MANAGEMENT SHIFT AT FIOS

Apparently, there's been a big shift in the exec offices at Fios. I'll find out more details tomorrow when I meet with their team, but John Hesse  (right) is now listed on their website as the "interim CEO" replacing Gerald Massey.

LTN board member Tom O'Connor (director of the Gulf Coast Legal Tech Center) tipped us that last Friday Prashant Dubey (SVP Consulting), Sam Panarella (VP Consulting) and Jeanette Siepian (SVP Sales & Marketing) were all let go. Dubey and Panarell's LinkedIn pages show the departures, Siepian's still states Fios employment.Massey's says he's still on the board of directors, but no longer lists CEO title.

Fios' Debbie Caldwell just confirmed the departures:

"Gerald is no longer CEO, he left in May.  He initiated the change as part of a succession plan, with discussions beginning last fall. Gerald maintained, and still does, full confidence by the board. He continues to be involved with Fios, both as a member of the board of directors and a shareholder. John Hesse, the company’s CFO, is the interim CEO

Additional changes:  Fios has made organizational changes within the company to better align our resources to take advantage of the rapidly changing e-discovery market. To better address market needs, Fios has combined its sales and professional services divisions and is also expanding its product teams."

BUMMER: CLEAR FOLDS

I thought something was amiss when the Clear lane was closed at JFK Terminal 7 Saturday --with a sign saying the station was closed Sat/Sundays. Then tonight, and we got the letter. As of 11 pm Pacific time  tonight, it's kaput. We just got a cryptic e-mail:

"At 11:00 p.m. PST today, Clear will cease operations. Clear's parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations.
After today, Clear lanes will be unavailable."

Founded by my former boss, Steve Brill, Clear was absolutely terrific. Great customer service. Will post more when I find out more.

Website simply repeats it: 

Clear Lanes Are No Longer Available.

At 11:00 p.m. PST on June 22, 2009, Clear will cease operations. Clear’s parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations. 

Wired Epicenter report: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/06/vip-airport-screening-company-closes-lanes/

daggle: http://daggle.com/clear-airport-security-program-closes-707

gigdom: http://gigaom.com/2009/06/22/unclear-path-grounds-clear/

Image courtesy of daggle.

6/23 update from middle seat http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2009/06/23/clear-update-what-happens-to-your-personal-data/

MADOFF WATCH

Interested in following the Bernie Madoff mess?  Catch up on Twitter: @amlawdaily  or @Madoff_watch, or at The American Lawyer website.

J. CRAIG WILLIAMS JOINS SEDGWICK

One of our favorite people, the suave and sophisticated J. Craig Williams, has joined Sedgwick! Williams joins as a partner based in the firms Orange County office, along with Joseph McFaul, who joins as special counsel.

Both were formerly members of WLF | The Williams Lindberg Law Firm, a boutique firm based in Newport Beach, Calif.

Craig not only is a member of the LTN edit board, but is co-podcaster with our Bob Ambrogi, on LegalTalkNetwork's Lawyer2Lawyer, and is one of my podcasting mentors. Plus he actually was willing to be seen in public with me at Angels Stadium when the Yanks played the Angels last year. (I was, of course, in full Pinstripes, always fun at away games). That is courage, my friends. That's him (right) at the little celebration we held for him at LegalTech West Coast, for the release of his delightful book, How to Get Sued.

Congrats Craig and Joseph. Full release here.

LAW TECHNOLOGY NEWS DAILY ALERT

We've just launched

our new Law Technology News Daily Alert! If you'd like to subscribe, you can -- right here. The first edition includes a link to a hot story about Guidance Software, which is being grilled about absent memos -- did the
E-Discovery company bumble its own internal digital search?

Check out the story here.

MICROSOFT DEBUTS WINDOWS PHONE

Looks like the mothership is going to take on Cupertino again:  -- Microsoft has debuted a Windows Phone. http://tinyurl.com/tcs217

Excerpt:

BARCELONA, Spain — Feb. 16, 2009 — Today at Mobile World Congress 2009, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer along with key mobile partners, HTC, LG and Orange, unveiled new Windows phones featuring new user-friendly software and services. The next generation of Windows phones will be based on Windows Mobile 6.5 and feature a new user interface and a richer browsing experience. In addition, Windows  phones will feature two new services: My Phone, to sync text messages, photos, video, contacts and more to the Web; and Windows Marketplace for Mobile, a new marketplace that will provide direct-to-phone mobile applications and can be accessed from both the phone and the Web.

WHAT LIES BENEATH

With the news of layoffs at two EDD providers (i365/Metalincs and SPi), I thought you might want a sneak preview of Craig Ball's column "What Lies Beneath."

Ball warns us to be sure we have considered how to protect our firms and clients should a vendor evaporate.

View it here  or download it here: Download Ball_In_Your_Court

BLACKBERRYS & PDAS SAVE LAWYERS

Bob Ambrogi writes on Legal Blog Watch about three members of our community who survived the horrific attacks in Mumbai, aided by their BlackBerrys and international cell phones. Check it out here.

Here's a harrowing excerpt:

For Australian lawyer David Jacobs, trapped in a room on the 16th floor of the Oberoi/Trident Hotel, his BlackBerry proved to be his salvation, according to the Sunday Mail. Hiding in a closet, the 58-year-old Baker & McKenzie lawyer exchanged a stream of e-mails with his family in Sydney and two U.S. security experts.

"I don't know if I'm going toget out of this and I love you and I love the kids, and we've had a great life together," he wrote in one e-mail to his wife. Throughout the ordeal, he received advice from security experts on escape options and what to do if taken hostage.

GE SUES ITS FORMER ATTY

Our colleague Sue Reisinger of  Corporate Counsel has this story out today:

Here's the first graf:

General Electric Co. has now seen two in-house lawyers end up in court -- as its opponents. In June, GE sued a one-time staff attorney, claiming that she took privileged company tax documents and gave them to two government agencies and
a reporter. The materials apparently described an alleged tax fraud scheme by a GE division in Brazil. In a separate case last year, the general counsel of one of the company's U.S. subsidiaries brought a gender discrimination class action against GE.