Partner Ron Stepanovic led a team comprised of Partners Craig Carpenter, Samuel Endicott, Michelle Hervey, Melissa Leonard, Lana Muranovic, Brian Murray, Matthew Oliver and Michelle Reese and Associates Quentin Brown, Caroline Mills-Haddad and Natasha Wasil, serving as legal advisers to MPE Partners as the company formed a new food packaging platform by investing in Sun
D Magazine Names Five Dallas BakerHostetler Attorneys as Best Lawyers
D Magazine has named five attorneys from the BakerHostetler Dallas office to their annual Best Lawyers list for 2025. Attorneys on this list are peer-nominated in one of 39 categories. This year’s list includes:
- Elise Barajas, Healthcare: Transactional
- Craig Carpenter, Digital Information and Technology
- Shawn Cleveland, Business/Commercial Litigation
- Courtney Barksdale Perez, Labor and Employment
- Sophilia
James Sherer Addresses AI Governance at nCino nSight Conference
Partner James Sherer discusses AI governance at the nCino nSight Conference, which takes place May 19-21, 2025, in Charlotte, North Carolina. In a session titled “Eating the Elephant: Taking a Bite Out of AI Governance,” Sherer and the panel will provide perspective on AI as a key efficiency benefit to organizations and how to govern
Understanding and Navigating Compliance With NIH Grant DEI Policies
On April 21, 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a notice regarding its policy to require all US grant recipients to certify that: They do not, and will not during the term of receiving funds from the NIH, operate any programs that advance or promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); diversity, equity, inclusion,
BakerHostetler Trio Defeats Putative Class Action, Garners Am Law Litigation Daily Litigator of the Week Shout Out
Partners John Hutchins and Paul Karlsgodt and Associate Georgia Bennett scored a victory for client Colquitt Regional Medical Center in a putative class action that claimed the hospital allowed software from a multinational technology company to harvest the data of thousands of patients for advertisement curation. Georgia’s Superior Court Judge Gregory Voyles tossed the suit,
Salmon, Butter Pats and Vinyl: Washington State’s Newest Invention Will Be More Burdensome Background Check Requirements
In 1903, Edmund Smith invented the Automated Fish Cleaner. This glorious machine could gut, clean and can a salmon 55 times faster than a human could. In 1920, William Ruttle invented the butter cutter. This wonderfully named contraption could slice one-pound blocks of hardened butter into 54 perfectly formed and sized pats. In 1926, Waldo
FTC Delays Enforcement of Negative Option Rule Until July 14
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a statement on May 9 deferring by 60 days its enforcement of certain provisions of the Negative Option Rule (the Rule). The bulk of the Rule’s requirements are now scheduled to go into effect on July 14.
This 60-day deferral gives sellers of services with a negative option feature
DOL Signals Changes to Independent Contractor Rule
On May 1, 2025, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin, announcing that it will no longer enforce a 2024 Biden-era independent contractor rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Going forward, the DOL will apply the framework set forth in a 2008
Washington State May Ease Pay Transparency Rules
Washington is considering changes to its Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (EPOA) which may impact employer obligations. For more, follow the link below:
Seventh Circuit Affirms that Employer’s Withdrawal Liability Cannot Be Based on Post-Rehabilitation Plan Contribution Increases
We recently reported on a district court decision holding that the Central States Pension Fund’s calculation of withdrawal liability should not have included contribution rate increases imposed after the Fund’s implementation of a rehabilitation plan. In Central States, S.E. & S.W. Pension Fund v. Event Media Inc., Nos. 24-1739 & 1740-42, 2025 WL 1185368 (7th