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Fox Sports counsel joins throng fleeing ailing firm

Master — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:42:10 +0000

Paul Laurin, lead counsel for Fox Sports in the Los Angeles Dodgers bankruptcy, has joined Barnes & Thornburg, becoming the latest attorney to depart from imploding Rutter Hobbs & Davidoff, which began dissolving after a jury issued a $10 million verdict against it and two senior attorneys.

Pfizer Seeks MDL for Zoloft Birth Defect Cases

Master — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:33:24 +0000

In the latest volley by pharmaceutical defendants seeking alternative forums to Pennsylvania state court, drugmaker Pfizer has asked that almost 50 cases that have been removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania be consolidated into one multidistrict litigation.

Berman DeValerio Fends off Free Speech Defense in Billion-Dollar CalPERS Suit Against Ratings Agencies

Master — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:47:30 +0000

Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have lost their latest bid to use a free speech defense based on California’s anti-SLAPP statute to knock out claims over $1.3 billion in investments brought by the nation’s largest pension plan, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

Credit Suisse Litigation Finance Unit Spins Off to Form Parabellum Capital

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:26:14 +0000

The team heading up Credit Suisse’s litigation finance unit has struck out on its own in New York under the name Parabellum Capital, becoming the latest independent outfit to enter the growing field of third-party litigation funding in the United States.

Intel’s Jerone English on Leveling the EDD Playing Field

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:19:04 +0000

Jerone English, director of e-discovery for Intel, speaks to LTN magazine’s editor-in-chief, Monica Bay, about how rank-and-file lawyers can get up to speed on the latest electronic data discovery policies and procedures.

Orrick Wins Bid to Move Clawback Claim Out of Bankruptcy Court

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:19:51 +0000

In the latest in a string of recent developments involving law firms hoping to transfer so-called unfinished business claims out of bankruptcy court, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has triumphed in its bid to move a claim brought against it in the Coudert Brothers bankruptcy to federal district court.

D.C. Judge Nixes Securities Class Action Against Washington Post Co. Over Kaplan Unit

admin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:15:26 +0000

A federal judge has dismissed a putative class action brought by shareholders of the Washington Post Co., which owns the for-profit educational behemoth Kaplan. The decision is the latest in a string of adverse rulings for plaintiffs firms that filed securities suits against for-profit education companies in 2010.

Big Settlement Reached With El Al in Antitrust Case Against Airlines

admin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:51:58 +0000

In the latest settlement in a massive antitrust case against major airlines that has yielded almost $500 million in settlement awards to date, freight forwarders and companies that ship goods by air won $15.8 million from El Al Israel Airlines.

HP Replacing Its Top Lawyer

Master — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:06:59 +0000

Hewlett-Packard announced Monday that general counsel Michael Holston will leave after almost five years at HP, the latest in a string of high-profile departures. David Healy, co-chair of mergers and acquisitions at Fenwick & West, will serve as interim counsel while HP searches for a permanent replacement.

Davis Polk Announces Bonuses in Line With Cravath, S&C

Master — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:58:33 +0000

Davis Polk & Wardwell is the latest firm to match the 2011 associate bonus structure established last month by Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Like Cravath, Davis Polk’s bonus scale starts at $7,500 for those in the class of 2010 and increases incrementally to $37,500 for the class of 2004.

Hoping to Contain Costs, San Jose May Declare Emergency

admin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:20:46 +0000

Wrestling with an $80.5 million deficit in the coming year, San Jose, Calif., may be the latest public entity to turn to the controversial tactic of declaring a fiscal state of emergency to deal with spiraling personnel costs. But the move would open it up to certain litigation.

Hoping to Contain Costs, San Jose May Declare Emergency

admin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:20:46 +0000

NFL Former Players Sue Over Concussive Injuries, Misuse of Pain Drug

Master — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:20:41 +0000

A dozen former players are suing the NFL, claiming a flawed policy on concussions, coupled with league misuse of an anti-inflammatory drug, ultimately caused them long-term brain injuries. The suit, the latest of several over concussion-related conditions, is the first to allege Toradol masked pain but caused other complications.

NFL Former Players Sue Over Concussive Injuries, Misuse of Pain Drug

admin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:20:41 +0000

Court critical of search tactics by L.A. police

admin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:20:37 +0000

In the latest high court dispute over faulty police searches, justices from across the ideological spectrum were sharply critical Monday of a Los Angeles police search warrant that turned a hunt for a sawed-off shotgun into a broad sweep of a home for all firearms and gang paraphernalia.

Court critical of search tactics by L.A. police

admin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:20:37 +0000

Massachusetts AG’s recent suit against banks one of handful nationwide

Master — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 06:03:21 +0000

A lawsuit filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley against five national banks and a national mortgage registration system for allegedly illegal foreclosure practices in that state is the latest in a growing number of public law enforcement cases challenging banks’ mortgage practices. Similar cases have been brought by the attorneys general of Delaware, Nevada and Arizona.

Expansion-Minded Kasowitz Opens Silicon Valley Office

Master — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:32:33 +0000

In the latest move to build its intellectual property practice, Kasowitz Benson announced Monday that it has opened an office in Silicon Valley. The office will be headed by IP group chair Douglas Lumish and will include the group of attorneys that moved with him from Weil Gotshal in January.

Merck Agrees Settle DOJ Claims Over Vioxx Marketing for $950 Million

Master — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:32:28 +0000

Merck has become the latest health care company to strike a major settlement with the Justice Department, agreeing Tuesday to a $321.6 million criminal fine and a $628.3 million civil settlement to resolve claims over its marketing of the painkiller Vioxx.

Pace Solo Incubator Will Assist Low-Income Clients

Master — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 07:28:15 +0000

Pace Law School is the latest to announce plans to launch a solo incubator: a school-supported law firm geared toward helping recent graduates learn how to run their own practices. Between five and seven recent Pace grads will offer low-cost legal assistance while attending seminars on the business of running a law practice.Visit lawjobs.com News & Views

Switching Sides: Owners’ Lawyer in NFL Lockout, David Boies Signs on With NBA Players

Master — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:10:05 +0000

The NBA season appears doomed after players rejected the latest offer for a new collective bargaining agreement and announced they hired Boies, Schiller & Flexner for a possible antitrust suit. Is the fact that David Boies was on the owners’ side in the last major sports labor dispute a problem?

Ethnic diversity improved at law firms in 2011; for women, not so much

admin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 07:56:47 +0000

The percentage of minority lawyers at major U.S. law firms edged up slightly this year, according to the latest edition of the NALP Directory of Legal Employers.

Court Says Arrestee’s Digital Camera Can Be Searched, Too

Master — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 22:59:46 +0000

In the latest example of courts grappling with police searches of electronic devices, a California appeal court on Wednesday backed the warrantless search of a juvenile’s digital camera, which was found during a patdown by a sheriff’s deputy.

Coral Gables attorney wins $16.5 million award for asbestos plaintiff

Master — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 07:18:41 +0000

A Florida jury has awarded Charles Garrison, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and his wife $16.5 million against Dow Chemical subsidiary Union Carbide, marking the latest win for an asbestos plaintiff.

Mayer Brown, Weil Gotshal Beat Back Class Certification Once Again in Merrill Lynch Discrimination Case

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 07:18:38 +0000

Plaintiffs lawyers representing a purported class of African-American Merrill Lynch financial advisers in a discrimination case took the counterintuitive tack of citing the Supreme Court’s Wal-Mart ruling in their latest bid for class certification. The unusual argument didn’t get them very far.