Top Legal Industry News for Spring 2022: Law Firm Hiring, Industry Recognition, Women in Law

We’re back with another edition of our legal industry news roundup. Read more below for the latest updates in law firm hiring and expansion, legal industry awards, and recognition of leading women in the field today.

Law Firm Hiring and Expansion

Keller and Heckman added Counsel Daniel P. McGee to the firm’s Tobacco and E-Vapor practice. Mr. McGee’s experience includes counseling companies on a broad range of complex tobacco industry and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory matters and developing strategies to help companies bring new products to market.

“Daniel’s expertise and industry perspective will be invaluable to Keller and Heckman clients who are carefully navigating the challenges and pitfalls of a highly regulated and rapidly evolving legal landscape,” said Azim Chowdhury, a Partner in the firm’s Tobacco and E-Vapor and Food and Drug practices. “In addition to expanding our tobacco and e-vapor capabilities, we are especially looking forward to utilizing Daniel’s expertise in state law compliance, particularly for clients expanding into the hemp and CBD categories.”

Richard Mann, Chair of Keller and Heckman’s Management Committee, expressed excitement over Mr. McGee’s joining the firm, saying. “The addition of Daniel to our practice demonstrates Keller and Heckman’s commitment to helping our clients understand and comply with continuously evolving regulations in this growing field.”

Mr. McGee said he’s looking forward to collaborating with the Tobacco and E-Vapor team at Keller and Heckman.

“After spending the bulk of my legal career as in-house counsel to the tobacco industry, I made a strategic decision to focus on the industry as a whole and join a law firm that is a leader in tobacco regulatory compliance and public policy initiatives.”

Norris McLaughlin, P.A. welcomed Michael J. Willner as a Member in the firm’s New York office. Mr. Willner joined the firm’s Real Estate, Finance, and Land Use Practice Group.

Mr. Willner works with individuals and entities involved with managing real estate assets, as well as condominiums and co-ops. He specializes in condominium and cooperative law, commercial and residential real estate transactions and related litigation.

Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinksy & Josefiak PLLC opened a new office in Phoenix, Arizona. The firm held its ribbon cutting ceremony on April 26 for the office at the Esplenade with the Arizona Chamber of Commerce.

The office is led by resident Partner Christine Fort and Dallin M. Holt, Of Counsel.

“After over 20 years representing high-profile clients in all aspects of political and regulatory law, we are grateful to now open our fourth office to help support our growing roster of clients in the West,” said Managing Partner Jill Holtzman Vogel, former Chief Counsel for the RNC and a sitting member of the Virginia General Assembly. “We could have chosen anywhere to expand our reach, but Arizona and the Phoenix metro area is dynamic and fast-growing – just like our team. This is absolutely the right place for Holtzman Vogel to put down roots, and we are thrilled to open the doors and get started.”

Goldberg Segalla added Ian G. Zolty to the firm’s Workers’ Compensation group in Princeton, N.J.

Mr. Zolty has experience counseling and defending employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in workers’ compensation matters throughout New Jersey, including hospitals, insurance companies and school boards, among others.

Legal Industry Recognition

City & State New York named three shareholders at Greenberg Traurig, LLP to its 2022 Energy & Environment Power 100 listSteven C. RussoDoreen U. Saia, and Zackary D. Knaub. The recognition spotlights significant legal professionals in the New York area that are “reshaping the energy industry – and rescuing our environment.”

Mr. Russo is the co-chair of the firm’s Environmental Practice, focusing his practice on environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act, the State Environmental Quality Review Act, and more. Ms. Saia is the chair of the Albany Office’s Energy & Natural Resources Practice, where she focuses her efforts on supporting national and international electricity corporations and aiding in related financial transactions. Mr. Knaub is a shareholder in both the Environmental and the Government Law & Policy groups, practicing specifically in energy and environmental legal and government affairs matters, including litigation, dispute resolution, government procurement, and regulatory matters.

Tammie Alexander, chair of the Business Department at Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, is a 2022 Bar Foundation Fellow, appointed by the West Virginia Bar Foundation Board of Directors.  Recognizing lawyers and judges in West Virginia with noteworthy dedication to the practice of law, the Bar Foundation has nominated only 450 out of 6,000 eligible individuals since 1999. Since the program’s inception, 22 Steptoe & Johnson attorneys have been selected as fellows.

Ms. Alexander, located in the firm’s Morgantown office, focuses her practice on an array of topics, including banking, real estate, commercial transactions, title insurance, and construction matters. She primarily assists with large scale projects that involve multiple property owners, governmental agencies, and financial investors.

The South Carolina School of Law provided the Platinum Compleat Lawyer Award, the school’s highest alumni honor, to Erna Womble, retired litigation partner at Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP. Established in 1992, the Compleat Lawyer Awards are meant to recognize alumni for notable professional, civil, and legal accomplishments. Recipients are members of the field who exemplify professional competence, ethics, and integrity.

Erna Womble, who graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1986, joined Womble Bond Dickinson in 1987. Today, she serves as the Co-President of Clearly Bespoke Strategies, Inc., a strategic advising company. Ms. Womble said of the award: “I am profoundly honored by the award from the law school which began my career as a lawyer-in-training. One of my excellent professors often admonished that when lawyers cease to learn, they cease to be good lawyers. More than three decades later, I’m still a lawyer-in-training. I am forever grateful to my beloved firm which afforded me the singular privilege of raising children whilst working with scions of industry and holders of the public trust in serving some of the firm’s best clients.”

Women in the Legal Industry

The Los Angeles Business Journal announced their “Women of Influence: Attorneys,” list which included Stubbs, Alderton & Markiles’ Heather Antoine. The list highlighted lawyers working for large businesses in legal areas such as data protection and intellectual property law.

Heather Antoine focuses her law firm practice on corporate property and data protection as Chair of the firm’s Trademark & Brand Protection practice, and Co-Chair of the Privacy & Data Security practice group. Some of her credits include features in the Los Angeles Times and CNBC.

Robinson & Cole LLP voted partner Britt-Marie K. Cole-Johnson to join the firm’s Managing Committee, allowing her to participate in the firm’s policy and practice strategic development. This comes after a series of noteworthy recognitions in the legal field: Cole-Johnson was recently presented with the Distinguished Leader Award by the Connecticut Law Tribune’s Connecticut Legal Awards, and she was additionally selected as an honoree for The 100 Women of Color Gala & Awards.

“[Ms. Cole-Johnson] is well-known for her talents as a legal advisor but also for her deep commitment to community organizations. She joined the firm thirteen years ago after law school and has been a true and constant champion for equitable and inclusive business practices within the firm, with her clients, and within the community. I look forward to her bringing that leadership and perspective to our Managing Committee,” said Robinson & Cole colleague Rhonda J. Tobin.

The accolades followed a recent appointment by Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont for the Connecticut Paid Leave Authority board.

Romer Debbas, LLP formed an all-female, diverse Agency Lending & Affordable Housing Department, focusing on representation in the property market. Partner Carmen I. Pagan, and Associates Catherine M. Azevedo and Pamela U. Norbert lead the new team with years of legal knowledge in real estate financing, commercial property law and lending service providers.

The new department expanded the firm’s practice areas in bankruptcy, corporate and business law, immigration, litigation, taxation and trusts and estate law.

For more business of law legal news, click here to visit the National Law Review.

Copyright ©2022 National Law Forum, LLC

5 Best Practice Areas for Solo Attorneys

Finishing law school is undoubtedly a significant achievement— yet it’s hardly the finish line. The next step is deciding where you are going to take your law degree. For many, this means making the choice to go solo since there are many advantages that come with running your own practice.

Advantages of Being a Solo Attorney

  • Being Your Own Boss

Flexibility is one of the biggest perks of running your own solo practice. You get to call the shots and decide what needs to get done and when. If you have a family to look after, or other projects going on, setting your own terms for your law practice can be a huge advantage compared to working for someone else. If flexibility is important to you, then going the solo route is certainly something to consider.

  • Lower Costs

It goes without saying that the cost of your operations will be a lot lower as a solo attorney than they will be in a bigger law firm. Bigger law firms need to account for larger staff and consequently bigger expenses. Solo practitioners require less real estate (if any), fewer materials, and in some cases may not need additional staff at all. Many solo practitioners rely on legal software like CRM and client intake software to help automate day-to-day tasks that they would otherwise require extra hands for.

  • Better Client Experience

One standout reason that many clients prefer to work with solos is that they appreciate working with the same attorney who conducted their initial consultation. Larger law firms may have multiple lawyers appointed to a case. This can be disorienting and even overwhelming for clients with more sensitive cases who are forced to repeat the same potentially triggering information to various people. With a solo attorney, clients get a one-on-one experience without being strewn in multiple directions. Most importantly, solo attorneys often offer more attractive pricing, which is often one of the biggest concerns for those seeking legal representation.

What to Consider when Choosing Which Practice Area to Focus on

Although the main draw of becoming a solo attorney is running things your way, you also have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders which is important to remember when choosing your legal niche.

When deciding which practice area to choose, keep the following considerations in mind.

  • Your Values

What’s important to you, and what would motivate you to go into the office every day and zealously represent your clients? Do you think you could see yourself representing a potentially guilty offender? Are you ok working under extreme pressure, and are you able to stomach the harsh realities that may come along with certain cases such as those in family law? Perhaps you live for the back and forth negotiation that comes along with personal injury and want to fight for injured victims to get their lives back on track. In short, before you choose a practice area based on money alone, ask yourself whether it’s something that would line up with what you care most about.

  • Your Area

Take a look at what’s going on in the geographic or metropolitan area you plan to start your business. Are there already established solo practices there? What areas do they practice in, and do you stand a chance against them competitively? Consider whether there’s an opportunity for a different niche in your area that might be logical. Do you live in an area with a high poverty rate? Criminal law could potentially yield a lot of clients. Perhaps there’s a high immigration rate which could be conducive to opening an immigration law practice. The type of area and demographics in your area should come into play in order to make the most strategic decision.

  • Timing

What’s going on in the world around you currently? Is a certain practice area more promising than others? Are there new emerging niches of law that could see a higher demand in the near future? For instance, cannabis law and liability against technology have seen rampant growth across the country. Be sure to factor in the political, social, and technological climate as you come to a decision.

Then there is the question of where you are in your life. Does your personal life afford you the bandwidth to get your business off of the ground? Do you have a family to look after? Are you able to financially sustain a business in its infancy? As they say, “read the room”, and decide what kind of practice area would best suit your situation.

5 Best Practice Areas to Consider

  1. Bankruptcy Law

Bankruptcy law is a great choice for solo attorneys since people going through exceptionally stressful financial times are usually looking for a more personalized experience. A solo practitioner is there to hold their hand throughout the process from beginning to end with an empathetic approach to delivering legal services. Make no mistake, bankruptcy law requires a love of numbers, so if you aren’t much of a math fan, then you will likely want to consider a different practice area.

  1. Family Law

Much like people going through financial difficulties, people going through the emotional turmoil of divorce also desire a more empathetic client experience that a solo attorney can so expertly offer. Although family law comes with heightened emotions, and a substantial amount of tension, it can also be immensely rewarding to know that you’ve made a difference in your clients’ lives.

Not to mention from a business standpoint, the current divorce rate is over 40%. In other words, out of every six people that get married, nearly half of them will get divorced. Although rates have lowered over the last few decades it’s safe to say that you’ll have a wide pool of clients to market to.

  1. Estate Planning

According to the latest legal industry statistics, as of 2022, there are over 200,000 estate planning lawyers in the United States alone. If you plan on opening up your practice in an affluent area abundant in large residences and expensive cars, opening up an estate planning practice can be quite lucrative. Solo practitioners looking to get into estate planning won’t just find success in upscale areas, but also in counties with older demographics. These areas are ripe with residents nearing retirement intent on protecting and preparing their assets.

  1. Personal Injury

The US Department of Justice reports that there are about 400,000 personal injury cases settled out of court every single year. While the most common type of personal injury happens on the road, you’ll also find plenty of work injuries, slips and falls, and rarer injuries. People who have suffered a financial and emotional loss as a result of their injury are looking for someone to prove their case and seek compensation.

Personal injury cases require a significant amount of back and forth between insurance companies with no shortage of documentation. Financial risk is also a factor in that you could stand to earn nothing if you don’t win your client’s case. Conversely, there’s the promise of incredibly high settlements which could mean a big paycheck. The question is, how risk-averse are you?

  1. Immigration Law

Navigating the complex world of immigration law is not easy for someone who may not even speak English. As such, an immigration lawyer is there to advise their clients on what the laws are and help them through the process of being able to live and work in the United States. Clients can range from United States citizens looking to bring their foreign spouse to the country to more sensitive cases in which immigrants are potentially separated from their families.

If you speak another language other than English, then this can be particularly appealing in your marketing strategy. Many foreign clients want to work with someone that speaks their native tongue, so you’ll be even more successful if you can offer that personal touch of their native language that not all other immigration lawyers can.

Rise to The Challenge With The Right Legal Tools

Regardless of what practice area you choose, you still have to accept that you’re a business person, not just a lawyer. You’ll need to generate clients, do the administrative work like sending out bills, assembling documents, and onboarding clients. And while you get to choose your own hours, and get to keep your earnings, at the end of the day all of the facets of your business fall on you.

Since this can be such a daunting task for lawyers coming out of law school who don’t necessarily know how to run a business, it’s important that you have all of the right tools in your arsenal, especially since there’s only one of you.

For this reason, the most successful solo attorneys know the importance of turning to legal technology to give their legal clients a big firm feel with a one-on-one touch. Utilizing end-to-end software is the most efficient way to put the administrative side of your law firm on autopilot, so you can focus on what you do best, which is helping people better understand the law.

The right legal technology can capture your client information for you and auto-populate it into your marketing emails, important documents, and bills, reducing time lost on the day-to-day parts of running a law firm. Best of all, it tracks each stage of the client journey, keeping you on track with what needs to happen next.

©2022 — Lawmatics

Article By Sarah Bottorff of Lawmatics

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

Return to Work Considerations – COVID and the ADA

Employers are contending with difficult challenges unlike any time in modern history. Even though many employees, especially in the manufacturing industry, returned to work after working from home during the COVID pandemic, the effects of the increased flexibility seen during the COVID era linger. Many employees enjoyed the benefits of working from home during the last two years, even if only part-time, and do not want to give up the benefit. By contrast, and especially as COVID restrictions ease, employers often desire their workforce return to work in a more consistent and routine capacity. These tensions are further complicated by an extremely competitive labor market. Recruiting and retaining employees is a challenge in the current environment. Against this backdrop, prudent employers will keep in mind employment law considerations when developing return-to-work and work-from-home policies.

Where should an employer look to determine what accommodations it should make for an employee who wishes to work from home, either due to a COVID diagnosis and/or a condition that places the employee at a heightened risk for severe COVID? Early in the pandemic, local or state health orders answered such questions regarding COVID-related leave. As the pandemic continued, many of those local health orders were rescinded or expired. As a result, employers are left without clear local guidance. When local requirements are of no assistance, employers should look to CDC guidance for quarantining and isolating guidelines.

In addition, employers should keep in mind that COVID may qualify as a “disability” depending on the symptoms and their severity. If an employee tests positive for COVID and is experiencing symptoms that require an absence from work that is longer than the CDC recommended quarantine period, employers should involve legal counsel to analyze whether the employee’s COVID diagnosis constitutes a disability under the ADA. If it does constitute a disability, the employer is then required to engage in the interactive process under the ADA with the employee to determine whether a reasonable accommodation for the disability can be made. Leave can be an accommodation under the ADA, as can working from home, in certain circumstance and for certain roles.

Likewise, some disabilities may heighten the risk of severe COVID symptoms. In the event that such a disabled employee requests an accommodation related to this heightened risk of COVID, the employer should treat the request as it would any request for accommodation under the ADA. As always, employers should seek legal counsel and check local requirements regarding COVID leave when considering accommodations for employees in these circumstances.

Employers have many competing and challenging considerations when determining a company’s return-to-work policy. While the labor shortage, industry, and specific role considerations certainly play a part in those decisions, employers should not lose sight of the ADA’s additional requirements. The ADA may play a role on an individual level and affect whether an employee may seek leave, work from home, or is entitled to other accommodations related to a COVID diagnosis or high-risk factors.

© 2022 Foley & Lardner LLP

Law Firms Respond to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: How the Legal Industry & the Public Can Help

On February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered ground troops into the eastern Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. Invading under the guise of establishing independence for the region on February 24, Russia started bombing key points of interest around the country, including the capital city of Kyiv. At the time of writing, the skirmishes remain ongoing, with Russia expanding its invasion force as the days go on.

The ramifications of Russia’s war are widespread. In Ukraine, infrastructural damage is considerable, an estimated 2 million civilians are evacuating or have been driven from their homes. The death toll remains uncertain at this time, but the Ukrainian health ministry estimates that hundreds of citizens have been killed as a result of the violence. Globally, financial markets are in a state of rapid flux, seeing huge rises in inflation, a strained supply chain and plummeting stock prices.

Law firms in the United States and abroad have responded to the conflict by offering pro bono services in anticipation of resultant legal complications and organized means by which money can be donated to Ukrainian humanitarian efforts.

How Have Law Firms Responded to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine?

In some instances, firms have also closed offices in Ukraine to protect workers, and severed ties with Russian businesses. Law firms that have closed offices in Ukraine include Dentons, CMS and Baker McKenzie, which have closed offices in Kyiv.

“Dentons has established a taskforce to monitor and manage the crisis situation, with a primary focus on protecting our people,”  Tomasz Dąbrowski, CEO of Dentons Europe, told the National Law Review“We are in regular contact with our team in Kyiv and are providing our colleagues and their families with any possible assistance, including transport, relocation and accommodation assistance in the neighboring countries. Furthermore, we have seen a wave of kindness and generosity from our people across Europe, who have volunteered to provide accommodation in their homes for Ukrainian colleagues.  Furthermore, in addition to the financial support our Firm is providing to our Ukrainian colleagues, we have also received financial donations from around the world to help them resettle.”

Many law firms have announced they are closing offices in Russia, including Squire Patton Boggs, Latham & Watkins Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Morgan Lewis & Bockius, among others. Norton Rose Fulbright announced March 7 that they are winding down their operations in Russia and will be closing their Moscow office as soon as they can, calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “increasingly brutal.”

“The wellbeing of our staff in the region is a priority. We thank our 50 colleagues in Moscow for their loyal service and will support them through this transition.”

Norton Rose Fulbright said they “stand unequivocally with the people of Ukraine,” and are taking steps to respond to the invasion.

“Some immediate actions are possible and we are taking them. We are not accepting any further instructions from businesses, entities or individuals connected with the current Russian regime, irrespective of whether they are sanctioned or not. In addition, we continue to review exiting from existing work for them where our professional obligations as lawyers allow. Where we cannot exit from current matters, we will donate the profits from that work to appropriate humanitarian and charitable causes,” the statement read. “We are working with our charitable partners in every region to raise funds to help the people of Ukraine, as well as providing pro bono support to those Ukrainians and others who are being forced to relocate.”

Law firms have also stepped forward to offer pro bono assistance to those affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Law Firms Offering Pro Bono Assistance to Ukraine

Akin Gump Partner and Pro Bono Practice leader Steven Schulman explained how the legal industry is collaborating and working to provide assistance:

“So what we often do in these crises, we will self organize, [and] say who’s a point person who knows what’s going on, and then we will share information so that again, we’re lightening the load on the legal aid organizations.”

Another law firm offering assistance to Ukraine is  Covington & Burling, which the country hired to help pursue its claim against  Russia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Specifically, Ukraine asked the court to order Russia to halt its invasion. Covington filed a claim on behalf of Ukraine to the ICJ.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are providing emergency aid in Ukraine, as well as in neighboring countries, such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania to help people displaced by the war as they come across the border, Mr.Dąbrowski said. These organizations are providing food, water, hygiene supplies and other necessities, and urgent psychological counseling. Specific NGOs on the ground in Ukraine include Mercy CorpsFight for Right, Project HOPEHungarian Helsinki Committee, and  Fundacja Ocalenieamong others.

However, NGOs need cash donations in order to keep providing aid. Mr.Dąbrowski detailed what pro bono work Dentons is doing, and how the firm is supporting NGOs:

“Our Positive Impact team is in touch with numerous NGOs and lawyers from our firm to identify opportunities for pro bono legal advice, mainly in the countries which share a border with Ukraine.  We are already working with NGOs in Poland and Hungary which are helping Ukrainian refugees displaced by the war. We are assisting with issues related to employment law, contracts, establishment of charitable foundations, etc… We are also in discussions with an international relief agency which is looking to set up operations within Ukraine.

While men between the ages of 18 and 60 are currently prohibited from leaving Ukraine, as of March 10, 2022, the conflict has created one of the largest refugee crises within the last few decades.

“We have activated our registered charitable foundation to collect donations from our people around the world to support Ukrainian families – and particularly children –  displaced by the war, including some of our own people from Kyiv.  So far, our colleagues from around the world have donated or pledged close to €300,000,” Mr.Dąbrowski said. “We have already distributed €60,000 of that to eight NGOs in Poland, Hungary and Romania, which are providing emergency aid, food and water, hygiene supplies, transportation, medical and psychological care, shelter and schooling to Ukrainian civilians fleeing from the war”

Concerns with immigration and refugee asylum is the next expected complication. In the short-term, the Department of Homeland Security is prioritizing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for those already in the U.S.

For the public, there are a number of actions to take to support Ukrainians. However, those wishing to help should make sure to do their research before making any donations in order to ensure the funds end up in the right hands.

How Can Members of the Public Help Ukraine?

Possible scam organizations and outreach programs are common during international crises, so it’s important to know the signs of fraudulent charities. Some best practices for providing support include:

  • Giving directly to an organization rather than through shared donation links on social media

  • Being wary of crowdfunding efforts

  • Doing a background check on an organization and its donation claims using Charity WatchGive.org, and Charity Navigator.

Some examples of charitable organizations focused on Ukraine relief include:

Informational resources for those affected are provided below:

Conclusion

Law firms and the public alike have stepped up to offer assistance and financial help to those most affected by the Russian invasion. Law firms cutting ties with Russian businesses and closing offices in Russia shows that the legal industry is standing behind Ukraine as the conflict continues to escalate.

In upcoming coverage, the National Law Review will be writing about how law firms are helping clients handle Russian sanctions, as well as the immigration implications of refugees displaced by the war in Ukraine.

*The quotes and input of interviewees reflect the latest information on the Russian invasion of Ukraine as of March 7, 2022. Readers can find the latest legal news from around the world on The National Law Review’s Global Law page.*

Copyright ©2022 National Law Forum, LLC

February 2022 Legal News Roundup: Women in Law, Promotions & More

Happy belated Valentine’s Day from the National Law Review team. Please read on for new legal industry hires, promotions and awards.

Firm Recognition & Awards

Much is included on the 2022 Top Workplaces USA list, which recognizes organizations with a people-centered culture.

“At Much, our culture centers on people: our employees, our clients, and our community partners,” said Managing Partner Mitchell Roth. “We work each day to support a collaborative, kind, and service-oriented environment, so to be recognized for our culture on a national level is a tremendous honor.”

The rankings are based on employee feedback from a survey administered by Energage, an employee engagement technology partner. The survey gauged various aspects of workplace culture, including  alignment, execution, connection, and more.

Womble Bond Dickinson is one of the Best Places to Work for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) workplace equality, earning a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2022 Corporate Equality Index (CEI).

The survey is administered by the Human Rights Campaign, and acts as a benchmarking tool to track how businesses are adopting equitable workplace policies, practices and benefits for LGBTQ+ employees. Womble Bond Dickinson earned perfect scores every year since 2015.

“We are honored to be named one of the HRC’s Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Employees once again,” said Betty Temple, Chair & CEO of Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP. “We at Womble Bond Dickinson have worked hard to promote diversity and inclusion. These efforts include earning Mansfield Rule 4.0 Certification. The goal of the Mansfield Rule is to boost the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers—including LGBTQ+ attorneys—in law firm leadership, partner promotions and lateral hires by broadening the pool of candidates considered for these opportunities. We have much more work to do, but we are proud to be recognized for the progress we have made.”

Lawdragon recognized Foley & Lardner partners Daniel Kaplan, John (Jack) Lord, Jr., and Rachel Powitzky Steely on its 2022 edition of 500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers, an annual recognition of the nation’s top advisors on workforce issues. Lawdragon selected the honorees based on submissions, editorial vetting and journalistic research.

Lawdragon said that this year’s honorees “specialize in defending corporations in everything from wage and overtime claims to trade secret disputes, while helping companies maintain global workforces throughout a pandemic.”

Law firm Hiring & Additions

Varnum LLP expanded its intellectual property practice with the addition of Timothy D. Kroninger. Joining the firm’s Detroit office as an associate, Mr. Kroninger focuses his practice on copyright law, trade secret law, patent and trademark prosecution and more. He also has experience in drafting design patent applications, as well as participating in United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) trademark opposition proceedings.

Beyond his practice at Varnum, Mr. Kroninger works as a supervising attorney in the Trademark and Entrepreneur Clinic at University of Detroit Mercy College of Law. There, he instructs law students on copyright registration, drafting corporate documents, and protection of trademarks.

Beveridge & Diamond PC elected four new principals: Eric Christensen, located in SeattleAllyn Stern, located in Seattle; Michael Vitris, located in Austin; and Gus Winkes, located in Seattle. Mr. Christensen practices in energy law, assisting companies and consumers in navigating the legal and regulatory landscape. Ms. Stern, former U.S. EPA regional counsel, helps clients develop environmental compliance strategies. Mr. Winkles practices in a variety of fields, providing solutions-oriented legal representation in the areas of enforcement defense, regulatory compliance, and contaminated site cleanup. Mr. Vitris, former litigation attorney with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, defends companies in class actions and environmental mass torts.

“Each of these Principals’ talents, skills, and expertise deepen and enhance B&D’s dynamic regulatory compliance and litigation practice as environmental and energy law continue to evolve,” said firmwide managing principal Kathy Szmuszkovicz. “They’ve proven their ability to deliver top-notch service to clients and to serve as thought-leaders at a particularly exciting time in our practice. We look forward to their continued success and contributions in their new roles.”

Barnes & Thornburg LLP added five new attorneys and legal professionals across various offices. Associate William Choi  joined the firm’s Los Angeles office, and associate Albert D. Farr joined the New York office. Mr. Choi focuses his practice on product liability and complex civil litigation, and he is well-versed in all aspects of pretrial case management. Likewise, Mr. Farr practices in transactional tax law, counseling multinational strategic and private equity clients on transaction tax structuring, tax diligence and more.

Furthermore, legal professionals Amit DattaAl Maloof, and Soyoung Yang joined Barnes & Thornburg’s ChicagoIndianapolis, and Washington D.C. offices, respectively. Dr. Datta, a business transaction advisor, provides targeted legal advice and strategic insight for European clients conducting business in the U.S. Mr. Maloof, a client relationship specialist, provides strategic consultation among the firm’s government services, compliance and regulatory attorneys. Ms. Yang, a legal fellow, aids attorneys and clients on matters related to international trade, customs and the supply chain.

William L. Nimick  joined the Construction Litigation and Counsel practice group at Goldberg Segalla LLP. An experienced litigator, Mr. Nimick is located in the firm’s Raleigh office, where he counsels insurers, contractors, subcontractors and corporate entities in liability claims including but not limited to property damage, personal injury and construction defects.

Previously, Mr. Nimick worked as a civil litigator across North Carolina, representing clients in areas such as wrongful death, workers’ compensation, and subrogation. Specifically he  handled subrogation claims such as motor vehicle accidents, product liability lawsuits and large fire losses.

Women in the Legal Industry

Angela Bowlin of Frilot LLC law firm has accepted a position serving on the International Association of Defense Council (IADC), an organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance matters. Ms. Bowlin focuses her practice on mass torts and class actions, with experience in asbestos and other toxic tort cases.

“I am honored to have been selected as a member of IADC and look forward to working on the many important committees related to the law and its many facets,” said Ms. Bowlin.

Nicole Archibald joined Foley Hoag LLP as their Director of Legal Recruiting. Ms. Archibald will work alongside the Foley Hoag team to attract and promote a diverse group of attorneys to help the firm achieve its diversity and inclusion goals.

“We’re very pleased to welcome Nicole to Foley Hoag, and are confident that she will be a great asset to the firm and its culture. Her considerable prior experience as a director of recruiting, legal search consultant and practicing litigator will prove a valuable asset as we look to 2022 and beyond. Our executive committee, practice leaders, hiring committee and I are excited to begin working with Nicole to attract new talent and strengthen our market-leading practices,” said Foley Hoag Co-Managing Partner Kenneth Leonetti.

“I look forward to collaborating with Foley Hoag’s management, department chairs and practice leaders, and hiring committee to develop, implement and execute proactive recruiting initiatives to further the firm’s hiring goals and strategic growth plan,” said Ms. Archibald.

Norton Rose Fulbright appointed New York partner Robin Adelstein as the Co-Head of Commercial Litigation, joining Houston partner Andrew Price. Ms. Adelstein brings extensive experience in litigating complex commercial disputes and advises companies with respect to antitrust issues regarding mergers, joint ventures and more.

“Robin has long been respected as a leader within the firm as our Global and US Head of Antitrust and Competition, and she is a highly-recognized practitioner in her field. I look forward to seeing the great work that our commercial litigation group will do under Robin’s and Andrew’s leadership,” said Jeff Cody, Norton Rose Fulbright’s US Managing Partner.

“Our firm has a longstanding reputation for advising clients on their most complex and significant matters. It is an honor to head Norton Rose Fulbright’s commercial litigation group along with Andrew; I am proud to be leading such a talented group of lawyers,” said Ms. Adelstein.

Copyright ©2022 National Law Forum, LLC

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

Welcome back to another edition of the National Law Review’s legal industry news column. Read on for the latest news on law firm pro bono, innovation and hiring as selected by the NLR’s editorial team.

Law Firm Hiring and Moves

Elizabeth Hermann Smith joined Mayer Brown’s Chicago office as a partner in their Banking & Finance practice group. She represents clients in all areas of the financial industry, including investors, borrowers, administrative agents, lenders and more. Ms. Smith’s specialty is in the field of leveraged finance, where she has focused on buyouts, dividend recapitalizations, and other financial transactions.

“Continuing to expand our leveraged finance capabilities, particularly with private credit funds, is a primary goal of the firm’s Banking & Finance practice. Elizabeth’s addition reflects our commitment to growth and strengthens our global finance offerings,” said Frederick Fisher, a co-leader of Mayer Brown’s global Lending group.

Mayer Brown also added Brett E. Moskowitz as Counsel to the Banking & Finance practice group. Located in the firm’s Charlotte office, Mr. Moskowitz focuses on bilateral and syndicated loan transactions, specializing in acquisition financing, real estate financings, and cash flow and asset-based lending.

Campos Mello Advogados added Antonio Tovo as a partner in the firm’s Corporate Criminal Law, Compliance and Cybersecurity practice group through an agreement with DLA Piper. Mr. Tovo works  in industries such as agriculture, real estate, healthcare, and hospitality.

Mr. Tovo works in Campos Mello Advogados’ São Paulo office. Ricardo Caiado Lima, a partner at Campos Mello Advogados: “We’re delighted to announce that Antonio […]  has joined our team. We’re seeing significant growth in our corporate criminal law and cybersecurity practices, and it is key for us to have highly qualified professionals with extensive experience, like Antonio […] .”

Robinson+Cole  added partner Danielle H. Tangorre to the firm’s Health Law group. At the firm’s Albany office, she will focus on guiding clients through state and federal health law regulations, in particular abuse and fraud laws such as Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statutes. Further, Ms. Tangorre has experience in  healthcare transactional matters,  litigation and  HIPAA compliance.

“Danielle has impressive experience and I’m delighted to welcome her to our team,” says Rhonda J. Tobin, Managing Partner at Robinson+Cole. “Continuing to expand the depth and geographical diversity of our health law practice is another step in the execution of our strategic plan to expand some of our strongest practices in our most strategic locations.”

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC opened three new offices in Texas located in Dallas, San Antonio, and Collin County.  Steptoe & Johnson’s new Texas operation includes –eleven new attorneys specializing in an array of fields including  commercial real estate, corporate transactions, energy, and tax law. The Dallas, San Antonio, and Collin County offices will be managed by Elizabeth CromwellKatherine David, and Brad Fletcher, respectively.

Steptoe & Johnson CEO, Christopher L. Slaughter said “These locations represent a strategic investment for the firm to better serve our existing clients in Texas and widen our scope of services to new clients. Our new lawyers bring substantial experience and knowledge to the firm’s practices. They are valued additions to the Steptoe & Johnson team.”

Legal Industry Recognition

Reginald Turner of Clark Hill PLLC is the new President of the American Bar Association (ABA).  Mr. Turner specializes in government policy and labor and employment matters and served as President of the National Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan in the past. Mr. Turner will serve his role as President of the ABA through August 2022.

“Serving as ABA president and representing the legal profession is an honor. The ABA is committed to advancing the rule of law and increasing access to justice. As president, I will work tirelessly towards achieving those goals,” said Mr. Turner.

Ankura is one of 83 firms to contribute intelligence to the 2021 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), which provides an analysis of data breaches and security incidents and provides ways to proactively mitigate future risks. The Verizon Data Breach Investigations report is important for law firms because of the technical information and metrics that are associated with cyber-attacks. Ankura’s team provided intelligence related to almost one hundred cyber matters including ransomware, espionage and other financially motivated actions.

“Leaders at every level need to understand technology and the benefits and risks it poses to their organizations.  The 2021 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report does an extraordinary job capturing many of these risks, and Ankura’s inclusion on the DBIR team is testament to the quality of work and collaboration our team brings to every engagement, every day,” says Hon. Patrick J. Murphy of Ankura’s Cybersecurity practice.

The International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) announced Adam M. Sheinvold of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC  their team. The IADC is a legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests designed to help members develop skills, promote professionalism and facilitate camaraderie among clients.

Mr. Sheinvold brings the expertise of commercial and business litigation, regulatory and administrative litigation and product liability defense to the IADC team. “I am honored to be invited as a new member of the prestigious International Association of Defense Counsel and to join my distinguished colleagues of the corporate defense bar who rely on the IADC to provide valuable, high-level education and professional support and development opportunities,” said Mr. Sheinvold.

Legal Innovation & Pro Bono Programs

In July, Ropes & Gray hosted a “Legal Bootcamp” in partnership with BUILD (Broader Urban Involvement & Leadership Development), a Chicago youth development organization that focuses on gang intervention and violence prevention.

“A hallmark of Ropes & Gray Chicago has always been our commitment to the Chicago community,” said office managing partner Paulita Pike. “This dedication is evident by the extensive efforts from our Chicago office family in launching the Legal Bootcamp. We’re thrilled at the positive responses we’ve received from the students and BUILD, and I’m proud of my colleagues.”

Ropes & Gray worked with five high school and college age students to participate in a three week pilot program, which highlighted professions in the legal industry, including judges, attorneys and commercial support professionals. The curriculum included a corporate legal clinic, a speaker series and a preliminary injunction hearing workshop.

“Launching our inaugural Legal Bootcamp, together with BUILD, has been a highlight for our Chicago office over this summer,” said Ropes & Gray litigation and enforcement partner Tim Farrell. “We hope that by giving students who otherwise would not have access to or a background in the legal industry a front row seat at a corporate law firm, we’re advancing our mission of inclusion while hopefully the students are getting a broader perspective of the world of possibilities that lie ahead for them.”

Barnes & Thornburg selected five undergraduate students as members of the first class of its Pre Law Scholars Program, which aims to assist students’ pursuing a law degree. Through the program, Barnes & Thornburg will cover the cost of the students’ Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and LSAT prep coursework, as well as helping with the cost of law school applications. Additionally, attorney mentors from Barnes & Thornburg will work with the students to help guide them through law school.

“We are very excited to welcome the inaugural class of Prelaw Scholars to the Barnes & Thornburg family. They are all amazingly accomplished individuals and we are thrilled to be a part of their journey to law school,” said Sarah Evenson, Barnes & Thornburg’s director of law school programs. “Our hope is this program not only lessens the financial burden and administrative obstacles of applying to law school, but also provides key mentoring connections helping to prepare them for law school and ultimately rocket them to the legal career they desire.”

The Pre-Law Scholar program is presented in conjunction with Barnes & Thornburg’s Racial Justice Committee, which strives to support diverse candidates interested in pursuing law as a career.

“Our core belief as a firm and as a committee was to identify ways to build relationships with a pipeline of diverse legal talent and to mentor these aspiring legal professionals as they prepare to enter law school. The Prelaw Scholars Program does just that and I’m proud to be a part of it,” said William A. Nolan, member of the firm’s management committee and Racial Justice Committee.

The first class includes:

  • Phillip Arrington IV, Loyola University Chicago, B.A. in Political Science

  • Natalie Frazier, Emory University, B.A. in Women’s Gender and Sexualities Studies

  • Esther Oluwapelumi Durosinmi, Loyola University Chicago, B.A. in Political Science

  • Alexa M. Carpenter, Central State University, B.S. Criminal Justice

  • Jasleen Gill, University of California Berkeley, B.A. Philosophy and Legal Studies

Benchmark Litigation included Bradley Arant Boult Cummings partners Leigh Anne HodgeLela M. Hollabaugh and Kimberly B. Martin on its 2021 Benchmark Top 250 Women in Litigation list, developed through client feedback and research.

“Leigh Anne, Lela and Kim continue to demonstrate superior skill and client success in their litigation practices, and we are proud to see them recognized once again in this prestigious list,” said Bradley Chairman of the Board and Managing Partner Jonathan M. Skeeters.

Ms. Hodge is leader of the Litigation Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Healthcare Practice Group and is based in the Birmingham office. She represents clients in the healthcare industry in cases involving product liability litigation, medical malpractice litigation, peer review and staff privileges matters, administrative hearings before licensure boards, ERISA litigation, Medicare Advantage plan litigation, managed care litigation, insurance disputes and insurance fraud cases.

Ms. Hollabaugh works in the firm’s Nashville office, and advises leading natural gas pipeline companies and other infrastructure clients on issues involving location, land acquisition, construction and operations. She recently co-authored an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the industry’s position on the scope of the Natural Gas Act and the state’s 11th Amendment immunity.

Ms. Martin focuses on general litigation with an emphasis on medical device and pharmaceutical products liability litigation. She is based in the firm’s Huntsville office, and recently served as trial counsel defending a nationwide hospice provider in a three-month False Claims Act trial brought by the Department of Defense, which resulted in a dismissal.

Copyright ©2021 National Law Forum, LLC

Article By Hanna Taylor, Chandler Ford and Rachel Popa of The National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC

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

Tracey Goldvarg joins the National Law Review as Business Development Director

CHICAGO (PRWEB) SEPTEMBER 15, 2020

The National Law Review (NLR), one of the highest volume business law news services in the United States, announced that Tracey Goldvarg joined the company as Business Development Director. Goldvarg brings extensive legal business development and B to B publishing experience from her previous leadership roles at American Lawyer Media (ALM), Today’s General Counsel, and Inside Counsel. Goldvarg’s wealth of knowledge and legal industry know-how will enhance the National Law Review’s initiatives involving various advertising, promotional and other new product offerings.

The National Law Review is a leading source of information for companies and individuals looking for guidance on compliance and regulatory matters. The NLR’s COVID-19 pandemic coverage garnered over 4.3 million readers in both March and April of this year, and the NLR’s pandemic coverage continues following Congressional and Executive directives and local Coronavirus mandates.

Goldvarg joins the National Law Review at an exciting time, when the company is poised for exponential growth as traffic levels to the National Law Review have tripled in the last year.

Jennifer Schaller, Managing Director of the National Law Review:

“We are excited to welcome Tracey to our team. Her depth of experience in the publishing and in the legal and financial services fields is invaluable as we continue to grow and develop new markets, expand coverage in new areas and amplify our product offerings to our clients and in new verticals. Tracey’s upbeat attitude and exceptional commitment to client service is just what we need to keep our momentum going.”

Goldvarg:

“I am thrilled to be joining such a dynamic and nimble organization at such a pivotal time in its growth. I look forward to continuing our on-going collaboration and welcome the opportunity to join a women-owned organization, that values the insights and talents of its team-members and has such high standards of customer service to its clients. Their client retention numbers are unparalleled.”

The NLR is a certified women-owned business enterprise that reports breaking legal news on emerging and on-going business issues ranging from business immigration to the regulatory and operational challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The National Law Review’s U.S based editorial team publishes around the clock and optimizes legal thought leadership for search engine visibility, and for distribution via news syndication partners. The NLR also promotes our published content through their extensive social media network, and to their over 135,000 daily newsletter subscribers.

About the National Law Review: The National Law Review is a daily legal news website with a mission to provide objective, reliable and practical litigation, legislative and administrative legal news and analysis through partnership with law firms, other legal and business organizations and our own staff journalists. The NLR’s online platform was developed by corporate attorneys and is the online descendant of a legal publication tracing its roots back to 1888. With the talents of our own writers and contributing authors, the National Law Review has grown into one of the highest volume business law publications in the U.S., with an average of 2 million visitors each month. Visit us at www.NatLawReview.com.

Contact:

JENNIFER BUECHELE SCHALLER
E. EILENE SPEAR
708-357-3317

Legal News: Law Firm Hires, Professional Recognition and Legal Innovation

With plenty of adjustments and creativity, the legal industry churns into August.  The legal industry has shown remarkable ingenuity as law firms adapt to the challenges of COVID-19 and the ancillary impact of the pandemic.  Below we highlight some law firm hires, law firm innovations and accolades, and legal technology news.

Law Firm Hires and Lateral Attorney Moves

Labor and employment lawyer Ryan McCoy rejoined Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner. McCoy split the past seven years between Baute Crochetiere Hartley & Velkei and Alston & Bird, previously spending eight years as part of Norton Rose Fulbright’s dispute resolution and litigation practice from 2005 until 2013.

McCoy represents clients from the healthcare, pharmaceutical, retail, insurance, transport and insurance industries, focusing his practice on wage and hour class actions, discrimination suits, wrongful termination and retaliation, commercial litigation, and complex insurance coverage. He has also defended clients before the American Arbitration Association in wage and hour violations, sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, disability discrimination as well as meal and rest period disputes.

“Ryan impressed us as a young lawyer, and we are thrilled to have him return in his prime. The client demand for employment and labor law seems to be at an all-time high during this unusual time for businesses,” said Shauna Clark, Norton Rose Fulbright’s U.S. head of employment and labor.

“I am delighted to return to Norton Rose Fulbright and collaborate once again with these talented lawyers. The firm’s unmatched global reach and wide range of offerings will benefit my clients significantly,” McCoy said.

Patent attorney Pierre R. Yanney joined Bressler, Amery & Ross law firm as a principal in its Corporate and Commercial Transactions Practice Group. Previously, Yanney was a principal at Baker & Hostetler law firm.

Mr. Yanney focuses his practice on all aspects of patent law, ranging from patent litigation, opinions and counseling, to Patent Office prosecution, and has experience in handling a wide range of technologies including RFID, cellular systems, medical electronics and devices, signal processing, communication systems, electronic tolling, and elevator control systems.  Yanney has prosecuted more than 2,000 patent applications and written more than 100 patent opinions, in addition to arguing several cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Patent Trial & Appeal Board.

“I’m excited to welcome Pierre Yanney to our New York office. Pierre is known for the breadth and depth of his IP experience. It’s rare that you come across someone like Pierre who can write a patent application, get it allowed at the Patent Office, and also litigate patents in district court. His talents and business insights will be a positive addition to our active Corporate and Commercial practice,” said Bressler New York Managing Principal, Mark Knoll.

Labor and employment attorney Scott Nelson joined Hunton Andrews Kurth as a partner in the law firm’s Houston office. Nelson previously was a partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, and led Baker McKenzie’s domestic U.S. Employment Counseling and Litigation practice.

Nelson’s practice focuses on complex employment litigation, specifically wage and hour class and collective actions, ERISA litigation, and trade secret and restrictive covenant matters. He also counsels clients on employment law compliance, including international employment law issues, restrictive covenants, wage-and-hour matters, internal investigations, executive terminations, mass layoffs, employee policies, employee training and due diligence.

“Scott’s thorough understanding of the many complex issues our clients face and his impressive track record of experience handling ERISA litigation and advising on international employment law matters complement the strengths of our comprehensive labor and employment practice,” said Emily Burkhardt Vicente, co-chair of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s labor and employment group. “We are pleased to welcome him to the firm.”

Bergeson & Campbell attorney Timothy D. Backstrom passed away on July 24. Backstrom joined Bergeson & Campbell in 2007, and was an expert in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, also contributing to the law and regulation of fuel and fuel additives under the Clean Air Act.

“Tim was an incredibly gifted lawyer, respected by his peers, loved by his fellow colleagues here at Bergeson & Campbell, P.C., and a wonderful man, husband, and father.  He is survived by his wife Lydia Cox Backstrom, his (step) son Christopher Blancato, his brother Paul Backstrom (Kathy), and his cousins Dan and Don Backstrom,” Bergeson & Campbell said in a statement following his death.

Backstrom grew up in Illinois and Wisconsin, later moving to the East coast to earn his undergraduate degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned his law degree at Yale Law School, and then went on to work for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of General Counsel on pesticide, toxic substances, and air quality issues for 25 years, developing a deep understanding of FIFRA.

“We will miss Tim’s uncompromising commitment to legal excellence, his passion for the law, his exuberance for any work composed by Gustav Mahler, and his unrelenting belief that the rule of law will ultimately prevail over the societal challenges we are now experiencing,” Bergeson wrote in a statement.

Law Firm Innovation

Winston & Strawn announced the formation of an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Advisory Team, designed to help companies navigate their ESG profiles. The advisory board will be co-chaired by Winston & Strawn partners Mike Blankenship and Eric Johnson, and utilizes the firm’s experience across disciplines to oversee the ESG issues companies are facing during these challenging times.  Blankenship identifies the correlation between successful businesses and their attention to ESG values, saying, “successful businesses are placing ESG principles at the forefront of their core values and leveraging those principles to chart a path for financial success and future growth to the benefit of all their stakeholders, including employees, customers, vendors, local communities, and stockholders.”

The team includes Chicago partners Mike MelbingerEleni KouimelisCardelle Spangler, and Rex Sessions, of counsel Stephanie Sebor; New York partner Tara Greenberg, London partners Peter Crowther and Anthony Riley.  The group will focus on ESG disclosure and messaging, Board oversight of ESG risks, shareholder activism, corporate governance and regulatory compliance.  With an eye to these principles, the Winston & Strawn ESG team will “work closely with clients to develop and execute ESG-related initiatives that best fit their specific needs to the benefit of all of their stakeholders,” Eric Johnson says.

Hughes Hubbard & Reed law firm launched a coronavirus and CARES Act tracker that monitors enforcement actions across the country, targeting Paycheck Protection Program loan fraud, fraudulent COVID-19 cures, as well as violations of state and federal laws. Hughes Hubbard & Reed is monitoring coronavirus government agency filings, and will update the tracker frequently.

To date, Hughes Hubbard & Reed has identified 110 coronavirus and CARES act cases brought by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission, with 12 state attorneys general bringing cases. Pennsylvania’s attorney general’s office has been the most active with COVID-19 related legal actions. Forty percent of cases involve alleged criminal violations, and 30 percent of coronavirus related cases include a suspension of securities trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission, with the number of cases growing steadily since April.

The tracker can be accessed here with detailed information on each case, including links to court filings and relevant statutes.

DLA Piper law firm received the 2020 Beacon of Justice Award from the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), recognizing the growth of the firm’s pro bono practice focusing on the needs of immigrant children facing abuse, neglect and abandonment. The NLADA also recognized the firm’s collaboration with the American Bar Association to develop habeas corpus petition template pleadings and practice advisories for unaccompanied children.

“We are honored to play a role in advocating for the rights of vulnerable individuals and families seeking a better life in the US,” said Lisa Dewey, pro bono partner and director of New Perimeter, DLA Piper’s nonprofit affiliate that provides long-term pro bono legal assistance in under-served regions around the world. “I am proud of the dedication to serving immigrants that our lawyers have demonstrated through their pro bono service, and we look forward to continuing this important work.”

Jay Bender, a partner at the Birmingham, Ala. office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings law firm, received the Alabama Commendation Medal from the Alabama Army National Guard for his work on the “Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need Act of 2019” (HAVEN Act; H.R. 2938).

Bender was presented the award by Amy Quick Glenos, an of counsel attorney at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., and a reserve component soldier and captain in the U.S. Army JAG Corps, Alabama Army National Guard, for which she also serves as trial counsel.

The HAVEN Act was signed into law last year, changing bankruptcy laws to protect disabled veterans experiencing financial hardship. Bender worked pro bono alongside other Bradley attorneys on the law, serving as co-chair of the Legislative Committee of the American Bankruptcy Institute Task Force on Veterans and Service Members Affairs – of which Mr. Bender is a founding member.

“We congratulate Jay on this prestigious recognition of his many years of work and unwavering commitment to protecting disabled veterans in financial distress and ushering the HAVEN Act into reality,” said Bradley Birmingham Office Managing Partner Dawn Helms Sharff. “This recognition is reflective of Jay’s outstanding work and the importance of this landmark law in helping disabled veterans and their families achieve financial stability.”

Tycko & Zavareei law firm won a $11 million settlement representing a healthcare whistleblower in a False Claims Act lawsuit.  Jonathan Tycko of Tycko & Zavareei and Felix Gavi Luna of Peterson Wampold Rosato Feldman Luna law firm represented the whistleblower.

The settlement involved allegations that a testing laboratory owned by Cordant Health Solutions paid kickbacks to two major clients of the laboratory to encourage further testing referrals to the laboratory from those clients. The whistleblower, who was a former employee of Cordant, filed the lawsuit under the qui tam provision of the False Claims Act five years ago. Cordant agreed to pay the government $11,942,913 to settle the claims. The government awarded the whistleblower approximately $2.4 million, or 20 percent of the settlement amount.

“This settlement shows that the False Claims Act works,” Tycko said.  “Through the qui tam provisions of that law, our client was able to bring the kickbacks to the attention of the government in a way that led to both criminal and civil remedies.  We are proud and humbled to represent brave whistleblowers, such as the individual who brought this case.”

“We are grateful for how seriously the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and all the government lawyers and investigators who have worked on this matter, took our client’s allegations, and for the work they did to reach this settlement,” said Luna.

Bryan Cave Leighton & Paisner recently announced that Denver associate, Ivan London, was recently elected to serve on the Board of Advisors for Western Energy Alliance.  Comprised of 300 member companies, the Western Energy Alliance focuses on environmentally responsible exploration and production of oil and gas in the region.  The Western Energy Alliance supports policies to encourage investment and job growth in the region.  London’s practice with Bryan Cave focuses on regulation in energy, environmental and with other natural resource matters.

Legal Technology Innovations

At the end of July, Clariviate Plc announced an agreement to combine with CPA Global, a global leader in IP software and tech –enabled services.  The transaction will be all-stock with an enterprise value of approximately $6.8 billion.  The transaction is expected to go through regulatory approvals, is expected to close fourth quarter of 2020. By combining efforts, CPA Global and Clarivate will provide an IP solution that provides market-leading software, data, technology and services throughout the IP lifecycle, from academic research to IP portfolio management.

Jerre Stead, CEO of Clarivate indicates the company’s share similar core values and expects the partnership to lead to more innovation.  He says, “This is a transformative combination with a strong strategic fit between the two companies. It will create a full-service IP organization which will provide customers with a wide range of products and services to help them make faster and smarter critical decisions.”  Simon Webster, the CEO of CPA Global, echoes the sentiment, calling the move “a natural next step.”  He says, “The fit between our respective product offerings across the innovation and IP lifecycle, the commonality of our vision for the future of the industry, and the alignment of both companies’ cultures and values makes for an extremely exciting future for our customers, employees and shareholders alike.”

Leading accounting firm BDO USA, LLP launched Athenagy, a business intelligence platform for legal professionals, designed to provide the legal department with transparency and critical insight throughout the litigation cycle.  Athenagy is designed to integrate with Relativity®One and can provide critical insight into where data lives and what it does through the steps of a legal hold, providing information to legal professionals.

Daniel Gold, managing director of BDO Managed Services practice, says “Athenagy solves persistent problems that legal departments face when it comes to managing their data. By providing transparency and detailed analytics throughout the data lifecycle, Athenagy is empowering legal professionals to make better, more informed decisions at every step of the e-discovery process, and beyond.”

That’s it for now.  We’ll have more soon.

 


Copyright ©2020 National Law Forum, LLC

Building a Successful Law Firm—Without an Office

Rent is one of the largest expenses for law firms, sometimes taking up as much as 10 percent of their gross revenue. Too, it’s not uncommon for workers in large cities to have hour-plus commutes to their offices. The majority of today’s clients are more interested in efficiency and reasonable prices than how glamorous their lawyer’s office is. As a result, firms are choosing another way to work: virtual offices.

Marcia Watson Wasserman, Founder and President of Comprehensive Management Solutions, Inc., serves as a consulting COO for boutique and mid-sized law firms, helping numerous lawyers develop and sustain virtual offices. She joined the Law Firm Marketing Catalyst podcast to share her expertise and advice for lawyers considering moving toward virtual work.

Know who you’re working with

With a virtual office, you can’t pop into a colleague’s office or bump into them in the hallway. You won’t see what they’re doing on a daily basis, so you need to trust that they share the same goals, work ethic and commitment to firm culture as you. Marcia finds that people who have worked together at a brick-and-mortar firm before going virtual tend to work best, because an in-person relationship and sense of trust is already established. If you’re going virtual, find colleagues you already know personally, or at the very least, spend plenty of in-person time with them before committing to anything.

Understand your tech tools

 It’s impossible to have a virtual firm without the help of cloud-based technology tools. To have a successful virtual firm, everyone must be an expert on those tools. Law firms are notorious for buying software, then failing to learn how to use it—that won’t fly with a virtual firm. You need remote systems and procedures that streamline your practice and benefit your clients, and everyone must be comfortable using them. At a minimum, you’ll have to invest both money and training time in document management software, video conferencing software, client portals for paying bills, collaboration tools and, of course, encryption and data security tools.

Cultivate communication

How to delegate work, how to offer feedback, how to manage work among teams, when and how to have meetings—these questions are equally important at virtual or brick-and-mortar firms. But at virtual firms, it becomes even more critical that you discuss them openly and have communications systems in place. When communication is only happening by email, it can easily break down. Video conferencing, phone calls and planned communication are the antidote to this problem. Virtual connection also needs to be backed up with in-person events like retreats and social gatherings, at least annually. Maintaining communication at a virtual firm isn’t just important for client work, it’s also crucial to maintain firm culture.

Working from home sounds great, but it’s not for everyone. Some people get lonely working remotely. Others get distracted or they lack the motivation to work if they’re not in an office. Just like lawyers, support staff must have the right personality and skillset to work virtually. Another element to consider with support staff is wage and hour law in your location. Most support staff are non-exempt, and you have to consider supervision, insurance and the myriad of issues that arise when you have staff working remotely. Management issues don’t go away when support staff is out of sight.

Take advantage of time to network

Virtual work doesn’t mean staying home staring at your computer all day. The majority of work might be done from your home office, but networking can still happen in person. Join organizations, go to meetings and attend events to stay connected to your profession and your colleagues. Virtual work also offers more flexibility to meet with clients and attend events important to their industry. You’ll get to know your clients at a deeper level, which they’ll appreciate, and it will get you out of your work-from-home routine—a win for everyone.

If you can’t go fully virtual, start small

Not every firm is suited to virtual work, but many firms can use some of its elements to their advantage. Especially in large cities, more firms are using co-working spaces or opening small satellite offices that are more convenient for lawyers to get to. With more attorneys working outside of the main office a few days a week, the next logical step for some firms is to encourage office sharing. It’s a huge cultural shift for partners to share an office, but it can offer tremendous space and cost savings, and this concept typically doesn’t faze young associates.


© 2020 Berbay Marketing & Public Relations

For more on running a law firm, see the National Law Review Law Office Management section.

IMS Insights Podcast: Episode 9- Rudhir Krishtel On Mindfulness And Wellness For Attorneys Amid COVID-19

In this episode, Rudhir Krishtel joins us to share guidance on mindfulness and wellness for attorneys. He also provides tips and strategies to help with adjustments for those balancing the intense demands of a legal career during the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his lawyer days, Rudhir practiced law for fifteen years as a federal clerk, patent litigation partner at Fish & Richardson, and later as senior patent counsel at Apple.

Today, he is a certified Co-Active Coach and facilitator, focusing on workplace wellness and intensity for law firms and attorneys. Many lawyers struggle with stress and lack of purpose in their practice. As a former lawyer, Rudhir coaches clients and hosts workshops to identify the issues that hold lawyers back from advancing in their career with clarity and fulfillment.

His work during his lawyer days led Rudhir to train as a yoga teacher through the Baptiste Institute and on mindfulness meditation through Warrior One. He also a Professional Certified Coach through the Coaches Training Institute & International Coaching Federation, and uses this training along with his experience as a practitioner to deliver much-needed support for the legal community. Details on Rudhir’s consulting and mindfulness workshops for attorneys can be found at www.krishtel.com.

Transcript

Teresa Barber: Rudhir, hello, thank you. I really appreciate you joining us today. Could you tell me just a little bit for our listeners… Tell us a little bit about your background as an attorney and a little bit about your consulting practice.

Rudhir Krishtel: Yeah, Teresa, thank you so much, and thanks IMS for having me here. I was practicing law for 15 years. I started at my practice as a federal clerk. I was ultimately a partner at Fish & Richardson in their patent litigation team in the DC office. Then for the last five years of my practice, I was senior in-house counsel at Apple out here in the Bay area where I moved to seven, eight years ago.

Rudhir: After 15 years of practice, I started to notice… What I started to see were cycles of behavior in the practice over 15 years, just ways that we all behave at work that I felt like were somewhat compromising to our practice. I started to notice that we accept that stress is a part, a natural part, of our work life. We wouldn’t get paid as lawyers at the rates that we charge, and we wouldn’t be able to do the work that we do if it wasn’t something that was challenging or stressful, so I totally understood that.

Rudhir: But there’s this interesting relationship where work caused stress, but then stress actually started to impact the quality of our relationships and ultimately the work product. It is this weird cycle where work causes stress but then stress impacts the work. I think everyone just accepted that as the norm, and I felt like this was a dialogue that we needed to have and a cycle in the system that we needed to improve.

Rudhir: It’s when I decided to leave the practice. Three years back I left the practice. I retrained first as a mindfulness instructor and yoga instructor. And not wanting lawyers on their yoga mats all the time, I ultimately trained as an executive coach. Now, I coach attorneys. I have a coaching business that’s Krishtel Coaching. I coach attorneys in their practice one on one, and we identify some of the most challenging aspects of your practice and try to move them out of the way so that attorneys have a more fulfilling practice. I also host workshops. I visit law firms and legal departments and host dialogue on ways that we can start shifting our culture, build a greater resilience, incorporate emotional intelligence and mindfulness practices. I also host online coaching programs and webinars on these topics.

Rudhir: The consulting and the coaching practice has evolved over the last many years. I’ve now coached over 100 attorneys, managing partners at law firms, general counsel at companies, a wide range of attorneys on really how they can be better for themselves and others in their practice and really trying to shift and improve our culture in the legal workplace.

Teresa: Rudhir, it sounds like you identified the need while you were in the boiling pan yourself and didn’t really see anyone meeting those needs. As you’ve worked now for a number of years with clients, especially at big law firms and at corporations in house, what have you seen as the return on it? It sounds like you also had a theory that if we start to apply this, it’s not only going to improve quality of life and wellness and balance, but will also impact work product. I would be interested in some antidotes from clients you’ve worked with so far.

Rudhir: Teresa, what you said first is what I want to tap into a little bit, which is what I did notice during my time at Apple. You make this switch from a partner in law firm to go in house, and we think about it as sort of this greener pasture switch, attorneys going in house. What I notice is I got more senior in the practice. With every level up, growing of the team, salary bump, promotion, whatever it was, every time the further I got up, the lonelier I felt.

Rudhir: It’s very interesting that here we are achieving this so-called dream, and yet I felt somewhat more isolated, and I’m a pretty social person. I’m the person at Fish that was head of recruiting for our office. I’m definitely the person that planned all of the March Madness pools and getting everybody back together outside of work. I’m that person. For me to feel somewhat isolated was really fascinating, to be naturally connected and connecting and yet feel lonely at the same time was a very odd experience.

Rudhir: But I felt it more and more as I got more senior. I started to realize, “Well, if I’m experiencing this, how many other people are experiencing this?” There’s this unique thing that happens in legal practices that we are shrouded in confidentiality and in adversity in this adversarial experience. There’s a lack of trust that we have oftentimes with our colleagues. The thing that’s most challenging for me at work, I’m not sure I’d be comfortable talking to my colleagues about, whether it be a difficulty with a technical issue or a difficulty with building business or a challenge with how I’m managing my team. Sometimes we’re not comfortable being necessarily open about that with our colleagues just because of the legal work environment.

Rudhir: I started to notice this, and I realized I’m so senior in this practice I wish I had my own set of advisors. I’m at this point where I’m generating enough revenue. I’m generating enough revenue for myself that small businesses generate. We’re in the hundreds of thousands now. Some lawyers are in the low seven figures in terms of their business generation and their income. Yet, I don’t know who my closest advisors necessarily are that I just deeply trust.

Teresa: Right.

Rudhir: I started realizing, “Well, if I’m having that issue, there must be other attorneys that are having this issue.” And it becomes even that much more compounded with intersectionality. Now we’re talking about women that might be having these challenges, attorneys of color that might be having these challenges, really everybody. When I started to notice this, I thought, “Here’s a space that I feel like we need someone to step into.” That’s the decision that I made. It’s very interesting. I work with a wide range of clients, and to sort of address your second question, the second part of your question, is it’s just been deeply valuable this work for the clients that I’ve worked with, and it shows up in many ways.

Rudhir: People don’t often think about connecting with… Well, let me say that differently, Teresa. When we have somebody in our corner that is willing to champion us, that is willing to hear us out, that is willing to co-strategize with us, that is sort of a peer in the practice and that has real confidentiality, so much is possible. I’ve sort of seen that with my clients. I’ve seen a lot of growth and evolution on people having much better relationships with their teams, managing their groups in healthier ways, finding ways to solve problems with some of the challenges they face in their teams, interacting with people in a healthier way, becoming that much more adapt at generating business and for people that are looking for some sort of a transition and feeling stuck really having place where they can start to dialogue and strategize and brainstorm on that, and we come up with just incredible directional shifts for people in their life and their business. This practice I feel like has been a huge benefit to the clients that I work with.

Teresa: You touched on something that was interesting to you a minute ago, Rudhir. You were talking about this feeling of isolation, social isolation. We’re talking today and it’s later in March 2020. Back on December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization first identified an epidemic in China. Today, we’re looking at shelter in place orders not only around the San Francisco Bay area but throughout that entire state possibly with more coming in other markets and many people now working in a brand new environment, work from home environment where those lines between family and work are blurred a little bit.

Teresa: Looking at the 2019 novel Coronavirus pandemic, this is unprecedented territory, with you and your work with clients, what are you seeing right now?

Rudhir: It’s very interesting because I tend to think that lawyers as I mentioned despite us working with each other and connecting tend to have somewhat more of a natural isolation and loneliness already. This is just me saying this. There have actually been studies. The ABA has put out studies. There are psychologists that have put out studies that identify and indicate that lawyers have less sort of a lower social tendency than others than most.

Rudhir: And so at a time when we’re now even doubling down on the isolation, I’ve seen a lot of challenge. I see lawyers that are expressing concerns over a lot of things. Here we have a group of people that are natural problem solvers, lawyers are natural problem solvers. We are always thinking ahead. As we think ahead, we’re thinking ahead to how long is this going to last. There’s an uncertainty.

Teresa: Right.

Rudhir: We’re thinking to how is this going to impact my business? For in-house attorneys the business that they’re in and corporation that they’re in, but for outside counsel attorneys, how is this affecting my business development and business generation? What does this mean for my income? What does this mean for my team? What might this mean for the health of my family and the people around me? What might this mean for others? There’s just a lot of concern layered on top of a business and a practice that already has us sort of in a position where we’re “constantly putting out fires.”

Rudhir: I think that what I’m seeing is a higher level of anxiety in some than what might usually be the case. I think when anxiety comes up, we are not at our best self. We are not behaving in a way that is sort of rooted in our best self. We’re being reactive. We are thinking about we’re in sort of a flight or fight mode. We’re thinking about ways that we can run and save things or we’re thinking about ways that we can sort of fix things right away. I think there’s a deep discomfort that’s happening in this moment.

Teresa: With the questions that you’re seeing from clients right now, I know you’ve set up a webinar right now. You’re providing some guidance to people who are looking for it. What can people do right now? With the sense of what do I have control over, there is so much certainty. What are you telling people right now?

Rudhir: Yeah. I set up a free webinar Wednesdays mornings at 9:00 a.m. Pacific, noon Eastern on mindfulness tools for managing uncertainty. I find that mindfulness practices, resilience practices, emotional intelligence practices are very much relevant in this time. I think that even just paying attention to the news has me at a slightly higher level of anxiety. I’m waking up a bit more tired than usual this week. It’s just very interesting. Not much has changed because we work from home my wife and I, and so for us to practice social distancing and kind of put a barrier around our house is actually not too different than what we’re usually doing.

Teresa: Right.

Rudhir: I’m slightly more on edge and slightly more tired. These practices of mindfulness and resilience and emotional intelligence, I think, are just really valuable in this moment. I’ve started to offer them out on a weekly webinar, just simple tools. For example, you asked what might be something that we can do. Lawyers, we tend to be very head heavy. I didn’t even understand what that meant a few years ago because I didn’t know what the difference was between that and anything else.

Rudhir: We tend to be thinking people. We’re valued for our knowledge. People want us for our advice, and we want to offer our advice. We’re problem solving. We always respect and value the attorney that “knows more.” So much of our work is in our head. Settling the body and settling ourselves in these times actually happens in the body. What percentage of our livelihood is our mind physically, and what percentage is our body? That’s an interesting question to ask. So much of us is our body. In fact, most, if not all of us, is our body.

Rudhir: One of the first tools that we talked about in this webinar was a body scan technique. A body scan is a meditation technique that allows us to just pay attention to what else is happening right now in our body. There’s just a lot of information there. Lawyers are great at gathering information. We’re incredible at intake. I think in this moment one of the tools is just actually take intake for yourself. We’re always asking someone else, “So what’s your problem? What happened? Who are the people involved?” Et cetera. The questions that I offer are, “What’s happening in my body right now? What’s happening in my breath? What am I noticing in my chest? Is it tighter? What am I noticing in my stomach? Am I at unease? Are my feet grounded? What happens? What’s the difference between grounding my feet versus sitting them elsewhere? What’s the quality of my breath? What’s my body temperature?”

Rudhir: I think when we scan our bodies… And on my website I have mindfulness audio recordings and guided meditations, and these are available all over the place. There’s apps like Calm and Insight Timer and Headspace. UCLA has an incredible meditation center, and they have some great guided meditations. I offer a few on my website at Krishtel.com. Basically, what we’re inviting people to do is actually just pay attention to what’s happening for them in a moment.

Rudhir: This isn’t something that we need to do all day. A body scan meditation can be 10 minutes of your day, five minutes of your day. Pay attention to your breath. Even right now is one of those podcasts, Teresa, if you just sort of take a breath and pay attention to what’s going on in your lungs and what’s going on in your throat and just breathe. You just notice sort of a different quality show up. We kind of exist in this on edge slightly underlying nervosa, and it’s normalized in our practice. I think we can in this moment because it’s even exacerbated, it’s slightly more acute because of all the information coming in and everything that’s changing, I think is an incredible time to pay attention to breath, pay attention to body and just what’s going on for us.

Teresa: That’s really helping in hearing you talk about almost an inventory of awareness. Rudhir, for those, wellness has been a buzzword that’s been around and gaining increasing traction and attention in recent years. Can you break down mindfulness for those that may not be familiar with that term and just help us understand when we say mindfulness, when you say mindfulness, what do you mean?

Rudhir: I’d love to. I’d start by actually just saying that when I started regularly meditating, it was the beginning of an incredible shift in my life both professionally and personally. It’s for those who are exploring meditation and dabbling, the commitment to a practice of 20 minutes a day, 20 minutes twice a day or even 10 minutes a day of mindfulness practices I think can be the beginning of a huge evolution and even revolution in your life in terms of how you feel and just fulfillment.

Rudhir: When I was at Apple about a year or two in, I started a daily practice of 20 minutes twice a day of meditating. I’ll tell you a little bit more about what is mindfulness and different ways of practicing. Just to kind of get people in tune with the benefits, I started practicing, and so much changing. Three months of regular practice, I committed to 20 minutes twice a day, and I did it because actually I paid for a class. When you pay for a class for some reason, it’s just like a gym membership. Something happens, and you’re like, “All right, I’m paying the money. I’m going to make a commitment.”

Rudhir: I make the commitment of 20 minutes twice a day. I’m a coffee drinker. It’s not the morning coffee. It’s the 2:00 p.m. coffee for all my friends at Fish and Apple. At 2:00 p.m. it was clockwork. I’d come around the halls and say, “All right, let’s just go get coffee.” I noticed after two or three months of practicing… It’s not like it has an alarm set, it’s just at that time of the day you start feeling a little bit tired. My morning energy is I’m ready to go. Around 2:00 p.m. it starts to wither.

Rudhir: I started to notice three weeks had gone by and I hadn’t asked anyone for coffee. I’m an engineer by trade. Trained as an electrical engineer, studied, became an IP attorney, so I need a logical underpinning for a mental practice. At least I did at that time. I don’t anymore. I’m all in now. But back then I sort of needed some evidence. The evidence was just clear. I have so much more energy that I don’t need coffee. I don’t drink coffee from 7:00 a.m. until midnight, and I’m just fully functioning.

Rudhir: I couldn’t believe the shift that happened for me in that moment that I was getting a physical benefit to a mental practice. That’s when I decided I was all in. I started to have healthier interactions professionally. I started to notice that things were slowing down. People talk about time is going by fast. That’s not a thing for me anymore. Time actually does not go by fast. I started to worry less about all the things that were coming and about what was happening. I just started to feel more present.

Rudhir: There’s so much energy there. The energy is because… And this is for the people that are just looking for the logic. If your mind is moving less, and it’s sort of moving at a less rapid pace, it’s triggering less emotions. If you think about when you pay attention to what your thoughts are in a two minute period, “What am I going to eat for lunch?” It’s the basic thoughts. “What am I doing this week? What’s my schedule? What am I going to eat for lunch? What’s for dinner? What’s happening with that meeting?”

Rudhir: Each of those thoughts… And you notice in a two minute period they just keep spinning. Each of those thoughts may trigger and may bring out an emotion. When emotions come up in our body that is a moment where your energy starts to get drained because an emotion can trigger you to hunch your shoulders, and you don’t even realize. It may start reducing… slowing down your breath. You don’t even know. When that email comes in from that challenging client or from that colleague, you sort of hold your breath.

Rudhir: Those little moments add up in the course of the day. In our jobs you can work from 8:00 a.m. until midnight, not leave your desk, and feel like you ran a marathon that day. Mindfulness and meditation practices start to slow that down. They start to slow down the rapidity of the thoughts. They start to readjust how reactive you are to these things. They relax your body in these moments when you might naturally be tense or stressed. You’re gaining back 5% to 10% energy.

Rudhir: There’s this book Ten Percent Happier. I relate to almost everything that’s in that book because you really are. Ten percent more energy in this moment can be huge. How much more energy do you have at the end of the day for your colleagues, your clients, your family? You just have so much more energy. Just 10% can make such a difference. You were asking about what is mindfulness, but before I go into that, I’m curious if any questions are coming up for you based on what I’m saying?

Teresa: Well, I’m just anticipating questions. I think seeing the email come in or thinking about the email, it’s not saying that email is not important or that client’s need isn’t important, it’s putting it into a place where we’re not maybe as reactive to it, where it’s kind of processed in a way that is a little more centered. Right?

Rudhir: Yeah. This is a great dovetail into what is mindfulness because I think there’s a lot there. When I think about mindfulness you’ll see a range of definitions. But I consider if we’re paying attention to ourselves, our thoughts, our emotions and our body, and noticing what’s happening with those things, without judgment. And the without judgment piece is actually really important because oftentimes what’s happening for us we might think is wrong or something’s not great about it or amazing about it. Mindfulness is actually just let’s just pay attention to what’s happening.

Rudhir: I talked about this body scan technique as sort of one way which is paying attention to what’s happening with your feet and your legs and your stomach and your lungs and your shoulders. When that email comes in as an example. We all know that email, that alert, that case alert. That colleague, that person we don’t like, all of it. It happens at least 10 times a day. Ten times a day, 20 times a day, 100 times a day you tense up when that message comes in, and just sort of noticing what’s happening in your body in that moment rather than necessarily solving the email. Because our first reaction is what am I going to say? You might notice the quality of your breath in that moment that you’re actually not breathing. It’s fascinating just taking a deep breath in that moment rather than reacting right away and just noticing what happens to your body that it settles.

Rudhir: Noticing what happens to your shoulders, they tighten up, that you sort of take a forward learning approach, that you might get uneasy in your stomach. All these things are happening. As we pay attention to that, when we’re responding to that email from that place, it’s actually fight or flight. We’re responding from a place of fight or flight. Fight or flight is sort of an old… It’s an old system. It comes from an old brain of ours. It’s the amygdala. It’s an old brain. It’s a lizard brain that we have. It basically really comes from this era and this time of evolutionarily when we were sort of fighting bears and lions. You’re sort of out in the wild and you’re worried about fight or flight. Either I attack this thing that’s in front of me or I’ve got to leave.

Teresa: Base survival.

Rudhir: It’s survival. Yeah. By and large in our legal office, outside of that scary partner in the corner, there’s no bears around. There’s no tigers. For us to be experiencing fight or flight as much as we do in the course of our day is really a ratio that it happens versus the actual need is way out of proportion. The other thing is that creativity, centeredness, true leadership, aren’t happening when we’re in fight or flight. We’re not coming from a collected and a gathered place. We’re coming from a reactive place.

Rudhir: When we write a brief in a case, we don’t write a react, we write a response. I use these two words differently. There’s reacting, and there’s responding. I think responding comes from a place when we gather data and information, we use our wise lawyer selves, we are using wisdom, and we are responding in a gathered and a collected way. We’re reviewing. We’re able to come back to people from a centered place. That’s what we want in our briefing. That’s what we want in our responses to our colleagues, in our communications. We end up feeling in a reactive place, and so it’s fight or flight. It’s like, “If they say something, I can defend myself,” or “I’m going to avoid this email for a few hours because I’m nervous about what’s going to happen.”

Rudhir: So all these things come up. But when we take a breath we notice what’s happening in our shoulders, we notice what’s happening in ourselves, we notice the thinking and the nervousness that might be happening in our head. Maybe we can respond in a healthier way. Maybe we can slow down some of that movement and gain some energy back.

Teresa: Interesting using the word creativity. We’re in a transformative moment. Whether it’s a temporary transformation or whether we’re going to see lasting effects. We have the White House signing the Defense Production Act. Many people working from home. I’m sure for many there’s a lot of scary elements to what we’re seeing with the public health crisis around COVID-19. You and I we’ve had some earlier conversations about possibilities out there, but what do you see, Rudhir, right now as possible in this moment?

Rudhir: We have to be very thoughtful about many people whose health is being compromised in this moment, and we have to really be thoughtful about many people whose lives have shifted and are challenged by access to resources and hourly workers and wage workers whose jobs are being eliminated in the short term. There’s a lot of challenge and compromise that’s happening at this moment. We want to make sure that we keep our awareness on that.

Teresa: Right.

Rudhir: I actually feel like interestingly enough a lot is possible in this moment. I think there are new ways that we’ll be able to connect with people and we’ll be testing out. For example, this webinar that I’m doing or the greater number of video calls and group calls that I’m having online where people are finding healthier ways to interact. I actually think it’s an incredible time to call that colleague or that contact that you haven’t been in touch with for a while and just say, “Hey, how are you doing?” And just get on the phone or get on a video call and just listen and be with somebody and connect in a way that you might not have otherwise.

Rudhir: I do feel like people might have a little bit more time now, and if you think it’s a time where, for example, business development dies down, I think actually it’s the exact opposite. People are looking to connect in this moment, so fill that void. Finding new ways to connect right now, to reach out, to interact, to connect with your families and yourselves, I think that’s huge in this moment.

Rudhir: I think time alone can be an incredible time for coming up with new solutions and to be creative. I think about Isaac Newton came up with some of his most valuable theories, the roots of calculus, and the basic understandings that we have on gravity, some of the most critical theories that he came up with were during the Plague when he had to leave Cambridge and isolate during that moment.

Rudhir: Social distancing, this isn’t the first era of social distancing. This has been going on with every pandemic that we’ve experienced in the history of time. Even in that moment he came up with some of the most valuable scientific principles and mathematic principles that we lean on today. There’s this huge opportunity in this moment to be creative, to think about what’s possible.

Rudhir: And as lawyers we are in this service industry, and so there’s this incredible opportunity to think about what are the new ways and the different ways in which we can serve others and add value? When we are reactive and in fight or flight, we aren’t thinking from that place. We’re wondering how to protect ourselves or wondering how… what’s going to happen to us. But when we start slowing down and rooting in, we remember that there’s so much possible in this moment for all of us, so many systems that we can build to serve our clients and to support our colleagues.

Rudhir: I’m going to be offering team building webinars in the next few weeks. Here’s an opportunity. Your entire team is isolated. How do we stay connected in this moment? So maybe we jump on an hour and a half Zoom call, and we actually do a team building exercise, facilitated exercise, in this moment. For me, I just feel like so much is possible, and it’s time to really start thinking about creative ways that we can connect with others, which we all need as humans and in our professions, and so what are the ways that we can do that now?

Teresa: That’s really interesting. We’ve been hearing talk about… We’ve all been hearing the guidelines around social distancing, but moving to the term physical distancing to recognize that we need… We still as humans we still need a little bit of that connectivity that you’re talking about. Interesting. Rudhir, some of the resources we’ve been monitoring and sharing with our clients have been resources you have been sharing with broader audiences. Can you talk to us about what’s out there right now? What resources are there? You’ve really been pouring a lot of your focus to provide some guidance and help right now in the recent days and weeks. What’s out there right now? What are you working on, and what could you suggest as resources for people?
Rudhir: Well, we mentioned it once already, but I’m doing this weekly webinar on mindfulness tools for handling uncertainty, and I’m doing this every Wednesday morning through my relationship on the co-chair of the wellness committee for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. We’re doing a similar webinar on Thursdays every week right now, myself and a mentor of mine, Angela O., are doing this webinar every week for that community.
Rudhir: I’m talking with the Association of Corporate Counsel on putting out a webinar on what tools we can use to manage the challenge. There’s a couple of bar associations that I’m working with on how we can exhibit our leadership in this moment. How can we show leadership in this moment of challenge and difficulty? From my perspective, there’s a lot of offering that’s happening in this moment, and I think what’s really beautiful and really nice about the community is actually seeing all the things that are being offered up in this moment and ways that we can support each other.

Rudhir: I think it’s a great time to pay attention and listen and get online and see what’s being offered by others. There’s a lot of opportunities to interact in workshops and dialogues and ways to connect from home right now that I think people should be tapping into. I think it’s also just a time to connect for people that have the luxury of doing that with family in their home or even with nature. There’s no restriction on necessarily going out in some areas and actually just taking a walk and connecting in that way.

Rudhir: I do workshops on building resilience. Part of those dialogues we talk about, “What’s restorative for you?” What’s restorative for you? The answers that people typically come up with are things that are just very accessible to us even in this moment, which is time with my family and my friends, connecting with my pets, eating a really good meal, watching a good show, taking a walk in nature. All of these things people find restorative are by and large free and still very accessible to us in this moment.

Rudhir: This might just be a nice healthy hibernating moment for all of us. I think that another thing is this is actually a great opportunity for skills building. I work with a range of clients. For some of them, presentations and stand up are something that they like working on. There’s nothing stopping people from being at home and recording a presentation and seeing how they are. When we start thinking about what’s possible in this moment, I feel like there is so much opportunity.

Teresa: One of the other areas, we were discussing earlier, Rudhir, related to the new work at home scenario. Looking at the normal heavy workload that an attorney deals with, at least having that separation between work and home, without being blurred now, which not the case for you necessarily. You’re accustomed to it. What guidance are you providing right now for how to handle that new blurred line and how to handle what is really a novel situation for many professionals and especially for attorneys?

Rudhir: I think that it’s very interesting seeing this transition that people are making to being at home. Luckily, I’ve been working at home for a few years now, and so this transition wasn’t so difficult. I definitely feel like there are things that we can do to make this that much more comfortable. First, I think for people that don’t work from home a lot, it’s actually setting up a comfortable situation for sitting.

Rudhir: Some people might think this is the time to just work at the dining table or in that uncomfortable chair, but we might be here for a while. Maybe it’s time to get a nicer chair, a nicer desk at home. Maybe it’s time to invest in that, a standup desk or something, a chair that’s got good support for you. So actually just sit in a place that’s comfortable and not necessarily in the thing that you might default to when you do a little bit of work from home.

Rudhir: Second, I think that things that are really helpful are really when we’re working from home the boundaries really start to fade between work and home literally. There’s really no boundary anymore. You might have this urge to almost work all the time. There’s really no limit to it. I think there’s this mentality around clocking in and clocking out that I think can be a really welcome shift in this moment.
Rudhir: If you’re putting in certain hours, actually when does the pen go down? When does the laptop get shut? What are the few hours during the day where you’re actually just doing the thing that you need to do to take care of yourself or center? For some people, they’re not commuting anymore. They use that commute time as the period to transition from work to home. Create that transition period for yourself. Sit for five or ten minutes and do nothing and allow the mind to settle and shift. Let’s not just use all of our time now or fill all of that time with work because doing that along with all the information that’s coming in and the way that the world is changing can really start draining you further.

Rudhir: I think healthy boundaries with work right now are imperative and actually maybe just creating some mental shifts. When I go down to the living room, when I’m in my next room, that’s when I put the laptop… The laptop stays in this area of the house. I don’t let it carry everywhere. Just trying to think about physical and mental barriers that you can start to create between work and home even when you’re in one place so that it’s not all bleeding together. We work effectively when we are restored. We need to reenergize. So think about the things that reenergize you and try to build in systems at home that allow you to keep that energy.

Teresa: That’s helpful. Rudhir, you mentioned one mentor a few minutes ago in our conversation. Can you talk to me about any mentors that you’ve had throughout your career who’ve especially shaped your thinking, shaped your own career?

Rudhir: There’s so many. It’s a difficult question. I remember when you emailed me in advance about some of the things you might ask, I said let’s do this at the end. I was hoping it wouldn’t even get to these. I have so many mentors. There’s so many people that have been valuable. In the work that I do I always feel like I stand on the shoulders of so many people that came before, and so there’s just so many experiences that I have that are learning.

Rudhir: I think the place to start is that I just feel like every opportunity and every interaction is a moment of learning. I feel like I’m learning from people all the time. Mentors is a really higher elevated state for somebody I feel to hold that space. I learned so much from my clients. I learned so much on calls like this. I learned so much from every interaction. I think the first thing that comes to me is actually just not losing sight of the learning opportunities in every interaction. What can you learn about this person across from you and the rich experience that they have? What value might you be able to get in that possibility of that conversation?

Rudhir: The person that made this entire next chapter of my life that much more possible for me was my wife. When I was in my last few years at Apple, I started to feel this itch, and it was… I’m not sure, but I can’t say that I’m as happy as I’d like to be in my life professionally. I think there’s something else. I don’t know exactly what I want to do. I’d sort of come home every few days with this dialogue with her.

Rudhir: I’d sort of talk about different things that I want to do. I’d tell her, I’d say, “You know, I think I need a month or two off. I need a month or two off. I’m going to ask my manager and team if I can combine my four weeks of vacation with one other month off. It could be unpaid. I don’t care. I just need a couple of months to sit.” She said, “You don’t need two months. You need a year.”

Rudhir: I just thought, ” A year?” Apple doesn’t have a year long sabbatical program. How are we going to do that? She said, “I’m giving you a year.” She said, “For one year you don’t need to do a thing. You don’t have to generate any income. You don’t have to do anything around the house. You don’t have to do anything for a year, and whatever you do after that I don’t care. But for one year just take a break.”

Rudhir: I have never had that kind of permission before or just being met by somebody that was saying, “Look, you’re good as you are. You don’t need to do anything.” I think that that’s amazing. I just felt like to get that type of support from somebody… My wife runs a nonprofit. My mind was, “How are we going to manage the finances and everything?” She’s like, “We’ll budget. We’ll plan the way that organizations plan when they go through a transition.”

Rudhir: So we made the plan. As soon as the plan came into place, and I saw that it was possible, everything that was happening was leading to signs of leaving and taking this time off. I think she has a way of thinking and a being that’s very different from what I’m used to in my environment. It’s very refreshing. She really values people taking the time to restore because we don’t know what’s possible. She’s really at the sort of root of this transition, which is allowing me the time and space to think and see some of the challenges in our workplace.

Rudhir: What I did during that time off is I just wrote a lot and investigated and understood a lot about our work, and that’s what allowed me to see this opportunity for stepping into this whole new career path for me. When I think about people that I look up to or I look to, I think about right now in this moment of my life I think about my wife first.

Teresa: Rudhir, that’s really wonderful to hear you say it, and I appreciate you sharing too on such a personal level that story.

Rudhir: Well, I just want to offer that in this moment I feel like we’re experiencing challenging times. I feel like we’re part of an amazing profession that can actually offer a lot. If anyone could use any support or has any questions, please feel free to reach out. My website is Krishtel.com. My email is simple. It’s my first name Rudhir@Krishtel.com, and I’m sure you’ll be providing it, Teresa.

Rudhir: But feel free to reach out in this moment because I just feel like it’s an incredible opportunity for making sure that all of us are feeling good in a way that allows us to support our community in the way that lawyers do. We are very important center, I feel like fabric, of the world. I feel like we are really the center of a lot of leadership in the world. I feel like we’re in this position to offer a lot, and for anyone that needs support through that process I just welcome people to reach out and connect.

Teresa: Thank you, Rudhir. It’s been really wonderful speaking with you learning more about what you’ve been doing. We’ve enjoyed seeing it and really are happy to be able to share it with our audience too. We will be in touch for sure. We’ll definitely have your resources available on the podcast.

Rudhir: All right. Fantastic. Thank you, Teresa. Talk soon.

Teresa: Thanks, Rudhir. You too. Bye-bye.

Rudhir: Bye.

 

 


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