EXPERTSEMIANNUAL WITNESSES GUIDE TO THE MAGAZINE OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION NOVEMBER 2018 / $5 SCOTUS PLUS Acceptance Civil Code of Patent Section Inter Partes 1714.10 Review Prefiling page 22 Order page 30 On Direct: Feminist Brenda Feigen page 10 LACBA Meets Veterans’ Legal Needs page 60 TheThe WildWild WestWest ofof CryptocurrencyCryptocurrency EARN MCLE CREDIT Los Angeles lawyer Nathan J. Hochman presents an overview of strategies used by U.S. government agencies to regulate and control cryptocurrency activity page 14 FEATURES 14 Policing the Wild West of Cryptocurrency BY NATHAN J. HOCHMAN As cryptocurrency can be used to facilitate crimes ranging from narcotics trafficking to terrorist financing, U.S. regulatory agencies work hard to adapt enforcement strategies to developments in this new technology Plus: Earn MCLE credit. MCLE Test No. 282 appears on page 19. 22 The Institution of Inter Partes Review BY KYLE KELLAR Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have clarified and changed the patent inter partes review process 30 When Attorneys and Clients Conspire BY RENA E. KREITENBERG Civil conspiracy claims between attorneys and clients are tricky and governed by significant legal rules 36 Special Section Semiannual Guide to Expert Witnesses Los Angeles Lawyer DEPARTME NTS the magazine of the Los Angeles County 8 President's Page 12 Barristers Tips Bar Association New and expanded programs enhance National Labor Relations Board creates November 2018 and benefit LACBA new social media guidance BY BRIAN S. KABATECK BY KRISTINA M. FERNANDEZ MABRIE Volume 41, No. 8 10 On Direct 60 Closing Argument COVER PHOTOS CREDIT: Attend LACBA's Third Armed Forces Ball TOM KELLER Brenda Feigen, Feminist INTERVIEW BY DEBORAH KELLY and help a vet BY ADAM SIEGLER LOS ANGELES LAWYER (ISSN 0162-2900) is published monthly, except for a combined issue in July/August, by the Los Angeles County Bar Association, 1055 West 7th Street, Suite 2700, Los Angeles, CA 90017 (213) 896-6503. Period - icals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA and additional mailing offices. Annual subscription price of $14 included in the Association membership dues. Nonmember subscriptions: $38 annually; single copy price: $5 plus handling. Address changes must be submitted six weeks in advance of next issue date. POSTMASTER: Address Service Requested. Send address changes to Los Angeles Lawyer, P. O. Box 55020, Los Angeles CA 90055. 11.18 Visit us on the internet at www.lacba.org/lalawyer E-mail can be sent to [email protected] Follow Los Angeles Lawyer on Twitter at @LALawyerMag EDITORIAL BOARD Chair THOMAS J. DALY Articles Coordinator TYNA ORREN Articles Coordinator JUSTIN KARCZAG Secretary TBD Immediate Past Chair JOHN C. KEITH JERROLD ABELES (PAST CHAIR) TOM K. ARA SCOTT BOYER NORMAN A. CHERNIN CHAD C. COOMBS (PAST CHAIR) KEITH A. CUSTIS GORDON K. ENG MICHAEL A. GEIBELSON (PAST CHAIR) SHARON GLANCZ GABRIEL G. GREEN STEVEN HECHT (PAST CHAIR) DENNIS F. HERNANDEZ HON. MARY HOUSE TIFFANY BACI HUNTER MARY E. KELLY (PAST CHAIR) KATHERINE KINSEY DIANA HUGHES LEIDEN LYDIA G. LIBERIO CAROLINE SONG LLOYD PAUL S. MARKS (PAST CHAIR) SANDRA MENDELL COMM’R ELIZABETH MUNISOGLU CARMELA PAGAY GREGG A. RAPOPORT JACQUELINE M. REAL-SALAS (PAST CHAIR) SHAIL PANKAJ SHAH LACEY STRACHAN THOMAS H. VIDAL STAFF Editor-in-Chief SUSAN PETTIT Senior Editor JOHN LOWE Art Director LES SECHLER Director of Design and Production PATRICE HUGHES Advertising Director LINDA BEKAS Senior Manager MELISSA ALGAZE Administrative Coordinator MATTY JALLOW BABY Copyright © 2018 by the Los Angeles County Bar Assoc - iation. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is pro hibited. Printed by R. R. Donnelley, Liberty, MO. Member Business Publications Audit of Circula - tion (BPA). The opinions and positions stated in signed material are those of the authors and not by the fact of publication necessarily those of the Association or its members. All manuscripts are carefully considered by the Editorial Board. Letters to the editor are subject to editing. 4 Los Angeles Lawyer November 2018 LOS ANGELES LAWYER IS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION 1055 West 7th Street, Suite 2700, Los Angeles CA 90017-2553 Telephone 213.627.2727 / www.lacba.org LACBA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President BRIAN S. KABATECK President-Elect RONALD F. BROT Senior Vice President TAMILA C. JENSEN Vice President BRADLEY S. PAULEY Treasurer WILLIAM L. WINSLOW Vice President Of Diversity/Affiliate Outreach PHILIP H. LAM Assistant Vice President FELIX THOMAS WOO Assistant Vice President DANIEL J. BUCKLEY Assistant Vice President KRISTIN ADRIAN Immediate Past President MICHAEL E. MEYER Barristers President JESSICA GORDON Barristers President-Elect VICTORIA MCLAUGHLIN Executive Director/Secretary STANLEY S. BISSEY Chief Financial & Administrative Officer BRUCE BERRA BOARD OF TRUSTEES SUSAN J. BOOTH JESSE A. CRIPPS GARY A. FARWELL TANYA FORSHEIT JO-ANN W. GRACE JOHN F. HARTIGAN AMOS E. HARTSTON DANIEL T. HUANG RICHARD L. KELLNER JENNIFER W. LELAND EVE LOPEZ MATTHEW W. MCMURTREY F. FAYE NIA ANN I. PARK MICHAEL R. SOHIGIAN EDWIN C. SUMMERS KENDRA THOMAS KEVIN L. VICK AFFILIATED BAR ASSOCIATIONS BEVERLY HILLS BAR ASSOCIATION CENTURY CITY BAR ASSOCIATION CONSUMER ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION OF LOS ANGELES CULVER MARINA BAR ASSOCIATION GLENDALE BAR ASSOCIATION IRANIAN AMERICAN LAWYERS ASSOCIATION ITALIAN AMERICAN LAWYERS ASSOCIATION JAPANESE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION JOHN M. LANGSTON BAR ASSOCIATION THE LGBT BAR ASSOCIATION OF LOS ANGELES MEXICAN AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION PASADENA BAR ASSOCIATION SAN FERNANDO VALLEY BAR ASSOCIATION SANTA MONICA BAR ASSOCIATION SOUTH BAY BAR ASSOCIATION SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHINESE LAWYERS ASSOCIATION WOMEN LAWYERS ASSOCIATION OF LOS ANGELES Los Angeles Lawyer November 2018 5 FROM THE EDITOR olicing cryptocurrencies poses unique challenges to U.S. regulators and law enforcement agencies as P they scramble to figure out how to regulate and enforce laws in a virtual currency world that can operate anony- mously, electronically, quickly, across borders, and without intermediaries or paper trails. In the first of a two-part series, Nathan J. Hochman, deputy chair of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP’s White Collar Litigation and Government Investigations practice, explores government enforcement efforts in this area and the difficulty of adapting potentially outdated rules and regulations to a new financial technology. Our cover story, “Policing the Wild West of Crypto - currency,” starts on page 14. In one day last spring, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two separate opinions on the patent inter partes review process, the first upholding its constitutionality and the second clarifying the scope of the governing statute. In his article, “The Institution of Inter Partes Review,” on page 22, Kyle Kellar of Lewis Roca Rothergerber Christie’s inter partes review team, explains why Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC was more closely watched by the patent bar but SAS Institute, Inc. v. Iancu may have more impact. Mesisca Riley & Kreitenberg partner Rena Kreitenberg examines causes of action against attorneys for civil conspiracy with a client. Such claims have always been thorny as they are subject to a prefiling order pursuant to Civil Code Section 1714.10. The statutory mandates and exceptions to the prefiling order within Section 1714.10 are specific, Kreitenberg says, but courts have interpreted their application in ways that are at times unclear. Her article, “When Attorneys and Clients Conspire,” starts on page 30. In his “President’s Page” column, LACBA President Brian Kabateck details progress on his pledge to significantly increase new membership benefits before the end of his term. Read about recent and coming changes that enhance and benefit LACBA on page 8. Kristina Fernandez Mabrie of Foley & Lardner writes this month’s “Barrister’s Tips” (page 12) about the National Labor Relations Board’s im portant new guidance on workplace policies in the wake of the board’s groundbreaking decision in The Boeing Company. Deborah Kelly’s “On Direct” interview on page 10 is with Brenda Feigen, American feminist, film producer, and attorney. A seminal figure in the struggle for gender equality, a former vice president of the National Organization of Women, and a cofounder of Ms. magazine in 1972, Feigen also cofounded the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project with now U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In tandem with National Veterans and Military Families Month, Greenberg Traurig litigator and pro bono coordinator Adam Siegler focuses his “Closing Argument” (page 60) on LACBA’s Veterans Legal Services Project that works to identify and address opportunities to assist veterans, active military personnel, and reservists with their legal needs. Mark your calendars: LACBA’s Armed Forces Committee, which Siegler chairs, will host its Third Armed Forces Ball on March 2, 2019. Rounding out the issue is Los Angeles Lawyer’s Semiannual Guide to Expert Witnesses, which starts on page 36. n Susan Pettit is the Editor-in-Chief of Los Angeles Lawyer. 6 Los Angeles Lawyer November 2018 president’s page BY BRIAN S. KABATECK New and Expanded Programs Enhance and Benefit LACBA IN RECENT PRESIDENT’S PAGE COLUMNS, I firms and lawyers who are LACBA members. In LACBA’s down- highlighted things that need to change in town offices, members already have free access to our virtual order to bring LACBA into the twenty- office experience for members. In addition, a members’