Offices and Obsolescence; Still No Diversity in MDL Leadership; Sports Illustrated Sale Stays Messy: The Morning Minute
The news and analysis you need to start your day.
August 18, 2020 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
ON OFFICES – Of the many existential questions the COVID-19 pandemic has raised, "Do we still need offices?" is near the top of the list for law firms. And the longer this goes on, the more pressing that question becomes. That's why we've assembled real estate experts and law firm leaders to discuss and debate the merits of physical office space at a time when working from home is largely, well…working. Today at 11 a.m. EST, we'll be sending a series of questions from our @lawdotcom Twitter account with leading experts weighing in live. The experts will also be answering questions from readers that are sent in as the conversation unfolds. Meanwhile, over at @GlobeStcom, real estate experts will be doing the same. They'll weigh in on what changes to the office market are expected and what trends they're seeing in the industry. Come join us on Twitter, where you can follow us here and join the conversation by adding the hashtag #DoWeNeedOffices to your tweet.
A LONG WAY TO GO - As we recently discussed in this space, women have been making progress infiltrating the boys' club that traditionally has been MDL leadership. A lack of ethnic diversity among those roles, however, continues to be a major problem. Data gathered by Law.com shows very little movement on that front: only 5% of appointments, on average, went to lawyers who identified as "nonwhite" in MDLs created from 2016 through 2019. About 4% of attorneys, on average, had undetermined ethnicity in the data, but, even when accounting for that factor, 91% were white. Amanda Bronstad spoke with practitioners about why change continues to be so sluggish and how attorneys and judges might be able to accelerate it.
SPORTS COMPLICATED - A battle between the entity that previously owned Sports Illustrated and the one that now holds the rights to publish it is intensifying. Cooley and Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit Monday in Delaware District Court on behalf of magazine publisher Meredith Corp. The suit pursues claims against Seattle-based media startup theMaven Inc. in connection with an agreement to transition production of Sports Illustrated following its sale by Meredith to a new owner. Lawyers have not yet appeared for the defense (get it? Like sports?). Read the full complaint and stay up to date on major litigation nationwide with Law.com's Legal Radar.
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J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
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