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: New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library

LAW.COM Newswire Highlights October 27, 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. Thelen Chairman Reportedly in Talks to Join Howrey The Recorder The crisis at Thelen reached a new level Friday as it appears that even firm Chairman Stephen O'Neal is out looking for a job. O'Neal and 30 or so lawyers from the signature construction and mass torts practice are currently in talks with Washington, D.C.'s Howrey, with hopes of closing a deal soon, a person familiar with the situation said. "Most people are kinda pissed off that he's spending more time on his own situation than the firm's situation," said one Thelen partner who did not want to be named. O'Melveny Cuts Associate, Staff Headcount The National Law Journal O'Melveny & Myers has reduced its associate and staff headcount amid cost-cutting measures that were announced last week, according to the firm and other sources. In a prepared statement, a firm spokeswoman said there were no plans for "economic layoffs" of associates and that it would be "inaccurate to infer a layoff from performance reviews given to less than 1 percent of our associates and counsel headcount." Market Rebound Could Take Five Years, Says Wachtell's Lipton The American Lawyer Martin Lipton, the legendary Wachtell M&A lawyer and firm founding partner, said last week that a full economic recovery could take three to five years. Lipton, retired Goldman Sachs Chairman Stephen Friedman and Joseph Rice III, chairman of Clayton Dubilier & Rice, were on a panel at NYU School of Law, where they discussed the global economic crisis and offered predictions on what the future might hold for lawyers and businesses. Doctors' Testimony Enough to Prove Workers' Comp Claimant Faking The Legal Intelligencer A deeply divided Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has ruled that testimony by two doctors was enough to prove that a workers' compensation claimant was feigning symptoms. The dissenting opinion said the ruling would open the floodgates for "unending litigation." The majority upheld a workers' compensation judge's decision to terminate the claimant's benefits. The judge also noted that during a hearing the claimant demonstrated apparent balance problems only when he was aware the judge was watching him. Baker Botts Defends SOX Board in Key Separation of Powers Case The American Lawyer Baker Botts has fired the latest shot in the ongoing battle over whether the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a key cog in the Sarbanes-Oxley machine, violates the Constitution by robbing the president of his appointment powers. A D.C. Circuit panel ruled for the board in a contentious 2-1 decision in August, and the challengers last month asked that the court rehear the case en banc. The board responded last week, calling on the same Baker Botts team that won the first appeals case. SEC Brings Second-Highest Number of Enforcement Actions in Its History The National Law Journal The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission initiated 671 enforcement actions in fiscal year 2008, the second-highest total in the agency's history. The SEC also repeated last year's total of distributing more than $1 billion to investors harmed by others' actions during fiscal year 2008. The agency's higher enforcement caseload included a more than 25 percent increase in insider trading cases and more than 45 percent in market manipulation cases compared with fiscal year 2007. Litigation Between Spitzer, N.Y. Senate Faulted as 'Shameful' Waste of Resources New York Law Journal A New York state judge concluded the politically charged litigation between the New York Senate and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer last week, but not before condemning the parties for their "cavalier" and "shameful" wasting of court time and taxpayer money. Republicans in the Senate had sought to subpoena communications related to efforts by the Democratic Spitzer administration to use the state police to gather records on state-funded travel by Spitzer's former chief rival, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. Judge Rules That Lawyer Can Pursue Employment Bias Suit Against Quaker Group The Legal Intelligencer A Quaker church-formed social justice group can't rely on a "ministerial exception" to avoid an employment bias suit because its jobs are not "pastoral or ministerial," a federal judge has ruled. Jerry Leaphart, an attorney and Quaker representing himself, claims he was passed over for several jobs because he is black. In court papers, Leaphart said a "spiritual transformation" resulted in his "eschewing a lucrative corporate career path as an international attorney" to focus on social justice and activism. Lawyers Urge Employers to Shift Strategy Toward Retaliation Claims The National Law Journal As retaliation claims against employers reach record levels, management-side lawyers are encouraging employers to fight back, stressing that shoddy work or unethical behavior shouldn't be ignored just because a retaliation suit could follow. But employee-rights attorneys say retaliation is still a far bigger problem for employees than for employers. 2nd Circuit Declines to Bar 'Foreign-Cubed' Securities Lawsuits New York Law Journal The 2nd Circuit has refused to adopt a bright-line rule barring so-called "foreign-cubed" securities transactions, in which foreign plaintiffs sue in U.S. courts foreign issuers of securities for violations of U.S. securities laws based on transactions in foreign countries. The court cited the shared goal of governments around the world to combat securities fraud as one policy reason for largely adhering to its precedent in determining that jurisdiction should be determined on a case-by-case basis. 11th Circuit Stays Execution in Georgia Killing The Associated Press The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave a late reprieve Friday to a Georgia man, who was due to be executed this week for the 1989 killing of an off-duty police officer. It was the third time since July 2007 that Troy Davis has been spared by a late court decision. A death penalty expert called the court's decision "extraordinarily rare," especially given that the 11th Circuit is "a very conservative court. It's just not something that one would expect from this court." Skadden Ends Exclusive Italian Alliance Legal Week Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has ended its exclusive strategic alliance with Italian "best friend" firm Chiomenti after seven years. The two firms said that the mutual decision was based on changes in client needs. News of the split comes after White & Case earlier last week became one of the first major law firms to announce it is pulling out of the Italian market. Lawyers Disbarred for Role in Fen-Phen Settlement The Associated Press The minority owners of the reigning racehorse of the year have been permanently disbarred by the Kentucky Supreme Court for their handling of a $200 million diet-drug settlement. William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr. face a federal trial in February on wire fraud charges. Prosecutors say they conspired to bilk clients out of $94 million in a settlement over the diet-drug fen-phen. Can Clio Help Serve Your Practice? Law.com Many solos and small firms do without practice management software due to high costs and administrative overhead. Now, software as a service, such as Clio and Rocket Matter, gives small offices other options. Legal Technology editor Sean Doherty takes Clio for a free 30-day evaluation. Visit Legal Technology Standardized Work, Cost Cutting Alter GC Relationship With Outside Counsel Fulton County Daily Report Proof positive of the standardization and commoditization of legal services is in the behavior of corporate counsel toward their outside law firms: They are taking bids, asking for discounts, shopping around for lower-cost options and doing more work themselves -- much the same way their operational counterparts make purchases from other vendors. And that trend -- boosted by rising rates and falling stock prices -- ultimately will affect how law firms are run. Visit In-House Counsel 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 October 27, 2008 (boomark / email).