Legal Book

Criminalizing Wrongdoing: When Judges Disagree

admin — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:38 +0000

Examining a recent Ninth Circuit ruling in a case involving a former executive search firm employee prosecuted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, attorney Joel Cohen weighs in on the perils of broad-brush criminal statutes and the challenges for judges tasked with interpreting the statutes.

D.C. Circuit Upholds Key Section of Voting Rights Act

Master — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:37 +0000

A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.

Odd Bedfellows Get Together Behind Prison Phone Rate Reform

admin — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:36 +0000

Civil rights and conservative groups have banded together to form an unlikely coalition to ask the FCC to end “exorbitant” fees that many prisons charge inmates to make phone calls. A 15-minute collect call from prison typically costs $10 to $17 — rates that garnered $152 million in revenue for prisons in 2011.

Jurors banned from blogging about criminal cases

Master — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:33 +0000

The Florida Supreme Court has issued an opinion that states that trial judges must tell jurors not to use electronic devices or computers to talk about cases, “including tweeting, texting, blogging, emailing, posting information on a website or chat room, or any other means at all.”

Federal Circuit Will Hear Judges’ Back-Pay Challenge

admin — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:32 +0000

A group of federal judges who charge that Congress violated the Constitution by withholding pay increases will get a hearing before the full Federal Circuit. The six judges seek to overturn a 2001 decision that future judicial salary adjustments by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 are not “compensation” protected from diminishment.

Second Circuit Rebuffs Madoff Feeder Fund Investor Trying to Sue PWC

admin — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:31 +0000

An investor who lost $60 million in the Madoff feeder fund Greenwich Sentry continues to be thwarted in his effort to sue the fund’s auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers. On Friday, the U.S

Yankees Score Multi-Million-Dollar Home Run in Federal Circuit

Master — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:30 +0000

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed on Friday a $159.6 million damages award to nuclear utilities Yankee Atomic Electric Co., Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co. and Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co.

Fair use limits set in Ga. State digital copying decision

admin — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:29 +0000

An Atlanta federal judge has set the standard for when schools can give their students access to excerpts of copyrighted works without paying licensing fees — although her approach may be revisited in a potential appeal by publishers who had challenged practices at Georgia State University.

Justice’s Disclosure Highlights Medical Marijuana Debate

admin — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:28 +0000

New York lawmakers battling to legalize the medicinal use of cannabis are lauding an op-ed column by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Gustin Reichbach in which he admitted smoking marijuana to cope with the effects of cancer.

As Facebook Goes Public, Privacy Lawyers Chase Its Billions

Master — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:27 +0000

Facebook may rake in more than $18 billion in its initial public offering.

New Law Takes Canadian Spam Off the Marketing Menu

Master — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:26 +0000

If you think your company doesn’t send spam, you may want to double-check.

Did End of Missouri Malpractice Case Feed Dewey’s Money Woes?

Master — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:25 +0000

The abrupt dismissal of a $3 billion malpractice case came amid concerns about Dewey’s finances and a stream of partner departures, but it’s hard to know whether resolving it added to the fiscal woes that overtook Dewey. That’s because the settlement’s terms, and details about how much the firm agreed to pay out, are shrouded in secrecy.Also see: Dewey: Profiles in Something from The Am Law Daily

Risky business

Master — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:40:24 +0000

The financial services industry and more than a dozen top law firms that represent the industry are expressing concern that reaction to JPMorgan’s recent $2 billion loss could sour months of expensive lobbying work on Capitol Hill and before key regulatory agencies. Nowhere is this tension more apparent than in the push and pull over the pending multiagency Volcker Rule, which proponents say could rein in the activity that led to the company’s massive trading loss.

Supreme Court Suspends Justice Orie Melvin in Wake of Pending Charges

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 22:52:12 +0000

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court today suspended Justice Joan Orie Melvin, who will be charged later today with nine criminal counts alleging that she used her office staff to perform campaign work, according to a statement by prosecutors.

Judge Allows EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit to Move Forward

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:06:51 +0000

A federal judge in Illinois has handed the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission a much-needed win, ruling that a disability discrimination suit may go forward even though the agency did not individually investigate and attempt to settle every class member’s claim before filing suit.

Was the Safeway General Counsel’s Big Joke Sexist?

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:06:50 +0000

The general counsel of Safeway, a Fortune 100 company, tried to make like Jay Leno and tell a joke at the supermarket chain’s annual meeting this week. However, some folks weren’t amused and are now branding Robert Gordon a sexist and vowing not to shop at the retailer.

Plaintiffs Have No Standing to Sue Over Off-Label Drug Uses

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:35:31 +0000

A woman who was prescribed medications for off-label uses doesn’t have standing to sue the drug company that marketed them, the Third Circuit has ruled. Angela Montgomery failed to show that her doctor prescribed the medicine, Rebetol, because of Schering-Plough’s marketing strategy, the circuit held.

Potential Plaintiffs Trimmed in Suit Over Sale of Legal Briefs

Master — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:35:30 +0000

A federal judge has dismissed a potential subclass of plaintiffs from a suit that charges that West Publishing and LexisNexis’ digital collection and sale of publicly filed legal briefs and memoranda violate U.S. copyright law. The judge dismissed a class of attorneys who have not obtained copyright registration for their briefs.

CAFA Conundrum: Is Illinois Depakote Litigation a ‘Mass Action’ or Not?

Master — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:35:29 +0000

Does the Class Action Fairness Act give the federal courts jurisdiction over claims by more than 400 Illinois plaintiffs suing Abbott Laboratories over its Depakote anti-seizure drug? Two federal judges in the state came up with very different answers.

At Hill Hearing, Law Enforcers, Privacy Advocates Debate Cell Phone Data Bill

Master — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:35:28 +0000

Law enforcement representatives and privacy advocates clashed Thursday on Capitol Hill over a bill that would require law enforcement to get a search warrant before getting cellular phone data that can track the user’s location.

Co-Defendants Acquitted Of 1 Conspiracy Charge In Priest Sex-Abuse Case

Master — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:35:28 +0000

The judge presiding over the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial has acquitted the cleric in charge of reviewing abuse and misconduct claims of conspiring to endanger the welfare of a 30-year-old man who says a priest attempted to rape him. The judge denied other defense motions for judgments of acquittal.

JPMorgan Chase Chief Dimon Called to Testify Before Senate Committee

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:35:27 +0000

JPMorgan Chase head Jamie Dimon, whose bank was once seen as best able to make the public case against some of the more controversial parts of the Wall Street reforms, will be asked to testify before the Senate Banking Committee next month on JPMorgan’s recently reported $2 billion trading loss, the committee’s chair announced Thursday.

Release of Report Would Reveal Intelligence Methods, Judge Rules

Master — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:35:26 +0000

Exemptions under the federal Freedom of Information Act allow the executive branch to withhold a classified report detailing the scope of a surveillance provision of the USA Patriot Act, a federal judge ruled Thursday, granting summary judgment to the government in a case brought by The New York Times and partial summary judgment in a case brought by the ACLU.

Father and Son Plead Guilty in ‘Largest’-Ever Procurement Fraud Scheme

Master — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:35:25 +0000

Kerry Khan, a former midlevel procurement officer with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and his son, consultant Lee Khan, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal district court in Washington, D.C., helping to close what one prosecutor described as “the largest procurement fraud scheme in U.S. history.”

Circuit Sounds Ready to Reinstate Securities Fraud Suit Against Verifone

Master — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:35:24 +0000

Ninth Circuit judges sounded inclined Thursday to reinstate a suit against VeriFone Systems over its 2007 earnings restatement, which caused its stock price to drop nearly by half in a single day. The circuit also sounded likely to broaden the prism for viewing evidence of fraud under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.