Insights

Washington, D.C.-based counsel and member of the firm's Labor & Employment Group, Christopher Calsyn, contributes his knowledge to the Wall Street Journal article that explores the issue as to whether or not companies like McDonald's share responsibility for the actions of their franchisees, particularly regarding complaints about low wages paid to fast-food workers. Calsyn provides that traditionally a parent company would need to have direct and immediate control over personnel matters like hiring and firing, but this case could decide whether the franchiser has sufficient control over employees to be considered a joint employer.

Crowell & Moring's Brussels office is featured in an article highlighting recent partner and senior counsel appointments, as well as an overview of the practice strengths of those individuals and the office as a whole. Brussels partner and office head, Kristof Roox, praises his colleagues, saying, "Jan-Diederik [Lindeman]'s promotion and the addition of Geert [Bogaert] reinforces the strength and breadth of experience that our Brussels office offers and demonstrates our continued investment" in staff appointments. The piece also focuses on the key aspects of the Brussels office, in particular the advising and litigating experience in EU and Belgian Law, intellectual property, pharmaceuticals, and life sciences.

The National Law Journal speaks with Crowell & Moring chairman and Washington, D.C.-based partner, Kent A. Gardiner, about the growth and progression the firm has made in 2014. By investing in technological advances and an industry-wide recovery, Crowell & Moring reported increases in almost all of the firm's financial metrics last year. "It's partly about us and partly about the industry," said Gardiner. "We seem to be discernibly getting past the recession. We’re not in some big bounce or big rebound, but there’s solid growth at the top of the legal market." In addition to the aforementioned advancements, the firm's legal project management program, which relies on fee plans other than the billable hour, continues to help the firm retain current clients and attract new ones as well.

Crowell & Moring chairman and Washington, D.C.-based partner, Kent A. Gardiner, shares his thoughts about American Lawyer’s 12th annual "Law Firm Leaders Survey." The results from the survey show that law firm leaders expressed optimism as they were constantly tweaking their practices, technology platforms, and staffing mixes to better position themselves in an ever more competitive environment. When Gardiner was asked about where the growth will be in the legal industry, he responded, "…we are seeing more deal flow," as "this increase in demand is taking place amid pricing challenges and challenges to be more innovative in the delivery of legal services."

This article heralds an exciting win for the Washington-D.C. based members of Crowell & Moring's Intellectual Property Group. A Virginia federal jury awarded the firm's client, LifeNet, nearly $35 million in damages for LifeCell Corp.'s infringement of a patent improving the preservation of bone and soft-tissue grafts, rejecting LifeCell's invalidity defenses. News of this victory was also highlighted in "Law360's Weekly Verdict: Legal Lions & Lambs," found here.

Mark A. Klapow, a partner in Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Practice, discusses with Law360 how the newly elected Congress may have an impact on the efforts to federalize trade secrets. Despite the fact there isn’t a clear partisan divide on trade secrets issues, Klapow and others hope the new members of Congress will lessen the general gridlock Congress has displayed in the past several years. "Trade secret protection is not a partisan issue, so it's more about the ability to get things done generally than one outcome or the other," said Klapow.

Mark Klapow, a partner in Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Practice, spoke with Law360 about some best practices companies should have in place to protect themselves from trade secret concerns.

Law360 has recognized Ellen M. Dwyer, Crowell & Moring's managing partner and member of the firm's Labor & Employment Group, in their 2014 "Female Powerbroker" series. In this feature, Dwyer discusses her  professional and personal experiences as a successful woman in the legal industry which many consider to be "an old boys' network." When asked what advice she would give to aspiring female lawyers, Dwyer notes, "I would urge a young woman attorney to of course do excellent work, but then to get out of her office, and to let the lawyers around her know what her ambition is, and her commitment to realizing it. She should throw her hat in the ring for opportunities, and worry about how she can manage it all after she gets the opportunity. She'll find a way to manage, and in the interim, she will grow tremendously as a lawyer and person."

In the National Law Journal (NLJ) special report "Washington Litigation Departments of the Year," Crowell & Moring was named "Department of the Year" in the "General Civil Litigation" category. For this report, the NLJ editorial team evaluated litigation departments in the nation's capital based on several criteria including biggest wins, revenues, headcounts, and operations. As a result of their research and findings, the team selected six "excellent firms" in this first-ever, Washington, D.C.-based contest. When asked about the firm's key to success, firm chairman and Washington, D.C.-based partner, Kent Gardiner, remarked, "Clients bet on us because we bet on ourselves to win for them, and we collaborate to structure our fees around our ability to achieve success as they define it."

The U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia found that Kolon Industries failed to prove that Crowell & Moring client DuPont monopolized the market for the material, or used its contracts with customers to shut out rivals. Crowell & Moring chairman and Antitrust Group partner Kent A. Gardiner told Global Competition Review, "Discovery proved that not a single customer complained about business practices of DuPont, or sided with Kolon in support of its claims. The court rightly found that DuPont neither was a monopolist in the market nor engaged in any anti-competitive conduct."

A Virginia federal judge dismissed an antitrust suit brought by Kolon Industries Inc. against Crowell & Moring client DuPont over a synthetic fiber used in body armor, finding there was no evidence of a monopoly by DuPont. U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne granted DuPont's motion for summary judgment, ruling that the DuPont did not monopolize or attempt to monopolize the para-aramid fiber market and held that competition in the industry is thriving. Speaking to Competition Law360, Kent A. Gardiner, Crowell & Moring chairman and Antitrust Group partner, said, "The ruling fully vindicates business practices of DuPont in this critical sector of the economy. The court rightly found that DuPont neither was a monopolist in the market nor engaged in any anti-competitive conduct."

Crowell & Moring is listed among 17 firms that received praise from corporate counsel for improving their client focus in the BTI Client Service A-Team 2012 report by the BTI Consulting Group Inc.

Crowell & Moring’s Trade Secrets Group is highlighted in IP Law360 as co-counsel for DuPont in their $919 million win against Kolon Industries.