Daily Business Report — June 20, 2012

Lawyers Vs. Lawyers
Attorneys to debate merits and risks of online legal services

Lawyers face-off at noon on Friday, June 29, to debate the risks and rewards of online “do-it-yourself” legal websites. The event will take place at the newly renovated Downtown branch of the San Diego Law Library, 1105 Front St. Presented by the San Diego Law Library and SCORE, the special event will look at how online legal services are changing the legal profession and the impact on the business community.

The economic environment, advances in technology and fear over the perceived cost of hiring an attorney has many businesses rethinking how to handle legal issues. LegalZoom recently reported that 20 percent of new business filings in California were done using its do-it-yourself product. At the same time, the company is battling litigation across the country challenging whether these services cross the line by misleading clients into thinking they are receiving legal advice. The panelists: • Representing online technology is Lisa Honey, attorney and director of document services at Rocket Lawyer, a San Francisco-based company that provides cloud-based access to hundreds of legal forms that cover a range of business needs. • Representing the legal profession is Dennis Doucette, a partner in the emerging growth and technology practice group at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, one of the largest business law firms in Southern California. The brown-bag lunch event is part of the San Diego Law Library’s Law Made Public series. It is free of charge and open to the public.

Workshops to Focus on Lane
Field Hotel Development Project

Public workshops will be held June 28 and July 12 to give the public the opportunity to learn about the conceptual design of the Lane Field North Hotel development project. The area proposed for development is on the northern portion of the former Lane Field at Pacific Highway and West Broadway. Lane Field San Diego Developers LLC will provide an overview of the design and solicit public feedback. Both workshops will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Port of San Diego Administration Building Training Room, 3165 Pacific Highway. (Pictured: a conceptual drawing).

AstraZeneca Completes Ardea Acquisition

AstraZeneca has completed its acquisition of San Diego-based Ardea Biosciences Inc. The merger was approved by Ardea’s stockholders. On completion of the merger, each outstanding share of Ardea common stock was cancelled and converted into the right to receive $32 in cash, without interest. Shares of Ardea common stock ceased trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. AstraZeneca is biopharmaceutical company with a primary focus on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines for gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation, oncology and infectious disease.

Architectural School Honors Alumnus of the Year

Architect Christopher Bittner has been named NewSchool of Architecture and Design 2012 Alumnus of the Year. Bittner, who is known for his involvement in local projects such as the Naval Training Center Promenade, The Linkery restaurant and the Boys & Girls Clubs Valley Center branch, will be formally recognized during NSAD’s commencement ceremony on June 23 at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. “The NSAD Alumnus of the Year Award recognizes graduates who have advanced the interests and standards of excellence of NSAD through distinctive professions or volunteer careers,” said NSAD President Steve Altman. Bittner, who earned his bachelor’s degree in architecture from NSAD in 1997, has 18 years of experience in all phases of architecture and planning. He is a principal of the firm obrARCHITECTURE, which Bittner started in 2008 with two partners, Garrick Oliver and Anney Rosenthal-Hall. His work includes residential and school building projects, civic and government facilities, historic rehabilitation and commercial and planning projects.

John Malashock Receives His Fifth Emmy
Cited for dance film choreography in ‘The Floating World’

John Malashock, choreographer and artistic director of Malashock Dance, has won his fifth Emmy in 10 years for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography. The award was made at the 36th annual Pacific Southwest Regional Emmy Awards ceremony on June 16. Malashock earned the award for his dance film choreography in “The Floating World,” a dance and video production, directed by John Menier, which premiered on UCSD-TV in June 2011. TFW combined Malashock’s talent with Tara Knight’s video projection, Zoe Keating’s music, and Zandra Rhodes’s costume design.

The performance was created in conjunction with the San Diego Museum of Art’s 2010–2011 exhibition “Dreams and Diversions: 250 Years of Japanese Woodblock Prints.” (Pictured: Malashock with Emmy; dance company members perform a scene from ‘The Floating World.’)