Wells Fargo Bolsters In-House Legal Team With Santander Pick Up

New Wells Fargo & Co. General Counsel Ellen Patterson is bringing in former Santander Holdings USA Inc. attorney Michael Lipsitz as part of an effort to revamp the bank’s in-house legal shop following a high-profile federal investigation into alleged consumer abuses.

Regulatory Focus: Lipsitz, who was Santander’s chief legal officer, will serve as Wells Fargo’s chief policy advisor. He will play a key role in shaping the company’s “regulatory transformation,” Wells Fargo said.

Turning the Page: Patterson was tapped as Wells Fargo’s top legal officer in March, less than a month after the bank agreed to pay $3 billion to settle a Justice Department and Securities Exchange probe into allegations that it used false information to open up bogus accounts for customers. Brian Baxter has the story.

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DAILY BRIEF

Business of Law

No Duty to Represent Clients From Former Firm, N.Y. Bar Says
A lawyer who leaves a firm doesn’t have to accept clients from that outfit if there’s no agreement to do so, the New York State Bar Association said.

Black Davis Polk Attorney’s Lawyer Seeks Exit Over Pay, Strategy
A lawyer representing a Black former associate suing Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP for alleged race discrimination and retaliation asked the judge to let him withdraw as counsel for nonpayment of fees and fatal disagreements over litigation strategy, New York federal court records show.

Ethics

Preponderance Standard Applies in ‘Settle and Sue’ Case
A California divorce attorney must face a jury’s conclusion that her negligence was a substantial factor in causing a client to miss out on financial assets in a divorce settlement, after a state appeals court rejected her claim that a higher burden of proof was required to prove legal certainty.

Also in the News

Strippers Must Be ID’d in Wage Class, But Claim Info Too Much
The Fifth Circuit ordered a strip club in San Antonio to turn over the names and arbitration agreements of dancers who might belong to an overtime-related Fair Labor Standards Act collective, but said it didn’t have to produce information related to prior arbitrations.

Follow Bloomberg Law’s global coverage of the coronavirus pandemic on our Coronavirus Outbreak channel, and track the latest changes in the federal court operations with our interactive map.

WAKE-UP CALL

Big U.K. Firms Slash Salaries for New Associates
In today’s column, a new ABA report finds a huge attrition rate for minority female lawyers, but the researchers said they had a hard time finding people to survey; Munger Tolles hired a former DC federal prosecutor who was on the team that won a conviction of President Trump’s friend Roger Stone; a Katten Muchen Rosen insolvency & restructuring partner jumped in-house to a Boston-based investment company; Latham & Watkins poached a restructuring partner from Willkie in Paris; Brown University student athletes hired Tom Brady’s Big Law attorney in Deflategate to help them force the school to reinstate their sports.

PRACTITIONER INSIGHTS

INSIGHT: Telehealth Breach Litigation--Key Actors, Claims, Defenses, Tips
More providers are using telehealth during the pandemic to see and treat patients, but that opens them up to different types of litigation in the event of a cyber security event or data breach. Carlton Fields attorneys look at potential litigation topics and suggest strategies to defend against claims and ensure data privacy.

INSIGHT: Current Rules for Arthrex Challenges at the Federal Circuit
The Federal Circuit’s Arthrex ruling in 2019 on the nomination of administrative patent judges at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board offers lessons still in effect for patent attorneys, Charles R. Macedo, partner at Amster, Rothstein & Ebenstein LLP explores.

INSIGHT: How to Successfully Evaluate Environmental Risks During a Pandemic
Investors usually evaluate potentially costly environmental issues associated with their deals, but restrictions during the pandemic are limiting inspections of target company facilities and hampering a proper examination of these risks. Stuart Hammer, of Debevoise & Plimpton, gives tips on how to effectively assess environmental risks during a pandemic and looks at lessons learned so far.

INSIGHT: Legal Battles Extend to Failures in Drug Development
The overall failure rate in drug development exceeds 95%, and the termination of a drug development program could easily result in a claim for breach of contract. Proskauer Rose‘s Colin Cabral discusses strategic considerations and gives practical guidance relating to potential legal disputes arising out of unsuccessful development.

INSIGHT: Virtual Criminal Jury Trials Threaten Fundamental Rights
During the pandemic, as virtual trials are considered, we are steps away from having defendants waive all that they are due. In the second part of a two-part series, Ballard Spahr attorneys examine the impacts of virtual trials on a defendant’s constitutional rights.

INSIGHT: Sorting Out Defamation and Covid-19 Transmission Accusations
As businesses reopen, what happens if an employee says another employee gave them Covid-19? Or a customer posts online that a store is failing to adequately clean? Ethan Krasnoo, counsel at Reavis Page Jump LLP, examines the intricacies of defamation law, such as the difficulty of establishing damages, and various situations that could give rise to a successful claim.

WORKFLOWS

Munger, Tolles & Olson announced that Jonathan Kravis, most recently as deputy chief of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, has joined the Washington office as a partner | Julia Anne Matheson has joined Potomac Law Group as a Partner in the Trademark, Intellectual Property, and Litigation Practices in Washington; she previously worked with firms Hogan Lovells and Finnegan | Withers’ Litigation and Arbitration practice grabbed managing partner Amman Khan in Los Angeles, and partner Christopher LaVigne in New York from Pierce Bainbridge; associate John Dillon also joined | DLA Piper’s Colombia branch hired Paola Aldana as a partner and head of the infrastructure practice, based in Bogota | Vinson & Elkins added Skadden restructuring counsel George Howard as a partner in New York | Hogan Lovells brought back three equity partners from Paul Hastings; Ed Harris and Leanne Moezi rejoin the London office, while Adam Brown will be based in Northern Virginia | Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati said that David “Dave” Strong has joined the Tax and Tax Equity practice as a partner in Palo Alto from Morrison & Foerster.

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