Hearsay. Short takes and fast facts on the law.

• Pages: 14-14

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Nearly 20 law schools are pa rticipating in the

new “movement” lawyerin g trend through the New

York City-based Law for Black Lives. Th e nonprofi t,

founded in 2015, recru its lawyers and law student s to

bolster the work of grassroots orga nizations that are

working to rectify racia l and social justice ineq uali-

ties. Initiatives incl ude a clinical program whe re stu-

dents partner with a dvocacy groups to advance soc ial,

racial and criminal j ustice platforms. L aw for Black

Lives currently has a network o f about 5,000 law yers.

Source: Law.com

Opening Statements

EPIC BATTLE

The megapopular video game Fortnite is facing legal challenge s

from celebrities who say Ep ic Games stole their dance moves

without permission or compensation. Actor Alfonso Ribeiro,

who played Carlton Ban ks on the ’90s sitcom The Fresh Prince

of Bel-Air, rapper 2 Milly and viral stars Russell “Ba ckpack

Kid” Horning an d Orange Shirt Kid h ave fi led separate

lawsuits in the U.S . District Court for th e Central District

of California, cla iming copyright infring ement. Some viral

moves in dispute—the Fresh (aka the Carlton), Swip e It

(aka the Milly Rock) and the Floss—have bee n available for

purchase on Fortni te for between $5 and $8 .

Source: New York Times

14 || ABA JOURNAL APRIL 2019

Hearsay

SHUTTERSTOCK

... is the percentag e of paralegals working at law fi rms who are

women, according to a new workp lace analysis by LinkedIn . The

extreme number furth er highlights the stark c ontrast of law fi rm hi erar-

chy and gender dispari ties within the legal professio n. LinkedIn Talent

Insights’ data about leg al professionals in corporate l aw and commer-

cial litigation also shows t hat only 40 percent of entr y-level associates

and 23 percent of part ners are women. LinkedIn’s workplace a naly-

sis is based on data from more tha n 95,000 U.S . member profi le s. The

report shows women’s chances of adva ncement are somewhat better

in family law, where 35 percent of par tners are women. But the pa th to

the top remains tough in crimin al law, where 24 percent of partners are

women, and in intellec tual property law, where only 22 p ercent of part-

ners are women. Source: LinkedIn

McSMACKDOWN

In an unusual loss of an intelle ctual property clai m,

McDonald’s Corp. no lon ger holds the trademark fo r

the Big Mac in the Europea n Union. As a result, Irelan d-

based fast-food chain Su permac’s will now be able to

expand into the United Kin gdom and Europe. Previously,

McDonald’s had blocked Su permac’s by citing the simi-

larity in the company ’s name to that of the Big Mac. The

European Union Intellec tual Property Offi ce disagreed:

It revoked the Big Mac trademar k, which had been in

effect since 1996 , saying McDonald’s had not p rovided

adequate evidence of genu ine use over the previous fi ve

years. Source: Reuters

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