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: New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library

LAW.COM Newswire Highlights September 26, 2008

By David Badertscher, PLL

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If you are already an online subscriber to the LAW.COM service you should be able to click on any of the links below, sign in, and access the full text of all articles listed. A subscription to LAW.COM is needed for online access to this service. Heller's Partnership Briefed on Closure The Recorder Heller Ehrman inched closer to its likely dissolution Wednesday, as management held a firmwide videoconference to update partners on the status of the firm's line of credit, opportunities for groups and offices, and "plans for an orderly transition (or wind down)," according to an e-mail announcing the meeting. Firms continued to aggressively pursue big chunks of Heller on Wednesday, with representatives from some firms reportedly negotiating with groups of Heller lawyers in Heller's own office buildings. McCain, Obama Criticism of High Court Child Rape Case Cited in Rehearing Request Legal Times In an unusual move, the negative reactions of presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama to a recent Supreme Court decision have been placed before the justices to support a request to reconsider the ruling. The state of Louisiana included the candidates' statements in its latest filing seeking rehearing of Kennedy v. Louisiana, in which the justices said it is unconstitutional to execute those convicted of child rape. The Court is expected to take up the rehearing request on Monday. Four Law Firms Make Magazine's List of Best Companies for Working Mothers The National Law Journal Four law firms have landed on Working Mother magazine's 100 Best Companies list for 2008. Included on the list of top employers for working mothers are Arnold & Porter, Covington & Burling, Katten Muchin Rosenman and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. The magazine compiles the list based on work force profile, compensation, child care, flexibility, time off, family-friendly programs and company culture. Ruling in Qualcomm-Broadcom Fight Brings Back Opinion Letters for Patent Cases The Recorder Opinion letters are back for patent cases, after a Wednesday ruling by a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit, which sided with plaintiff Broadcom that a jury should consider the fact that rival Qualcomm didn't get such an opinion letter from outside counsel in deciding whether it had induced infringement on Broadcom's patents. The ruling contrasts with the Federal Circuit's 2007 Seagate holding, which had attorneys believing that the near-absolute need for opinions was finished. Judge Grants New Trial in Landmark File-Sharing Case The Associated Press A federal judge has granted a new trial to a Minnesota woman convicted of pirating music files, ruling that he made an error in his jury instructions that "substantially prejudiced" her rights. The judge also implored Congress to change copyright laws to prevent excessive awards against individuals in similar peer-to-peer file-sharing network cases. Jammie Thomas was convicted last October in the first-ever file-sharing trial and ordered to pay $222,000 to six record companies. Hughes Hubbard Makes Timely Acquisition of Bankruptcy Boutique The American Lawyer With Hughes Hubbard & Reed's 12 bankruptcy lawyers busy handling the fallout from last week's Wall Street woes, the firm has boosted the practice group by two-thirds with the timely acquisition of Luskin, Stern & Eisler, a bankruptcy, creditors' rights and finance boutique. Partners Nathan Eisler, Michael Luskin and Richard Stern are among those joining Hughes Hubbard. The additions come on the heels of the firm scoring extra work from the Lehman Brothers meltdown. Executive Sentenced in Serono Fraud Case The Associated Press The president of Michigan-based RJL Sciences was sentenced Wednesday to three years probation and fined $10,000 for plotting with Swiss-based Serono Laboratories to increase sales of an AIDS drug by manipulating a test for AIDS patients. Following Rudolph Liedtke's cooperation with federal authorities, Serono and its U.S. subsidiaries agreed in October 2005 to pay $704 million to resolve civil and criminal charges, the third-largest recovery in a health care fraud case in U.S. history. Congress Doing More Damage Than Good in Market Crisis, Says Former SEC Lawyer The American Lawyer Despite a temporary ban on short selling and a proposed $700 billion rescue package, a quick fix to our economic malaise doesn't appear to be in the offing. That's partly due, says Bruce Hiler, head of the securities group at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and a former SEC associate director of enforcement, to posturing by Congress members looking for a soundbite. Hiler questions why the SEC hasn't brought back the Uptick Rule, which it eliminated in July 2007, to help as a "built-in regulator." Clifford Chance Recruits Linklaters Partner for Tokyo Office Legal Week Clifford Chance is set to bolster its Japanese capital markets practice with the hire of Linklaters partner Reiko Sakimura. The news comes amid a period of significant change for Clifford Chance's Asian offices, with the recent appointment of current global corporate chief Peter Charlton to the role of Asia managing partner. Mass. High Court Orders Certification of Wal-Mart Meal Breaks Class Action The National Law Journal The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has ordered a lower court to certify a class action against Wal-Mart Stores in an employment case involving claims about meal breaks and the alleged nonpayment of wages. Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall also ruled that the lower court judge "abused his discretion" by granting Wal-Mart's motion to exclude the plaintiffs' expert's testimony and by decertifying the class. The case involves a putative class of about 67,500 current and former Wal-Mart hourly workers. Simmons Leads as Lehman Litigation Kicks Off Legal Week Simmons & Simmons has scored a role on the first litigation to emerge against the European administrators of Lehman Brothers. The firm is taking the lead for hedge fund RAB Capital, which has come forward as one of the first claimants looking to recover frozen assets. Litigators are predicting a surge of such claims. O.J. Witness Says He Took Plea Deal After Getting Divine 'Revelation' The Associated Press A former defendant in the O.J. Simpson kidnapping and armed robbery case testified Wednesday that he decided to take a plea deal and accuse Simpson in court after God answered his prayers with a revelation telling him to do the right thing. Walter Alexander, the first witness to admit carrying a weapon into a Las Vegas hotel room during the 2007 confrontation, faced a pounding cross-examination by Simpson's lawyer, which led him to complain that maybe he shouldn't have taken a deal and remained a defendant. NYC Settles Last Suit With Out-of-State Gun Dealer New York Law Journal The last remaining unresolved lawsuit against out-of-state gun dealers sued by New York City for allegedly violating federal gun-control laws has been settled, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's office has announced. The latest action stems from New York's 2006 suit against 27 dealers, which alleged that a large number of the city's crimes could be traced to guns from the shops. Court: Sex With Sheep Does Not Warrant Registration as Offender The Associated Press The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that a man who pleaded no contest to sodomizing a sheep does not have to register as a sex offender after his release from prison. Jeffrey Haynes is serving 2 1/2 to 20 years for sodomy -- a "crime against nature" under state law. The appeals court said the state sex offender registry is intended to track people who have committed crimes against humans, not animals. Reading the Future of Web Search The Legal Intelligencer Although Google has become synonymous with Web searching, not everyone believes it holds the future to search technology. Next-generation search tools focus on preparation, organization and presentation and utilize concepts such as clustering, visualization and human editors. Visit Legal Technology Legal Departments, Law Firms Weighing Wikis The Recorder The use of wikis -- a set of Web pages designed to be simple to edit by multiple people -- began sprouting in legal departments and law firms about two years ago. The relatively young software solution has been used mainly to enable teams to collectively manage large projects. While fans of the technology have said wikis can reduce e-mail traffic, minimize confusion and allow more people to work on collaborative efforts, there are fears that they can be vandalized or misused without necessary education. Visit In-House Counsel Moonlighting Lawyers Tackle Their School Debt The National Law Journal A growing number of prosecutors and assistant public defenders are moonlighting to make ends meet. Government lawyers have, traditionally, turned to teaching at their law school, tutoring or even doing a few wills or real estate closings on the side to supplement their income. But as the cost of living explodes, salaries are frozen, state budgets are slashed and law school tuition continues to rise, taking on a second -- or third -- job, like bartending and construction work, has become commonplace. Visit the Career Center Law.com 120 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10271-1101 (877) 256-CIRC Customer Service Phone: (877) 256-CIRC

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on September 25, 2008 (boomark / email).