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Covington Staff Attorney Sues Firm for Racial Discrimination

The American Lawyer

Yolanda Young, a former Covington & Burling staff attorney who wrote a controversial column for the Huffington Post on racial segregation at large law firms, filed a discrimination suit on Tuesday that names the firm, two litigation partners, a former associate and two former staff attorneys as defendants. Young, an African American, alleges that after she complained in 2006 about being subjected to months of ethnic and racial slurs by white staff attorneys, Covington management began a campaign to discredit her.

Feds Win Detention for Disbarred Lawyer in Alleged Investment Scam

New York Law Journal

The Bail Reform Act is getting a real workout during the latest spat of white-collar criminal prosecutions in the Southern District of New York. The government won the most recent round Wednesday when Judge Denise Cote set virtually unreachable bail conditions for Arthur Nadel, a disbarred lawyer turned hedge fund adviser accused of swindling investors out of tens of millions of dollars. The names of Bernard Madoff and Marc S. Dreier, who are both out on bail, were invoked during the hearing before Cote.

Supreme Court Unanimous in Speech, Antitrust Rulings

Legal Times

The Supreme Court issued two unanimous rulings on Wednesday, solidifying recent trends in both First Amendment and antitrust law. The Court ruled that placement of a memorial on public land is a form of government speech, not the kind of private speech in a public forum that invites First Amendment scrutiny. A second decision weakened the "price squeeze" antitrust doctrine, continuing a line of recent cases that have made it harder for plaintiff companies to succeed in antitrust suits against competitors.

In Latest Round of Cuts, Dechert Lays Off Staff Attorneys

The Legal Intelligencer

Less than two weeks after laying off 19 associates and counsel in its U.S. offices, Dechert laid off 10 staff attorneys on Wednesday for economic reasons. Staff attorneys are generally nonpartner-track attorneys who earn less than their partner-track counterparts. Whether they are easy targets for layoffs isn't a black-and-white issue, says one recruiter. Dechert also made cuts in 2008, mostly of staff, with 72 positions cut in the firm's U.S. offices and another 15 in London.

Referee Rejects Compensation for Kidney in Divorce Case

New York Law Journal

A Long Island, N.Y., surgeon's bid to seek $1.5 million for the kidney he donated to his estranged wife "not only runs afoul" of public policy, but may expose him to criminal prosecution, a Nassau County, N.Y., court referee ruled Wednesday. The divorce case between vascular surgeon Richard J. Batista Jr. and his wife gained worldwide notoriety when the doctor and his attorney held a press conference announcing their intentions to seek compensation for the organ.

Judge Faulted for Assigning Secretary to Do Personal Tasks

New York Law Journal

A New York judicial conduct commission has recommended a Family Court judge be censured for repeatedly requiring her secretary to perform personal chores, including baby-sitting her children and typing documents and correspondence for her husband. Judge Dandrea L. Ruhlmann's misconduct took place in 2004, her first year on the bench. The judge told the panel that, at the time, she did not realize the assignments were improper. Her ignorance of the rule did not affect the commission's decision.

Something Rotten in Drywall, Say Homeowners

Daily Business Review

A Florida couple plan to file a federal lawsuit against National Gypsum over allegedly flawed toxic drywall, and another possible class action is in the works against Chicago-based USG. Homeowners with the suspect drywall have reported a foul odor similar to rotten eggs, as well as blackened copper pipes, pitted metal fixtures and corroded mirrors. The drywall problem is fallout from Florida's boom-to-bust housing market, though an attorney notes that homeowners in other states will also be part of the legal action.

Two Major Fraud Cases Reach N.Y. Federal Court

The Associated Press

Federal authorities brought charges in two major securities fraud investigations Wednesday, saying one scheme fell apart because of publicity about the Bernard Madoff scandal. In that case, New Jersey fund manager James Nicholson was accused of defrauding investors of as much as $900 million since 2004. In the second case, Paul Greenwood and Stephen Walsh were charged with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud.

9th Circuit Backs Church on Disclosure of Donors to Campaign Against Gay Marriage

The Recorder

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held on Wednesday that the state of Montana went too far in requiring an East Helena church to publicly disclose its financial involvement in a 2004 initiative campaign to ban same-sex marriage in California. The panel found that the church's in-kind contributions were so small that forcing its leaders to file campaign disclosure forms amounted to an unfair abridgement of the assembly's First Amendment rights.

Rare Transgender Employment Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Burlington Coat Factory

The Recorder

Maya Perez, a transgender woman, claims to have suffered years of physical and verbal abuse while working at a Burlington Coat Factory store in San Francisco, all because of her gender identity. On Tuesday, she joined the short list of transgender people litigating such conduct. Her lawyers said Perez's case is one of a small number of employment discrimination suits brought by transgender people since California's Fair Employment and Housing Act was expanded to protect gender identity in 2004.

Justice Alito 'Imagines' John Lennon

Legal Times

Last year Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. won praise for quoting Bob Dylan in a dissent. Not to be outdone, apparently, Justice Samuel Alito Jr. on Wednesday quoted at length from John Lennon. The musical interlude occurred in Alito's major ruling in Pleasant Grove City, Utah v. Summum, which redefined monuments placed on public land -- such as a Ten Commandments monument -- as a form of government speech, rather than private speech that can run afoul of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.

N.Y. Agency Recommends Removal of Two Judges Who Are Brothers

New York Law Journal

New York Supreme Court Justice Joseph S. Alessandro and his brother, Bronx Civil Court Judge Francis M. Alessandro, should be removed from office for failing to repay a $250,000 loan made to one of Joseph Alessandro's campaigns and for misstating their financial holdings and obligations on disclosure forms and loan applications, a New York judicial conduct commission has recommended. Attorneys for both judges said they are likely to seek a review by the state's high court.

Trowers Makes Further Job Cuts in the U.K.

Legal Week

Trowers & Hamlins has made a second round of layoffs this week, with four jobs in the firm's U.K. offices affected. The cuts are expected to come in the firm's real estate team, with three jobs likely to go in the Manchester plot sales team, while one job will be cut in Exeter. London is currently unaffected by the cutbacks. The news comes after the firm revealed it was to scale back its headcount in the Middle East, with seven lawyers set to lose their jobs.

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Listen Up and Discover Audio Recordings

Legal Tech Newsletter

As most IT professionals know, audio files are fully discoverable. They can paint a complete picture of an information exchange where, for example, a person is having a phone dialogue with a client and, at the same time, sending e-mails to another based on the telephone conversation.

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The Value of Humble Pie for Outside Counsel

Legal Week

According to a recent client satisfaction report, in-house counsel felt neglected by their law firms in favor of more lucrative bank deals. And now that such work has dried up, many companies may be less than receptive to firms' renewed advances. One consultant says that after firms have "gone off with the bigger and bustier blonde, you've got to expect the redhead to be a bit iffy when you come back with your tail between your legs." In-house counsel also complain of too much arrogance and too little trust.

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Law Schools Revamp Their Grading Policies

The National Law Journal

Several leading law schools are retooling their grading policies, with some making major revisions and others merely tweaking their systems. Harvard Law School and Stanford Law School, for example, are switching from the traditional grade and letter policies to pass/fail systems. And New York University School of Law now allows professors to give more A's. Some institutions, such as Columbia Law School, are reviewing their grading systems to see whether they need updating. What's prompting the changes?

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