On August 30, New York Partner Jennifer W. Yuen presented an informative panel at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital at the invitation of the organization's Continuing Medical Education (CME) Program leadership. 

Wilmington Partner Rafael X. Zahralddin will speak at the American Bar Association (ABA) Business Law Fall Meeting, hosted at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk hotel on September 8 at 8:00 a.m. CT.

Wilmington Managing Partner Francis G.X. Pileggi recently authored an article for the September/October 2023 issue of The Bencher, a bi-monthly publication of the American Inns of Court. The article, titled “Do Legal Ethics Rules Provide Guidance for Responding to False Accusations?”, addresses the options available to attorneys who are grappling with how to respond to false accusations of wrongful conduct.

Phoenix Partner and Chair of Lewis Brisbois' Collegiate & Professional Sports Law Practice Gregg E. Clifton and New York Associate Christina Stylianou recently co-authored an Expert Analysis article for Law360 titled, “The NIL Legislation Race: CAPCA And The PASS Act,” which discusses the bipartisan bills that federal lawmakers have introduced to address name, image, and likeness (NIL) issues affecting college athletes. 

Lewis Brisbois is pleased to welcome Ani Tolmoyan back to its Los Angeles office as a partner in the firm’s Consumer Warranty, Products Liability, and Class Action Practices. Ms. Tolmoyan defends Global 500 clients nationwide in products liability and class actions. Specifically, she has significant experience representing and strategizing for automotive manufacturers and distributors in warranty and fraud litigation. Ms. Tolmoyan has also handled defense work for several major public entities – including the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. She has served as trial counsel in federal and state court.

The IRS issued a Memorandum last month addressing when an employer may be considered to have experienced a full or partial suspension of operations during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 or 2021 for purposes of an employment tax credit, and the agency’s guidance indicates it may be seeking to retroactively narrow availability of the credit.

Lewis Brisbois is pleased to welcome Brian F. Walthart to its Nashville office as a partner in the firm’s General Liability Practice. With more than 15 years of litigation experience, Mr. Walthart has successfully tried a wide range of cases to verdict, including matters involving alleged insurance bad faith, products liability, construction defect, personal injury, sexual harassment, professional negligence, and civil rights. In addition to his trial work, Mr. Walthart regularly defends cases on behalf of firm clients, resolving them early and efficiently through the use of pretrial motions and appeals where necessary. 

Orange County Partner Justin S. Kim was recently quoted by The National Law Journal (Law.com) in an article discussing the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals’ denial of Salesforce’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit which alleges that the software company profited through a business relationship with a website, and violated a federal statute which provides a civil remedy for victims of sex trafficking.

Ageist robots! As we projected in our previous Client Alert, artificial intelligence tools used to assist in employment decisions have created legal exposure as reflected by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) recent filing and resolution of its first-ever AI discrimination in hiring lawsuit.

Akron Managing Partner David Kern, Houston Partner Andrew Pidgirsky, and Fort Lauderdale Partner Jeffrey Weinstock will present a webinar titled “Mergers & Acquisitions: The Making of the Transaction and Defending the Lawsuit,” on September 21, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. PT.

On August 23, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3-2 to adopt significant changes under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act) aimed at enhancing the regulation of private fund advisers including, in some instances, those that are not registered with the SEC. These new rules and amendments will, among other things, have an important impact on how private fund advisers report performance information to investors and utilize side letters to negotiate and attract investment. 

Houston Partner Sarah Smith will speak at 2023 ClaimsXchange Annual Conference, hosted at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Philadelphia on October 12 at 10:15 a.m. ET.

New York Partner Ariadne Panagopoulou was appointed Budget Officer of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice, for a second consecutive year, at the section’s annual meeting earlier this month.

Los Angeles Partner Craig Holden and San Diego Partner Gary Brucker secured a favorable jury verdict on behalf of a client who invested in a beef slaughterhouse and was defrauded. In this case, the investors entered into a joint venture to fund the slaughterhouse’s government procurement project, which focused on providing ground beef to public schools for their school lunch programs. However, the slaughterhouse’s owner misrepresented the value of the business, misused the investment funds, prevented the investor from accessing joint venture records, failed to pay profits, and commingled the joint venture assets with unrelated assets. As such, Lewis Brisbois’ client filed suit against the slaughterhouse, and the case ultimately proceeded to trial.