News

Perkins Coie Partner Dax Hansen was quoted this week in an article published by Internet Retailer, "Changing Their Stripes." The article discusses initiatives recently launched by Visa and MasterCard Worldwide in response to an increase in e-commerce and the rise of online competitors like PayPal and Facebook Credits. One example is MasterCard's Open APIs, which according to the article "is designed to make it easier for mobile and web developers to integrate MasterCard payments into their applications." The author quoted Hansen as saying this "appears aimed at developers looking for ways to sell games, music and other digital content to mobile consumers." "Developers are looking for flexible, easy solutions that don't require customers to input their card numbers," Hansen says.

Perkins Coie Partner Barry Reingold was quoted this week in an article published by BNA entitled, "'Cloud' Customers Facing Contracts With Huge Liability Risks, Attorneys Say."  The article focuses on the risks companies face when they agree to store their data with third party providers. Reingold said companies in regulated industries like health care and banking need to be especially careful. "You may lose physical control over your data, but you never lose legal responsibility," he told BNA.

Los Angeles (August 29, 2010) – Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jane L. Johnson granted a motion filed by Perkins Coie to strike all class allegations in Romero v. Smart & Final (Superior Court, Case No. BC 393678). Judge Johnson also denied the plaintiffs' concurrent motion to certify a class of over 300 current and former California Smart & Final Store Managers.

Joel Levin offered legal commentary on the verdict in former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial.  Joel was a featured guest during segments on Fox News, MSNBC, ABC, NBC and CBS national networks.

Since 1965 Washington State has granted a retail sales tax exemption for purchases of goods for use outside the state by residents of states and provinces with a retail sales tax of less than 3%.

Perkins Coie has announced that Irvin (Gene) Branch has joined the firm's Denver office as a partner.  Branch will be part of the firm's Intellectual Property practice.

Riddell Sports filed its three-count patent infringement complaint in the Western District of Wisconsin in December of 2008 against Schutt Sports, contending that Schutt had infringed Riddell's patented concussion reduction technologies featured on the Riddell Revolution family of football helmets and faceguards. Riddell is a leading manufacturer of football helmets and a division of Easton-Bell Sports. Schutt, Riddell's main competitor in the market, fiercely defended against the complaint and filed a counter- claim seeking $40M in damages for allegations of false advertising and unfair competition under the Lanham Act. Two weeks prior to trial, Riddell was granted summary judgment on the Lanham Act claims, and the trial team went on to win a verdict of patent infringement on all remaining claims, with the jury awarding $30M (over $24M in lost profits and $5M in reasonable royalties).

Perkins Coie is proud to announce that 143 of its attorneys throughout the country were selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America (Copyright 2010 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.).

Perkins Coie Of Counsel Susan Lyon was quoted this month in an article on smart grid technology published in SmartHome magazine entitled, "Smart Grid: Plug In Or Jump Off?"  In a sidebar, "The Dark Side of the Smart Grid," Lyon explained the security and privacy concerns associated with the new technology.  "Basically, it is two-way communications from and to homes and even can include smart grid appliances," she said.  "Utilities are quickly increasing the amount of data they collect, tracking and recording more activities."

In last week's Wall Street Journal article, "Stalkers Exploit Cellphone GPS," Perkins Coie Partner Albert Gidari explained the challenges cellphone carriers face when police request location-tracking data.  "Police, [Gidari] says, often claim they need data immediately for an emergency like a kidnapping, and therefore don't have time to obtain a warrant, in which a judge must approve an information request."

Perkins Coie is pleased to welcome Bing Zhou and Yanchen Shi. Both are consultants who will be based in the firm's Shanghai office.

Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that Julia Markley has received the annual firmwide Perkins Coie Pro Bono Leadership Award. The award is given to a lawyer who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and commitment in the provision of pro bono services to our clients during the year. Markley was selected as a recipient of this award because of her extraordinary commitment to pro bono work, including her work to bring back to the United States an El Salvadorian national after the Ninth Circuit ruled that he had been wrongfully deported.

In a July 29 front page story in the Washington Post, "White House proposal would ease FBI access to records of Internet activity," Perkins Coie Partner Michael Sussmann was quoted regarding a controversial proposal regarding National Security Letters that would make it easier for the FBI to compel communications providers to turn over records of user's Internet activity without a court order. "You're bringing a big category of data -- records reflecting who someone is communicating with in the digital world, Web browsing history and potentially location information -- outside of judicial review," Sussmann said.

Perkins Coie's Product Liability group was nationally ranked by Chambers and Partners in the 2010 edition of Chambers USA. "This group is widely recognized for its preeminent reputation in aviation litigation," noted the publication in its review of the practice. "Intelligent, efficient and responsive attorneys who provide excellent value for money," sources were quoted as saying.

Perkins Coie announced today that Caryn Trombino is joining the firm's Investigations and White Collar Defense practice as a senior associate. She will be based in the firm's Chicago office.

Perkins Coie Partner Albert Gidari was quoted in an Associated Press article this week on a proposed change to federal law that would allow the FBI to obtain electronic records from Internet service providers - without a court order. The article, "FBI access to e-mail and Web records raises fears," says one controversial aspect of the change is that it is buried within an intelligence reauthorization bill. "This is a huge expansion" of the FBI's authority "and burying it this way in the intelligence authorization bill is really intended to bury it from scrutiny," Gidari said.

Perkins Coie announced today that T. Markus Funk, a high-profile Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago, will join the firm on October 1 as a partner. After a decade as an accomplished federal prosecutor, Funk will focus on corporate investigations, complex commercial litigation, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") matters. He will be based in the firm's Denver office, but will also be assisting the white collar team in Chicago.

Joel Levin offered legal commentary on the federal corruption trial of  former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Joel was a featured guest during a news segment on Chicago Tonight and was also quoted by the New York Times and the Chicago News Cooperative.

Pravin Rao provided legal commentary on the SEC's settlement with Goldman Sachs in various national news publications and outlets, including USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Fortune,  Reuters, Law360, and the Wall Street Journal.

In a New York Times article entitled, "Blagojevich Defense Team Scrambles After a Quick Prosecution" Joel Levin discussed the challenges facing the Blagojevich defense in the former Illinois Governor's federal corruption trial.

As a service to its partners, clients and friends, Perkins Coie client Live Gamer invited lawyers Dax Hansen, Kirk Soderquist and Ron Koo to present a webinar last month on the legal issues impacting electronic stored value systems and related IP-ownership matters.

In it's 2010 edition of Chambers USA, Chambers and Partners ranked Perkins Coie's Retail & Consumer Products industry group in the #1 band nationally. The group has received this distinction each year since Chambers began ranking practices in this area. Noting the group's broad reach, Chambers described the group as "well equipped to advise on the full range of retail and consumer-related matters." "The firm is making real progress in this arena. It is quite possibly the leader of the e-commerce market at the moment," sources were quoted as saying in the listing.

Privacy and Security Of Counsel Susan Lyon was quoted in a recent article published by E - The Environmental Magazine, entitled "The Great Green Grid: A Smart Grid That Lets Us Better Control Our Energy Use May Finally Be Ready to Launch."

Partner Michael Warnecke and Associate Brandy McMillon recently wrote an article published by Who's Who Legal: Patents 2010. The article concerned the use of "Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)" when resolving litigation disputes, particularly those of patents.

Denver managing partner, Bob Miller,  is regularly called upon for his opinion of both state and federal judicial nominees.

Perkins Coie is pleased to highlight that it was recognized by Corporate Counsel magazine for being one of the top 10 law firms with the most International Trade Commission cases in 2009.

In a LA Times article entitled "Supreme Court ruling to narrow anti-corruption law could aid former Enron chief Jeffrey Skilling" Partner Patrick Collins discussed the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to limit the scope of  the "honest services fraud" statute.  The Court redefined the statute to cover only bribes and kickbacks, instead of the range of illicit activities prosecutors have used in past cases to prosecute public corruption and corporate malfeasance.  "The court has clearly raised the bar," said Collins.  "The easy case is the official who takes $10,000 from a contractor and then awards him a contract.  But what about the guy who secretly goes on a vacation paid for by the contractor, and then several years later awards him a big contract," Collins said.  See full article.

Patrick Collins provided legal analysis on a Chicago Tonight news segment on the "Honest Services Statute." Patrick discussed how the impending decision by the U.S. Supreme Court could change how federal corruption cases are prosecuted.  View interview.

Lee Stein commented on the increasing enforcement of anti-bribery laws around the world.  Greater cooperation among U.S. and foreign governments means that “a single matter can generate issues all over the world,” said Stein.  Companies can no longer assume foreign governments won’t find out about an issue, he says. Ten years ago, sharing enforcement information was the exception; now it’s the rule.

Susan Lyon authored an article, published by POWERGRID International, entitled "Privacy Lessons SmartGrid Should take from WEB 2.0."

Perkins Coie proudly announces that once again it has been ranked by Chambers & Partners, publishers of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, as a top law firm in the United States. Perkins Coie was recognized in the annual directory as a leader, having obtained Band 1 placement in 17 practice areas with top rankings in ten key markets across the country, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.

Pravin Rao commented on the Galleon Group insider trading case, which many defense attorneys claim highlights a potential growing collaboration between criminal prosecutors and civil agencies that could lead them to reconsider whether clients should cooperate with securities regulators.  "Lawyers may be less likely to tell clients to cooperate with regulators under the cooperation initiative – especially if it opens up the client to criminal liability because of the SEC's increased communication with prosecutors," said Rao.

Hartmann Young has been appointed 2010-2011 Co-Chair of the Aerospace and Defense Industries Committee of the ABA Section of International Law (effective August 1, 2010).

Ninety Perkins Coie attorneys have been honored by their peers as "Washington Super Lawyers" for 2010. Nine were named to the Top 100 list and four were named to the Top 50 Women list. The list of Super Lawyers is published in the June edition of Washington Law & Politics magazine.

Oregon's regional daily newspaper, The Oregonian, reported that Portland Partner Brent Bullock was selected by the Portland Development Commission to be part of a five-member team to help launch a seed fund for startups to help boost Portland's entrepreneurial community. The funding to be invested comes from the City of Portland's general fund which is earmarked for the PDC's economic development efforts.

Patrick Collins was quoted in a recent New York Times article entitled "Passion and Success in U.S. Attorney's Office."