Category: News Feeds

In the market for legal services, some opinions simply matter more than others. Arguably, the opinions that matter the most are those of in-house counsel. The premise of our third annual outside counsel rankings is simple and direct. We asked approximately 1,000 in-house counsel two simple questions: 1) “Which law firms does your company engage for legal services?” and 2) “Please indicate the highest level legal work for which your company will engage the particular firm(s).” The “levels” of work were defined along a four-point scale:

1. Cost-efficient, bulk tasks
2. Routine matters
3. High-value, complex matters
4. “Bet-the-company” matters

Earlier this year, those in-house lawyers — from nearly 500 companies and over 40 cities — shared with us their evaluations of their companies’ outside law firms. Check out the results here.

(Please note that our survey was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and thus will not reflect the associated inevitable changes in perception and circumstances within the legal services market.)

Back in 2018, Baker McKenzie then-Global Chair, Paul Rawlinson, took a temporary leave from the firm due to “exhaustion.” The following year, Rawlinson passed away, though not many details were known about his death at that time. Now we’ve learned that he died by suicide.

Law.com is reporting that during a virtual inquest held yesterday by the Surrey Coroner’s Court in the U.K., it was revealed Rawlinson died by suicide. They also heard that Rawlinson was suffering an “acute depressive illness,” and was undergoing treatment at a Swiss rehabilitation center, Kusnacht Practice, at the time of his death.

The firm made the following statement:

“Paul’s sudden death in April 2019 was a tragedy, most obviously for his family, but also for Baker McKenzie, where he had been a long serving partner and inspirational leader in various roles. He was a man of enormous charisma and energy,” Baker McKenzie said in a statement Wednesday. “The circumstances surrounding Paul’s death are a private matter for his family and we continue to request appropriate respect for that. As painful as events have been for his many friends and colleagues in the firm, our thoughts throughout have been with Paul’s wife and children, and will continue to be, as they move forward.”

These details of Rawlinson’s death provide a poignant reminder of the mental health issues that often run rampant in Biglaw. If you or someone you know is depressed and in need help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) or a lawyer assistance program in your state.

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

Civil rights are appropriately top of mind these days.  As a result of recent events that have rightly gripped the nation, Slack, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, and dinner tables are facilitating discussions that were once relegated to academia and courtrooms. The fatal mistreatment of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police, the tragic killing of Breonna Taylor in March by Kentucky police, and the attempted misuse of the police on a Central Park birdwatcher (Christian Cooper) by a bigoted New York dog owner are the most notable of recent racially motivated and racially impactful events that happen regularly in the United States and globally. These events, and the subject of racism generally, raises the question of what role we all play in mitigating discrimination within our homes, communities, and boardrooms.

It’s a topic I remember well from law school where, on the editorial board at the Journal of Race and Law, we dissected the remedies for hate crimes and tried to understand social justice within a legal system that skewed white.  But for me, my first memorable understanding of how race manifested in differential treatment occurred much earlier, as a young American child in Beijing. There, as one of a cadre of misfits attending the International School as offspring of diplomats — ourselves a scaled-down United Nations — we roamed our compound and passed the time roller-skating, riding elevators, and buying snacks from local stores. Between us, our cultural differences were many, but we were united by the drumbeat of boredom and rebellion.  But it quickly became obvious that the Chinese guards viewed things quite differently. Whether at our school, or within our residential areas, being black as many of my friends were, meant being singled out for blame. Regardless of their citizenship or nationality, being black meant being accused of a litany of offenses like broken windows and litter. It never made sense to me why.

As a result of the horrible crimes committed against people like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and the many who preceded them, we continue the conversation with our children that skin color may determine whether you survive or die at the hands of authority. There has never been an easier or more vital time to discuss civil rights with our families. The advent of social media, instant messaging, and the proliferation of video recording devices making it easier to capture events which were previously suppressed by oppressors, making bias transparent. Technology allows us to reach consensus on wrongdoing and injustice more globally, and more quickly, than could have been previously achieved through months or years of grassroot campaigning.

While hashtags and viral images are meaningful, and the messages behind them are indisputably powerful, there is nevertheless an unspoken worry among many — particularly when speaking on behalf of an organization — that if we say something incorrectly, we may not only damage the company, but ourselves as well.  Call it “analysis paralysis” or whatever you will — as lawyers, we tend to prioritize overthinking over action itself.

But among the lawyers who work within or lead legal departments at companies, and at law firms themselves, this is a sensitive but critical issue made even more complex during at a time when budgets are being tightened and workforces are distracted by the realities of the coronavirus fallout.  Further to that, within companies that have allocated resources to diversity and inclusion initiatives, it’s an inflection point in which to be reminded of the consequences of failure to properly execute against objectives that might otherwise exist in name only.

Despite the complexity of navigating these matters, it’s both a privilege and an obligation that we get to lead these discussions and bring them front and center. Failing to thoughtfully and impactfully address these systemic failures is to be complicit in the problem itself.

So how do we advance the objectives of a movement that needs everyone’s help when everything is seemingly so messed up already? Companies that can afford to take a stance and have dollars or pro bono hours to put behind their efforts are to be lauded, but for start-up companies struggling to keep the lights on, monetary contributions or diversion of resources may not be feasible. But there are still a litany of other ways for us as legal practitioners to lean in to be part of the solution for institutional racism. While many more ideas will come to the surface, for those who have yet to begin, this can serve as a starting point.

The California Association of Black Lawyers recommends some practical measures which resonated with me. Let’s, at a minimum, commit to these together:

• Commit to honest conversations about race and racism in America in our homes, places of worship, and workplaces. We can no longer sit in polite silence while racism festers in plain sight.
• Acknowledge that if you are not doing antiracist work, you are affirmatively allowing racism to persist.
• Vote in every single election.
• Via email, social media, phone calls, and at the ballot box, demand that the U.S. Justice Department, governors, mayors, police chiefs, and prosecutors mandate antiracism and de-escalation training, as well as zero-tolerance policies for all sworn peace officers.
• Via email, social media, phone calls, and at the ballot box, demand that elected officials and policy makers develop and employ racial impact statements to ensure, prior to adoption and implementation, that laws and police protocols are designed and implemented in such a way that they eliminate rather than perpetuate racial inequities.
• Continue to raise your voices to hold racist police officers accountable for their unlawful actions so that they are prosecuted fully. For example, if an officer is not doing antiracist work (e.g., removing a fellow officer’s knee from the neck of a suspect), then the officer must be held accountable for their complicity.
• Boycott stores, brands, media outlets, and any other forum that depicts black males as threats merely because of the color of their skin.
• Always honor the lives of the callously killed and continue to say their names, because Black Lives Matter.

Despite what history would lead you to believe, this is not a Sisyphean task. We can roll this boulder up the mountain and park it there forever. But this requires all of us, personally and organizationally, to fix our shoulders against the problem and push like our lives depend on it because, for many of us, it absolutely does.

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Jennifer DeTrani is General Counsel and EVP of Nisos, a technology-enabled cybersecurity firm.  She co-founded a secure messaging platform, Wickr, where she served as General Counsel.  You can connect with Jennifer on Wickr (dtrain), LinkedIn or by email at dtrain@nisos.com.

Two Fridays ago, our only president took a break from bungling American race relations and public health to mess up American universities’ ability to recruit foreign nationals. The executive order of May 29 says that the State Department won’t issue J or F visas to graduate students and postgraduate researchers who are from the People’s Republic of China and have ties to the PRC’s attempts to steal foreign technologies. So in essence, it’s trying to get rid of people who might be Chinese spies.

Now, I am not familiar with the details of how the CIA and State work together, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they have already thought of looking for spies. In fact, the American Immigration Council says in its write-up of the order that consular officers put visa applications into “administrative processing” (State’s fancy name for limbo) when they think there’s a risk. Donald Trump’s “extreme vetting” was added to that in 2017, insofar as “extreme vetting” adds anything other than sounding cool.

So this is less about effective ways of looking for spies and more about continuing Trump’s bizarre attempts to gin up conflict with China, which previously included losing a trade war and gratuitously racist remarks about the coronavirus. In fact, CNBC said this week that some experts think there’s already a cold war between the U.S. and China, because this is the worst timeline.

Having achieved that, Trump has undoubtedly moved on to his eight daily hours of conservative talk shows and ragetweeting. But the order was effective three days after it was signed, and unfortunately for the American colleges and universities who will be bound by it, nobody has yet bothered to explain how it works. It’s unclear, for example, whether the ban applies only to students who are directly tied to the Chinese military, or anybody who is associated with any institution that gets Chinese military funding. The State Department told the LA Times that universities cannot expect anything so helpful as a list of banned institutions anytime soon.

But the real crippling impact will be felt down the line. China sends the most students to the United States of any foreign country, according to the Institute for International Education, and Inside Higher Ed says that Chinese nationals got 13.5% of all PhDs in science and engineering fields in 2018. Losing those students could have an actual financial impact on universities (directly or via reduced research funding), and it could also hurt the advancement of, you know, science. That would be even more likely if Chinese students decided that given all the recent anti-Asian racism, it would be a lot easier to just study in Europe or Japan or Canada instead. In fact, at least some GOP senators seem to actively want that; Sens. Tom “Send in the Troops!” Cotton and Marsha Blackburn recently proposed a law that would ban all Chinese grad students in STEM fields.

It’s like 1882 all over again.

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Lorelei Laird is a freelance writer specializing in the law, and the only person you know who still has an “I Believe Anita Hill” bumper sticker. Find her at wordofthelaird.com.

In Summary

• Returnees complained that they are forced to stay at the quarantine centres for too long without being tested for coronavirus.
• They also say the facilities are inhabitable and they do not have adequate food supplies.
• Government says it will ensure maximum security at isolation centres.

The government says this will ensure they remain in the centres and help stop the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Returnees complained that they are forced to stay at the quarantine centres for too long without being tested for coronavirus. They also say the facilities are inhabitable and they do not have adequate food supplies.

The government on Wednesday said it will ensure maximum security at the isolation centres.

“In order to curtail the prevalence of people absconding from quarantine centres, Cabinet agreed that identification or travel documents will be collected from returnees on arrival [and returned to them] at the end of the quarantine period,” Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa said.

Agnes Mahomva, the head of Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 response, said those escaping from quarantine centres have become a security concern.

“Every effort is being made to follow up on those who escape. If they are found guilty, they will be penalised accordingly,” Dr Mahomva said.

At the weekend, the government published 48 names of people who escaped from quarantine centres.

The southern African country has recorded 314 Covid-19 cases since it reported its first case in March and the majority of them are citizens returning from countries such as the United Kingdom, South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique.

All returnees are required to check into isolation centres for 21 days before they are allowed to join their families.

Thousands of Zimbabweans around the world are expected to return home after losing their sources of income abroad. More than 5,000 citizens have returned home in recent weeks.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said that between April and May its centres at Zimbabwe’s points of entry had handled 5,400 immigrants arriving from Zambia, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa.

IOM said the influx of immigrants is straining Zimbabwe’s already overstretched social and health services.

Post published in: Featured

Noel Francisco is expected to step down as Solicitor General in the next few days. The former partner from Jones Day — obviously — will presumably return to private practice in the as-yet undrained swamp.

Francisco racked up a number of successes at the Supreme Court, though this might have more to do with the effort to stack the judiciary with FedSoc zealots than sterling advocacy like when he defended the Muslim Travel Ban by expressing the administration’s admiration for the “country of Islam.”

It’s unclear who would take over the role in Francisco’s absence. Principal deputy solicitor general Jeff Wall would be the conventional “line of succession” choice, though Deputy White House Counsel Patrick Philbin reportedly wants the job too.

But Donald Trump has largely eschewed convention in appointing his lawyers and given the sort of cases the administration is likely to pursue over the next few months — everything from declaring martial law to canceling elections — Trump and Barr may be focused on finding an attorney with more… flexibility.

Jay Sekulow? There’s a guy with demonstrated experience in making zany arguments to the Supreme Court. John Dowd just wrote a wild love letter to Trumpism and that’s exactly how Bill Barr got his job. Hey, Kayleigh McEnany’s technically a lawyer and it’s not like she’s great at this press secretary gig. And let’s not forget that both Ken Starr and The Dersh are out there.

Now, those options would require a Senate confirmation hearing that Trump probably has no interest in dealing with. Though if McConnell’s ramrod schedule to place his 37-year-old protege on the DC Circuit is any indication, it’s not like he’s got any problems getting a party-line vote off a streamlined hearing schedule.

So say hello to Solicitor General Jeanine Pirro!

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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

Last year, a British investment firm called London Capital & Finance went belly-up, leaving its mostly elderly investors in a €237 million hole. Many of those investors were sold on the bond shop by one John Russell-Murphy. But hawking LCF products to the vulnerable was only Russell-Murphy’s side gig: In 2015, he founded another high-yield debt shop with a peer of the realm. Russell-Murphy only stuck around MJS for a year, but, uh, guess what?

MJS stopped paying promised dividends on its bonds and collapsed into liquidation last year…. The court appointed liquidator’s progress report just published reveals that the £35 million of assets MJS’s director Shaun Prince claimed were in the company when the liquidation was started was actually more like £7 million.

It says that the company’s affairs are being investigated by Thames Valley Police, and that the liquidator and his staff have been assisting with their investigations.

If, like me, you’ve been attending protests to support the Black Lives Matter movement, you’ve been exercising an important constitutional right. The right to protest is a fundamental one that deserves protection, and it’s one that is essential to the preservation of our democracy. The fight isn’t over and there’s more work to be done, so here’s are some resources to help you protest safely and securely.

Surveillance

First, let’s talk about surveillance. During the protests you’ve no doubt been aware of the surveillance tactics being used by law enforcement. There are the visible surveillance tools, such as drones and standalone surveillance cameras, along with law enforcement officers on rooftops. But there are also many different tactics being used by law enforcement to track protestors that aren’t readily visible.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has provided a wealth of information on protecting the rights of protestors, including surveillance-related tips. As they explain, law enforcement uses a number of different surveillance tactics, some of which are visible, including body cameras, drones, automated license plate readers, mobile surveillance trailers and towers, and forward-looking infrared cameras. Invisible surveillance includes facial recognition tools, social media monitoring, cell-site simulators, and real-time crime centers. You can learn more about each type of surveillance tactic in this post.

Protect yourself from police surveillance by reviewing the EFF’s Surveillance Self-Defense Guide. Notably, the Guide includes advice specific to protesting in the time of COVID-19. You can read more about the Guide, including some of the pandemic-related tips, in this post.

Here are some tips from the Guide that should be implemented prior to any protest:

(E)nable full disk encryption for your device, install an encrypted messenger app such as Signal (for iOS or Android) to communicate with friends, and remove biometric identifiers like fingerprint or FaceID.

Secure Your Data

Speaking of securing your device and data, you may be wondering how to go about doing that. A recent Fast Company blog post elaborates on that concept. As explained in the post, you should take the following steps to secure your data prior to protesting:

• Subdue your signals (and download Signal), since “law enforcement … can intercept cellphone signals … (and) collect the identifying details of phones in the area by ‘impersonating’ cell towers”
• Lockdown location tracking since “(l)aw enforcement can also request ‘cell tower dumps’ from telecom providers”
• Harden your hardware by “back(ing) up your device before heading out (so you can) wipe it if you find yourself in a tight situation … (and) encrypt … your phone”
• Use a passcode not a fingerprint or facial recognition since you’re not obligated to tell someone your passcode due to Fifth Amendment protections, but the law is less clear regarding biometric locks
• Neutralize notifications since “if your phone is lost or seized, it may reveal information that you’re not comfortable sharing with others”
• Physicalize your phonebook by “writing down the phone number of a lawyer or emergency contact on your arm with a Sharpie” since phones can run out of batteries or get lost

Obtain and share information wisely

Next, make sure to share information wisely, since, as mentioned above, law enforcement use social media posts and photos as part of their surveillance and investigation efforts. Use a photo app that blurs faces, such as the new tool now available in the Signal messaging app.

Additionally, follow the advice in this post on protest photography safety, which includes these tips:

• Avoid using the viewfinder since it can limit your peripheral vision, and instead take photos using the rear display
• Don’t stop in front of people to take a photo since it could cause a pile up
• Avoid photographing faces and tattoos
• Don’t post on social media unless the images have been reviewed and edited

Finally, part of safely protesting is staying informed. That’s why you need to take steps to ensure that you’re up-to-date and have the information you need while protesting. In addition to following social media for the latest information, consider using Broadcastify to listen to the scanners of emergency responders.

Resources for protestors

For even more information on protesting safely and preserving your rights while doing so, check out this video. In it, criminal defense attorney Donald Thompson tells you all you need to know about your legal rights while protesting. Note that his advice is intended to provide information about protesting legally and avoiding arrest.

That being said, if you happen to  get arrested, there are resources available to you. For example, the EFF is offering assistance with attorney referrals for protestors.

Donate

And last but not least, please considering donating to my Facebook fundraiser. My birthday was last week, and I established a fundraiser for The Bail Project. As a former Assistant Public Defender, the goal of this nonprofit is near and dear to my heart. As I explained in my Facebook post:

The Bail Project is a nonprofit organization designed to combat mass incarceration by disrupting the money bail system — one person at a time. I’ve chosen this nonprofit because their mission means a lot to me — and its mission is incredibly important right now. I stand with BlackLivesMatter and the protesters and those arrested while protesting. So I hope you’ll consider contributing as a way to celebrate with me.

I initially set my fundraiser goal at $1,000 but surpassed that within 4 hours, so I raised it to $3,000. I’m only $210 away from that goal, so if you would consider donating to support this cause, I’d greatly appreciate it.

And in the meantime, keep on fighting the good fight!

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Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and Director of Business and Community Relations at MyCase, web-based law practice management software. She’s been blogging since 2005, has written a weekly column for the Daily Record since 2007, is the author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York. She’s easily distracted by the potential of bright and shiny tech gadgets, along with good food and wine. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikiblack and she can be reached at niki.black@mycase.com.

* An attorney who spent more than ten years on the run has been sentenced to three years in prison for developing and selling illegal tax shelters. Sounds like a good plot for a John Grisham book. [Accounting Today]

* A lawyer for former National Security Adviser John Bolton alleges that the White House is claiming Bolton’s new book contains classified information that cannot be revealed. [CBS News]

* The Florida Supreme Court has suspended an attorney who has filed thousands of questionable lawsuits against property insurers. [Insurance Journal]

* The Attorneys General of most U.S. states and territories have filed litigation against 26 drugmakers for allegedly fixing the price for generic drugs. [Reuters]

* NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has paid $10 million to settle an age discrimination lawsuit alleging that it systematically fired employees over 40 and replaced them with younger workers. Sounds like a twisted kind of Midsommar… [CBS News]

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Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.