Joel Rothman

Arnstein & Lehr West Palm Beach Partner Joel B. Rothman was a featured speaker at the Business Owners Boot Camp, held May 17 in Itasca, Illinois at the Westin Hotel. The seminar was titled “Business Owner Essentials: Growing a Healthy Business and Successfully Involving Your Family” and included speakers John Messervey, an organization behavior consultant, and Mark Rittmanic, the founder of ForteONE. Arnstein and Lehr was one of the hosts for the event.

For more information, click here.

Joel B. Rothman

Civics awareness and education continues to be a pressing issue in the United States.  The Pew Research Center recently found that 53% of the public cannot identify the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  The Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania has found a full third of those polled could not name a single branch of the U.S. Government and that more than half didn’t know a two-thirds majority vote in Congress can overturn a veto.  An unintended consequence of No Child Left Behind has been a decrease in civics education at the K-12 level and it shows in polls like this.

“We can no longer turn a blind eye to the deplorable state of civics education in our country,” explains Arnstein & Lehr West Palm Beach Partner Joel B. Rothman.  “We see this story play out every day in the news as politicians drag judges and court decisions they disagree with onto the political stage and whip the voting population into a frenzy for political gain. This strategy succeeds because it exploits the electorate’s lack of basic civics knowledge about judicial review and the role judges play in our society.”

Joel Rothman and Stacey Ballis are doing something about this problem.  Mr. Rothman is a former assistant district attorney and Ms. Ballis, author of six books and former high school English teacher, are currently writing Wainright for the People.  Wainwright is a young adult legal thriller scheduled to be published by the American Bar Association Publishing Company.  Touted as “Law & Order meets Encyclopedia Brown,” this novel follows the adventures of Gideon Wainwright, a high school sophomore forced to intern for his assistant district attorney mother during his suspension after taking the fall for a pulled fire alarm while interrupting a bully attack.  Gideon finds himself in the middle of a DA investigation into a crime that’s just a little too close to his troubles at school.  The investigation propels him through the justice system as he, and readers, learn the fundamental concepts behind the Bill of Rights and our system of justice.

Intended to explore concepts of civics education through literary exploration, much like To Kill a Mockingbird explores concepts of social justice and racism, Mr. Rothman and Ms. Ballis are independently producing classroom materials to supplement the novel’s release.  Mr. Rothman and Ms. Ballis are currently raising funds on Kickstarter to help pay for the development of the extra educational material and for marketing directly to the educational market.  Kickstarter is the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects

For more information on Mr. Rothman’s Wainright project, click here.

Spring 2012 IP Newsletter

Arnstein & Lehr LLP’s Intellectual Property Spring 2012 Newsletter is now available. Articles authored by Arnstein & Lehr intellectual property attorneys include: Arnstein & Lehr welcomes new intellectual property partner David Newman; Induced infringement requires actual knowledge of infringed patent or “willful blindness”; Supreme Court affirms “clear and convincing evidence” standard to invalidate patents in all cases; Seventh Circuit affirms sanctions against former judge for frivolous copyright case; Eleventh Circuit adopts “joint endeavors” trademark ownership test; “Naked license” causes trademark abandonment; and Supreme Court rules government contractor does not automatically own employees’ inventions.

To view a downloadable PDF of the Intellectual Property Spring 2012 Newsletter, please click here.

Please click here to visit the Intellectual Property Practice Group webpage.

Joel B. Rothman

Arnstein & Lehr West Palm Beach Partner Joel B. Rothman authored the article “Class Action Lawsuits and Dietary Supplements: Not Always a Fit?,” which appeared in the February 8 edition of Nutritional Outlook. In the article, Mr. Rothman discusses how advertising claims should be analyzed, the different ways collective lawsuits can be brought, and which types of cases should be treated as individual lawsuits rather than collective class actions.

To read the article in full, please click here.

Recognition in South Florida Legal Guide

The South Florida Legal Guide recently announced its 2012 list of top lawyers in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach Counties. Eight Arnstein & Lehr partners received recognition. In Miami they are Ronald R. Fieldstone, Phillip M. Hudson, Martin I. Kalish and Jeffrey B. Shapiro; in Fort Lauderdale they are James C. Brady and Franklin L. Zemel; in West Palm Beach they are Steven L. Daniels and Joel B. Rothman. Attorneys were chosen for the guide based on a peer nomination procedure. Mr. Fieldstone has been recognized in the guide for each of its 12 years. Arnstein & Lehr was also recognized as one of the top law firms in South Florida. The South Florida Legal Guide is considered the region’s premier legal services publication, launched as a convenient, easily accessible print and online resource for the region’s professional community.

Joel B. Rothman

Erik L. Kantz

West Palm Beach Partner Joel B. Rothman and Chicago Partner Erik L. Kantz co-wrote the article “Consumer class actions for deceptive food, beverage and nutrition claims: is a sea change upon us?” It is featured in the October 2011 issue of Financier Worldwide. In the article, Mr. Rothman and Mr. Kantz discuss how class action lawsuits challenging product claims for deceptive advertising have become commonplace.

To read the article in full, please click here.

The film, which is approximately 15 minutes long, can be seen in its entirety here: http://vimeo.com/29218678.

Joel B. Rothman

Harley Storrings

Arnstein & Lehr attorneys won a rare dismissal of a class-action lawsuit filed in California against Celsius Holdings, a Boca Raton-based maker of functional beverages for health conscious consumers.

California courts are usually kind to class-action lawsuits, but a state court judge granted Arnstein & Lehr partner Joel Rothman’s motion to toss out three claims brought under California Legal Remedies Act and the state’s business and professions code for false and misleading advertising.

“We shut down the plaintiff’s class action litigation by showing that the plaintiff did not have standing to pursue a case against Celsius,” Rothman said. “It’s a big win in a state that’s known as a haven for class-action lawsuits.”

The plaintiff claimed on behalf of himself and others that when he drank Celsius he did not burn up to 100 calories or more per serving, as advertised. Rothman, co-chair of Arnstein & Lehr’s new Food, Beverage, and Nutrition Practice Group, argued that the plaintiff lacked necessary evidence to show that he did not burn calories or lose weight as a result of drinking Celsius.

Judge Terry A. Green agreed, and granted Rothman’s motion for summary judgment. Rothman was assisted by Arnstein & Lehr associate Harley Storrings, and Los Angeles counsel George Newhouse and Sydney Mehringer of Brown, White & Newhouse.

Rothman previously defended Celsius before the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau, a voluntary self-regulatory organization that reviews claims in national advertising. NAD made an inquiry about the claims for Celsius that the beverage helped burn calories, and the result was positive for the product and the company.

Law360 reported on the judges ruling in its August 10 edition. To read the article, please click here.

Joel B. Rothman

West Palm Beach Partner Joel Rothman is speaking at a webinar on February 18 with Biscom, the leading provider of secure document transfer technology to the legal industry. Mr. Rothman will share Arnstein & Lehr’s experience with exchanging large documents with clients and outside counsel and review the process the firm employed to evaluate and deploy secure file transfer technology.

Click here to read more about the webinar and registration information.

Joel B. Rothman

Biscom,  the leading provider of secure document transfer technology to the legal industry, today announced that it will be hosting a webinar focused on the challenges of traditional electronic file transfer  and best practices on how law firms can securely exchange files.

The webinar, scheduled for Feb. 18 at noon and also hosted by the International Legal Technology Association, will feature Joel Rothman, partner at Arnstein & Lehr. Rothman will share Arnstein & Lehr’s experience  with exchanging large documents with clients and outside counsel and review the process the firm employed to evaluate and deploy secure file transfer technology.

Transferring files securely has always been a challenge in the legal industry. Traditional means – such as email or FTP sites – cannot guarantee delivery and often present potential breaches to security and compliance.

The webinar will focus on:

• Email as the collaboration killer and other challenges with traditional file transfer methods
• The benefits achieved by deploying secure file transfer technology
• A demonstration of Biscom’s Secure File Transfer software

At the conclusion of product briefing, Rothman will be available to answer questions regarding his experience with deploying secure file transfer.  Rothman recently shared his story with  the LJN Legal Tech Newsletter. Read the article here.

Register for the webinar now.

Joel B. Rothman

The January issue of Legal Tech Newsletter features an article by West Palm Beach Partner Joel Rothman. In the article, “Arnstein & Lehr Automates,” Mr. Rothman discusses the firm’s progression in finding a simple, secure and efficient way to transfer files. He writes about the challenges law firms face in finding such a solution. However as technology advances so does Arnstein & Lehr, because we now have a process that removes those past difficulties.

Legal Tech Newsletter is a monthly newsletter published by Law Journal Newsletters. Law Journal Newsletters, a division of ALM, publishes 21 best-selling newsletters aimed at the diverse needs of attorneys in every field of endeavor, from Medical Malpractice to Legal Tech to Internet Law & Strategy to Commercial Leasing — and more. Located in Philadelphia, this division draws on decades of experience in publishing and the law. Edited by lawyers, for lawyers, each newsletter features articles written by the top experts in their respective fields. A professional staff of attorneys and seasoned editors makes sure that the latest cases, precedents and rulings are analyzed and presented to our readers in a timely and easy-to-read manner.

To read Joel B. Rothman’s  article, please Click here.

Joel B. Rothman

West Palm Beach Partner Joel Rothman was interviewed by Food-navigator-usa.com about a recent settlement that will require Kellogg to pay millions based on misleading claims that their cereals increased children’s attentiveness.

Click here to read the full article, which was published on November 22.

Erik L. Kantz

Joel B. Rothman

Chicago Partner Erik Kantz (left) and West Palm Beach Partner Joel Rothman (right) recently authored an article published in the November issue of Financier Worldwide. In a spotlight on mergers and acquisitions, the article discusses avoiding recalls, claims and class actions for mergers, acquisitions and financial transactions in the food, beverage and dietary supplement industry. It details how proper due diligence, supported by appropriate legal representations, warranties and indemnity, will help insure the buying or financing of such an asset.

Financier Worldwide is a leading source of corporate finance intelligence. It targets senior corporate executives charged with financing and deal making strategies, senior members of in-house legal teams, corporate bankers and financiers, private equity and institutional investors and other legal and financial experts involved in M&A and corporate finance matters.

Click here to read the full article.

Joel B. Rothman

West Palm Beach Partner Joel Rothman was interviewed by the Miami Herald regarding an anti-McDonalds commercial South Florida television stations declined to air.  Mr. Rothman discussed trademark issues that could arise based on the use of the “golden arches” in the commercial.

The article appeared in the September 29 issue of the paper. Click here to read the full article.

Joel Rothman

Arnstein & Lehr West Palm Beach Partner Joel Rothman was featured in the August 30 edition of Florida Trend in an article entitled “Cashing In: A crop of companies around the state aims to help inventors turn their dreams into marketable products”. Joel was quoted as saying, “The biggest mistake inventors make is not to hire the right professionals to help do the market research, complete the design and engineering, and market.” To read the complete article, click here.

This year’s honorees (pictured in order from left to right) are Fort Lauderdale Partners Alan Kipnis in Banking Law and Douglas Kniskern in Trusts & Estates Law, West Palm Beach Partner Joel Rothman in both Information Technology and FDA Law, and Chicago Partners David Sugar in Real Estate Law and Raymond Werner also in Real Estate Law.

Attorneys are selected following a rigorous process in which thousands of lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. For the new U.S. edition, more than 50 percent of the lawyers listed in Best Lawyers cast more than 3.1 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in the same and related specialties.

Supreme Court interprets copyright suit filing provision | FTC applies endorsement guides to bloggers | “First Sale” doctrine no protection or post-purchase confusion | Postal Service infringes copyright in Korean War Memorial sculptures | TTAB requires ordering information in web page specimens for goods | Celebrity allowed to pursue false endorsement claim

Arnstein & Lehr LLP Intellectual Property Newsletter Summer 2010