Laura M. Stake, P.C.

Laura M. Brank Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP has hired the one-time managing partner of Dechert LLP's Moscow office, whose practice focuses on advising corporations, banks, investment funds and other clients on mergers and acquisitions matters, cross-border transactions and matters related to emerging markets, the firm announced Tuesday. Laura M. Brank has joined BCLP's corporate transactions practice as a partner, and will be based in Washington, D.C. She's practiced for more than 30 years, working to advise corporations, high-net-worth individuals and other clients on compliance with international sanctions, complex corporate and financial matters, and corporate governance issues. Brank was the managing partner of Dechert's Moscow office until the firm shut its doors there in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, alongside White & Case LLP, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Hogan Lovells. Brank started her career with Winthrop Stimson Putnam & Roberts, which eventually became part of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP after several mergers. Following that role, Brank moved to Chadbourne & Parke LLP, which merged in 2017 with Norton Rose Fulbright, where she spent more than 14 years She worked as the head of its Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States practice. In an interview with Law360 Pulse Tuesday, Brank said she'd lived in Russia while working with Chadbourne & Parke, but in the last few years she'd been based in Dechert's London office, and had then moved to Washington. When Russia invaded Ukraine, she said she was living in the U.S. "There was a tremendous amount of fallout from that invasion because I had represented so many companies that had invested in Russia over the last 30 years, and then I found myself helping a lot of those companies to exit the market," Brank said. "Which has been extraordinarily challenging because you need to get multiple government approvals just to sell assets sitting in Russia." Brank said that largely her clients largely are public companies, but the deals she helps them with are private. "So, it's a public company that is selling a subsidiary, maybe that was sitting in Russia, or even in Ukraine for that matter," she said. "People that are just exiting from the business that they previously had, or maybe consolidated that business. Maybe they had several different lines of manufacturing before, and now they've consolidated to one." "But it's not a public deal, it's not selling a public company, it's really selling, usually, a subsidiary of a public company to another, private investor," Brank said. Brank will continue working on those and other cross-border matters, and the firm said her practice "frequently intersects with adjacent practices such as international trade and arbitration." Some of Brank's other focuses include transactional matters in the mining and energy industries, with technology, media and entertainment businesses, life sciences and manufacturing clients, the firm said. Brank is a U.S. Army veteran and was stationed in Germany before earning her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. That experience helped catalyze her practice focused on cross-border transactions and with working with clients in Eastern Europe and across the globe, she said. "I had always wanted to be a lawyer, but I didn't know what kind of lawyer," Brank said. "Having that background with Russia, and at the time, I was just starting out and the markets were just opening up in that part of the world ... so I was able to sort of get in at the ground level and start doing deals because I already spoke the language, I understood the culture and that's all attributable to my military career, where I basically studied Russian and studied the culture and the history." Brank said she wanted to join BCLP because of its global platform. She also highlighted the firm's capabilities in the U.K. "Just given my clients' interest in investments, I really needed a platform that could help service them in different parts of the world," she said. "And also the sector expertise was very interesting for me. Coming to a firm like this, I tend to represent a lot of corporations, and BCLP is known for acting for a lot of multinational corporations, so all of those things aligned with my interests." Brank holds a master's of science degree in foreign service, international relations and affairs from Georgetown University, according to her LinkedIn profile. She serves on Georgetown University Law Center's European Law Alumni Advisory Board, and the advisory board of Georgetown University's Master of Science in Foreign Service program, the firm said. Brank is also a member of the advisory board of the CEELI Institute, a nonprofit focused on promoting the rule of law, and a board member of the Global Leaders Assembly Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes constructive engagement across borders on global challenges, the firm said. Brank joined Dechert in 2009 as the managing partner of its office in Moscow and as head of its Russia practice, according to her LinkedIn profile. Carol Osborne, the global department leader of BCLP's corporate and finance transactions group, said in a statement that Brank's hiring is part of the firm's "strategic approach to building our bench strength in cross-border, strategic corporate transactions," which aligned with Brank's "deep sector-focused experience and proven business generation capabilities." "Her track record in complex, middle-market corporate and finance transactions and her established client base across key industries and geographies make her an invaluable addition to our global corporate team," Osborne said. Todd Kaye, the firm's corporate transaction's practice group leader, said in a statement that Brank's hire "reflects our continued investment in top-tier talent with the global perspective and transactional depth our clients rely on." "Her cross-border M&A experience and strong client relationships across emerging markets will add immediate value to our international platform and enhance our capabilities in Washington, D.C.," he said.

Nov 18

5 min

A California federal magistrate judge on Wednesday warned attorneys representing Databricks in a group of writers' copyright lawsuit over AI training that they cannot discuss deposition testimony with witnesses during breaks other than for privilege reasons, but she rejected the writers' accusation that defense counsel had improperly coached witnesses. The discovery ruling is the latest development in a high-stakes proposed class action filed in March 2024 by writers Abdi Nazemian, Brian Keene and Stewart O'Nan who allege their books were part of a pirated database that Databricks and its subsidiary, MosaicML, used to train large language models without consent or compensation. Databricks acquired MosaicML for roughly $1.3 billion in 2023. In a joint letter last week, the writers accused defense attorneys of coaching two witnesses, MosaicML co-founder Hanlin Tang and former MosaicML chief scientist Jonathan Frankle, during depositions, and improperly directing them not to answer certain questions. Both witnesses are now executives and researchers at Databricks. Meanwhile, defense counsel countered that the plaintiffs should not be allowed to ask "personally invasive and harassing" questions. U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa J. Cisneros reviewed the witnesses' transcripts, and in a 5-page order on Wednesday, she denied the writers' request to further examine the witnesses. Judge Cisneros agreed with the writers that Databricks' counsel improperly discussed the substance of the examinations with Tang and Frankle during deposition breaks, and she noted that the "far better course" would have been for defense counsel to examine the witnesses and show them certain documents "on the record during the deposition." However, the judge said those witnesses did not change their testimony following their discussions with defense counsel, and the writers' counsel were still able to ask follow-up questions, so further questioning is not warranted. Judge Cisneros additionally found that defense counsel improperly directed Tang not to answer certain questions during his deposition about how much he stood to gain from Databricks' acquisition of MosaicML purportedly due to defense counsel's privacy concerns. The judge noted that Databricks' privacy concerns are "somewhat overblown," given that the depositions are sealed and the witness' personal stake in the MosaicML deal may be relevant to the writers' claims. "The court notes that this does not give plaintiffs carte blanche to question witnesses regarding their personal finances unrelated to the acquisition or the financial benefit from defendants' alleged infringement, and instructions not to answer may be appropriate in such situations," the order adds. Even so, the judge warned Databricks counsel that her standing order and the district's case law prohibits private conferences between deponents and attorneys "in the course of interrogation, including a line of related questions." The sole exception to that prohibition is to determine whether a privilege should be asserted, the judge said. "If counsel believes that a witness's testimony requires clarification or needs to refresh the witness's recollection, the proper procedure is for them to question the witness 'on the record at the conclusion of the deposition' rather than confer with the witness during breaks," the order says. "Counsel shall comply with these procedures at any future depositions." Judge Cisneros also noted that examining counsel can ask witnesses whether they discussed non-privileged testimony with their attorneys during breaks, and those witnesses are only required to confirm or deny whether they did without disclosing the content of their discussions or waiving attorney-client privilege. Counsel and representatives for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. The proposed class is represented by Joseph R. Saveri, Christopher K.L. Young, Evan Creutz, Elissa A. Buchanan, William Castillo Guardado and Jane J. Kim of the Joseph Saveri Law Firm LLP, Justin A. Nelson, Alejandra C. Salinas, Rohit D. Nath, Elisha Barron, Craig Smyser, Jordan W. Connors and Trevor D. Nystrom of Susman Godfrey LLP, Rachel J. Geman, Danna Z. Elmasry, Anne B. Shaver and Betsy A. Sugar of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, Bryan L. Clobes, Alexander J. Sweatman and Mohammed A. Rathur of Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel LLP, Brian D. Clark, Laura M. Matson and Arielle Wagner of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP, and Matthew Butterick. Databricks and Mosaic are represented by Jedediah Wakefield, Brian David Buckley, Charles Moulins, David Lloyd Hayes, Deena Julia Greenberg Feit, Diana Buck, Justine Alexis Vandermel, Ryan Kwock and Zachary Harned of Fenwick & West LLP. The case is In re: Mosaic LLM Litigation, case number 3:24-cv-01451, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Nov 26

3 min

A California federal judge on Monday freed Meta from an antitrust lawsuit that accused it of monopolizing an asserted market for personal social networking, saying Facebook users failed to prove the existence of an antitrust injury, with or without help from an expert witness. U.S. District Judge James Donato of the Northern District of California ruled that the opinions of economist Nicholas Economides had to be excluded since opinions he proposed to present at trial were essentially the same ones the court already found inadmissible when it denied class certification in the case. "They fare no better a second time around, and so are excluded from the case," Judge Donato wrote in an order on Monday. He said the exclusion of Economides' antitrust injury opinions also "guts plaintiffs' case," thus warranting a grant of summary judgment in Meta's favor. Judge Donato said any "lay evidence" that individual users argued would prove antitrust injury, irrespective of expert opinion, also couldn't save their case since the evidence was the same raw material Economides had reviewed for his reports. "The problem for plaintiffs is that this evidence would not allow a jury to make a nonspeculative finding of antitrust injury any more than it allowed Dr. Economides to so opine," Judge Donato wrote. "In the hands of either a jury or an economist, documents indicating that Meta occasionally thought about paying certain users in certain situations is insufficient to provide antitrust injury, to take one example of the lay evidence." Meta moved for summary judgment in late April, after Judge Donato denied certification for a proposed class of Facebook users who had claimed that in a "but-for" world — where Meta did not deceive users regarding how much of their data it was collecting and offering up to advertisers — other platforms would have eaten into Facebook's user base by presenting an alternative with better privacy protections. Three remaining consumer plaintiffs sought an interlocutory appeal of the certification order, but the Ninth Circuit denied the appeal in May. In excluding Economides' expert opinions, Judge Donato said Monday that Economides had again proposed that Meta would have paid users $5 a month but for its anticompetitive conduct. But that assertion "is not well taken," Judge Donato said, noting that the evidence Economides presented was "essentially the same in all of his reports" and that Economides arrived at the "same inadmissible conclusion that antitrust injury occurred in the form of not paying people to use Facebook." He said the users also didn't suggest when seeking class certification that they were presenting anything less than the best version of Economides' work. "They were the parties seeking certification, and nothing in the record indicates that they hobbled themselves by proffering a half-baked theory of antitrust injury," Judge Donato wrote. In granting summary judgment to Meta, Judge Donato said the users had also offered the same documents Economides had previously mentioned concerning internal discussion at Meta about paying users for data, for instance. He said the court had already examined the offered evidence in detail and had concluded that there was an "unbridgeable gap" between the evidence and proof of antitrust injury. "Tapping in a jury in lieu of Dr. Economides will not solve this shortcoming," Judge Donato wrote. Judge Donato further noted on Monday that while juries can bring "profound intelligence and comprehension to even the most complicated trials," jurors still must be "properly equipped to decide highly technical issues" like antitrust injury. "The question of antitrust injury here is exactly the type of issue that demands expert testimony to resolve, which plaintiffs cannot supply," Judge Donato said. "Consequently, Meta has demonstrated that plaintiffs cannot prove the essential element of antitrust injury at trial." Counsel for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday evening. The consumers are represented by Kevin Y. Teruya, Adam B. Wolfson, Scott L. Watson, Claire D. Hausman, Brantley I. Pepperman, Michelle Schmit and Manisha M. Sheth of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, by Shana E. Scarlett and Steve W. Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, and by W. Joseph Bruckner,  Brian D. Clark, Kyle Pozan and Laura M. Matson of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP. Meta is represented by Sonal N. Mehta, David Z. Gringer, Ross E. Firsenbaum, Ryan Chabot, Paul Vanderslice, Ari Holtzblatt, Molly M. Jennings and Michaela P. Sewall of WilmerHale. The case is Maximilian Klein et al. v. Meta Platforms Inc., case number 3:20-cv-08570, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Sep 29

3 min

Laura M. Brank Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP has hired the one-time managing partner of Dechert LLP's Moscow office, whose practice focuses on advising corporations, banks, investment funds and other clients on mergers and acquisitions matters, cross-border transactions and matters related to emerging markets, the firm announced Tuesday. Laura M. Brank has joined BCLP's corporate transactions practice as a partner, and will be based in Washington, D.C. She's practiced for more than 30 years, working to advise corporations, high-net-worth individuals and other clients on compliance with international sanctions, complex corporate and financial matters, and corporate governance issues. Brank was the managing partner of Dechert's Moscow office until the firm shut its doors there in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, alongside White & Case LLP, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Hogan Lovells. Brank started her career with Winthrop Stimson Putnam & Roberts, which eventually became part of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP after several mergers. Following that role, Brank moved to Chadbourne & Parke LLP, which merged in 2017 with Norton Rose Fulbright, where she spent more than 14 years She worked as the head of its Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States practice. In an interview with Law360 Pulse Tuesday, Brank said she'd lived in Russia while working with Chadbourne & Parke, but in the last few years she'd been based in Dechert's London office, and had then moved to Washington. When Russia invaded Ukraine, she said she was living in the U.S. "There was a tremendous amount of fallout from that invasion because I had represented so many companies that had invested in Russia over the last 30 years, and then I found myself helping a lot of those companies to exit the market," Brank said. "Which has been extraordinarily challenging because you need to get multiple government approvals just to sell assets sitting in Russia." Brank said that largely her clients largely are public companies, but the deals she helps them with are private. "So, it's a public company that is selling a subsidiary, maybe that was sitting in Russia, or even in Ukraine for that matter," she said. "People that are just exiting from the business that they previously had, or maybe consolidated that business. Maybe they had several different lines of manufacturing before, and now they've consolidated to one." "But it's not a public deal, it's not selling a public company, it's really selling, usually, a subsidiary of a public company to another, private investor," Brank said. Brank will continue working on those and other cross-border matters, and the firm said her practice "frequently intersects with adjacent practices such as international trade and arbitration." Some of Brank's other focuses include transactional matters in the mining and energy industries, with technology, media and entertainment businesses, life sciences and manufacturing clients, the firm said. Brank is a U.S. Army veteran and was stationed in Germany before earning her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. That experience helped catalyze her practice focused on cross-border transactions and with working with clients in Eastern Europe and across the globe, she said. "I had always wanted to be a lawyer, but I didn't know what kind of lawyer," Brank said. "Having that background with Russia, and at the time, I was just starting out and the markets were just opening up in that part of the world ... so I was able to sort of get in at the ground level and start doing deals because I already spoke the language, I understood the culture and that's all attributable to my military career, where I basically studied Russian and studied the culture and the history." Brank said she wanted to join BCLP because of its global platform. She also highlighted the firm's capabilities in the U.K. "Just given my clients' interest in investments, I really needed a platform that could help service them in different parts of the world," she said. "And also the sector expertise was very interesting for me. Coming to a firm like this, I tend to represent a lot of corporations, and BCLP is known for acting for a lot of multinational corporations, so all of those things aligned with my interests." Brank holds a master's of science degree in foreign service, international relations and affairs from Georgetown University, according to her LinkedIn profile. She serves on Georgetown University Law Center's European Law Alumni Advisory Board, and the advisory board of Georgetown University's Master of Science in Foreign Service program, the firm said. Brank is also a member of the advisory board of the CEELI Institute, a nonprofit focused on promoting the rule of law, and a board member of the Global Leaders Assembly Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes constructive engagement across borders on global challenges, the firm said. Brank joined Dechert in 2009 as the managing partner of its office in Moscow and as head of its Russia practice, according to her LinkedIn profile. Carol Osborne, the global department leader of BCLP's corporate and finance transactions group, said in a statement that Brank's hiring is part of the firm's "strategic approach to building our bench strength in cross-border, strategic corporate transactions," which aligned with Brank's "deep sector-focused experience and proven business generation capabilities." "Her track record in complex, middle-market corporate and finance transactions and her established client base across key industries and geographies make her an invaluable addition to our global corporate team," Osborne said. Todd Kaye, the firm's corporate transaction's practice group leader, said in a statement that Brank's hire "reflects our continued investment in top-tier talent with the global perspective and transactional depth our clients rely on." "Her cross-border M&A experience and strong client relationships across emerging markets will add immediate value to our international platform and enhance our capabilities in Washington, D.C.," he said.

Nov 18

4 min

Writers suing Databricks for allegedly using their copyrighted works for artificial intelligence training have urged a California federal judge to order defense attorneys to stop coaching witnesses during depositions, with defense counsel countering that the court should bar plaintiffs from asking "personally invasive and harassing" questions. In a joint letter submitted to the court on Thursday, the plaintiffs accused defense attorneys of inappropriate conduct during seven depositions, while the defense responded by saying their actions were in line with ethical and legal obligations and denied that their conversations with clients involved coaching. The parties told the court they need the court's intervention because all they could agree on to resolve their dispute is that going forward all "objections to form" will be made by saying "objection to form" or some variation of that without going into the specifics of the objection. Counsel for Databricks "has coached witnesses during breaks, then aggressively instructed them not to answer any questions about their mid-deposition coaching," the plaintiffs said in the letter. Attorneys for Databricks said in the letter that's not true. "Plaintiffs mischaracterize the facts and misstate the law in an effort to prohibit nearly all communications with witnesses during depositions recesses," Databricks said. The lawsuit from Abdi Nazemian, Brian Keene and Stewart O'Nan alleges the plaintiffs' books were part of a pirated database that Databricks and its subsidiary, MosaicML, used to train large language models without consent or compensation. In the letter, which contains several redactions, the plaintiffs asked the court to order defense counsel to not discuss "the substance of testimony during deposition breaks, except to address issues of privilege." The plaintiffs also want an order requiring defendants to stop "directing witnesses not to answer" questions other than for privilege reasons or "legitimate harassment." The plaintiffs also want more deposition time with two witnesses, including one of Mosaic's co-founders. Meanwhile, defense counsel insisted they "correctly instructed certain witnesses not to answer inappropriate and personally invasive questions" and asked the court for an order that prevents such questions. "Plaintiffs should be prohibited from pursuing personally invasive and harassing lines of questioning about" their internet browsing history "or downloading personal content decades ago." The defense also said the plaintiffs should not be allowed to ask certain questions about training data for particular LLMs, arguing they are no longer at issue in the case. Counsel for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. Plaintiffs are represented by Joseph R. Saveri, Christopher K.L. Young, Evan Creutz, Elissa A. Buchanan, William Castillo Guardado and Jane J. Kim of the Joseph Saveri Law Firm LLP, Justin A. Nelson, Alejandra C. Salinas, Rohit D. Nath, Elisha Barron, Craig Smyser, Jordan W. Connors and Trevor D. Nystrom of Susman Godfrey LLP, Rachel J. Geman, Danna Z. Elmasry, Anne B. Shaver and Betsy A. Sugar of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, Bryan L. Clobes, Alexander J. Sweatman and Mohammed A. Rathur of Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel LLP, Brian D. Clark, Laura M. Matson and Arielle Wagner of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP, and Matthew Butterick. Defendants are represented by Jedediah Wakefield, Brian David Buckley, Charles Moulins, David Lloyd Hayes, Deena Julia Greenberg Feit, Diana Buck, Justine Alexis Vandermel, Ryan Kwock and Zachary Harned of Fenwick & West LLP. The case is In re: Mosaic LLM Litigation, case number 3:24-cv-01451, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Nov 21

3 min