Big Law's Cautious Vaccine Optimism | A 'Defund the Police' Backlash? | A Gender Identity School Policy Fight in D.C.: The Morning Minute
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December 09, 2020 at 06:00 AM
5 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
A SHOT IN THE ARM? - Recent good news on the progress of COVID-19 vaccines has Big Law leaders feeling optimistic—but still in no rush to adopt new mandates or revise remote work policies that have defined the pandemic, Andrew Maloney reports. Instead, they're taking more of a wait-and-see approach. Butler Snow COO Rance Sapen said he hopes his firm eventually gets to the point where it can assist its staff and attorneys in getting COVID-19 vaccinations the same way it currently does with flu shots. But for now, that seems to still be a ways down the road. "We don't know enough about the timing and how it's going to be distributed, and how accessible it's going to be across our firm," Sapen said. Similarly, don't expect mandatory vaccine policies at your firm any time soon—or possibly ever. "You're talking about lawyers here," said legal management consultant Brad Hildebrandt, adding, "I don't think anyone is going to make a quick determination on that, or whether you could even do it legally."
UNEQUAL PROTECTION - A lawsuit alleging that Minneapolis' response to pressure from the "defund the police" movement has left sections of the city without adequate law enforcement may lead to the filing of similar cases around the country, according to a lawyer behind the Minnesota state court action. As Jason Grant reports, a group of Minneapolis residents filed a mandamus petition in August asking a judge to force the city to put more law enforcement in the streets, arguing that police department budget cuts city council enacted in the wake of George Floyd's murder have rendered some neighborhoods unsafe. The suit cleared a preliminary hurdle in November when a Minnesota state court judge ruled the plaintiffs have standing. Douglas Seaton, a lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he and his clients are hoping their filing will spur similar legal actions across many cities. "The defunding movement in effect started in Minneapolis in the aftermath of George Floyd's death, and we are hoping that our action, if we prevail, will help others to fight back," he said. "We hope that the opponents to 'defund the police' will explore every legal avenue they have."
GENDER IDENTIFICATION POLICY FIGHT - Lawyers at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr on Monday removed a lawsuit against the board of education for a Washington D.C. suburb that challenges a policy over student gender identification. The suit, brought by unnamed parents of area school students, seeks to roll back a policy that would allegedly allow students to transition socially to a different gender at school while prohibiting staff disclosure to the student's parents. The case, which has been removed to Maryland District Court, was filed by Claybrook LLC and the National Legal Foundation. The case is 8:20-cv-03552, John and Jane Parents 1 et al v. Montgomery County Board of Education et al. Stay up on the latest litigation with the new Law.com Radar.
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Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
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Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
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Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
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David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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