercrime specialist at law firm Slater & Gordon, said if the court had ruled in Hegglin’s favour it would have set a costly precedent for the company and “opened a floodgate” of claims in much the same way as the so-called “right to be forgotten” ruling has done, reported The Register.

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The Associated Press is reporting that Louis Chenevert, chief executive officer of aerospace and building systems giant United Technologies Corp., is retiring after six years on the job and will be replaced by the company’s chief financial officer.

The Hartford, Connecticut, conglomerate announced the change of leadership on Monday. It promoted CFO Greg Hayes to the top job, The AP reports.

“Chenevert steered United Technologies’ $18.4 billion purchase of aerospace parts maker Goodrich Corp. in 2012. It was the industry’s largest deal and gave the company a stronger presence in the aerospace industry,” according to the story.

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Forbes magazine offers a list of the top 10 legal mistakes entrepreneurs make and what to do about them (in addition to seeking the advice of an attorney).

First on the list is failure to incorporate. “At some point, this hurts them because they want to get outside investors, founders leave or they get sued by a customer or employee. Not having the right legal structure can open them up for personal liability,” the article says.

The list also includes tips about shareholders’ agreements, human resource guidelines, talking trash about the competition, and more.

Another is bringing in outside investors. “Many small business owners bring in outside investors since they are desperate for cash. They then run into disagreement on how the company is to be run and the investors threaten legal action,” Forbes says.

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Target Corp. is trying to avoid liability for tens of millions of dollars banks claim to have lost after hackers broke into the retailer’s payment processing systems a year ago.

According to a report at Bloomberg News, Target didn’t have a legal duty to the banks because card payments are processed through third-party intermediaries, Douglas Meal, the retailer’s lawyer, told U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, Minnesota. Target isn’t liable to the lenders, he said today in urging the judge to dismiss the case.

The banks “are claiming that Target had a duty to protect them from that criminal activity,” Meal said. “The only way that would be true is if there is a special relationship between the parties,” and there is none.

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Five months after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated its business model, online video streaming company Aereo Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection.

Media mogul Barry Diller was the primary backer for the company, based in New York.

The Chapter 11 filing on Nov. 9 came five months after the U.S. Supreme Court said Aereo violated broadcasters’ copyrights by capturing live and recorded programs on miniature antennas and transmitting them to subscribers who paid $8 to $12 a month, reported The Chicago Tribune.

With its ruling, the court effectively killed Aereo’s business model, an attempt to offer a less-expensive alternative to cable television.

Chief Executive Officer Chet Kanojia said the court decision created “regulatory and legal uncertainty” that proved insurmountable.

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E-discovery systems developer CS Disco Inc. of Houston has closed a $10 million Series B fundraising round, the Houston Business Journal reported.

Bessemer Venture Partners of Menlo Park, CA, and Austin-based LiveOak Venture Partners led the round of fundraising.

The Houston Business Journal reported that Trevor Jefferies, a lawyer in Arnold & Porter’s Houston office, and Stephen Wallace, former general counsel of Houston-based Westlake Chemical also invested.

The plan is to use the money to scale CS Disco to a national spotlight, versus the regional presence it has today, CEO Kiwi Camara said in a blog post.

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By Quantumquark (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

A junior banker, who had joined the company in July from the New York Fed, was fired a week after the discovery in late September along with another employee who failed to escalate the issue, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News that didn’t identify the pair.

“We have zero tolerance for improper handling of confidential information,” Goldman Sachs said in the memo. “We are reviewing our policies regarding any hiring from governmental institutions to ensure that they are appropriately effective and robust.”

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Arizona has filed suit against General Motors, claiming that the automaker defrauded the state’s consumers of an estimated $3 billion, The New York Times reports.

The suit is the first major legal action against GM over its record number of recalls this year, most notable among them one for a defective ignition switch in 2.6 million small cars that was delayed for a decade. The suit suggests that “multiple in-house attorneys” were aware of the problem, including Michael P. Milliken, the company’s general counsel for the past five years.

The Times said the complaint was harsh and unsparing in its criticism of GM, suggesting that the automaker intentionally misled consumers through its advertising, website and public statements, and that some of its top leaders were complicit in the alleged misdeeds.

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The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission have issued new guidance on “pushdown accounting,” which involves an acquired organization using the acquirer’s basis of accounting to prepare its financial statements.

“Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-17, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Pushdown Accounting,” from the FASB, is intented to provide guidance on whether and at what threshold an acquired entity that is a business or nonprofit activity can apply pushdown accounting in its separate financial statements.

The amendments in the update provide an acquired entity with an option to apply pushdown accounting in its separate financial statements upon occurrence of an event in which an acquirer obtains control of the acquired entity.

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With the IPO market continuing to surge, it’s vital that companies preparing for  their IPOs rigorously examine their risk management, controls and compliance infrastructure for a successful offering and to support future growth, according to a new report by PwC US.

The report, titled “Fortified for Success: Building Your Company’s Risk, Controls and Compliance Ecosystem for the IPO and Beyond,” outlines the seven critical steps businesses need to take in building a scalable risk management and compliance system to protect shareholder value post IPO.

On its website, PwC says going public is a transformational event that pushes a company into view of regulatory, investor, and analyst scrutiny. Companies that delay getting their risk management, compliance and compliance infrastructure in order until after the IPO may be jeopardizing their ability to reap the full benefits of going public. This paper lays out steps that will help companies establish a foundation and cover the company’s critical risks and controls, both pre-and-post IPO.

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Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, also known as BTMU, agreed in a settlement Nov. 18 with financial regulators to move its money laundering and sanctions compliance unit from Tokyo to New York. The agreement was part of a deal with New York’s financial regulator.

The bank also agreed to pay $315 million for misleading the regulator’s office about transactions involving countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions, reported The Wall Street Journal. The fine comes on top of a $250 million fine the bank paid in 2013 to the New York Superintendent of Financial Services.

The move will give the compliance unit supervision over all transactions involving the bank’s New York branch, including those that originate overseas.

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Any business transaction involving simple negotiations could be subject to prosecution, former Jefferies & Co. managing director Jesse Litvak warned an appeals court in an attempt to have his securities fraud conviction thrown out, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.

Litvak, found guilty in March of lying to customers about the price of mortgage-backed securities, on Nov. 18 asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan to throw out the conviction, saying it could be used to turn “garden-variety statements” made in all kinds of negotiations — even car lot negotiations — into the basis for charges.

“Every car salesman who tells a customer that he cannot lower his price any further because he would earn only a minuscule profit on the sale as it is would be guilty of fraud,” Litvak’s lawyers said in a filing.

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Reuters is reporting that credit monitoring company One Technologies LP will refund $22 million to customers to settle U.S government allegations that its websites inadequately disclosed its charges for credit scores.

Reuters attributed the report to information shared by the two sides on Wednesday.

“A draft complaint from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission alleged that the Dallas-based privately held company advertised free access to credit scores but charged customers $29.95 per month,” the news agency said. “At least 210,000 people have complained about One Technologies’ practices since 2008, the FTC said in the complaint.”

One Technologies also has changed its websites to make advisories about what it charged more conspicuous, the company and the FTC said.

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Gerald Stubenhofer, GNC Holdings Inc. senior vice president, chief legal officer and company secretary, has “separated from his employment,” according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, reports the Pittsburgh Business Times.

GNC, based in Pittsburgh, markets health products, fitness and vitamins retailer.

Stubenhofer is to receive the compensation and benefits to which he’s entitled under the employment agreement in the case of termination by GNC the form said, except that he is subject to certain noncompetitive covenants for six months, instead of the typical 12.

“Departures since June at GNC include CFO Michael Nuzzo; Chairman, President and CEO Joseph Fortunato and Chief Merchandising Officer/General Manager Thomas Dowd. Veteran retail executive Michael Archbold was hired as CEO in August,” the Business Times reports. “Nuzzo joined Pittsburgh robotics firm 4moms.”

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MetLife has merged four of its previously independent subsidiaries to improve corporate governance and facilitate compliance with regulatory mandates, reports Insurance Networking News.

The merger will make it easier for MetLife to comply with Dodd-Frank collateral requirements and avoid potential regulatory issues associated with the use of captive reinsurance companies, according to the report. MetLife also will gain better visibility into its overall domestic variable annuity portfolio, which should help it better manage risk and pinpoint opportunities for improved portfolio performance.

The merger is part of MetLife’s broader strategy to de-risk its extensive variable annuity business.

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A Texas federal court jury found that Apple Inc. used SkyTel pager technology from the 1990s in iPhone, iPad and iPod without permission. The jury set damages to be paid to the Texas-based SkyTel at 23.6 million, according to a report in Bloomberg News.

Jurors in the Marshall, Texas, court found Nov. 17 that patents developed for the SkyTel network and owned by Mobile Telecommunications Technologies LLC are valid and were infringed by Apple. MTel, which got about a tenth of what it had been seeking in damages, claimed Apple’s Airport Wi-Fi products and iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices with messaging used the technology, Bloomberg reports.

This is the second trial in as many months in which Cupertino, California-based Apple was accused of using pager technology without paying for it. It won the first case, involving a different company, last month in California.

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Lowe’s Companies Inc. has announced that Ross W. (Bill) McCanless will return to the company as its new general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer, effective Jan. 12, 2015. McCanless is replacing Gaither M. Keener, who announced plans to retire from the company following 30 years of service, Market Watch reports.

McCanless was Lowe’s general counsel from 2003 to 2006. He recently served as chief legal officer, general counsel and secretary for Extended Stay America Inc. and ESH Hospitality Inc.

At Lowe’s, McCanless will be responsible for directing all legal matters for the companys and its subsidiaries, as well as advising the chairman and board of directors on corporate governance matters.

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