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Calif. High Court Pat-Down Case May Get Punted

The Recorder

Confronted with whether pat-down searches at professional football games violate individual privacy rights, the California Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed ready to punt the issue back to the trial courts. At least three of the justices gave indications that more hearings are needed on the issues of implied consent and less-intrusive security measures. The case is being watched around the country, and could have an impact not just on the San Francisco 49ers, but on all kinds of entertainment venues.

Ex-Enron CEO Skilling to Be Resentenced After Convictions Upheld

The Associated Press

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Tuesday upheld former Enron Corp. CEO Jeff Skilling's convictions for his role in the energy giant's collapse but threw out his 24-year prison term and ordered that he be resentenced. The panel found that U.S. District Judge Sim Lake improperly applied a sentencing guideline that resulted in a longer prison term for Skilling in October 2006. But legal experts still expect Skilling to get a lengthy prison term whenever he is resentenced.

2nd Circuit Upholds Denial of Fees to Ex-Lawyer in Malpractice Suit

New York Law Journal

A federal judge acted within his authority when he denied all fees to a lawyer who won a $2.4 million medical malpractice case but failed to investigate the future needs of a child disabled at birth and overcharged his client, the 2nd Circuit ruled. The court upheld the discretion of Eastern District of New York Judge Edward Korman to refuse Steven F. Goldman's application for $388,000 in fees. Goldman resigned from the bar in 2005 during a disciplinary investigation unrelated to the matter before Korman.

Group From Calif.-based Dreier Stein Breaks Off to Form New Firm

The National Law Journal

About 20 lawyers at the Santa Monica, Calif.-based affiliate of Dreier LLP, called Dreier Stein Kahan Browne Woods George, have formed their own firm, while about 35 remaining attorneys are looking to merge with another firm. The moves come less than a month after Marc Dreier, founder and managing partner of Dreier LLP in New York, was charged with masterminding an investment fraud. Possible merger candidates for the remaining attorneys include Buchanan Ingersoll, Mintz Levin and Troutman Sanders.

Three Decisions Raise Questions About Holder's Independence, Specter Says

Legal Times

Sen. Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has begun laying out the questions he plans to ask Eric Holder Jr. next week during Holder's confirmation hearing to be attorney general. He said he will focus on the pardon of fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich; the decision by Holder's then-boss AG Janet Reno not to appoint a special prosecutor to look into Vice President Al Gore's 1996 fundraising activities; and the clemency granted to a group of Puerto Rican nationalists.

Coleman Files Suit Challenging Franken's Recount Victory in Minn. Senate Race

The Associated Press

Republican Norm Coleman filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging Democrat Al Franken's apparent recount victory in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race, delaying a resolution of the contest for weeks or months. Coleman shrugged off the idea that he might concede the election to avoid a protracted fight that could leave Minnesota with only a single senator in Washington, D.C., for months. Coleman, whose term expired Saturday, led Franken by 215 votes in the Nov. 4 count but that advantage flipped during a prolonged recount.

Cravath's Presiding Partner: Time to Kill the Billable Hour

The American Lawyer

In an opinion piece in the current issue of Forbes magazine, Evan Chesler, the presiding partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, calls for the end of the billable hour. The essay is the latest entry in a growing conversation about the prospects for change in the way big firms do business. In an interview, Chesler said that he's been raising this issue with clients and in private talks for the last few years, but he notes that "there's a lot of inertia, a lot of 'the devil you know' in this area."

Supreme Court Review Sought in Public Accounting Board Case

Legal Times

The federal appeals court opinion that upheld the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board was a disastrous decision that undermines the president's ability to supervise federal officers, say Jones Day lawyers who want the Supreme Court to review the case. The lawyers are urging the Court to review a split decision in which a D.C. Circuit judge wrote a 58-page dissent, calling the case the most important separation-of-powers litigation to reach the courts in more than 20 years.

Mexican Standoff: John Keker, Bingham McCutchen to Battle in Telenovela Rights Case

The American Lawyer

A trial that could change the face of Hispanic television got under way in federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday as Grupo Televisa, Mexico's largest media company, pressed claims for over $100 million in damages from Univision, the leading Spanish-language broadcaster in the U.S. The suit concerns a 16-year-old programming agreement that grants the network exclusive rights to air Grupo Televisa's enormously popular telenovelas in the U.S. Univision has turned to star litigator John Keker as trial counsel.

Ex-Holland & Knight Partner Files Suit in Benefits Dispute

Daily Business Review

A former partner in Holland & Knight's Miami office is suing the firm after efforts to arbitrate a dispute over his 2002 termination broke down. R. Thomas Farrar was one of 60 attorneys and 170 other employees cut by the firm in April 2002. Farrar, who had worked for the firm since 1981, alleges Holland & Knight violated his partnership agreement by terminating him and wrongfully depriving him of his right to retirement benefits.

SEC Role Under Scrutiny in Madoff Scandal

The Associated Press

A House panel on Monday heard tales of woe from investors who placed their savings with Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff, whose alleged fraud could amount to $50 billion. Inspector General H. David Kotz, said at the hearing that he is so concerned about the SEC's failure to uncover Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme that he is expanding the inquiry called for last month by SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. Cox had placed the blame on the SEC's career staff for failing to detect what Madoff was doing.

Israelis Sue Oil-for-Food Companies for Alleged Ties to Palestinian Terrorists

Legal Times

Victims of Palestinian terrorist attacks have filed suit against U.S. companies that allegedly paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein during the Iraqi Oil For Food Program, alleging that by doing business with the dictator, the corporations indirectly financed terrorist organizations such as Hamas. The suit seeks an unspecified award from Texan oil executives Oscar Wyatt and David Chalmers, their companies, NuCoastal Corp. and Bayoil Inc., as well as several of their subsidiaries.

Linklaters Announces Bonus Cutbacks for U.S. Associates

Legal Week

Linklaters has confirmed its 2008 year-end bonuses for U.S. associates -- matching Magic Circle rivals Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy and many Wall Street leaders by halving last year's bonus rates. Linklaters told associates before Christmas that they will be awarded bonuses ranging between $17,500 and $32,500 depending on seniority. Counsel will be awarded bonuses of up to $40,000. The bonus range -- at half of last year's rate -- is similar to those announced by U.S. firms.

Florida High Court Scolds Judge for His Opinion's 'Personal Attack' on Colleague

The Associated Press

In a first-of-its-kind reprimand, the Florida Supreme Court scolded a judge Tuesday for a "personal attack" and "unsubstantiated accusations" he made against a colleague in a written opinion. Judge Michael Allen stood before the court and listened to a 10-minute lecture from the court's chief justice for his comments in the 2006 opinion, which accused another appellate judge of writing a dissent in a bribery case for "payback," but he made no comment.

'Tweety Bird' May Hang After All

The National Law Journal

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has abruptly withdrawn a recent panel decision declaring unconstitutional a Michigan law that banned objects such as air fresheners, fuzzy dice and rosaries hanging from rear-view mirrors in cars. The order, issued without explanation, came in the case of a Detroit man who challenged the legality of a search of his car by police after they stopped him because he had a four-inch "Tweety Bird" air freshener hanging from the mirror.

Smartphones Pose Risks for All Executives

The National Law Journal

As president, Barack Obama, an admitted BlackBerry addict, will be subject to a strict records-retention law, and wireless devices also pose security risks deemed too high for the commander in chief. The question for in-house counsel: Should a chief executive officer be using one?

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As Canada's Native Peoples Assert Rights, Companies Make Concessions

Corporate Counsel

To open its Victor diamond mine in northern Ontario, De Beers Canada had to conduct negotiations with the Attawapiskat First Nation. More Canadian businesses are finding that they have to engage in the same kind of delicate talks with Aboriginal communities. Not only do Aboriginal groups own a lot of land -- especially in the remote places where resource companies are likely to dig mines, drill wells or build pipelines -- they generally enjoy more rights than Native Americans do in the United States.

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Bad Economy Makes It a Good Time to Go It Alone

The Connecticut Law Tribune

Is now the perfect time to start a solo practice? Yes, according to consultant Susan Cartier Liebel. With times so tough, starting a new business may seem the height of insanity, but Liebel says it is during these times that lawyers should realize that the "opportunity cost" of taking a risk, like starting a solo practice, is much lower. And for those attorneys who are able to shake off their paralysis, bad economic times may present some special opportunities for solo practitioners, Liebel says.

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