FRONT

Farther, Faster, Together

This piece, posted on the Legal Evolution blog (#277), is from Jason Barnwell, an attorney in Microsoft's Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs department and leader of its Modern Legal team. Barnwell provides food for thought for anyone interested in the challenges confronting the profession. "This post is part of a series that reflects my legal industry learning journey, building upon my career journey (080), professional evolution (142), focus on knowledge work (159), and future practice design theory (210).

This installment examines the changes happening now that require us to evolve to serve a civilization experiencing exponential change powered by the fourth industrial revolution and how we might get there faster, together. The College of Law Practice Management Futures Conference strongly influenced the thesis presented here: that we are experiencing accelerating change as a secular trend. My tentative solution is, in part, to invert the law’s traditional pyramid structure.

Briefly

Weil elects 26 new partners and announces a new counsel class. The new partners are based in Boston, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. The United States Senate has confirmed McGuireWoods partner Michael F. Easley Jr. to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Clifford Chance announces that U.S. and international tax specialist Paul Seraganian will join its U.S. Tax, Pensions & Employment (TPE) practice as a partner based in its New York Office.

Frank X. Schoen joins Baker Botts in New York as a partner in the global projects department.

Barnes & Thornburg adds Megan New as a partner in Chicago office where she’ll join the firm's Intellectual Property Department.

FTI Consulting, Inc. appoints Greg Crouse as a senior managing director in the firm’s Dispute Advisory Services practice.

McNees Wallace & Nurick

announces the addition of attorneys Zachary Einsig,

Kaitlan Price and Rachel Rowe

to the firm’s Real Estate Group.

Laura Colombell Marshall

joins McGuireWoods’ Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation Department as a partner in Richmond, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. JAMS shares that Hon. Elizabeth A. White (Ret.) has been installed as the 42nd president of the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ).

Required Reading

Too busy to read it all? Try these books, blogs, webcasts, websites and other info resources curated by CCBJ especially for corporate counsel and legal ops professionals.

REPORT: 2021-2022 Judicial Hellholes

Researched and published by the American Tort Reform Foundation, Judicial Hellholes for 20 years has been calling attention to jurisdictions “known for allowing innovative lawsuits to proceed or for welcoming litigation tourism.” Over the years, some civil justice systems have made positive changes, while others have become more deeply entrenched in the practices that landed them on the hellhole list in the first place. (That has spawned two other lists, “Escaped” and “Everlasting Judicial Hellholes,” which also make for interesting reading.) There are 8 hellholes on this season’s list, though two venues are a cut above (or below) the rest: California (a perennial #1) and New York, which is “mounting a strong challenge.” Rounding out the list are: Georgia Supreme Court; Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and Supreme Court; Cook, Madison and St Clair Counties, Illinois; Louisiana; City of St Louis; and South Carolina (for its consolidated asbestos docket). Don your hip wader and check it out.

MULTIMEDIA WEBSITE: Notes to MY (Legal) Self

Olga Mack, CEO of Parley Pro, is a writer, podcaster, entrepreneur and – well, you name it. She frequently contributes to Above the Law, where you will find this piece: “” Usually, titles such as this don’t merit much attention. But this one is a cut above. Mack lasers in on the challenge faced by lawyers who once were employed for their legal knowledge and now are employed for . . . well, you name it. “What used to suffice in private practices is no longer sufficient in-house, as rapid changes, increasing business needs, remote workforces, worldwide regulatory concerns, and the pandemic all combine to bring about new an distinct issues.” Among the skills Mack discusses are: humility, creativity, agility in learning, influencing, and clear communication. The future may be unknown, Mack writes, but one certainty is that the profession is not becoming simpler. “To satisfy the evolving needs of the job, in-house counsel must stay adaptable.”

Contributors

Thanks to the law firms, technology companies, alternative legal service providers, management consultants and other supporters of corporate law departments who share their insights and expertise through the CCBJ network. Your participation is appreciated.

Shariff Barakat is a partner in Akin Gump’s Washington, D.C. office. His focus is on domestic infrastructure and renewable energy projects. Shariff represents developers, sponsors, tax equity investors, lenders and other stakeholders in the acquisition and development of power generation projects.

Andre G. Bouchard is a partner with Paul Weiss in their Wilmington office. Previously, he served as chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery, presiding over some of the highest-profile disputes involving the nation’s largest companies. Mr. Bouchard advises companies and their boards of directors on a full range of issues concerning fiduciary duties and other Delaware law aspects of corporate management.

Sasha Carbone is the Associate General Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary of the American Arbitration Association. Her responsibilities include providing legal counsel to the American Arbitration Association and its international division, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, on a broad range of issues, particularly in the areas of dispute resolution, corporate governance, cybersecurity, data privacy, employment and contract management.

Ken Crutchfield is the president and general manager of Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. He leads the Legal Markets group and is responsible for setting the vision and strategic approach with a focus on developing leading digital products. His group aims to provide legal professionals across a wide range of markets with expert content and analysis and leading workflow solutions. Deborah Festa is a partner with Akin Gump, leading their Structured Finance & Securitization practice. She represents institutional investment managers and global investment firms in collateralized loan obligation (CLO) issuances. Deborah advises on securitizations, warehouse financing arrangements and follow-on refinancing and “reset” transactions in the U.S. and in Europe.

Joy Fuhr is a partner with McGuireWoods. She defends manufacturers and energy producers. She focuses on public and private nuisance, environmental, climate change, toxic tort, and product liability claims. She serves as national counsel and lead lawyer for Fortune 500 Companies in state and federal courts throughout the country.

Marci Hunter is a diversity, equity and inclusion analyst at Barnes & Thornburg in the greater Fort Wayne area. In her role, she facilitates data collections and analysis surrounding DEI efforts across the law firm and entire legal industry. Prior to Barnes, Marci had an extensive career with Lincoln Financial Group and served as their Project Manager, Q&A Testing, Technical Specialist, Compensation Research Consultant and Data Engagement Analyst. Iris Jones is Akerman’s chief marketing and client development officer. She oversees the firm’s client development team to advance the overall strategic plan of the firm by continuing to grow their client base while also deepening existing client relationships. Ms. Jones works closely with firm leadership to build the firm’s brand equity.

Thomas E. Spahn practices as a commercial litigator. He regularly advises Fortune 500 companies on such high-stakes issues as properly creating and preserving the attorney-client privilege and work product protections when conducting corporate investigations, when hiring outside consultants, when dealing with the government, and during other daily and extraordinary situations. He also advises in-house counsel on ethics issues, including conflict of interest, confidentiality, and dealing with corporate wrongdoing.

Kimberly Taylor is the president of JAMS. In her role, she oversees the operations of JAMS in the U.S. as well as abroad. She works directly with JAMS’ CEO, and is responsible for the company’s day-to-day operations as well as all 28 resolution centers across North America. Kim also provides operational and strategic leadership for international expansion efforts.

Barnes & Thornburg

elects 27 attorneys as new partners, the largest and most diverse class in the firm’s history.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges announces that Andrew Morris has joined the firm as a partner in the global Tax practice in New York.

Anderson Kill announces that Diana Shafter Gliedman, a senior shareholder in the firm’s New York office and member of the firm’s Insurance Recovery Group, has joined the firm’s Executive Committee.

Akin Gump advises Alpha Bank S.A. on the formation of a strategic partnership with payments specialist Nexi S.p.A. Exterro announces the addition of legal discovery expert and technologist Jenny Hamilton as its new general counsel.

Clifford Chance partners with Greenmap to provide advice and assistance on a pro bono basis in respect of the design and implementation of the International Guarantee Trust Fund for Renewable Energy (iTrust).

Frank Ready joins Wolters Kluwer’s Governance, Risk & Compliance division this week as senior specialist, corporate communications, for its Legal Services businesses.

Morrison & Forester

advises VoiceBase in connection with its sale to LivePerson, Inc.

FTI Consulting, Inc.

announces that Brian Papp has been named a managing director within its Strategic Communications segment.

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