Author: National Law Forum

A group of in-house attorneys developed the National Law Review on-line edition to create an easy to use resource to capture legal trends and news as they first start to emerge. We were looking for a better way to organize, vet and easily retrieve all the updates that were being sent to us on a daily basis.In the process, we’ve become one of the highest volume business law websites in the U.S. Today, the National Law Review’s seasoned editors screen and classify breaking news and analysis authored by recognized legal professionals and our own journalists. There is no log in to access the database and new articles are added hourly. The National Law Review revolutionized legal publication in 1888 and this cutting-edge tradition continues today.

Top Storytelling Techniques Lawyers Need to Use in Their Marketing

In the past, marketing and advertising strategies were all about showing your ideal clients why your law firm was the one to choose. Every ad and marketing plan was focused on framing the law firm or the attorney as the hero of the story: “Let us step in and save the day!”

The problem is, your clients do not need a hero. They are the hero of their story. And law firms and attorneys across the country are only beginning to see how storytelling is going to be an integral part of their content marketing and digital marketing strategies going forward.

It’s all about relating to your ideal client and giving them the information that they really need to make decisions that work best for their family. It sounds a lot more complicated than it is. But there are several techniques that you can use to make sure that your marketing is telling compelling stories that are going to guide your ideal client to the decision that your law firm is the one that is going to help them achieve their goal.

Tip 1: Focus on Making Your Client the Hero

One of the biggest mistakes law firms are making in their marketing strategies is making themselves the hero at the expense of what the client really needs. Traditional marketing has told law firms to sell their accomplishments and achievements. Listing reason after we reason for why this law firm was the right one for that particular client. Are you bored? So is your client. And chances are, if your readers are bored, they are not going to convert into clients.

With that in mind, you need to tell stories in a way that grabs their attention and helps them see that they are the hero in their story. Instead of talking about all of your law firm’s achievements, you should be relating to your clients. What services are you providing to them that allow them to fix their legal issues and come out on top?

Leading with a firm first approach isn’t likely to be successful in today’s age. These days, your clients know that they are the hero, and they are not going to choose a law firm that they feel like they have to compete with.

Tip 2: Frame Yourself as the Guide

You still need to be able to explain to your clients in all of your different marketing strategies why your law firm is better than the competition. But you can do this in a way that does not come across as you are showing off or attempting to put the spotlight on your law firm’s biggest case results, settlements, victories, and achievements.

Instead, you should frame yourself as the guide. This is the concept of the Storybrand by Donald Miller, where the service provider is the guide who helps the client (the hero) find a solution to fix their problem. Make sure that your marketing materials are framed in a way that sets your law firm up to be the guide that will help the hero solve their problem.

Tip 3: Solve Your Ideal Client’s Pain Points

It sounds easy. Writing content and developing marketing materials that make you the guide and the reader the hero. Check. If only it were that easy. Unfortunately, developing these types of storybranded materials can be challenging. There is a fine line between showcasing the benefits of working with your firm and showing the reader how you can solve their problems. Many law firms miss the mark, and it costs them clients.

If you want to get it right, make sure you start off by thinking about the biggest pain points your client is experiencing with their legal issue. How high are their costs? Are they experiencing substantial economic and non-economic losses? Are they at risk for going to prison? Do they have complex legal issues they do not understand? These questions become more and more specific depending on the type of practice area you are in and the type of content materials that you are developing. By addressing your ideal client pain points, you can show them how your law firm will provide them with the tools they need to fix their legal issues.

Make sure to keep your content short and to the point across the board. Most readers do not have the time, patience, or inclination to read more than one or two lines. The first line should describe their pain point. The second line should describe how your solution fixes their problem. If you do it right, that is all you will need to get your prospective client to pick up the phone or fill out your website’s contact form.

Start Storytelling With Your Law Firm’s Marketing Strategies

Storytelling and storybranding are the future for law for content marketing. Gone are the days where clients chose law firms based on their achievements and successes. All lawyers are successful in the eyes of a potential client, figuratively speaking. What your clients care about is how you are going to help them solve their issue. They couldn’t care less what college you graduated from, what your Avvo rating is, or all of that volunteer work you put in while you were working for the County Clerk’s office.

You can still use these credentials and accomplishments as benefits that you provide to clients in need. But you need to be sure to do so in a way that still frames the client as the hero. How specifically does your accomplishment help them help themselves?

You need to be very careful to produce content that answers this question carefully. If you miss the mark and make yourself a hero, you have probably lost a potential client. But, if you can clearly answer this question and provide your prospective clients with the information they are looking for, at a glance, you are more likely to generate the leads you hoped to see online.

Article By Meranda M. Vieyra of Denver Legal Marketing

For more articles on legal marketing, visit the NLR Law Office Management section

Federal Regulators Issue New Cyber Incident Reporting Rule for Banks

On November 18, 2021, the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a new rule regarding cyber incident reporting obligations for U.S. banks and service providers.

The final rule requires a banking organization to notify its primary federal regulator “as soon as possible and no later than 36 hours after the banking organization determines that a notification incident has occurred.” The rule defines a “notification incident” as a “computer-security incident that has materially disrupted or degraded, or is reasonably likely to materially disrupt or degrade, a banking organization’s—

Ability to carry out banking operations, activities, or processes, or deliver banking products and services to a material portion of its customer base, in the ordinary course of business;
Business line(s), including associated operations, services, functions, and support, that upon failure would result in a material loss of revenue, profit, or franchise value; or
Operations, including associated services, functions and support, as applicable, the failure or discontinuance of which would pose a threat to the financial stability of the United States.”

Under the rule, a “computer-security incident” is “an occurrence that results in actual harm to the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of an information system or the information that the system processes, stores, or transmits.”

Separately, the rule requires a bank service provider to notify each affected banking organization “as soon as possible when the bank service provider determines it has experienced a computer-security incident that has materially disrupted or degraded or is reasonably likely to materially disrupt or degrade, covered services provided to such banking organization for four or more hours.” For purposes of the rule, a bank service provider is one that performs “covered services” (i.e., services subject to the Bank Service Company Act (12 U.S.C. 1861–1867)).

In response to comments received on the agencies’ December 2020 proposed rule, the new rule reflects changes to key definitions and notification provisions applicable to both banks and bank service providers. These changes include, among others, narrowing the definition of a “computer security incident,” replacing the “good faith belief” notification standard for banks with a determination standard, and adding a definition of “covered services” to the bank service provider provisions. With these revisions, the agencies intend to resolve some of the ambiguities in the proposed rule and address commenters’ concerns that the rule would create an undue regulatory burden.

The final rule becomes effective April 1, 2022, and compliance is required by May 1, 2022. The regulators hope this new rule will “help promote early awareness of emerging threats to banking organizations and the broader financial system,” as well as “help the agencies react to these threats before they become systemic.”

Article by Hunton Andrews Kurth’s Privacy and Cybersecurity group with Hunton Andrews Kurth.

For more articles on banking regulations, visit the NLR Financial Securities & Banking section.

Counsel Fee Award When Contesting A Will

In general, the party tasked with defending a decedent’s Will during a Will contest, which is typically the executor, is entitled to the reimbursement of counsel fees that they incur in defending the Will on behalf of the Estate. At times, however, a party who has filed an action to contest a Last Will and Testament may also be entitled to an award of counsel fees provided there was a reasonable and legitimate basis to contest the decedent’s Last Will and Testament. In a recent appellate division case, the court affirmed an award of counsel fees to the contestant of a decedent’s Will for these very reasons.

In this matter, the defendant executor had been awarded counsel fees by the court, as the defendant was responsible for defending the decedent’s Last Will and Testament against the challenges levied by the plaintiff. In addition, the trial court also awarded counsel fees to the plaintiff, as it found that plaintiff’s challenge to the decedent’s Will was made in good faith and was reasonable. Moreover, the court found that plaintiff’s fees for which it sought reimbursement were fair and reasonable. In response, the defendant argued that the award of counsel fees was contrary to the applicable New Jersey court rules, and therefore, objected to the award. The appellate division reviewed the applicable rule of professional conduct, RPC 1.5(a), and concluded that the plaintiff had reasonable cause to contest the validity of the decedent’s Will, and moreover, that the fees the plaintiff sought were reasonable. As such, the appellate division concluded that the trial court correctly awarded counsel fees to the contestant of the decedent’s Will.

This appellate division decision reaffirmed a well-accepted standard as to an award of counsel fees in the context of probate litigation. When you are either taxed with defending a Last Will and Testament or intending to contest a Last Will and Testament, this factor should be considered when deciding whether settlement makes sense. Since there is no guarantee to either side that the counsel fees will be awarded, it is an issue that should be considered in the context of any settlement discussions before trial.

Article by Paul W. Norris with Stark & Stark.

For more articles on estates and trusts, visit the NLR Family, Estates & Trusts section.

SEC Report Details Record-Shattering Year for Whistleblower Program

On November 15, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Whistleblower Program released its Annual Report to Congress for the 2021 fiscal year. The report details a record-shattering fiscal year for the agency’s highly successful whistleblower program. During the 2021 fiscal year, the SEC Whistleblower Program received a record 12,200 whistleblower tips and issued a record $564 million in whistleblower awards to a record 108 individuals. Over the course of the year, the whistleblower program issued more awards than in all previous years combined.

“The SEC’s Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower program has revolutionized the detection and enforcement of securities law violations,” said whistleblower attorney Stephen M. Kohn. “Congress needs to pay attention to this highly effective anti-corruption program and enact similar laws to fight money laundering committed by the Big Banks, antitrust violations committed by Big Tech, and the widespread consumer frauds often impacting low income and middle class families who are taken advantage of by illegal lending practices, redlining, and credit card frauds.”

“The report documents that whistleblowing works, and works remarkably well, both in the United States and worldwide,” continued Kohn. “The successful efforts of the SEC to use whistleblower-information to police Wall Street frauds is a milestone in the fight against corruption. Every American benefits from this program.”

In the report, Acting Chief of the Office of the Whistleblower Emily Pasquinelli states “[t]he success of the Commission’s whistleblower program in landmark FY 2021 demonstrates that it is a vital component of the Commission’s enforcement efforts. We hope the awards made this year continue to encourage whistleblowers to report specific, timely, and credible information to the Commission, which will enhance the agency’s ability to detect wrongdoing and protect investors and the marketplace.”

Read the SEC Whistleblower Program’s full report.

Geoff Schweller also contributed to this article.

Article By Mary Jane Wilmoth with Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto.

For more on SEC Whistleblower Rewards, visit the NLR White Collar Crime & Consumer Rights section.

Continuing Effort to Protect National Security Data and Networks

CMMC 2.0 – Simplification and Flexibility of DoD Cybersecurity Requirements

Evolving and increasing threats to U.S. defense data and national security networks have necessitated changes and refinements to U.S. regulatory requirements intended to protect such.

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued a Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARs) intended to better protect defense data and networks. In 2017, DoD began issuing a series of memoranda to further enhance protection of defense data and networks via Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). In December 2019, the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) issued long-awaited guidance in part governing the minimum encryption requirements for storage, transport and/or transmission of controlled but unclassified information (CUI) and technical defense information (TDI) otherwise restricted by ITAR.

DFARs initiated the government’s efforts to protect national security data and networks by implementing specific NIST cyber requirements for all DoD contractors with access to CUI, TDI or a DoD network. DFARs was self-compliant in nature.

CMMC provided a broad framework to enhance cybersecurity protection for the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). CMMC proposed a verification program to ensure that NIST-compliant cybersecurity protections were in place to protect CUI and TDI that reside on DoD and DoD contractors’ networks. Unlike DFARs, CMMC initially required certification of compliance by an independent cybersecurity expert.

The DoD has announced an updated cybersecurity framework, referred to as CMMC 2.0. The announcement comes after a months-long internal review of the proposed CMMC framework. It still could take nine to 24 months for the final rule to take shape. But for now, CMMC 2.0 promises to be simpler to understand and easier to comply with.

Three Goals of CMMC 2.0

Broadly, CMMC 2.0 is similar to the earlier-proposed framework. Familiar elements include a tiered model, required assessments, and contractual implementation. But the new framework is intended to facilitate three goals identified by DoD’s internal review.

Simplify the CMMC standard and provide additional clarity on cybersecurity regulations, policy, and contracting requirements.
Focus on the most advanced cybersecurity standards and third-party assessment requirements for companies supporting the highest priority programs.
Increase DoD oversight of professional and ethical standards in the assessment ecosystem.

Key Changes under CMMC 2.0

The most impactful changes of CMMC 2.0 are

A reduction from five to three security levels.
Reduced requirements for third-party certifications.
Allowances for plans of actions and milestones (POA&Ms).

CMMC 2.0 has only three levels of cybersecurity

An innovative feature of CMMC 1.0 had been the five-tiered model that tailored a contractor’s cybersecurity requirements according to the type and sensitivity of the information it would handle. CMMC 2.0 keeps this model, but eliminates the two “transitional” levels in order to reduce the total number of security levels to three. This change also makes it easier to predict which level will apply to a given contractor. At this time, it appears that:

Level 1 (Foundational) will apply to federal contract information (FCI) and will be similar to the old first level;
Level 2 (Advanced) will apply to controlled unclassified information (CUI) and will mirror NIST SP 800-171 (similar to, but simpler than, the old third level); and
Level 3 (Expert) will apply to more sensitive CUI and will be partly based on NIST SP 800-172 (possibly similar to the old fifth level).

Significantly, CMMC 2.0 focuses on cybersecurity practices, eliminating the few so-called “maturity processes” that had baffled many DoD contractors.

CMMC 2.0 relieves many certification requirements

Another feature of CMMC 1.0 had been the requirement that all DoD contractors undergo third-party assessment and certification. CMMC 2.0 is much less ambitious and allows Level 1 contractors — and even a subset of Level 2 contractors — to conduct only an annual self-assessment. It is worth noting that a subset of Level 2 contractors — those having “critical national security information” — will still be required to seek triennial third-party certification.

CMMC 2.0 reinstitutes POA&Ms

An initial objective of CMMC 1.0 had been that — by October 2025 — contractual requirements would be fully implemented by DoD contractors. There was no option for partial compliance. CMMC 2.0 reinstitutes a regime that will be familiar to many, by allowing for submission of Plans of Actions and Milestones (POA&Ms). The DoD still intends to specify a baseline number of non-negotiable requirements. But a remaining subset will be addressable by a POA&M with clearly defined timelines. The announced framework even contemplates waivers “to exclude CMMC requirements from acquisitions for select mission-critical requirements.”

Operational takeaways for the defense industrial base

For many DoD contractors, CMMC 2.0 will not significantly impact their required cybersecurity practices — for FCI, focus on basic cyber hygiene; and for CUI, focus on NIST SP 800-171. But the new CMMC 2.0 framework dramatically reduces the number of DoD contractors that will need third-party assessments. It could also allow contractors to delay full compliance through the use of POA&Ms beyond 2025.

Increased Risk of Enforcement

Regardless of the proposed simplicity and flexibility of CMMC 2.0, DoD contractors need to remain vigilant to meet their respective CMMC 2.0 level cybersecurity obligations.

Immediately preceding the CMMC 2.0 announcement, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a new Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative on October 6 to combat emerging cyber threats to the security of sensitive information and critical systems. In its announcement, the DOJ advised that it would pursue government contractors who fail to follow required cybersecurity standards.

As Bradley has previously reported in more detail, the DOJ plans to utilize the False Claims Act to pursue cybersecurity-related fraud by government contractors or involving government programs, where entities or individuals, put U.S. information or systems at risk by knowingly:

Providing deficient cybersecurity products or services
Misrepresenting their cybersecurity practices or protocols, or
Violating obligations to monitor and report cybersecurity incidents and breaches.

The DOJ also expressed their intent to work closely on the initiative with other federal agencies, subject matter experts and its law enforcement partners throughout the government.

As a result, while CMMC 2.0 will provide some simplicity and flexibility in implementation and operations, U.S. government contractors need to be mindful of their cybersecurity obligations to avoid new heightened enforcement risks.

Article By Andrew Tuggle and David Vance Lucas with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.

For more articles about cybersecurity, visit the NLR Cybersecurity, Media & FCC section.

Pandemic-Driven Amendments to Liquor Code Truly Novel

On Nov. 5, 2021, Governor Tom Wolf signed into law House Bill 425, which became effective immediately. Inspired by the restaurant industry’s struggle to recover from the pandemic and related shifts in operations, the bill presents new opportunities for licensees by eliminating a major hurdle for licensing premises under a licensee’s control. In addition, it loosens many other limitations in the Liquor Code regarding catering permits and other provisions.

House Bill 425 Amendments to Liquor Code

This bill presents a unique licensing strategy that comes in the form of a temporary pandemic-related law. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (the “Board”) may now temporarily extend the licensed premises of a licensed club, catering club, restaurant, retail dispenser, hotel, limited distillery, distillery, brewery, or limited winery to include any outside serving area that is immediately adjacent to the existing licensed area or within one thousand feet of the main licensed premises (even if the area to be temporarily licensed and the main licensed building are separated by a thoroughfare).

For decades, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has “licensed” only premises contiguous or connected to each other. This rule has confounded new license applicants for decades, and operators that controlled both sides of a private driveway or public alleyway could not utilize their license for both sides of the thoroughfare. Any questions as to how the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board would interpret these new provisions ended with the release of the Nov. 15, 2021 Summary of Act 81 of 2021 (House Bill 425).

In the Summary, the Board confirmed that separate premises across a public thoroughfare and within 1,000 feet of the licensed premises did not have to have their own service facilities, and a server could take food and drinks out of the original licensed premises and across the street to the new proposed licensed premises and serve patrons there. This is a remarkable change in the law; however, these provisions of Act 81 are due to sunset Dec. 31, 2024, which may affect the amounts a licensee may invest in temporary structures on premises that are not immediately connected or contiguous to the licensed premises.

Pandemic-Driven Amendments to Liquor Code

Another change in the law relates to off-premises catering permits. Restaurant licensees, hotel licensees, and eating place retail dispenser licensees that want to sell liquor away from their licensed premises can apply for and obtain an off-premises catering permit to hold a catered function on otherwise unlicensed premises. A catered function is defined as “the furnishing of food prepared on the premises or brought onto the premises already prepared in conjunction with alcoholic beverages for the accommodation of a person or an identifiable group of people, not the general public, who made arrangements for the function at least thirty days in advance.”

The limit for these permits was previously capped at 52 per year. Act 81 now allows the Board to issue an unlimited number of permits for off-premises catered functions to licensees that qualify. Catering permits are also no longer limited to the five-hour time restriction that was previously mandated.

The next amendment to the law pursuant to this bill applies to what happens when a licensee goes out of business. Now, liquor and wine in the possession of a licensee at the time the licensed business closes permanently may be sold to another licensee qualified to sell such products. The licensee selling the products is required to advise the Board in writing of the name of the licensee buying them, identifying any product sold, and describing the liquor, including brand names, sizes, and numbers of containers sold.

More in the House Bill 425

Lastly, Act 81 provides for an additional year of safekeeping for the following class of licensees that was in safekeeping during the proclamation of the 2020 disaster emergency related to the pandemic: club, catering club, restaurant, eating place retail dispenser, hotel, importing distributor, and distributor. A licensee in one of those classes cannot be subject to a renewal, validation, or safekeeping fee that would be due during the additional year. But the licensee must file a renewal or validation that does come due. The additional year of safekeeping commences on the renewal or validation date of a license that occurs after Dec. 31, 2021. This means any extension of the safekeeping period due before Dec. 31, 2021, must be paid, but that license would qualify for the one-year extension from 2022 to 2023.

The novel coronavirus has forced many businesses to change the way they operate, so it is gratifying to see the Pennsylvania Legislature create more flexibility in the Pennsylvania Liquor Code, one of the more confusing and rigid sets of laws in the United States.

Article By Theodore J. Zeller III of Norris McLaughlin P.A.

CMS Removes All Nursing Home Visitation Restrictions as COVID-19 Cases Decrease

In order to continue addressing the impacts of COVID-19 on nursing home residents, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a memo updating guidance for nursing home visitation. You can read the full memo here.

Early in the pandemic, CMS implemented visitation restrictions to mitigate the risk of visitors introducing COVID-19 to nursing homes. Now, CMS is updating its guidance and allowing visitation for residents at all times. CMS explained its decision to allow visitation is based upon data which shows approximately 86% of residents and 74% of staff are fully vaccinated, and the number of new COVID-19 cases each week in nursing homes has dramatically decreased.

Under the new guidance, nursing homes cannot limit the frequency and length of visits for residents, the number of visitors, or require advance scheduling of visits as mandated under the previous guidance. However, CMS is still directing nursing homes to follow infection-control policies and procedures. Visitors who have tested positive for COVID-19, have symptoms of COVID-19, or currently meet the criteria for quarantine, should not enter the facility. Nursing homes should still screen all visitors before entry.

Although not required, CMS is encouraging nursing homes in counties with substantial or high levels of community transmission to offer testing to visitors, if feasible. Nursing homes should also educate and encourage visitors to become vaccinated. Visitors should still wear face coverings and social distance at all times while in the nursing home. Nursing homes should stay diligent in their infection-control efforts.

Article By Sydney N. Pahren and Timothy Cahill of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

Social Media, Content Management & Networking with Stefanie Marrone [PODCAST]

The pandemic forced the legal industry to rely on social media. So, where do you start? Rachel and Jessica discuss the best practices with Stefanie Marrone, Founder and CEO of Stefanie Marrone Consulting/The Social Media Butterfly. Be sure to also check out her “Women Who Wow” series.

Read on below for a transcript of our conversation, transcribed by AI:

Rachel

In this episode, we’re excited to talk to Stefanie Marrone, founder and CEO of Stephanie Marrone Consulting and the Social Media Butterfly. Stefanie, would you like to introduce yourself to our listeners?

Stefanie

Yeah, sure. Thanks, guys for having me on. I’m Stephanie Marrone. I have worked with law firms and at law firms for over 20 years . And then about two years ago, I went and started my own business where I’m a consultant to law firms and other companies in the legal industry. And I help them with everything under the sun marketing related and then also with a focus on social media. And I live in New York with my two French bulldog puppies, who will definitely make an appearance today, as I warned you guys before we started recording.

Rachel

Great, we’re excited to get more of your insights here on social media and content creation. So one of the main topics that we want to focus on today, and it’s been sort of a through line in our whole first season here is sort of trends in the legal industry and adjusting to COVID-19. So I was wondering if you could start off by talking a little bit about the trends you’re currently seeing in the legal market today.

Stefanie

What they’re talking about the entire world right now is the great resignation. There are lots of people leaving their jobs and going to work other places where there is more flexibility, where there’s more work life balance, and that has created a huge problem for law firms of every single size. So I guess it’s a lot of different things, right, the industry was forced to innovate as a result of COVID. They were innovating when it came to how they did business with their clients, and technology became front and center. The work was sort of stagnant for a little bit, and people are nervous to hire, but now they’re back in full swing. And they’re having a lot of trouble. I’m actually working with a number of law firms on recruiting marketing strategies, for the first time in a very long time. Again, because it’s a candidates market, there’s so much content out there. But then they saw it as an opportunity later on. Any lawyer who said I’m just going to take my clients to golf or go out to dinner, or you’re still going to have trouble doing that, because a lot of people are not ready. It’s basically we’re in a new frontier we are talking about the last two years have been like pivoting every single thing you thought you knew and that you were doing, you had to like make a sharp, right, and then a sharp left right afterward, and you went off the grid because the GPS didn’t even have those roads on the map. Right. So it’s been a crazy time over the last 18 months and firms that don’t get it are behind the times. Any firm is requiring you to go back to the office every day is going to have a really tough time getting their people to be excited about working.

Rachel

Right. And yeah, I think one of the interesting things that we’ve heard so far in doing these interviews is the COVID-19 pandemic was like a catalyst to get law firms to change and do a lot of the things that people probably wanted for a really long time, specifically remote work, probably a better work life balance, things like that. You mentioned briefly like working with law firms to come up with sort of recruiting marketing. What does that look like? Like how are firms trying to differentiate themselves and really stand out compared to others right now.

Stefanie

My very first job in legal marketing was working at always Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison and my job was to start their alumni relations program and to help them with recruiting marketing, one of the programs we did was to interview lawyers and find out why we’re getting a candidate in the door, but we’re not closing the deal, or they’re choosing another firm. And what we found was it was a lot of things, it was behavioral issues in terms of interviewing, it was making the candidates feel important. It was the way they were selling the firm, so to speak, you know, communicating what it’s like to work here, full circle. 20 years later. Now I’m getting asked by law firms to help them do exactly what I did 20 years ago, which was to help them tell the story of their firm why of recruits to join the firm, how to promote their wins without sounding too boastful, which is something I tell people all the time you know, you don’t want to put all of your awards everywhere. Candidates don’t care about that. They don’t care about the work. They care about the mentoring, they care about the work life balance, and not everybody wants to make partner anymore. The other one is millennials, I learned so much from millennials. Because I, I grew up in a different generation and their needs and wants are different. So one of the things I’m doing is looking at the materials on the website crafting language that speaks to recruits directly instead of legalese. One of the things I’m working on is like a Glassdoor strategy for one firm, where, you know, we’re saying that listen, employees now have a voice, you can’t just treat everyone poorly and expect that no one’s gonna find out about it, we have checks and balances now, and people are more empowered than they’ve ever been before. So making sure you know, your Glassdoor is okay. And that, you know, it’s not just Glassdoor, there’s obviously Indeed there’s Chambers and there’s other places, but making sure that you’re putting your best foot forward everywhere, and that you’re thinking strategically about how to market yourself to these different audiences. And so I hope that helps, but it’s not enough to have that great name on the door anymore. If people know you to not be a great place to work or not have a great culture, you’re going to have to work harder to get those people to either want to come work for you or stay. Because a lot of firms are losing a lot of their lawyers right now, in this great resignation time and they’re going to where the grass is greener. The firms have to actually spend time retaining their talent. And that’s another thing that I work on in terms of helping them come up with strategies for development for associates and development for other people who may be in danger of leaving. It’s a whole new world, guys.

Rachel

Right. And I think that’s really interesting. You bring up sites like Glassdoor, and Indeed because, like, if you are in the job market, you’re looking to apply a place that already has terrible reviews, that’s people getting turned away before they even apply.

Stefanie

Gone are the days when all that was out there was what the what the firm was saying about themselves or the organization. But now, you have to actually stand by what you say you are, you have to be that kind of place. People only write reviews when they’re really, really happy or really, really, really angry. I work on our alumni relations programs, which is like that full lifecycle of an associate from the time, you know, from recruiting to the time they’re there to then they leave. And so many law firms don’t have a very strong alumni relations program, or they don’t think about it, even people who they’ve let go or ask to find another job, it doesn’t always work out, it’s okay. But don’t exclude them from the Alumni Program, include them, you want them to be part of the community, you never know who’s going to be a potential recruit of client return to you or bad mouth you out there. So you know, we want to leave people with a feeling of respect even when it doesn’t work out.

Rachel

Right. And that sort of plays into what I want to ask next is sort of like that overarching idea of a firm’s marketing efforts, like their branding, things like that, and how that’s been sort of impacted by COVID 19. So how can attorneys and firms really keep up with their marketing during this time? Like, how can they launch like these, you know, efforts to build their alumni relations and things like that?

Stefanie

Yeah, so one of the things I was seeing in the beginning when COVID had just hit was every firm was doing the exact same thing. They launched a Coronavirus Resource Center, I think I actually counted, it was like 30, something law firms had the exact same name for their resource section. And most of them were using the same stock images. It was that, you know, red and black photo of the COVID cell structure. And they would put that on their website, and then all their materials. And all that did was scare the crap out of everybody. Right? So and you see that same image online as well. So I was just say, I was saying to firms, like, differentiate yourself, be different. Be pivot, be understanding, be empathetic to your clients, and your recruits. And anybody who’s out there, let’s not rely on email. I don’t know about you guys. But I never used Zoom before COVID and I grew up in a law firm environment. And tech was not necessarily always like yet the front and center. So it required us to all adapt and innovate. And there were a lot of people who fought it tooth and nail, but still did it. So I guess my thought was that COVID change everything. It forced us to be more human. I think we shed a lot of the formalities. I think we needed to innovate, we were forced to do it. I think the firms that are still putting out content without thinking that habits have changed. We’re on our mobile devices more, and law firms have to pivot to that. If you’re not using LinkedIn, you’re way behind the times and you need to use it now. So social is such a big part of your strategy as a lawyer and then also as a firm. One thing that happened a lot During COVID, where people were doing webinars, and they realized that they didn’t necessarily have to give CLE credit or be accredited to do it, the people just wanted to get together and learn about different issues. So I see firms doing that, and I’m so happy they’re doing it, but I don’t see them maximizing their webinars. So they’ll do a webinar one, they won’t take the recording from the webinar, and then have that transcribed and then it becomes a client alert, or, you know, an article that they can place in a third party publication. They don’t use it for social media posts. It’s what I call one and done and they it just goes into like, disappears into thin air. So I guess I still see law firms need help in terms of maximizing their content assets and using them more efficiently and more effectively.

And I think, you know, it’s sort of like work smarter, not harder. Why not repurpose it, you know, make your content work harder and smarter for you is something I literally say once a day.

Jess

Yeah, so you sort of touched upon just how much COVID has changed everything. And you spoke a little bit about webinars, and that was a way for people to sort of stay connected. Are there any other ways that attorneys and law firms in general can build their brands of business as well? Social distancing is still on people’s minds.

Stefanie

LinkedIn is so important. I think for the majority of lawyers and law firms, it’s going to be LinkedIn where 750 plus million people gather for Business Networking and Information. So if you’re not on LinkedIn, you should get on LinkedIn, you should build a strong profile. The profile should have keywords that describe what you do, how you do, and for whom you do it. So I say there are three building blocks of LinkedIn. One is your profile. So get that completely done and optimize the bio, don’t put like Mr. Smith is, blah, blah, blah, and don’t brag about all your awards. Number two are your connections, a lot of people just sit and wait for people to come to them and connect with them. And it’s a two way street. So you should be actively thinking about who you know, from different walks of life from your path, the more people in your network, the stronger your network will be for when you want to do number three, which is post content. And that’s where I find most lawyers fall short, they don’t know what to do or how to do it. And it makes a huge difference. There’s only 1% of people globally using LinkedIn who actively create content. So there’s a huge opportunity. And lawyers aren’t, in my opinion taking advantage of it, or when they do they sound just like everybody else. So I want to encourage them to do more of that. And if they don’t know what to share, they could go to their company page and share from there, there are a lot of lawyers in the world to anything you can do to remain top of mind with touch points that are useful, that are authentic, and that are, you know, meaningful is important. So that’s why content helps. So I tell people all the time, you know, they’ll ask me, you know, how do I get better ranked in Google? And how do I build my brand? Start writing. You guys know this because of what you guys do. But most people don’t follow your blog, you have to push out the content to people, most people don’t follow your client alerts. This is why we have social media, email marketing, content, syndicators, like what you guys do, and a whole host of other tools that most lawyers don’t realize, like what’s going on behind the scenes. So you can write a great piece of content. But if you don’t promote it effectively and efficiently, it doesn’t matter, no one will see it. You know, if you’re thinking about going back to quote unquote, normal, you’re thinking about it all wrong. Firms, like get that and use content and use webinars. And then, of course, meet with your clients in person. There’s no substitution for that. But this world is not going back to the way it was we will be using social we will be using content marketing more. And I hope that lawyers realize that and firms realize it and then firms do more to promote those things and encourage their people to do those things.

Jess

So you’ve got all this experience in the legal industry, so many years trying to get people all the tools they need with social media content. Can you tell me about Women Who Wow, and why you started that?

Stefanie

So Women Who Wow is a group that I started, it’s actually just supposed to be for women’s history month in March 2020. And I started it before the pandemic and then the pandemic happened, I kept getting recommendations for other women and the series took on a life of its own and so, Women Who Wow became an ongoing series featuring women mostly in the legal industry, giving their ideas and their thoughts and advice on their careers and how they’ve gotten to where they are advice that they would give their younger selves. You know, I really felt like there was a void in the industry for something like this. I thought we needed something where women could spotlighted and celebrated without expecting anything in return. I have over 100 people so far profiled, and it keeps going. And then that sort of started, you know, from the series, then we created events, and they’re all free. And they are various events, learning from women. So it’s various different advice from career advice, to even just kind of finding more balance in your life. And everyone and anyone is welcome. And so it’s been great to build community at a time when I felt so isolated. I think no matter where you are in your career, there’s something for you. It’s just a great way to network. I love this series. And it’s meant a lot to me to find community and to support other women.

Jess

And I think that’s so great, because the legal industry on its head seems to be more maybe male dominated as an industry. So bringing women together for different professional topics, I think could be really beneficial. Is that similar to why you started it? Like kind of your thinking behind it?

Stefanie

Yeah, absolutely. So when you work at a law firm, there’s a lot of class differentials, right. There’s staff, people like me, the marketing person, and then there’s the attorneys. And very often there are benefits given to the attorneys that aren’t necessarily always given to the staff, and there still is a hierarchy at law firms. I also know that there’s a lot of disparity between women in law making partner than men, it is harder for women to make law of make partner from the day they step into the door of a law firm, they are automatically at a disadvantage. And research backs me up. I spoke on a panel on this recently. And essentially, it’s for a number of reasons. They’re not part of the old boys club, there are more men, and it is harder for women to adjust it to balance everything because the sometimes very often the onus of childcare and all that stuff, falls on women. And so they wind up leaving, they don’t make partner they go and they go in house to go to smaller firms, or they leave the industry entirely completely sort of like discouraged by what happened. And so, yes, and my idea was that women can learn so much from each other. So in terms of like talking about, you know, how you find balance, or how you’ve made it work, or to not be so hard on yourself, or what are your success tips. That is what I wanted people to be able to share with each other.

Jess

And I think that was perfect timing on your part, building a community like that, when that pandemic started, we were already feeling very isolated. And then, you know, I’m sure there are, you know, just like women and other groups of people probably always have that sense of slight isolation in like an industry that they work in. So I like that that’s, you know, why brought them together and showcased a lot of people who have knowledge to share, what would you say to people who maybe don’t have that support, or would like that same support?

Stefanie

So I would say build a community, right? So I was missing it, I needed it, I created it. And I wanted to learn from these women. Join the Women Who Wow, it’s open to everybody. It’s free. Like I said, and I would say, you know, if you’re at a firm, surround yourself with people, either in person or online, who are supporters and your cheerleaders and find a mentor, and sometimes it’s not organic, sometimes you need to go actively find one. Sometimes it’s not just one mentor. Sometimes it’s multiple people who provide advice to you in different areas, but they’re people love to give advice. They love to be asked of like, what would you do in this situation? Or tell me about your career? I think a lot of people are afraid to ask for things, ask for advice, ask for help. Don’t be afraid to admit that maybe there are some times where you get in your own way or you need help. And I think I would just say we are all works in progress, and we need to be just a little kinder to ourselves, too.

Rachel

That’s a really great sort of segue into our next topic, which is social media and content strategy. We spoke a little bit about LinkedIn. And we definitely think you know, lawyers should be on that platform. How can lawyers really use LinkedIn to their benefit?

Stefanie

I went over the three fundamentals before in terms of profile connections and then utilization of the platform, which is where most people fall flat. The other thing I see people do is promote themselves on social. I’m seeing all these Super Lawyers rankings being posted. And they literally start the same way. I’m honored to be ranked, or I’m humbled to be ranked, or even worse, I’m honored and humbled to be ranked. It doesn’t make you sound honored or humbled when you write it like that. And so I tell people think about it differently. Tell a story. Why did you become a lawyer? Why did you join your firm? Who helped you on these matters? How did you get to where you are, flip it around, thank your clients, thank the team that was in the office making those copies that got that deal done. It’s all about being humble. People like to celebrate your successes, but they don’t want you to sound like you’re patting yourself too hard on the back. So it’s just telling a story. And I tell people show versus tell with everything. One of my other big pet peeves is if I write an article, or I have a client alert, the lawyers will often publish it or share it without any introductory text. And that is like the worst thing you can do on social because you’re basically letting other people try to figure it out. And it doesn’t rank well with your SEO which LinkedIn has SEO too, by the way. So I tell people write a synopsis. In the beginning, tell people why you wrote this, why it’s interesting. And, you know, I’m sure you guys understand this. But so many lawyers don’t necessarily get to the point right off the bat or in the first couple lines. And that is key on LinkedIn. Because what LinkedIn does in the newsfeed is only show you the first two or three lines of a post. So if you don’t capture anyone’s attention in that time period, they’re going to keep moving along the scroll. And so the whole goal of social is to stop the scroll. And if you don’t have good content, and you don’t have good imagery, they’ll keep scrolling. And I guess the other thing I would say is most lawyers don’t think about LinkedIn, they think I don’t have time for it, I don’t need it. I’m good at what I do I have business. Well, here’s the thing, your business could dry up tomorrow, your competitors are on LinkedIn, I tell people all the time, you know, do it because you see other people do it because you want to be part of it, and it is effective for them. The other thing is that you can use it for business development. So I call this low hanging fruit. But it’s the sections on LinkedIn, where was the notification section, it tells me about people’s birthdays, which sounds trivial, but actually, it’s a touch point to get back in touch with someone and can open up a dialog. I’ve seen this time and time again. So birthdays, work anniversaries and new jobs. People don’t usually send emails anymore, when they get a new job, it’s up to you to do the due diligence to find out where they’ve gone. And that’s a great reason to guys, today, I got three notifications just today on people getting new jobs. So I would send a congratulatory note. And LinkedIn makes it so easy, you just have to hit a button, right. So these are touch points that enable you to get back in the realm of thinking with certain people. And I think it’s I’ve seen it lead to new business. And I’ve seen people bring in business, I love my personal business comes from my presence on LinkedIn, helping others without the expectation of anything in return, posting content, and learning the tools, the algorithm of LinkedIn, how to use hashtags effectively, when to post and all of those things. So if a lawyer doesn’t think it’s worth their while, I can show them five examples of how it could be worth their while. And it’s certainly not the only thing they should be doing. Just like they shouldn’t be relying on spreading articles or taking their clients for a golf game. It’s part of the overall multi disciplinary marketing strategy today have a lawyer and a law firm that is necessary to build your brand and your business.

Rachel

Right. And that sort of ties into another thing I was hoping to sort of get your thoughts on. We’ve spoken about LinkedIn, but Twitter and Facebook are also pretty big social media platforms, how can lawyers and firms use those platforms more effectively?

Stefanie

Lawyers have a lot of trouble with Twitter, and Facebook and Instagram. And it’s not easy to build your brand on any of these platforms. A lot of us post our personal stuff on Facebook, and if there’s a way that you can tie personal and professional together, do it. If you worked on a real estate deal, take a picture of the building and say, you know, I’m so proud to live in this city or to have worked on this deal means a lot I’ve walked by this building a million times Never did I think I would actually work on this. So I always tell people be alert that everybody and anybody can be a potential client or source of new business for employees. So on Facebook, I would say just don’t sound boastful. It’s not the place to post Super Lawyers. I don’t think you should ever post that stuff personally, but but other people would disagree with me. And then on Twitter, so Twitter moves a mile a minute. To be successful on Twitter, you need to post multiple times a day. And if you’re not going to do that, then don’t bother. But you could use Twitter as a news aggregator which I see a lot of people will do so follow the accounts of your competitor law firms. Follow other lawyers and use ideas that you get from what they’re writing.

To inspire you follow industry publications as well, trade show conferences that are happening, obviously, the major news outlets because news is broken on Twitter, I get a lot of my news from just scrolling on Twitter, the lawyers can use it that way. Lawyers can also use Twitter to build relationships with reporters, and congratulate them on things they’ve written and retweet them and stay in touch with them. I recommend you have two Instagram profiles, one personal that is private, and one Instagram that is for work. You will not be successful on Instagram if you don’t understand how to use the different types of content, and hashtags. That’s it. So there’s reels and IGTV and regular posts and stories. If you don’t know what this means, you should not post it. I would tell law firms and lawyers to claim your name so at least you have the domain but don’t post in places also where your clients aren’t. Go where your clients are. You don’t have to be on TikTok, please actually don’t go on TikTok, if you’re a lawyer, in my opinion. You don’t need to be on every platform, go where your clients are focused first. And you have to alter the message for the medium. You can’t post the same image on Instagram, you have to make it a square and you have to change the text and you have to use the app side differently. And if this doesn’t make sense to you, that means you are not ready to do that. It’s a jungle. I would tell you to just go where your clients are. And don’t feel pressured to be on every platform.

Rachel

Yeah, one of the other sort of overarching themes of our podcast season is like just like there’s no one size fits all solution, you have to be adaptable. And remember, the word of the entire 18 months is pivot, right? You have to pivot, sort of like rounding out a discussion on social media, what strategies have really been your tried and true?

Stefanie

Yeah, so here’s the thing, I never thought I would start my own business and you never know where your life is going to go. And I always worked in house at law firms, and I was always posting on social. Build your brand long before you ever think you need it. I was able to do consulting with law firms very easily because I had the presence on social. My advice is to start using social to post even if you feel like oh, no one cares what I have to say. Why not you? Yes, they do. Certain people will. You won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. And I’ll say, you know, the more successful you get at it, the more naysayers you have/ I talk about Mean Girls quite a bit in the Women Who Wow program because we come across those at all stages of our lives, we just forget about them. When people are like that, it’s usually because something in you brings out something in them that makes them feel inadequate or insecure, or they’re jealous about something. So keep going. There’s no easy way to download every single LinkedIn post you’ve ever written, especially since like the dawn of time, you can download your articles, so like the long form ones, and you can download your contacts, but you can’t do it with the posts. And so I keep an Excel spreadsheet of all of my posts, and I reuse that. So don’t reinvent the wheel every time – you can reuse your content.

No one remembers, there’s no way to spam anybody on LinkedIn. And even if they saw it, it’s reinforcement then. So that’s been another key to my success. And then the other one is helping others. It’s propping up others. It’s promoting others. It’s when I see somebody doing something great promoting and mentioning them on social. So for every three posts I do about something of mine, I’m promoting someone else. And that’s Women who Wow, for me, it’s putting the spotlight on other people. That’s how you build really great relationships on social and then people want to do good things for you because you’re helping them. So all of these have been part of my strategy, but it’s sort of evolved over the years and by the way, my posts sometimes tank completely. And I’ll tell you, it gets discouraging, but you just keep going, you show up, you try different things, you keep posting. You look at what worked and what didn’t, you look at the time of day, the analytics, all those things and then just be open to pivoting again. It’s not about the number of likes you get on a post. If I’ve helped five people, that’s great. I don’t need 1000 likes on a post. it’s nice when things do go viral – the things by the way that have gone viral for me are when I post about a challenge.

Rachel

That was a great conversation. Thanks again for joining us, Stefanie. We really appreciate it.

Stefanie

Thank you guys for having me.

Article By Rachel Popa and Jessica Scheck of The National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC

For more articles on the legal industry, visit the NLR Law Office Management section.

Intellectual Property Consolidation in the Agriculture Industry

Ever since agencies around the world such as the USPTO, USDA, and Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) have started recognizing and enforcing intellectual property rights relating to plants, there has been a slow yet massive consolidation in global seed markets. This article discusses a brief history of how intellectual property rights and lax antitrust enforcement in the seed industry created one of the largest industry consolidations and how the current Administration seems to be taking steps in the right direction.

Intellectual Property in the Agriculture Industry

In 1930, the United States began granting plant patents and the USPTO issued the first plant patent in 1931 for a rose. The UPOV is an international organization that was founded in 1961 to acknowledge and make available exclusive property rights for breeders of new plant varieties in all member states to the UPOV Convention. The U.S. Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) was enacted by Congress in 1970 to encourage the development of new varieties and to make them available to the public. The Plant Variety Protection Act established in the Department of Agriculture an office to be known as the Plant Variety Protection Office. These regulations are all very important for the protection and continued innovation of certain varieties of crops and plants. However, when genetically modified seeds were introduced in 1996, seed companies began to take advantage of these protections and began to invest heavily in amassing as many seed-related IP rights as they could. As these companies have merged and acquired smaller businesses, they remove competition from the industry, harming farmers, families, and consumers.

There are many ways that companies protect intellectual property in the agricultural industry. For example, companies file for utility patents to protect a wide variety of plant-related inventions, such as breeding methods, plant-based chemicals, plant parts, and plant products. Plant patents are unique to the United States and provide protection to any distinct and new variety of plant that has been asexually reproduced, other than a tuber-propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state. Plant Variety Protection certificates, which are similar to plant patents, provide certain exclusive rights to breeders of any new, distinct, uniform, and stable sexually or asexually reproduced or tuber-propagated plant varieties. Other rights, known as Breeders’ Rights, exist in other countries outside the United States and are very similar to the Plant Variety Protection regulations. These protections generally last for 20 years from the date of filing and, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization, the patent owner has the right to decide who may – or may not – use the patented invention for the period in which the invention is protected.

The Key Players in the Agriculture Industry

Monsanto was a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and based in the United States. In 1970, Monsanto scientist John Franz discovered that glyphosate was an herbicide and quickly patented it as such. In 1974, Monsanto brought the patented glyphosate herbicide to the market using the tradename “Roundup.” In 1996, Monsanto created the first genetically engineered (GE), glyphosate-resistant crop, causing Roundup-resistant soybeans to be planted commercially throughout the United States. By 1998, glyphosate-resistant corn was available on the market, and Monsanto became the largest supplier of these new GE, “Roundup-Ready” seeds. This was such a breakthrough in the agriculture industry that in 2003, Roundup-Ready seeds accounted for about 90% of the genetically modified seeds planted around the globe.

As with many industries, the agriculture industry has those companies that are at the top and those that are not. The agriculture industry’s “Big Six” companies—Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta, Dow, Bayer, and BASF—turned into the “Big Four”—ChemChina, Corteva, Bayer, and BASF— after a series of mergers and acquisitions that took place in the last decade with very little oversight from some of the antitrust authorities in the United States and around the world. As a result of these mergers, the “Big Four” companies now control around 60% of the proprietary seed in the world market.

The Consolidation of the Seed Industry

Dr. Phil Howard from Michigan State University discussed the tremendous consolidation of the commercial seed industry in one of his first publications, 2009’s Visualizing Consolidation in the Global Seed Industry: 1996-2008. Dr. Howard describes how the hybrid-seed corn industry of 1930, the enforcement of patent-like protections, and especially the commercialization of fully patent-protected transgenic, genetically engineered seeds in the mid-late 1990s triggered a wave of consolidation in the agricultural industry. To make matters worse, when these companies consolidated and amassed massive intellectual property portfolios, it was not uncommon for seed rights to be bundled with other inputs to protect profits in other, agrochemical divisions. For example, as Dr. Howard details in Visualizing Consolidation, in order to use Monsanto’s herbicide-tolerant transgenic seed, farmers are required to also use Monsanto’s proprietary glyphosate herbicide, rather than a generic herbicide. Essentially, if you were buying Roundup-Ready seed, you were buying Roundup herbicide, and if you were using Roundup herbicide, it was probably a good idea to buy Roundup-Ready seed. This type of competitive business practice is one that eventually creates a multitude of problems for smaller, independent businesses, breeders, and farmers.

Antitrust and Anti-Competition in America

Antitrust laws are not a new concept in American society. Antitrust laws are statutes and regulations that are designed to promote the overall competition in the market by promoting free, open, and competitive markets. Congress passed the first antitrust law in 1890 when it wrote the Sherman Act, which made it illegal for companies to enter into agreements to compete with one another, resulting in price fixing and monopoly power. Several years later, in 1914, Congress passed the Clayton Act and Federal Trade Commission Act to protect American consumers by giving the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) the authority to oversee and review mergers and acquisitions that are likely to stifle competition. Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, the FTC and DOJ review most of the proposed transactions that affect commerce in the United States and either agency can take legal action to block deals that it believes would “substantially lessen competition.”

While these laws are all beneficial in theory, their implementation in the agricultural industry has been lacking to say the least. According to a study in 2018, Bayer alone is estimated to control 35% of corn seed, 28% of soybean seed, and 70% of cottonseed in the global market! Even more alarming may be the USDA’s 2014 report citing concerns that glyphosate-resistant crops have become ubiquitous with American agriculture with 93% of soybeans, 85% of corn, and 82% of cotton planted being genetically modified to be glyphosate-resistant. The herbicides that are used to combat the weeds surrounding the crops, in many cases, are supplied by the same company that provides the seeds.

Promoting Competition in the Agriculture Industry

It has been almost a century since the first antitrust laws were enacted, and yet the problem of corporate consolidations remains in many industries across America. On July 9, 2021, the Biden Administration signed an executive order aimed to promote competition within various industries in the United States. The order includes 72 initiatives by more than a dozen federal agencies to promptly tackle some of the most pressing competition problems across our economy. According to the Administration, this order is a “whole-of-government” approach to drive down prices for consumers, increase wages for workers, and facilitate innovation. This was a major step in the right direction to weaken the power that major businesses have obtained as a result of corporate consolidation in industries like healthcare, technology, transportation, and especially agriculture.

This Executive Order also established the White House Competition Council to drive forward the Administration’s whole-of-government effort to promote competition. On September 10, 2021, the Competition Council held its inaugural meeting to discuss promoting pro-competitive policies and new ways of delivering concrete benefits to America’s consumers, workers, farmers, and small businesses. During the meeting, the heads of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Justice, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the Federal Trade Commission briefed the council members on their efforts to implement the directives of the Executive Order.

The Challenge of Facing the Consolidated Agriculture Industry

According to an October 20, 2021 report by Thomson Reuters, Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, said that the Biden Administration plans to take a hard look at the consolidation of the seed industry and figure out “why it’s structured the way it’s structured” and “whether these long patents make sense.” The White House Competition Council is certainly faced with a difficult challenge to parse through both anti-competition law and intellectual property law. For centuries these bodies of law have caused great debate. One body of law restricts monopolization wherein the later grants monopolistic opportunities.

There is no doubt that any changes to the current seed industry scene would shake things up. But what exactly would that look like? Are we going to see the “Big-4” morph into another, new identity? Are changes to the patent law system likely? Whatever happens, the agriculture industry will likely pay close attention to the actions of the White House Competition Council over the next couple months.

Article By Reinier R. Smit of Summa PLLC

Top Legal Industry News November 2021: Law Firm Pro Bono, Innovation & Hiring

Happy November! Read on for the latest updates in law firm moves, pro bono and awards:

Law Firm Professionals on the Move

Beveridge and Diamond welcomed Alyse Constantinide to their Environmental Crimes Defense and Internal Investigations practice in Washington, DC. Ms. Constantinide is a former Deputy Chief at the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and she serves as counsel on high-stakes compliance and enforcement matters, as well as white collar litigation and internal investigations.

“We are delighted that Alyse chose B&D for the next phase of her already impressive career and to help expand our significant capabilities in the area of environmental crimes defense. Alyse joins a distinguished group of former senior U.S. and state government officials who now call B&D home,” said Kathy Szmuszkovicz, Beveridge and Diamond’s Managing Principal.

Joseph Rillota joined Miller & Chevalier Chartered as a Member of the firm in their Litigation practice. Mr. Rillota was a former trial attorney at the Tax Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) as well as an investigator for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and represented clients in civil litigation at the U.S. Tax Court in a variety of tax-related matters.

“Miller & Chevalier is well-known for providing unmatched counsel based on its members’ distinct combination of federal government and private sector experience, and I look forward to guiding clients through the most complex legal issues. I am excited to be an immediate contributor to the firm’s dedication to collaboration and exemplary client service,” said Mr. Rillota.

“Joe is a highly respected practitioner, whose exemplary reputation in both civil and criminal litigation make him a terrific addition to our team. His deep knowledge extends to several of the firms’ core practices, including tax, white collar, and international, and he will greatly benefit our clients and colleagues,” said Kathryn Cameron Atkinson, Chair of Miller & Chevalier.

Foley and Lardner LLP promoted Christopher McKenna to serve as Managing Partner of its Boston office, and Anne Sekel as Managing Partner of its New York office. Both assumed their roles November 1, 2021. Mr. McKenna practices in the areas of intellectual property and serves as counsel to technology companies to help protect their assets. Ms. Sekel represents clients in all phases of labor and employment-related matters, and she also serves as the Litigation Chair of Foley’s New York office.

“On behalf of the firm, we are delighted that Chris and Anne have accepted the roles as office managing partners. Chris has been at Foley for 11 years and has successfully demonstrated his leadership ability in various roles throughout his career here. Anne started with Foley as an associate 15 years ago and has stood out as an exceptional leader both at the firm and in the community. I am confident that both Chris and Anne will serve the firm well in their new roles. We are also extremely grateful to Susan and Peter for their years of dedication and commitment to serving the firm,” said Jay Rothman, Foley Chairman and CEO.

“I’m honored to take on this new leadership role as office managing partner and build on the solid and successful foundation that Susan, my partners, and associates have laid to strengthen Foley’s national platform in Boston. I look forward to further formulating and implementing the firm’s strategy to expand Foley’s presence in the market and best serve clients in the city’s prospering industries and businesses, as well as continuing our longstanding tradition of giving back to our community,” said Mr. McKenna.

“The talent we have in New York is remarkable. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to lead our office and continue our dedication to professional excellence and first-rate client service. As a steward of the office, I also want to preserve and foster the wonderful culture of both collaboration and individualism that Peter and our colleagues have carefully cultivated here. I’m eager to grow the New York office consistent with our firm’s strategic goals and to strengthen our connections with the firm’s local community, including through our partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America,” remarked Ms. Sekel.

Barnes and Thornburg announced that their new Managing Partner, Andrew J. Detherage will assume his role in November of 2022, taking over for Robert. T. Grand, who served as the firm’s managing partner for the last seven years. Mr. Detherage joined Barnes and Thornburg in 1990, and he currently serves as the Chair of the firm’s Strategic Planning Committee, and Co-Chair of the Insurance Recovery and Counseling Practice. Mr. Detherage also aided in opening multiple firm locations for Barnes and Thornburg in recent years.

“I am humbled and honored to be elected as Barnes & Thornburg’s next firm managing partner and look forward to continuing to work closely with Bob, the Management Committee and the Strategic Planning Committee over the next year. Bob’s leadership has marked an extraordinary period of growth and prosperity for the firm, and I couldn’t be more excited to continue on that path while doubling down on our commitment to our lawyer-focused culture, DEI, and delivering exceptional client service,” said Mr. Detherage

“Having known and worked side by side with Andy during most of my career, I am confident that the future leadership of Barnes & Thornburg is in excellent hands. He cares immensely about this firm and all of its people, and he will be a passionate and thoughtful steward for the organization as we embark on the next chapter of our progress and development,” said Mr. Grand.

Law Firm Pro Bono & Legal Industry Recognition

Proskauer Rose LLP’s William G. Fassuliotis recently received the 2021 Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award from the New York City Bar Justice Center’s Veterans Assistance Project. An associate in the firm’s Litigation Department, Mr. Fassuliotis has an ongoing pro bono practice, where he provides legal services for disabled veterans.

“The claims process is supposed to be non-adversarial, but too often that concept is lost in the slow and difficult system disabled veterans have to endure to receive the benefits they are entitled to under the law,” writes Mr. Fassuliotis in a blog post. “Individuals who have sacrificed so much to serve all of us deserve a better system.”

Kurt M. Denk, Executive Director of the City Bar Justice Center, said of the award, “We are extremely proud of this year’s recipients of our Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award. Our volunteers have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to providing life-changing legal assistance to our clients as they continue navigating the effects of the pandemic – a crisis that has taken a serious toll on those already experiencing socioeconomic and systemic barriers.”

The Greater Chicago Legal Clinic (GCLC) named King & Spalding its 2021 Charles J. O’ Laughlin Memorial Award recipient at its A Justice Social event on November 4. The GCLC recognized King & Spalding for its “exceptional commitment to providing pro bono legal services to members of marginalized communities in Chicago and across Illinois.”

GCLC specifically recognized King & Spalding’s trial team’s victory in a case that has significance for transgender prisoners in Illinois. The firm represented a former Illinois inmate in a civil action seeking damages relating to his confinement.

GCLC also recognized King & Spalding for other pro bono matters representing immigrants, capital defendants, and individuals covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The Best Lawyers in America® included 36 attorneys from Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in its 2022 edition. David Cooke received “Lawyer of the Year” in San Francisco for Environmental Litigation, and Emily Feder is featured on the “Ones to Watch” list. The complete list of attorneys who received recognition can be found here.

Further, Allen Matkins received multiple Tier 1 Rankings in Best Lawyers. At the national level, the firm received awards in Real Estate Law and Environmental Law, Land Use & Zoning Law. At the metropolitan level, the firm received awards for Environmental Law and Real Estate Law in Los Angeles and Environmental Law in San Francisco, among many others.

Managing Intellectual Property named Zack Higbee and Dan O’Connor, senior associates at Alston & Bird LLP as “2021 Rising Stars”. Mr. Higbee and Mr. O’Connor are both members of the firm’s Intellectual Property practice group and have much experience in patent prosecution, patent solicitation, portfolio management, and IP counseling.

This award is the latest in a series of recognitions for Alston & Bird’s Intellectual Property practice. Previously, Managing Intellectual Property ranked three of the firm’s IP practices at the national level and two at the state level, as well as naming 11 Alston & Bird partners as “IP Stars” in June of 2021.

Legal Industry Innovation

Thomson Reuters and Deloitte Tax announced an alliance to transform corporate tax and legal departments’ workflow and digital processes. The partnership combines Thomson Rueters’ software and Deloitte’s consulting and technology to assist in-house legal teams with compliance and regulatory matters.

“Now more than ever, digitization is becoming crucial to the effectiveness of tax and legal departments. Through this alliance, we will deliver tailored technology implementation solutions to help position our clients to focus on what they do best — deliver enhanced value in their organizations, leveraging robust data for decision-making and cost control, backed by the unmatched global breadth and depth of Deloitte and Thomson Reuters,” said Steve Kimble, chairman and CEO, Deloitte Tax LLP.

The partnership is for firms needing to digitize their existing systems, especially in the current regulatory environment that requires digital transformation to be a top priority. A recent Deloitte survey found that only 20 percent of legal departments use tools to automate routine tasks.

“We’re thrilled to build on our longstanding relationship with Deloitte through this new alliance,” said Sunil Pandita, president of Corporates at Thomson Reuters. “Thomson Reuters and Deloitte have long worked together to support corporate tax departments as they face great transformation and change, from regulatory developments to digital disruption. We are eager to continue that relationship, as well as add a new focus around the corporate counsel. We continually see in-house tax and legal departments under immense pressure to always be fast and accurate, while combatting constrained resources and an ever-evolving business landscape. This alliance between Thomson Reuters and Deloitte will allow us an opportunity to help our customers solve their biggest pain points through content-driven technology solutions.”

Kennedys law firm announced its virtual work experience program hit 10,000 enrollments in just over a year. The virtual work experience launched last August with the goal of increasing access to legal education. This past year, Kennedys made 27 trainee lawyer offers to those who took the online course, out of the 34 offers it made in total.

Kennedys also launched a series of virtual insight events for prospective applicants, highlighting the firm’s application and recruitment process.

A student who recently attended one of the insight events said “Having attended this event I feel more confident about applying to Kennedys as it strikes me as a firm that not only cares about its culture, community and people, but also excels in its global outreach. I’m looking forward to submitting my application for a training contract in 2023 soon.”

Kennedys hosted its first virtual event in August, with the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion and CSR Managers giving insight into the firm’s global Diversity & Inclusion and CSR initiatives.

Caroline Wilson, HR director at Kennedys, said: “The virtual programme really has levelled the playing field for all applicants for work experience and to be part of the Kennedys family. It has been a fantastic way to open up access to everyone and move on from the traditional on-site work experience. That so many of our new trainees have completed the programme is testament to its success. We are extremely proud that we have had more than 10,000 students enrol on the virtual work experience programme and look forward to welcoming many thousands more from around the world in the future.”

The program is now included in law students’ coursework at both The University of Westminster and The University of Wolverhampton in the UK.

Suzanne Liversidge, global managing partner at Kennedys, said: “The virtual work experience programme has been a fantastic success and has allowed us to welcome thousands of young people into the global Kennedys family. Our innovative scheme has also provided us with an amazing pool of talent to work with, many of whom would not have had a chance to engage with us before this programme was created. Most importantly this has allowed us to help and nurture talented individuals we may never have had a chance to reach before.”

Article By Hanna Taylor, Rachel Popa and

Chandler Ford ofThe National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC

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