The Kelley Drye Brief - Summer 2021

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Message From Kelley Drye’s Chair   “,”   Kelley Drye Launches Environmental, Social and Governance Practice   “,”   Summertime at Kelley Drye   “,”   The Firm Elects Two New Partners and Promotes to Special Counsel   “,”   Spotlight on Kelley Drye’s Commitment to Client Service and Value   “,”   Upcoming Events and Speaking Engagements   “,”   Can’t Miss Content

Message from Kelley Drye’s Chair

Dear Clients and Friends,

I hope you’re enjoying the summer.  We’ve been busy at Kelley Drye with exciting initiatives and good news to share, which are all featured in this issue of The Kelley Drye Brief.

The summer began with the launch of our Environmental, Social and Governance practice group to help clients meet the evolving legal, business and political challenges related to these issues. The multi-disciplinary practices offers clients a range of counseling as they face increasing demands from consumers, investors, and regulators, as well as within their own organizations, to proactively address ESG issues across their value chain.

We also welcomed 16 summer associates across the New York, Washington, D.C., Parsippany, and Chicago offices. Our 2021 summer associates were able to experience a hybrid program, with office visits and in-person interactions over their 10 weeks with the firm. They handled assignments from a variety of practice groups, worked on pro bono cases, and participated in shadow training opportunities with Kelley Drye clients. The class also gathered for a variety of creative and fun social activities.

In July, we elected to the partnership two attorneys – Levi Downing and Donnelly McDowell – and promoted a group of lawyers to special counsel. I am pleased to recognize this strong group of lawyers who are devoted to advancing and protecting the interests of our clients and upholding the core values of Kelley Drye.

Finally, I invite you to take a look at the new Service and Value section of kel​leydrye​.com. At Kelley Drye, we understand client expectations and are dedicated to providing excellent client service. Our lawyers skillfully and effectively deliver results reflecting our commitment to value. These webpages further emphasize our dedication to client service, strategic pricing and value and innovation.

All my best,
Jim Carr, Chair of Kelley Drye

Kelley Drye Launches Environmental, Social and Governance Practice

In early June the firm announced the launch of a new Environmental, Social and Governance practice to help clients meet the evolving legal, business and political challenges related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.  The multi-disciplinary practices offers clients a range of counseling as they face increasing demands from consumers, investors, and regulators, as well as within their own organizations, to proactively address ESG issues across their value chain.

In essence, ESG issues are reducible to two questions—how should a company meet its own individual challenges of extended responsibility, and what should (or must) it say about what it does,” said John Foote, group co-chair, We want to help clients answer those questions in a way that safeguards their reputations, minimizes risk, and leverages opportunity.”

The attorneys and advisors on our ESG team draw on deep and diverse experience helping clients meet their own unique challenges of extended responsibility – from environmental, health and safety issues, to questions of pay equity, board diversity, and the eradication of forced and child labor from supply chains,” said Dana Rosenfeld, Kelley Drye’s managing partner.  Our ESG practice is an opportunity to offer clients an integrated approach to these emerging issues and leverage the firm’s breadth and depth of experience across multiple disciplines.”

The new practice group, co-chaired, by partners Wayne D’Angelo and John Foote, includes attorneys from the firm’s Corporate, Environmental, Labor and Employment, Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation, International Trade, Advertising Law, Litigation, and Government Relations & Public Policy practice areas.

Click here to learn more about our ESG practice.

Summertime at Kelley Drye

Our 2021 summer associate program has wrapped up and was a great success. The 16 law students who joined us in the New York, Washington, D.C., Parsippany, and Chicago offices for 10 weeks experienced law firm life and the Kelley Drye culture. And unlike last year, this summer we offered a hybrid program, which included office visits and in-person interactions.

The program was packed with opportunities to learn first-hand what life is like as a first year associate at Kelley Drye. Summer associates worked on assignments across a variety of practice groups, as well as on pro bono cases, and participated in shadow training opportunities with Kelley Drye clients. We offered training programs including writing workshops and trial advocacy sessions. We also held our 2nd Annual Summer Associate Hackathon,” where teams worked to hack” the upcoming virtual and hybrid recruiting season.

Creative and fun virtual social events, including a sake tasting and ramen making class, a paint & sip night and mixology class, and a trivia night with mentor groups, allowed summer associates to get to know one another and Kelley Drye attorneys.

Click here for more information on our summer associate program.

The Firm Elects Two New Partners and Promotes to Special Counsel

On July 1, Kelley Drye announced the election of Levi M. Downing and Donnelly L. McDowell to partner, and the promotion of Maeghan J. McLoughlin, Sandra M. Rodriguez, Lana Rowenko, and James B. Saylor, to special counsel, effective July 1, 2021.

One of Kelley Drye’s key objectives is to develop and foster an environment in which lawyers have the opportunity for challenging work and professional growth,” said Dana Rosenfeld, firm managing partner. I am pleased to recognize this strong group of lawyers who are devoted to advancing and protecting the interests of our clients and upholding the core values of Kelley Drye.”

Click here to get to know more about our new partners and here to learn more about our new special counsel.

Spotlight on Kelley Drye’s Commitment to Client Service and Value

To showcase our commitment to providing premium client-centric service that addresses our clients’ primary concerns about value and pricing and our continued focus on innovation, we recently added a Service and Value area to the firm’s website.

The new web pages include case studies that illustrate the firm’s ability to offer helpful solutions to clients’ most pressing problems that make their lives easier and position them for success within their organizations.

Upcoming Events and Speaking Engagements

Our Startup Workbench Webinar Series continues with a program on startup employment issues.

Startup Employment Issues
Thursday, October 14 at 1:00 pm Eastern Time
Startups of all sizes face hiring challenges. Hiring is difficult and competitive, and welcoming new people into your organization can present sleeper” employment law challenges and pitfalls that often go overlooked, much to the detriment of the bottom line. Furthermore, startups find it difficult to compete with the cash compensation offered by established companies. A common solution is to offer to the employee stock in the startup. This will enable the new hire to participate in the hoped-for success of the startup.

Join Kelley Drye’s Employment and Labor practice co-chair Mark Konkel to discuss a few common employment law issues, as well as the securities and tax issues involved in stock compensation as to which a bit of advanced understanding and planning can do a great deal to minimize the downstream risks of expensive legal headaches. Click here to register.

Kelley Drye lawyers are speaking at a number of events in the coming months, including the following:

Law Seminar International’s 14th Annual Advanced Natural Resource Damages Seminar
August 12 – 13, 2021, Virtual Conference
Partner Bill Jackson will moderate and present on the panel, Navigating the New Political Landscape: Prospects for New Regulations and the Impact on Claims Involving Perfluorinated Chemicals (PFAS).”  The discussion will cover the rapidly changing regulatory and litigation landscape of sprawling PFAS contamination across the country, the state of the science and PFAS regulation at both the state and federal level, the implications of the Biden Administration’s stated intent to create federal MCLs for certain PFAS, and the implications of a potential CERCLA designation for PFOA and PFOS.  Further, leaders in PFAS litigation from industrial discharger sites and the AFFF MDL will discuss the state of PFAS litigation across the country. The panel will provide an update on Biden Administration and state initiatives to regulate PFAS and adopt drinking water and other standards, including how that affects NRD claims.

On day two of the conference, John Gilmour, Kelley Drye partner and lead counsel for Guam in its case against the United States, will discuss the underpinnings of Guam’s recent unanimous victory at the United States Supreme Court as part of the annual Supreme Court update of key environmental and natural resource holdings from the recent term.

For more information, visit the event’s website.

Open RAN: Open for Business
September 23, 2021, 12:30 - 1:30 pm Eastern Time, Hybrid Event
The telecom industry push towards Open RAN with open standards, vendor diversity, and neutrality should open up competition, and improve services. Communications partner Chip Yorkgitis will participate on this panel, during the Telecom Council’s Innovation Review on 5G RAN which will cover the new services and what is motivating the various stakeholders. For more information, visit the event’s website.

Navigating Russia Sanctions Complexities
September 27, 2021, 12:00 - 1:15 pm Eastern Time, Virtual Conference
The Russia sanctions landscape continues to evolve in many significant ways. At ACI’s 4th Annual Navigating Russia Sanctions Complexities Virtual Conference, Kelley Drye will co-present with Ilya Shulman, Executive Director, Global Financial Crime for JP Morgan Chase, regarding OFAC’s 50% Rule: How to Apply this Rule in the Real World. For more information on the conference, or to register, click here.

NAD2021: The Future of Ad Law 
September 29, 2021, Hybrid Event
The National Advertising Division (NAD) annual conference, NAD 2021, will celebrate 50 years of advertising industry self-regulation, convening the industry experts, government officials, legal professionals, and businesses of all sizes that have worked since 1971 to help establish high standards of truth and accuracy in national advertising. These thought leaders, including Kelley Drye partner John Villafranco, will discuss the critical trust and technology challenges facing the advertising industry today and share practical advice on the day-to-day issues that new and evolving platforms and an increasingly competitive environment can raise. More information can be found on the event’s website.
Additional Fall programming is in the works, regularly check the Kelley Drye website for the latest information.

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