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Court Filings Show Wilson Sonsini Paid Brocade $9.5 Million Over Backdating Claims

The Recorder

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has paid $9.5 million to Brocade Communications Systems to release itself -- as well its chairman and former Brocade board member, Larry Sonsini -- from civil claims stemming from the backdating disaster at the firm's longtime client. News of Wilson's payment was tucked into a footnote in court filings Friday connected to the effort by Brocade's special litigation committee to recover some of the approximately $830 million it alleges the scandal has cost the company.

Associate's Sex Discrimination Claims Proceed Against Law Firm

New York Law Journal

A New York federal judge has allowed sex discrimination claims to proceed against an intellectual property law firm that fired an associate two days after she complained in an e-mail to partners that the firm's women lawyers were being "relegated to non-partnership track support roles." The judge also found that remarks by Cohen Pontani Lieberman & Pavane's managing partner that the associate was insufficiently "sweet" in dealing with a paralegal "could be construed as reflecting discriminatory animus."

The Goodling Report: How Aides Took Control of DOJ Hiring

Legal Times

The Justice Department watchdog report released last week provided the most detailed account yet of the inner workings of the DOJ during the period of January 2004 to April 2007, and showed how two young aides were assisted in their use of a political litmus test by more senior officials who either actively helped their cause -- or quietly acquiesced. What follows is the story -- based almost entirely on the report -- of how they gained power and how they used it.

Judge Rejects Mistrial Motion in Bratz Case

The Associated Press

A federal judge rejected a mistrial motion Monday after dismissing a juror for allegedly making a racist remark during deliberations in a copyright infringement lawsuit that pits the maker of the popular Bratz dolls against toy giant Mattel. Lawyers for MGA Entertainment had argued that the comment could have tainted the jury against the company's CEO, an Iranian immigrant who is Jewish. The judge said the remaining nine jurors seemed unbiased and had openly discussed the remark with the judge.

Attorney Can Be Sued for Negligence That Forced Client to Settle Litigation

New Jersey Law Journal

Three years after the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that litigants unhappy about settlements to which they agree cannot sue their lawyers for malpractice, appeals courts are finding exceptions to the bar. In one of a number of recent decisions that are chipping away at the doctrine, the state Appellate Division has held that a suit could go forward where the alleged legal malpractice was a relevant factor behind the client's decision to settle the earlier litigation.

2nd Circuit Backs Cablevision's Remote Recorder Against Programmers' Lawsuit

New York Law Journal

Cablevision's proposed remote storage digital video recorder system does not violate the Copyright Act, a federal appeals court ruled Monday. The 2nd Circuit overturned a grant of summary judgment to film and TV producers who claimed Cablevision's system would directly infringe their copyrights by making unauthorized reproductions and by engaging in public performances. The length of time that data resided in system buffers was a key issue for the circuit in finding that copying had not occurred.

Religious Slurs May Amount to Hostile Workplace, N.J. High Court Says

New Jersey Law Journal

Workers taunted about their religion or ancestry are entitled to the same legal protection as the victims of sex, race and ethnic harassment, the New Jersey Supreme Court said in the case of a police officer whose colleagues called him a "dirty Jew." An appeals court had said the behavior amounted to locker-room antics and "breaking of chops" and wasn't actionable, but the state high court reinstated a harassment finding, adding to its stack of pro-plaintiff rulings in workplace discrimination cases.

Heller's D.C. Managing Partner Leaves for Bingham

Legal Times

Heller Ehrman's Washington, D.C., managing partner, Geoffrey Aronow, has joined Bingham McCutchen as a partner in its securities practice, along with three other new hires. A former enforcement director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Aronow will handle complex securities matters for some of Bingham's biggest clients.

Justices OK Juror Challenges Involving Prosecutor From Controversial Training Tape

The Legal Intelligencer

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has found that a death row defendant does not deserve a new trial on the alleged grounds that the prosecutor made peremptory challenges to jurors based on race, despite the fact that the prosecutor was videotaped giving advice to fellow prosecutors on how to get away with illegal peremptory challenges. In a dissent, Justice Thomas G. Saylor said the training videotape undermines the persuasiveness of race-neutral explanations Assistant District Attorney Jack McMahon provided.

O'Melveny Opens in Singapore With White & Case Hire

Legal Week

O'Melveny & Myers has launched an office in Singapore with the hire of White & Case's Asia head of banking, finance and restructuring Bertie Mehigan as its managing partner. The Singapore launch marks the fifth Asian office for O'Melveny, in addition to the firm's bases in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The new office, which will have 15 lawyers by the end of the year, has been launched to serve as a gateway to South Asian markets such as India, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Sonnenschein Rebuilds Its IT Data Model

Law Technology News

Sonnenschein's IT data model failed to address the information explosion that resulted in unwieldy search results and a new practice group-based governance structure so its IT team built a system to aggregate data; provide anytime, anywhere access; and automate complex workflows.

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Drug Makers Look at New Ethics Code

The National Law Journal

Lawyers say a trade group's new sales and marketing code of ethics for pharmaceutical companies that's designed to help companies avoid government investigations and prosecutions will trigger extensive corporate governance work on behalf of participating companies. Attorneys' key roles will involve crafting policies and training their clients' employees. "The impact is going to be pretty significant, more than pharmaceutical companies may initially anticipate," Reed Smith's Christie Bloomquist said.

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U.S. Prosecutors Feel the Heat, Want Protection

The National Law Journal

In the wake of three murders and the recent attack on a federal prosecutor in a New York courtroom, the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys is calling for stepped-up security, self-defense training and the right to carry firearms. Additionally, the group wants secure parking for prosecutors, particularly those who handle dangerous criminal cases. "Prosecutors are on the front lines like federal agents; they are the face of federal law enforcement," says former federal prosecutor Peter Prieto.

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A Primer on What Lawyers Can Say About Judges

Texas Lawyer

At some point, almost everyone hears the phrase, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." During the 2008 election season, the question becomes whether this admonition applies to lawyers in their comments about judges. Dallas attorney Bruce A. Campbell, who defends lawyers in disciplinary actions, explains what lawyers can -- and can't -- say about judges and how the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution protect lawyers who make false statements about judges.

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