Partner William Brewer Writes on Associate Compensation Practices in Law360
Partner William Brewer recently wrote an op-ed about legal industry compensation practices published by Law360. Titled “BigLaw’s Associate Salary Model is a Relic of a Bygone Era,” the commentary states that the traditional model of increasing associate salaries uniformly fails star associates, the firms they work for and, ultimately, the clients they serve.
“The BigLaw formula is broken – a relic of the out-of-touch apprenticeship model of a bygone era,” writes Brewer. “The reality is there should be a direct correlation between base compensation earned and the value an attorney provides to a firm and its clients.”
The article provides insights into the meritocracy system adopted by Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors – a model that rewards employees based on the value of their contributions. The article also discusses the firm’s multi-disciplinary practice, which employs professionals with backgrounds in business, investigations, computer science, and public relations.
National Review Piece Expresses Support of Firm Lawsuit
A commentary written by R.J. Lehmann published in the National Review on June 4, 2018, titled “New York’s Assault on the NRA Sets a Dangerous Precedent” expresses support for a lawsuit filed by the firm. The firm is representing the National Rifle Association (NRA) in a lawsuit filed against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state Department of Financial Services (DFS) and its Superintendent, Maria T. Vullo.
The suit alleges that the state violated the NRA’s First Amendment rights in connection with regulatory guidance issued to financial institutions urging them to not do business with the NRA. Lehmann writes that the DFS’ “behavior sets a dangerous precedent that should trouble citizens across the political spectrum.”
He adds: “Seeing regulators open this Pandora’s box should be deeply concerning to those on both the right and the left. One easily could imagine similar motivated prosecutions of financial-services firms that do business with Planned Parenthood, tobacco companies, tech firms, the solar industry, or even the political campaigns of rival parties. The precedent set by these blatantly political regulatory actions undermines not only the insurance market, but the rule of law.”
UNHCR Recognizes Brewer Foundation IPPF Competition and Student Semifinalists
The UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency) reported on a donation the agency received from the 2016-17 semifinalists of the Brewer Foundation / New York University (NYU) International Public Policy Forum (IPPF). After debating the topic of refugee resettlement, the students from duPont Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky, donated their $1,500 in IPPF winnings to assist refugees.
The article, “With Heads and Hearts, Five Kentucky Teens Rally for Refugees,” discusses the students’ involvement in the competition and their backgrounds as first-generation Americans “with deep personal connections to global migration, refugee issues and generous communities that warmly welcome strangers.”
In a letter to the teens, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi praised their “spirit and goodwill." He also commended NYU and the Brewer Foundation for “fostering such a timely debate” and allowing students to “explore the refugee issue and other important topics with rigor and reflection.”
Significant Mobile Gaming Lawsuit Brought by App Developer Color Switch Proceeds
In an important development for Color Switch LLC and Color Switch Productions, Inc. (“Color Switch”), a federal judge in California granted a motion to allow Color Switch to serve a lawsuit against Fortafy Games DMCC (“Fortafy”) via email.
Color Switch attorneys Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors (“Brewer”) attempted multiple times to serve the lawsuit on Dubai-based Fortafy, but found the Fortafy company was not present at its listed address in the United Arab Emirates. Plaintiffs sought permission to serve Fortafy by alternative means, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, granted the motion on May 21, deciding that service via email is “appropriate in this action.”
The lawsuit was filed on March 26, 2018. In granting the motion, the judge noted that, “…Fortafy has clearly indicated its preference to only communicate through email, and the co-founders of Fortafy have recently been in contact with Plaintiffs through several email addresses.” The judge added, “Thus, service at the addresses identified by Plaintiffs satisfies the due process requirement for the service method to apprise interested parties of the pendency of the action and afford them an opportunity to present their objections.”
Color Switch seeks a declaration that it is the rightful owner of the game it developed, and seeks damages for the infringement of its copyright and theft of its property rights from Fortafy.. Fortafy published the Color Switch game app but refused to return the game and related property when the parties’ agreement ended in December 2017, essentially holding the game “hostage” and preventing millions of users from accessing it. The Color Switch game was created by famed developer David Reichelt. The gaming app has been downloaded more than 200 million times.
Bill Brewer praised the court’s decision. “We appreciate the court’s interest in this issue, and look forward to pursuing this matter further,” Brewer said. “We believe this case underscores the rights and responsibilities of parties involved in the development, design and marketing of gaming applications.”
Wall Street Journal Opinion Piece Focuses on Lawsuit Filed by the Firm
The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece on May 15 by James Freeman, assistant editor of the WSJ editorial page, in support of a lawsuit filed by the firm. The piece, “The NRA vs. Authoritarianism,” explores an alleged effort by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) to attack the First Amendment rights of the National Rifle Association (NRA) through “guidance” (to not do business with the NRA) provided to businesses that are regulated by DFS.
Mr. Freeman writes, “Read the lawsuit filed on Friday by the National Rifle Association against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his Department of Financial Services, and its Superintendent Maria Vullo. Also check out the governor’s April 19 press release on the topic. Then imagine that the target of Mr. Cuomo’s recent assault on political speech is anyone other than the gun-rights group.”
The Freeman opinion piece continues, “…it’s wrong to use powers intended to ensure the health of financial institutions to silence those with whom the governor disagrees on public policy. The main “reputational risk” here for financial companies is that they will serve clients who are unpopular in the governor’s office. If Mr. Cuomo can then freeze the otherwise law-abiding clients out of the financial system, he can put them out of business. That’s tyranny, and if the Cuomo precedent stands against the NRA, count on it being used against other controversial speakers in the future.”
Brewer Client NRA Sues New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York State Department of Financial Services Over Alleged Attack on First Amendment Rights
Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors is representing The National Rifle Association of America (“NRA”) in a lawsuit against the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”), New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and DFS Superintendent Maria T. Vullo alleging violations of the NRA’s First Amendment rights.
Filed on May 11, 2018, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, the lawsuit claims that Cuomo, Vullo, and DFS engaged in a “campaign of selective prosecution, backroom exhortations, and public threats” designed to coerce banks and insurance companies to withhold services from the NRA. The NRA argues that such tactics vastly overstep DFS’s regulatory mandate, and seek to suppress the speech of Second Amendment supporters and retaliate against the NRA and others for their political advocacy. The lawsuit seeks millions of dollars in damages to redress harms inflicted by the DFS campaign.
“Political differences aside, our client believes the tactics employed by these public officials are aimed to deprive the NRA of its First Amendment right to speak freely about gun-related issues and in defense of the Second Amendment,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and counsel to the NRA. “We believe these actions are outside the authority of DFS and fail to honor the principles which require public officials to protect the constitutional rights of all citizens.”
Reuters, Insurance Journal, and other media outlets reported on the lawsuit.
Kansas City Star Reports on Firm Client NRA
The Kansas City Star reported on Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors’ representation of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in a lawsuit against insurance broker Lockton Companies, alleging that Lockton breached its contract to administer the NRA Carry Guard insurance program for the association. The article titled “Months after getting out of NRA insurance business, headaches pile up for Lockton,” is dated May 7, 2018.
"The NRA believes that Lockton violated its fiduciary obligations – to the detriment of the organization, insurance program it was entrusted to run, and the policyholders who obtained protections by those insurance products," firm partner William A. Brewer III told the Star. "For almost 20 years, the NRA relied on Lockton as the subject-matter expert with respect to various insurance products that were offered to NRA members and other law-abiding gun owners."
Firm Client NRA Sues Insurance Broker
Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors represents the National Rifle Association (NRA) in a lawsuit against insurance broker Lockton Companies, alleging that Lockton breached its contract with the NRA in connection with the NRA Carry Guard insurance program.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the lawsuit in an article, “National Rifle Association Sues Its Insurance Broker,” dated May 4, 2018. The lawsuit against Lockton was filed in federal court on May 4 in northern Virginia. According to press reports, Lockton was fined $7 million by New York regulators and agreed to no longer provide various insurance programs in New York.
Bloomberg News also reported on the filing and quoted the complaint: “In the face of this politically motivated coercion, Lockton should have honored its fiduciary obligations and longstanding business relationship with the NRA and taken full responsibility for any compliance related concerns…Simply put, Lockton ceased to protect the NRA and its interests.”
Bloomberg quoted firm partner William A. Brewer III on the lawsuit.
“The NRA will take appropriate steps to make sure law-abiding gun owners in New York and across the country have access to the insurance coverage they need,” Brewer told Bloomberg News. “Such actions unduly burden the free market system and impact law-abiding members of the NRA.”