For Young Lawyers, Work Is 'a Thing, Not a Place' | The Reverberations of a $2B Patent Verdict | Goodwin Procter Guides Cannabis Tech Company's Fundraising: The Morning Minute
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March 18, 2021 at 06:00 AM
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
WORK THING - An increasing number of young lawyers would like to be able to get to work without having to actually go to work. During a panel discussion at ALM's Legalweek(year) event on Tuesday, Kathleen Pearson, chief human resources officer at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, said her firm has started asking its people, "What is work?" "We talked to generations below Gen X and they have long thought of work as a thing, not a place," Pearson said. According to Pearson, most people her team polled wanted to be in the office for part of the week and out of it for the rest. "But challenges come with that," she acknowledged, including making sure that the people who are coming in on certain days are able to get what they need from the office environment, such as having their peers or mentors there on the same days. "We need to make sure that training opportunities are there when they are," she said. "And to make sure we have a meaningful number of people in the office at any given time."
WACO MAKES WAVES - The nation's busiest patent docket is also now its hottest. On March 2, jurors in the Waco Division of the Western District of Texas returned a $2.175 billion(!) patent infringement megaverdict for VLSI Technology LLC against Intel Corp. in only the second patent trial in U.S. District Judge Alan Albright's courtroom. The verdict was a big win for Irell & Manella and Mann Tindel Thompson, who represented Fortress Investment Group-backed VLSI. On a very special midweek episode of Law.com's Legal Speak podcast, Law.com IP reporter Scott Graham speaks with Winston & Strawn partners Michael Tomasulo and Danielle Williams about what might have led jurors to that number, what the verdict means for patent monetization as a business model, the appeals we might anticipate from Intel and the impact the verdict could have on future trials in the Eastern and Western Districts of Texas.
CASH THE DUTCHIE - Goodwin Procter guided cannabis technology platform Dutchie in closing a $200 million Series C fundraising round led by Tiger Global and including new investors DFJ Growth and Dragoneer Investment Group. Goodwin partners William Growney, David Johanson and Gregg Katz led the team. The firm also advised Bend, Oregon-based Dutchie on its acquisition of cannabis-focused software companies Greenbits and LeafLogix. Stay up on the latest deals and 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.
Who Got The Work
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.
Who Got The Work
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.
Who Got The Work
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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