Good morning. Worries about the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant are prompting stricter vaccine policies and return-to-office delays at law firms like Davis Polk, McDermott and Schiff Hardin. New filings reveal how much former President Donald Trump's PACs spent on his impeachment defense and trying to overturn the election. Amazon workers at an Alabama facility may get a re-do of their union election. And the ACLU is reviving litigation over a Trump-era expulsion policy for migrant families. Let's get this show going!
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Virus resurgence sparks law firm vaccine requirements, reopening delays
Concern about the spread of the contagious Delta variant is prompting a growing number of major law firms to delay their reopening plans and restrict access to their offices to the vaccinated--with Davis Polk going so far as to deactivate building IDs for those who aren't jabbed.
Karen Sloan reports that the New York-law firm's managing partner, Neil Barr, told employees in an email that when the firm fully reopens on Sept. 13, no one at Davis Polk who isn't fully vaccinated will be allowed through the doors.
The policy is one of the most stringent by a law firm. Davis Polk is among the go-to law firms for Morgan Stanley, whose chief legal officer, Eric Grossman, recently warned its outside counsel against allowing remote work much longer.
That warning came before last week's guidance by the CDC urging even vaccinated Americans to wear masks indoors to combat the uptick in COVID-19 cases and efforts by states like New York to require vaccines among some of their workers.
McDermott Will & Emery and Schiff Hardin on Monday announced they would institute vaccine requirements and delay when their U.S. employees should return to their offices in large numbers. Other firms including Hogan Lovells, Reed Smith and Fried Frank have also adopted vaccine requirements. See why one expert says more firms could follow.
Industry buzz
- A New Jersey man was sentenced to 16 months in prison after admitting he posted the address of a federal district court judge on Facebook and Twitter as part of an intimidation campaign. William Kaetz pleaded guilty in federal court in Pittsburgh to one count of making restricted information publicly available. (Reuters)
- Miami-based Holland & Knight has finalized its merger with Dallas-based Thompson & Knight. The new Holland & Knight has more than 1,600 lawyers and other professionals in 30 offices. A steady stream of defections at Thompson & Knight that followed the announcement of the planned merger meanwhile continued on Monday, as seven healthcare regulatory and litigation lawyers left for Bracewell LLP. (Reuters)
- Technical problems during last week's remote bar exam could become the subject of class-action litigation. Plaintiffs' firm Sauder Schelkopf issued a press release saying it was investigating potential claims against Examsoft, the software company that many jurisdictions hired to deliver the test. (Reuters)
- Former President Donald Trump's political action committees spent more than $7.9 million on legal fees during the first half of the year, with much of the legal spending going toward trying to overturn the 2020 election and defend Trump during his second impeachment trial. Kasowitz Benson Torres, the home of long-time Trump counsel Marc Kasowitz, received $2.5 million from Trump's Make America Great Again PAC, though it is unclear what that money was for. (CNBC)
- Judges throughout Georgia are being asked to get tested for COVID-19 after attending a judicial conference last week with a judge who learned later that she had contracted the coronavirus. The head of the Council of Superior Court Judges said some judges are experiencing symptoms, and a lawyer who attended the conference said few were wearing masks. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- The Biden administration has tapped attorney Lucas Guttentag to help dismantle Trump-era immigration policies. Guttentag, who had been a professor at Stanford Law School, will officially serve as senior counselor on immigration policy under Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. He served in a similar role in the Obama administration. (Politico)
That's the number of shots that a gunman fired in 30 seconds without reloading using a large-capacity magazine manufactured by Kyung Chang Industry USA Inc during a 2019 mass shooting that killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio. Survivors and victims' families are now suing the manufacturer and its South Korean parent company, Kyungchang Industry Co Ltd, alleging in a lawsuit filed in Clark County District Court in Nevada that they recklessly sold "instruments of slaughter without any reasonable safeguards, screening or limits." The plaintiffs, represented by Jonathan Lowy of Brady and Benjamin Cooper of Cooper Elliott, are seeking damages and an injunction barring the 100-round magazines at issue without reasonable safeguards to prevent misuse. (Reuters)
Coming up today
- Singer R. Kelly is expected to be in court for a final pretrial conference before U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn ahead of his sex abuse trial that's set to begin Aug. 9. Kelly recently fired two of his defense attorneys, and is now represented by Thomas Farinella and Nicole Becker. Ahead of the hearing, the Chicago Tribune reported that Becker has asked to withdraw in sealed communications with the judge.
- The 9th Circuit will consider in a pair of criminal cases whether prosecutors must show that an individual had knowledge of his status as an "alien" in order to secure a conviction for the misdemeanor of attempted illegal entry into the United States. Defense lawyers Michael Marks of Federal Defenders of San Diego and Doug Keller of Singleton Schreiber McKenzie & Scott say their clients pleaded guilty to attempted entry after a San Diego federal judge wrongly informed them that the prosecution was not required to prove intent. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Chu will argue for the government.
- Generic drug makers Apotex and Viatris will urge the Federal Circuit to invalidate patents on Eagle Pharmaceuticals' chemotherapy drug Bendeka, which is sold in partnership with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. The generic drugmakers' lawyers, Nicole Stafford of Wilson Sonsini and Steven Feldman of Hahn Loeser & Parks, say that U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly in Delaware should have found the patents invalid as obvious or indefinite. David Berl of Williams & Connolly will argue for Eagle and Teva.
- Barge operator Bouchard Transportation, represented by Christine Okike of Kirkland & Ellis, will ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones in Houston to OK the sale of its assets in a deal valued at $245 million. Rose Cay GP and JMB Capital Lending Partners are the buyers for the company's vessels, although the sales process has drawn objections from Bouchard's owner and the committee of unsecured creditors.
- Deutsche Bank, facing a lawsuit by Commerzbank accusing it of failing to properly monitor more than $600 million in toxic mortgage-backed securities that Commerzbank acquired, will urge U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan to grant its motion for summary judgment. The suit is one of several Commerzbank filed against banks over the assets in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Deutsche Bank is represented by Michael Kraut and Kevin Biron of Morgan Lewis, while Commerzbank is repped by Ryan Kane of Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch.
- The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action and Federal Rights is holding a hearing called "Breaking the Logjam: Principles and Practice of Congressional Oversight and Executive Privilege." Professor Kate Mascott of George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School is testifying as a witness, as is Dean Mark Rozell of George Mason's Schar School Of Policy and Government.
Video: Robinhood facing big hurdles post-IPO
Trading app Robinhood went public last week, but law professors who spoke with video journalist Alex Cohen said the IPO may have hurt the little guy. Ann Lipton, an associate professor at Tulane Law School, and James Tierney, an assistant professor at Nebraska College of Law, also discussed other issues the company faces. Watch the video.
"We gave the Biden administration more than enough time to fix any problems left behind by the Trump administration, but it has left us no choice but to return to court. Families' lives are at stake."
ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, on why pro-migrant groups frustrated with President Joe Biden's continued use of an "inhumane" Trump-era expulsion policy for migrant families are resuming litigation to block it in court. The so-called Title 42 order allows U.S. officials to send migrants back to Mexico without the chance to seek asylum or other protections in the United States. The ACLU and DOJ in a joint filing in federal court in D.C. on Monday said efforts to resolve the dispute had "reached an impasse." (Reuters)
In the courts
- A National Labor Relations Board hearing officer recommended a do-over for the closely-watched union election at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama after the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union accused the online retailer of illegally interfering with the vote. A regional director for the NLRB will decide whether to hold a new election in the coming weeks. Amazon, which is represented by Morgan Lewis, said it plans to appeal. (Reuters)
- Former President Donald Trump will fight a DOJ order directing that his tax returns be turned over to a U.S. House of Representatives' committee, according to Trump attorney Ronald Fischetti. "This politicization and harassment of Mr. Trump is uncalled for and outrageous," Fischetti said in a statement about the order, which was released last week. (Reuters)
- The Associated General Contractors of America dropped its lawsuit in D.C. against the U.S. Small Business Administration after the agency dropped a questionnaire it was sending borrowers seeking pandemic relief loans about whether the spread of COVID-19 helped or hurt business. The lawsuit sought to block the questionnaire over claims it penalized businesses that found success despite the pandemic. Daniel Wolff of Crowell & Moring represented the contractors. (Reuters)
- The 7th Circuit declined to block Indiana University from requiring students to comply with the school's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the fall semester. Conservative litigator James Bopp Jr of The Bopp Law Firm sought on behalf of his student clients an injunction while they appealed one of the first decisions to uphold a school's COVID-19 vaccine requirement. "A university will have trouble operating when each student fears that everyone else may be spreading disease," U.S. Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook said, denying the request. (Reuters)
- Accounting firm Ernst & Young, a partner and two ex-employees agreed to pay over $10 million to settle SEC charges they violated auditor independence rules by interfering with a company's selection of an auditor. William Stiehl, previously chief accounting officer at the company, Sealed Air Corp, agreed to pay $51,000 in a related settlement. Ernst & Young, represented by WilmerHale's Daniel Schubert, did not admit wrongdoing, nor did Stiehl, who was repped by Cooley's William Schwartz. (Reuters)
- Alpha Latam Management, the U.S.-based unit of Latin American-focused consumer loan servicer Alpha Holding SA de CV, has filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware looking to sell its Colombian assets. The company, represented by John Cunningham of White & Case, has $768 million in debt. (Reuters)
Industry moves
- Privacy and data protection attorney Doron Goldstein has joined Withers as a partner in New York. He previously co-headed Katten Muchin Rosenman's privacy, data and cybersecurity practice. (Reuters)
- P. Anthony Sammi, the head of Skadden's intellectual property litigation group, has left the firm to join Latham & Watkins as a partner in New York and global vice chair of its IP litigation practice. (Reuters)
- Private equity attorney Marwan Azzi, whose practice focuses on energy and infrastructure and Latin American transactions, has joined Gibson Dunn as a partner in New York from White & Case. (Gibson Dunn)
- Tax attorney Vadim Mahmoudov, who focuses his practice on mergers, bankruptcy restructurings and debt workouts, has joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher as a partner in New York. He was previously a M&A tax principal and U.S. debt restructuring tax leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Before that, he was a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton. (Willkie)
- Lauren King, who co-led Goodwin Procter's secondaries practice, has joined Simpson Thacher as a partner in New York. (Simpson)
- Intellectual property litigator Amy Candido has left Quinn Emanuel to become a partner at Wilson Sonsini in San Francisco. (Wilson Sonsini)
- Healthcare and technology lawyer Randy Peak has joined Haynes and Boone's Dallas office from DLA Piper. (Reuters)
- Public utility lawyer David Bogan has joined Day Pitney as a partner in the firm's Boston and Hartford offices. He was previously at Locke Lord. (Day Pitney)
Columnist spotlight: Postmates brings mass arbitration to the U.S. Supreme Court, sort of
Lawyer speak: Improving the SEC's executive stock trading plan rule without wrecking it
For two decades, public companies and their executives have been able to rely on the SEC's Rule 10b5-1 to establish stock-trading plans. Those plans allow executives to sell stock on a regular basis without facing accusations of insider trading. Critics have pointed to data that they say suggests that executives can game the disclosure system, and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler recently said he wanted the commission to "freshen up" the rule. Freshfields partners Boris Feldman and Sarah Solumn in a new article say they are "not convinced that Rule 10b5-1 is broken and needs to be fixed." But they laid out some options that commissioners could consider. Read more.
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