Pittsburgh Partner Ashley N. Rodgers will moderate a panel on intergenerational diversity at the 60th Annual Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA) Bench-Bar Conference, hosted at Seven Springs Mountain Resort on June 13 at 3:15 p.m ET.

On May 1, 2023, Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 74 into law, amending O.C.G.A. 9-11-26 and adding a new section: 9-11-26.1. Read together, these new code sections amend the Georgia Civil Practice Act to codify and expand upon discovery protections available under common law to high-ranking corporate officers. O.C.G.A. 9-11-26.1(a) defines an “officer” as “a current or former high-ranking officer of an organization with unique and extensive scheduling demands or responsibilities.” The same subsection defines an “organization” to include “any governmental entity and any other organization, public or private, that is large and complex.”

Lewis Brisbois is pleased to announce that Madison County, Illinois Attorney John Hackett has been appointed to the bench as an Associate Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit, Madison and Bond Counties, Illinois. 

Cleveland Administrative Partner Tera Edwards was recently accepted to the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC). Since 2022, she has served as a member of FDCC Ladder Down Cleveland's Executive Committee, which has created nationwide curriculum tailored to the particular challenges women attorneys face in their careers. 

Dallas Partner Susan E. Briones recently received the National Business Institute’s (NBI) 2023 Outstanding Faculty Award. In determining recipients of this award, NBI considers the quantity and quality of candidates' speaking engagements. In doing so, it examines several factors, including course evaluations.

Lewis Brisbois is delighted to announce that Philadelphia Partner Steve Capriotti and Atlanta Partner Chris Collier have been elevated to Vice Chairs of the firm's Asbestos Litigation Practice.

The California Supreme Court rendered an opinion that California employers will undoubtedly welcome. In Naranjo (Gustavo) v. Spectrum Security, Inc. (2024 Cal. LEXIS 2438), the Court confronted the issue of whether an employer’s good faith yet erroneous belief that it has complied with the wage statement reporting requirements of Labor Code section 226 precludes the imposition of penalties for the knowing and intentional failure to comply with that section.

On March 18, 2024, the Georgia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 426, amending O.C.G.A. 40-1-112 and 40-2-140. This bill significantly limits the situations in which a plaintiff can name and assert a direct action against the insurer of a motor carrier. After a 172-0 passage in the House and 46-2 passage in the Senate, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed the bill into law on May 6, 2024, and it will take effect on July 1, 2024.

The Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) issued on April 12, 2024 a Determination for Prohibitions Related to Imports of Aluminum, Copper, and Nickel of Russian Federation Origin, and a Determination for Prohibitions on Certain Services for the Acquisition of Aluminum, Copper, or Nickel of Russian Federation Origin (the “Determinations”), which prohibits the importation, exportation, sale, and other service activities involving aluminum, copper, and nickel of Russian Federation origin.

Atlanta Partner Jonathan D. Goins will speak at the upcoming International Trademark Association (INTA) Annual Meeting, hosted at Georgia World Congress Center from May 18-22. 

On April 22, 2024, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 83, which makes significant changes to the language of O.C.G.A. § 9-11-67.1. The changes in the statute apply to “any offers to settle a tort claim for personal injury, bodily injury, or death arising from a motor vehicle collision made on or after the date this Act is approved by the Governor[.]”