On December 3, 2024, Judge Amos L. Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted a request for a nationwide preliminary injunction preventing the federal government from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and its implementing regulations. The injunction stays the new law’s compliance deadline of January 1, 2025, for all reporting companies.

Northwest Indiana Partner Scott Cockrum recently spoke with The Indiana Lawyer about his appointment as President of the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana (DTCI). 

Mr. Cockrum was appointed DTCI’s President at its annual meeting in November. In The Indiana Lawyer article, he discussed his path to becoming an attorney and his agenda for DTCI, including plans to attract more young lawyers. 

New York Senior Trial Partner Jennine Gerrard was recently appointed President of the American Board of Trial Advocates’ (ABOTA) Southern New York State Chapter. The newly expanded Chapter includes all of New York City, Long Island, and all counties up to Albany. Ms. Gerrard was sworn in by the Hon. Kathy J. King of New York Supreme Court, New York County, at a ceremony last week and began her two-year term as President. 

Chicago Associate Alexa C. Bradley has been appointed Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s (CBA) Human Rights Committee for the 2025-26 term. In this role, Ms. Bradley will work with committee members to raise awareness and understanding of human rights issues, undertake human rights projects, and provide accessible education to attorneys and the community at large regarding the challenging topics and concerns prevalent in this area.

On November 21, 2024, a Providence County jury returned a unanimous defense verdict for Union Carbide Corporation after a nine-day trial presided over by Associate Justice Richard A. Licht. Tim McGowan of Kelley Jasons McGowan Spinelli Hanna & Reber LLP, Eric Cook of Willcox Savage, and Monica R. Nelson of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP represented Union Carbide at trial. Elliott Davis of Shook Hardy & Bacon was Union Carbide’s appellate counsel.

In Roc-Le Triomphe Associates, LLC v. DeSouza, 2024 NY Slip Op 05654 (1st Dep’t 2024), Associate Dean Pillarella, a member of the Appellate Practice, successfully invoked the party finality doctrine to obtain the dismissal of an appeal for the firm’s commercial guarantor clients. 

The action concerned rent allegedly due and owing under a commercial lease by the lease’s tenant and guarantors. Pursuant to a 2022 order, the guarantors were awarded summary judgment and dismissal of all claims against them, with the landlord’s claims against the tenant left intact. After the decision and order was served with notice of entry by the prevailing party, the landlord did not file a notice of appeal from the order but, instead, filed a notice of appeal from a later judgment months after the time to appeal the order had expired.  

Wilmington Managing Partner Francis Pileggi, with Partners Scott Cousins and Ciro Poppiti, have been named “top lawyers” in Delaware by Delaware Today magazine. The publication named Mr. Pileggi a top lawyer in corporate law, Mr. Cousins a top lawyer in bankruptcy law, and Mr. Poppiti a top lawyer in hospitality law.

Los Angeles Partner David D. Samani will speak at an upcoming webinar, titled “Should You Ever Use AI In Court Reporting?” hosted by the Beverly Hills Bar Association (BHBA) on November 21 at 5:30 p.m. PT. 

The California Court of Appeal recently reversed a summary judgment ruling in favor of a geotechnical engineering firm that had conducted a brief inspection of a residential construction project's footing trench for $360. The case arose when homeowner Cheryl Lynch experienced significant property damage after her home's foundation failed and the structure began subsiding into a slope. Lynch sued Peter & Associates for professional negligence and nuisance, despite having no direct contractual relationship with the firm, which had been hired by her contractor to perform the geotechnical inspection.

A recent Delaware Court of Chancery opinion addressed the not infrequent situation where a distressed company is sold or merged but only the preferred stockholders receive consideration — and the common stockholders receive nothing. In Jacobs v. Akademos, Inc., Del. Ch., C.A. No. 2021-0346-JTL (Del. Ch. Oct. 30, 2024), a scholarly work of art, the court conducts an analysis of the fiduciary duties of the directors who approved the deal.

Madison County Associate Jarred Reed was recently named Chair of the Mound City Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division.

Phoenix Partner and Chair of Lewis Brisbois' Collegiate & Professional Sports Law Practice Gregg E. Clifton will present a seminar on unionization and collective bargaining in sports, hosted by the American Bar Association (ABA) at Resorts World Las Vegas on November 16 at 9:00 a.m. PT.