Brown Rudnick LLP

Brown Rudnick has been chosen as co-counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Chapter 11 case of sterilization company Cosmed Group. The Brown Rudnick team is led by partners David Molton, Eric Goodman and Gerard Cicero, and includes Susan Sieger-Grimm, Matthew Sawyer, Maria D. and Andrew Rizkalla. Click to read the full announcement: https://lnkd.in/eAKyFG-f

In an interview with Newsweek, partner Wayne Dennison said that Jay-Z's aggressive approach in defending himself against allegations that he and fellow rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs raped a woman in 2000 when she was 13 years old "will likely serve as a model for other celebrities who are eventually implicated in some manner." "Jay Z and his legal team have taken an aggressive but, very likely, the right approach from a long-term public relations perspective," Dennison said. "The best defense is very often a strong offense." Dennison added that, unlike Jay Z, there will likely be some celebrities who will settle civil claims rather than bear the risk of public scrutiny. "It is very difficult to affirmatively prove complete innocence, and some celebrities will likely buy confidentiality if offered at the right price," he said. "If required to respond, those known to be in Mr. Combs' immediate orbit, especially those who were minors at the time, are also likely to deflect any blame to Mr. Combs and the incredible power that he exercised over them and in the recording, fashion and other related industries." Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ekqE_u6X

Join us on Thursday, Jan. 9, for a webinar on the Chapter 11 case of Tehum Care Services, the bankrupt subsidiary of prison healthcare provider YesCare. The panel will feature partner Eric Goodman, who led the Brown Rudnick team that successfully negotiated on behalf of the Torts Claimants' Committee a comprehensive settlement agreement with the creditors of Tehum Care. The panel will also include other lawyers involved in the case: Michael Zimmerman, an attorney at Berry Riddell; Jackie Aranda Osorno, senior attorney at Public Justice; and Paul Hilkert, a partner with Nach, Rodgers, Hilkert & Santilli. For more information, contact Kate Souza at ksouza@brownrudnick.com.

Partner Ian Weinstein is quoted in Law360 UK regarding the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) move in November to tone down an earlier plan to publicly name some firms in the early stages of enforcement investigations after the sector and the government resisted. The FCA informed the House of Lords financial services regulation committee last month that it was seeking to bring down the proportion of enforcement cases that end with no action taken, Law360 noted. This is just over half, and the regulator aims to get it to a third. "The FCA has not made it clear why this, in and of itself, is a good thing," Weinstein said. "The FCA seems to be focusing simply on the number of cases that end with no action taken, rather than a more qualitative analysis of whether the right investigations are being opened and pursued." Click to read the full article: https://lnkd.in/egPNN-m8

Partner Wayne Dennison joins Court TV to discuss the trial of Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr., charged with the 2022 murder of Jimmie “Jay” Lee III, which was recently declared a mistrial. Prosecutors allege Herrington killed Lee during a kidnapping and presented evidence, including incriminating online searches and communications between the two men shortly before Lee’s disappearance. Lee was a well-known member of the LGBTQ+ community at the University of Mississippi. “It’s a difficult case largely because there is no body and this is another one of those cases where people are going to be prosecuted for their google searches,” Dennison said. “Quite frankly, I don’t think that the sexual preference or the sexuality of either the victim or the defendant ought to be a relevant issue in this case, but apparently the prosecution has decided to make.”

In a Q&A with Global Investigations Review Insight, partner Paul Feldberg, one of the four editors of the Guide to Sanctions, discusses the increased focus on enforcement and circumvention in sanctions, the boundaries between OTSI and OFSI, and the potential impacts of the US election and upcoming change in administration. Feldberg observed that following the blizzard of sanctions over the last two years, “the next stage is enforcement and focusing on facilitators.” “We’ve seen legislative change in the UK in relation to circumvention and we’ve also seen the EU attempt to harmonize breaches of sanctions into a criminal offence across Europe, which is part of the effort to enforce these acts,” Feldberg explained. Read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/eqJr7KcV

Brown Rudnick secured a win for Quantum Imaging against Sony Interactive Entertainment and related Sony entities in an inter partes review challenging the validity of Quantum’s patents, which have been asserted against certain Sony products. The team is led by partner Erick Robinson, and includes partners Jayne Piana and Jayme Partridge - Partner; counsel Patrick Dunn; and associates Homayoon Rafatijo, Ph.D., Esq., John S. and Berlindyne E.. Read the full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/dDwnvxHs

Brown Rudnick’s M&A and Private Equity Litigation practice secured summary judgment and a fee award for iUnlimited, a company specializing in insurance claims investigation and fraud detection, in a books and records request related to an earnout dispute. The team was led by partner Dylan Kletter and included partner Blair M. Rinne. Read the full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/einBqP_Y

Partner Matthew Richardson is quoted by CFO Dive concerning the uncertain future of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s cybersecurity enforcement as President-elect Donald Trump's second term looms. Much of the public company filings resulting from the SEC’s first year of implementing a rule requiring the disclosure of “material” cybersecurity breaches have been vague and confusing, producing little value for investors, legal analysts said. “There’s a balancing act to be struck, and I’m afraid that the current way it’s being done is probably not correctly balanced,” Richardson said. The cybersecurity rule presents public companies with a dilemma, Richardson added. While there’s a need for investors to understand the risks associated with a breach, companies also need to worry about the possibility of disclosing details that could be exploited by hackers. Click image to read the full article.

In a new BRiefing, Tristan Axelrod and Samuel Wolf analyze a recent Michigan decision that highlights key contract drafting and bankruptcy principles in the rejection of franchise “bundled” sub-agreements. The authors noted that one of the most important tools in the Bankruptcy Code is the debtor’s power to reject executory contracts, agreements for which performance remains due to some extent from both sides. “Courts have long grappled with the meaning and effect of rejection of franchise and related intellectual property agreements because there are many ways to think about them,” they wrote. “Is a franchise agreement just a franchisee’s obligation to pay royalties while putting the franchisor’s mascot on a sign outside? Or has the franchisee purchased valuable trade secrets, client lists and other information in a one-time transaction?” Click image to read the full post.