• A California federal court took a bite out of Apple Inc., the world’s first $1 trillion company, hitting it with a $145 million patent infringement verdict related to voice-over LTE technology used in several iPhone models. “It’s tough to beat Apple in California, so obviously we were gratified that we got the result we got,” said McKool Smith founder and chairman Mike McKool, who led the team that won the verdict for the firm’s client, Canadian technology company WiLAN Inc. Apple was represented by DLA Piper. ( The Recorder ) ( McKoolSmith ) ( Bloomberg )
• As for DLA Piper, the firm named partner Elisha King to replace Peter Pantaleo as its general counsel. King started at the firm as an employment-law associate in 1997, and most recently was deputy general counsel in Washington. Pantaleo will retire as a partner at the end of 2018 but will continue as senior counsel and a consultant to the firm. ( DLAPiper )
• As Uber gets ready for an IPO, the ride-hailing giant hired veteran Covington & Burling partner Keir Gumbs as associate general counsel for corporate transactions, and deputy corporate secretary. ( Corporate Counsel )
• Netflix and film studio Relativity Media settled their legal dispute in New York Bankruptcy Court, opening the way for a court-supervised sale of Relativity to UltraV Holdings. Willkie Farr & Gallagher said it successfully represented Relativity Media in the case, getting Netflix to drop its contract-default claims. ( Variety )
• L.A.-based litigation boutique Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht this week absorbed a small New York-based trial and white-collar criminal defense firm, a few weeks after hiring 13 lawyers in the city. Managing partner and co-founder John Pierce, a former partner at Quinn Emanuel, Latham & Watkins, and K&L Gates, calls his firm “the fastest-growing law firm in the history of the world in terms of law firms that have started from absolute scratch.” ( American Lawyer )
• Move over bookies: After the U.S. Supreme Court recently cleared the way for states to legalize sports betting, companies including Caesars and MGM are moving into the sector, and accounting firms, lawyers, software developers, and other professionals now see a big potential new source of business. ( Bloomberg Law )
• Littler, the management-side workplace law firm, said former National Labor Relations Board counsel Lance Gibbons rejoined its Washington office as a shareholder. Recently a partner at NT Lakis, Gibbons advises companies on compliance with employment-related requirements set by various federal agencies. ( Littler.com )
• Large law firms are taking steps to protect their corporate clients’ sensitive data but smaller firms and international firms with no U.S. presence have more work to do, Tania Daniels, The Walt Disney Company’s head of global legal operations, said recently. Video. ( Bloomberg Law )
Lawyers and Law Firms
• Arnold & Porter partner Lisa Blatt, a top appellate lawyer who describes herself as a “liberal Democrat and feminist,” said she’s getting positive and negative reactions to her Politico opinion piece yesterday in support of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Hers is the latest entry in the fierce debate over the nomination. ( National Law Journal ) ( Politico )
• Cole Schotz said it represented private equity firm Delos Capital in its acquisition of HOP Energy, a privately owned specialty distributor of heating oil, propane, and petroleum products to homeowners and small businesses in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the United States. ( PE Hub Network )
Laterals, Moves
• DLA Piper said Harout Samra, an associate in the firm’s Miami office, was reappointed by Florida Governor Rick Scott to serve on the Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission for a second term, ending July 1, 2022. ( DLAPiper )
• Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr said Mintz Levin lawyers Jeffrey Robbins and Joseph Lipchitz joined as partners in its Boston office, where they will establish the firm’s national First Amendment & media practice, as well as strengthen its higher education and health care practices. ( Saul Ewing )
Regulators and Enforcement
• U.S. inventors, courts, and patent examiners need to know which types of inventions are eligible for patent protection, and clarifying that question is a top priority for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, said the office’s director, Andrei Iancu. ( Bloomberg Law )
Technology
• Seven U.S. law firms say they are investigating Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo on behalf of the company’s investors, which suffered losses after reports of a Chinese regulatory probe spurred a plunge of the company’s stock price. ( Technode ) ( Bloomberg )
• A new article released by the FBI warns that cyber criminals can use unsecured internet-connected devices, commonly referred to as the Internet of Things IoT devices, as proxies to anonymously pursue malicious cyber activities. ( FBI )
Compiled by Rick Mitchell and edited by Tom Taylor.
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