This program will showcase methods of creating compelling opening and closing statements and direct and cross-examinations of witnesses through a re-enactment of an actual commercial trial.

Cotten died in December 2018 reportedly as the only individual with the master password to access the internal server for the exchange.  Since the initial reports of Cotten's passing, alarming information has come to light, including alleged missing coins, cash, and other digital assets, and possible fraud.

"It’s one thing to trade your cryptocurrency on an unregulated exchange; it’s another to trust them to store your coins safely for you.  If you are not day-trading, you do not need to store your crypto on an exchange.  The safest place is with companies that specialize in providing ultra-safe custody for digital assets."

Excerpt:

"Central to the concerns Judge Koh is raising is why it took 143 attorneys from 32 firms to file a complaint, oppose a stay, oppose a demurrer and file a motion for class action certification, and how that work could conceivably justify an award, on average, of over a million dollars for each of the firms...the court in its decision painted a picture of Yahoo as the poster child for bad behavior...It took particular pains to point out that Yahoo's estimate for settlement purposes of the number of accounts affected was not accurate, as well as other misdeeds, including Yahoo's denial in public filings that it knew anything about unauthorized access to personal data, its withholding of information and its delay, in some cases for a period of years, in notifying users of something it had contemporaneous knowledge of, leaving them in the dark as far as any actions they needed to take to protect themselves against the potential misuse of the compromised data."

The U.S. Supreme Court will resolve a conflict in the Circuits concerning whether the copyright statute's authorization of recovery of “full costs” includes costs, such as expert witness fees, for which recovery is not otherwise authorized under the general statutory provision defining recoverable costs in every federal case. Alan commented on that question and the broader problem of ambiguity and interpretation of a copyright statute dating from 1976—on that he believes is long overdue for overhaul or full replacement.

Excerpt:

"I don’t regard a teenager — or for that matter an adult — being incentivized to download a 'survey' app based on a statement that trusting the app 'may give' Facebook’s developers 'access to your data' and tapping a 'Trust' button as having given his or her consent."

“This is a lesson to U.S.-based companies operating across Europe. Unless you want to suffer from disparate enforcement and fines from various European member states’ data protection authorities, your organization should comply with the GDPR’s one-stop-shop mechanism by empowering its subsidiary in its jurisdiction of choice as a true ‘main establishment’ with decision-making power over processing operations across Europe. Google’s delay in so designating its Irish subsidiary may have cost it 50 million euros.”

Excerpt:

"...Numerous high profile businesses have been criticised for misusing information. Only this month, Google was forced to admit that a bug in the Google+ API had allowed third party app developers to access not only the data of consenting Google+ users, but also of their friends. Google failed to conduct good data practice, which is damning enough. On top of that, the company found out about the bug in March and kept it under wraps until the Wall Street Journal called them out. According to Thomas Jackson, partner at Phillips Nizer LLP and technology law expert, Google hid the discovery to avoid being compared with the Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal.
 

"There are differences, of course...Much of the outrage following the Cambridge Analytica episode resulted from the fact that a personality test was used to collect personal data which, unbeknownst to Facebook users, gave a third party access to their personal information, and was collected for use in a political campaign. In Google’s case, what actual use was made of the data by outside developers, at least at this point, apparently is unknown. Undoubtedly it will prove to be far worse for Google that it chose to cover up what it had learned rather than disclose it in timely fashion and announce what steps it had taken to prevent the problem from occurring in the future.”"

Alan Behr is referenced and quoted heavily in one of December's IPPro The Internet’s features, “A look at Marvel IP: Stan Lee’s passing shook the comic book industry and superhero film industry he inspired, leaving the question: what is the future of Marvel IP?”  The legendary American comic-book writer, editor, and publisher, who was executive vice president and publisher of Marvel Comics, passed away on November 12, 2018.

Monica McCabe mentioned in Bloomberg Law article “LL Cool J May Luck Into ‘Rock the Bells’ Rights for Sirius Channel” highlighting a trademark infringement suit filed by hip hop artist and actor, LL Cool J (using his real name James Todd Smith), against a now-defunct concert promotion company Guerilla Union Inc. targeting its Rock the Bells Twitter handle, Facebook page and web domain.

Details and registration here. 

Tom addresses the breach of the Quora question-and-answer website that exposed the names, e-mail addresses, hashed passwords and non-public content of over 100,000 users, including messages and answer sent privately to other users.

"Since this is a knowledge-sharing platform, one of the risks of an incident like this is it could deter people from engaging in that kind of activity, which is productive and useful...In the Quora case, the main issue is going to be the willingness of inviduals to contribute going forward. Will it have a negative effect on postings and new signups?"

Regina joins panelists to address "Settlement of FLSA Claims" at the inaugural Wage & Hour ExecuSummit on November 27, 2018.  The two-day program will be held at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. The panel will convene at 1:00 p.m. | Agenda and registration details in the attached file.

The article concerns the effect of the incentive-based approach taken in the Ohio Data Protection Act on businesses in regulating data privacy and the likelihood that it will succeed in reducing the risk of  data breaches exposing personal information. Tom's quote:

While the Ohio Data Protection Act does not alleviate the difficulties in businesses complying with a patchwork of laws that, in some cases, are inconsistent with one another, it does point the way to a more sensible regulatory approach.

Helene will addresses the Copyright Act of 1909 that was involved in the "Stairway To Heaven" and "Blurred Lines" cases at this NYSBA CLE program on Friday, November 16, 2018.  

The program will be held at New York Law School, 185 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013.  

Register at:  www.nysba.org/EASLMusicConference18 

Phillips Nizer's newest attorney, partner Ed Schauder, is the feature of a Law360 article published today. Ed, who practices in corporate and business law, as well as intellectual property, will chair our firm's Sports Law Practice.

Ed's quote:

That really excites me, that I’ll be able to offer current clients, prospective clients comprehensive service, but also be helpful to others that are representing people now, and be able to leverage my skill set to offer more services to the firm’s existing clients as well,” he said in a phone interview. “I’m already hitting the ground running.

Ed brings expertise, Ed brings a network of current and former and prospective clients that will benefit not only from the legal services that Ed provides, but that our firm can offer across the board...I’m really excited that Ed will be part of our team. In his first week here, we’ve already seen quickly that there will be great synergies with Ed’s work and the rest of our work.

The full-day Women in Law & Leadership Summit will explore career obstacles, risks and rewards on the path to fulfilling and productive careers for women lawyers. The conference will provide networking and learning opportunities on topics including mentorship, gender equity and career management. 

Roundtables are informal interactive discussions over a two-hour period, which will provide excellent opportunities to exchange professional insights with peer-level experts.  

Law Firms/Vendors register here.
In-House Counsel register here.

The article addresses the effect of the Democratic takeover of the majority in the House of Representatives on privacy and cybersecurity initiatives in Congress.  Tom's quote:

For the most part, cybersecurity initiatives have been a bipartisan effort...That said, we are likely to see renewed efforts geared towards the passage of legislation to increase federal and state defenses against election meddling. The Secure Elections Act had bipartisan support but didn't get very far.

Licensing Intellectual Property can offer a practical and efficient strategy for companies looking to expand into a new market, enhance an existing product line, reduce costs or accomplish other business goals. The IP under consideration for license could be a patent, copyright, or trademark, software or any combination of these properties.

As this approach becomes increasingly common across industries, counsel who are new to licensing
IP must understand the complex range of issues that may arise when licensing a mix of intellectual
property types. 

This program is designed for intellectual property specialists, corporate counsel and general practitioners who are interested in learning how to license and protect various forms of intellectual property.

DETAILS AND REGISTRATION HERE

Richard Adago, partner in our Matrimonial & Family Law Practice, addressed the dramatic increase in Gray Divorces at a presentation to the members of the ADFP in New York City on October 29, 2018.

Ms. Wachtler's panel, "Preparing for Mediation and Selecting the Mediator" will be the lead session of the day. | Full details and registration

Michael's panel, "Harmonizing Wealth Transfer Across the Canada-United States Border: The Challenges of Canada-United States Estate Planning," will convene on Friday, October 26th from 2:45 - 4:00 p.m. The 3-day Seasonal Meeting will be held in Montreal, Canada. 

“It’s hard to say for sure what policy shifts will actually come into play...The influence of some of the people who have been elected with progressive agendas may pull the dialogue in a certain direction, but ultimately they’re going to face roadblocks to implementing some of their policy ideas, especially with the governor and lieutenant governor still in office.”

From the article:  "The ambiguity of the contract language makes it unclear whether the photographers’ complaint is really a copyright case or a breach of contract case, copyright lawyer Monica P. McCabe of Phillips Nizer LLP, New York, told Bloomberg Law. ‘‘If the license did cover the photographs they’re talking about and the NFL and the AP didn’t exceed the scope of the licenses, it would really be a breach of contract claim,’’ McCabe said."

Richard provides insight into the legal aspects of how to deal with an unexpected broken marriage and specifically when adult children are involved.

The article, “Cheese Makers Fear EU Name Limits Curdle Profits,” also appears in the Intellectual Property section of Bloomberg Law.

The panel is sponsored by Ally Law and being held at the Law Society of England and Wales. Mark is the Co-Chair of Ally Law’s Litigation Group. Ally Law is the international legal network to which Phillips Nizer belongs.

Tom's quote:

"The questions that need to be addressed are the degree of voluntariness that is associated with entering into an employment relationship and whether consent for data processing given at that time is both sufficient in that context and whether it's sufficient to carry out future processing..."

Michael Galligan, partner in the Trusts & Estates and International Practices joins fellow international practitioners for the panel discussion, "Choice of Law, Conflict of Laws and Recognition of Foreign Judgements" at the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law Professional Program in Lisbon, Portugal on Tuesday, May 22, 2018.

On Wednesday, May 16, 2018, the New York State Bar Association's Commercial and Federal Litigation Section will conduct "Openings and Closings," a program within their webinar series.

This week, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a package of 11 bills requiring most employers to provide annual sexual harassment training for workers, beginning April 1, 2019. | Read: "NYC mayor signs sexual harassment training mandate into law: Training required for employers of 15 or more by April 2019"

Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law partner Helene Freeman addresses copyright issues in the music business at TIPLA's Spring Seminar in Nashville, Tennessee.  

Michael's panel, "Working with Treaties," will be held on the first day of the forum at 4:30 p.m. | Forum brochure and registration details here.

From the Program Brochure: "This program...will highlight the myriad of cross over topics that confront both family and elder law practitioners including the impact of marital status on Medicaid benefits, the use of spousal refusal and mutual consent divorce, long-term care planning for the unmarried elder couple, marital status changes, spousal obligations during divorce pendency and effects on long term care planning, Medicaid planning challenges created by a second marriage, and discussion of planning techniques related to the right of election for Medicaid recipients when a well spouse dies." | More information and registration here.