Ropes & Gray Podcasts

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, finance partner Patricia Lynch and counsel Patricia Teixeira discuss the recent fraud case involving JES Global Capital and its subscription facility. They provide their insights on the diligence banks conduct prior to putting subscription facilities in place, and whether or not we can expect any change in such procedures in light of the case discussed.

In this episode of Women @ RopesTalk, hosted by health care partner Christine Moundas, co-chair of the firm’s anti-corruption and international risk practice María González Calvet interviews Shana Cappell, senior director and chief anticorruption/investigations counsel at PepsiCo. Shana talks about the differences between being in-house and outside counsel, comparing her current role to the years she spent in private practice. She shares PepsiCo’s approach to compliance and how she ensures that colleagues don’t see compliance as the department of “no.” In thinking about her own career, she reflects on how the practice of law has changed over the past 20 years.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, asset management partners Arthur Andersen and John Ayer discuss the private equity industry’s increasing interest in long-hold investment structures, along with the emergence of sponsors’ ability to offer such structures as an important competitive advantage. They discuss how innovations in the industry have created more flexible arrangements for sponsors considering longer duration investments.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, asset management partners Adam Dobson, Isabel Dische and Lindsey Goldstein discuss fund recapitalization transactions and a recent trend by some sponsors toward pursuing these transactions without a lead secondary buyer, and certain key risks for both fund sponsors and secondary buyers.

On March 10, 2021, former Chief Judge of the D.C. Circuit Merrick Garland was confirmed by the Senate as the new United States Attorney General. In this Ropes & Gray Capital Insights podcast, litigation & enforcement partners Brian Blais and Lisa Bebchick examine the DOJ enforcement priorities for 2021 and beyond.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, U.S.-based capital solutions partner Alyson Gal is joined by her London-based business restructuring colleagues, partner Matt Czyzyk and associate Natalie Raine, to discuss recent developments in European restructuring regimes and the implications of these changes on the tools available to investors in European distressed situations. The discussion includes how restructurings have historically been handled in Europe; the impact of the 2020 Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act (CIGA), including the introduction of a new pre-insolvency tool known as the Part 26A restructuring plan; the various applications of the 2019 European Union directive on preventative restructuring frameworks by the Member States; as well as temporary measures put into place in Europe to support companies impacted by the global pandemic.

The week of March 1st, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) officially delayed and suspended three of its programs, two of which, the Kidney Care Choices model and Seriously Ill Populations (SIP) track of the Primary Care First model, were set to begin on April 1. The Geographic Direct Contracting model has been indefinitely suspended, and CMMI made changes to the terms of the Direct Contracting model. In this Ropes & Gray podcast, health care partner, Christina Bergeron, and health care counsel, Sarah Blumenthal, discuss these actions, their implications and recommended next steps for providers, groups, and others participating, or interested in participating, in these programs.

In this second episode of our Ropes & Gray podcast series addressing emerging issues for fiduciaries of 401(k) and 403(b) plans to consider as part of their litigation risk management strategy, ERISA & benefits partner Josh Lichtenstein and benefits principal David Kirchner discuss the importance of implementing a robust cybersecurity program for benefit plans to ensure that participant and beneficiary information and plan assets are properly protected.

Ropes & Gray’s podcast series Conductive Discussions focuses on legal issues of interest to the semiconductor industry. In this episode, IP litigation partners Mark Rowland and Andrew Radsch, and associates Daniel Richards and James Mack, discuss patent infringement under section 271(g) of the Patent Act, a frequently overlooked but powerful provision. The team explores the statutory exceptions to liability, the availability of burden-shifting when proving infringement, and unique damages limitations for claims under section 271(g).

In this edition of Ropes & Gray’s podcast series On the Ropes: Enforcement Risk Roundtable, litigation partner Colleen Conry and associate Kyle Zipf provide an update on the anti-corruption landscape and related developments in Ghana following the country’s recent presidential and parliamentary elections.

This installation of Ropes & Gray’s podcast series Non-binding Guidance focuses on FDA regulatory developments in the area of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and machine learning. AI and machine learning represent a rapidly growing frontier in digital health, with applications ranging from medical device software used for diagnostic and triaging applications to drug candidate selection to clinical trial design and interpretation. In this episode, FDA regulatory attorneys Kellie Combs, Greg Levine, and Sarah Blankstein explore the development and uptake of these technologies in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, FDA’s current regulatory landscape for these technologies, recent steps FDA has taken to update its regulatory approach to these tools in coordination with industry, and continuing trends in this area they expect to see through 2021.

Ropes & Gray’s podcast series Conductive Discussions focuses on legal issues of interest to the semiconductor industry. In this episode, IP litigation partners Mark Rowland, Dave Chun and Matt Rizzolo, and associates Jolene Wang and Mike Morales, discuss recent trends in trade secret litigation. The team explores the large jury verdicts awarded in trade secret cases, and the increased popularity of trade secret litigation in the wake of the 2016 enactment of the Defend Trade Secrets Act. The team analyzes typical parties in trade secret misappropriation cases, trade secret trolls, and the International Trade Commission’s recent issuance of remedies in Certain Botulinum Toxin Products, where the misappropriation at issue occurred wholly abroad.

In this next installment of our ETF podcast series, Ropes & Gray attorneys Brian McCabe, Jeremy Smith and Ed Baer discuss some of the issues facing non-ETF managers who are contemplating getting into the ETF space.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, partner Ama Adams, counsel Brendan Hanifin, and associate Emerson Siegle discuss the implications and key questions surrounding Executive Order 13959, “Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Communist China Military Companies.”

Welcome to the first in a series of Ropes & Gray podcasts addressing emerging issues for fiduciaries of 401(k) and 403(b) plans to consider as part of their fiduciary process and litigation risk management strategy, ERISA & benefits partner Josh Lichtenstein, benefits principal David Kirchner and benefits consultant Aneisha Worrell discuss the DOL’s final rules concerning ESG investing and proxy voting and what impact the change in presidential administration may have on the fates of these rulemakings.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, tax partners Adam Greenwood and Dan Kolb, and asset management partner Isabel Dische discuss the recently finalized ECI withholding regulations and their implications for secondary transactions, including both portfolio sales and fund recapitalizations.

In this episode, which is the fourth in our podcast series focused on ETF issues, Ropes & Gray attorneys Paulita Pike and Ed Baer discuss some of the compliance and board reporting implications of the ETF Rule.

The latest installment of R&G Insights Lab’s podcast series, Culture & Compliance Chronicles, continues to explore the benefits of using analytics and technology in the compliance and risk management space. Zach Coseglia, managing principal and head of innovation of R&G Insights Lab, concludes his conversation with two guests from compliance software company Lextegrity, founder and CEO Parth Chanda, and head of product Kara Bonitatibus. Picking up where they left off, the group first tackles a common question from companies, “Of all of the places where there is an opportunity to bring value with data and analytics, which is the area that we should focus on?” From there, they discuss why data analytics is more of a journey than a silver bullet. Finally, they dive into examples of how continuous monitoring with a pre-built analytics engine like Lextegrity’s can help not only individual teams in a company, such as internal audit, but also the business as a whole.

In this Ropes & Gray podcast, asset management partners Isabel Dische, Adam Dobson, Chune Loong Lum and Vincent Ip, and tax partner Dan Kolb share key trends and developments from the 2020 secondaries market and what secondary buyers, sellers and fund sponsors can expect in 2021.

In this episode of Women @ RopesTalk, hosted by intellectual property transactions partner Megan Baca, health care practice group co-leader Debbie Gersh interviews Jane Appleby, associate general litigation counsel at Advocate Aurora Health. Before attending law school, Jane spent nearly a decade traveling with and homeschooling her twin daughters. After earning her law degree from Marquette University Law School, she took on litigation work at a boutique litigation firm and at Quarles & Brady before being recruited in-house at Advocate Aurora. Jane discusses her fascinating and unconventional career path, her egalitarian approach to leadership, and how Advocate Aurora has responded to the work-from-home, health and wellness challenges brought on by the pandemic. She also offers advice to those pursuing non-traditional career paths and reflects on her love of nature and the outdoors.