Lewis Brisbois is pleased to welcome Timothy Swickard back to the firm as a partner in its Sacramento office, a vice-chair of its Toxic Tort & Environmental Litigation Practice, as well as a member of its Environment, Land, & Natural Resources Law and Government Affairs & Public Policy Practices. Mr. Swickard has more than 23 years of legal experience, including serving as the director and chief counsel for the California Environmental Protection Agency Department of Toxic Substances Control under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Atlanta/Savannah Partner Steven Lee and Washington, D.C. Partner Paul Kisslinger recently spoke with Law360 for an article titled, “Despite $4.3B Plea, SEC Proceedings Still Loom Over Binance,” which discusses the plea deal that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Binance Holdings Ltd. reached, as well as the legal challenges that the company still faces. 

San Francisco Partner Deborah Smith was recently appointed as a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), a highly selective and invitation-only network of leading corporate executives and attorneys across the globe. Members include distinguished partners, senior counsel in corporate, insurance law departments, and insurance executives.   

Northern Virginia/Baltimore Partner Kathryn Bonorchis and Roanoke Associate Sarah C. Jessee were recently elected to the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys (VADA) as At Large Directors for the 2023-2024 term.  

Lewis Brisbois Partners William S. Helfand and Norman Ray Giles convinced the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to reverse a district court and grant judgment for a Galveston police officer in a lawsuit over a fatal 2018 officer-involved shooting, with the appeals court finding that the officer’s actions did not violate clearly established law and he is therefore entitled to qualified immunity.

Fort Lauderdale Partner Sean Shecter will speak on advances in AI safety, security, and Artificial Immune Systems at the upcoming OpenAIS 2023 Symposium in Boca Raton, Florida on December 4 at 10:15 a.m. ET.

Philadelphia Partner Jason Berger recently spoke with Billboard Pro for an article titled, “Music Leaks Have Become More Common — But Less Harmful.” The article discusses the recent uptick in the premature disclosure of songs and albums, as well as the positive impact that leaks may have upon the popularity of artists’ material.

The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) recently adopted amended rules related to the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (“ESSTA”).

Partners Christian McGannon of the New York trial team and Thomas “T.J.” Keevins of the Newark, NJ-based aviation litigation team, headed by Douglas Amster, obtained a defense verdict on behalf of their airline client, Delta Air Lines, Inc., before a jury in Supreme Court, Queens County. This trial success occurred following the firm’s prior successful summary judgment motion and successful appellate defense of same, which resulted in the dismissal of claims brought by the plaintiff against The City of New York and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Miami Lewis Brisbois Partners Todd R. Ehrenreich, Troy P. Cunningham, and David L. Luck recently won a defense summary judgment in a toxic-tort action pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. See Vandestreek v. Lockheed Martin Corp., No. 6:21-cv-1570-RBD-DCI, 2023 WL 6396087, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177550 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 27, 2023).

St. Louis Partners Rick Mueller and Heather F. Counts recently secured a defense verdict on behalf of Suzuki in a high-exposure products liability matter.

On October 26, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted Rule 10D-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) implementing section 954 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act), which required the SEC and the national securities exchanges to establish listing standards that require  publicly listed companies to adopt and comply with a “clawback policy” for the recovery of erroneously awarded incentive-based compensation paid to their executive officers. 

On November 14, Providence Partner and Co-Chair of the firm’s Employment Advice & Counseling Practice Gregory Tumolo was invited by the Advisory Council of the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association to present a 30-minute session on recent legal developments at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

A Lewis Brisbois team was poised to defend a university at trial in a class action alleging the university failed to refund students for room and board and other fees amid the COVID-19 pandemic when the plaintiff abruptly dismissed the lawsuit’s remaining claims just prior to jury selection.