Legal Research

Selections from National Law Journal Daily Headlines April 1, 2009

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: NLJ.com, April 1, 2009.

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FROM THE UPCOMING ISSUE  |  High court delivers third strike against Philip Morris in wrongful death suit
"The U.S. Supreme Court on March 31 dismissed the writ of certiorari in Philip Morris USA v. Williams, saying it had been 'improvidently granted' last June. That's good news for Robert S. Peck, president of the Center for Constitutional Litigation and high court counsel to Mayola Williams, widow of a smoker who died of lung cancer. The justices' dismissal leaves intact a $150 million punitive damages verdict for Peck's client. "

WEB-ONLY  |  Judge approves class certification of suit filed by employees of shuttered Thelen
"A federal magistrate judge approved class certification Tuesday of a suit by former employees of now-shuttered Thelen law firm, alleging Thelen failed to give 60-days advance notice of closure and to pay for unused vacation time. "

WEB-ONLY  |  A unique legal job fair: job seekers don't expect pay, recruiters don't expect seekers to stick around
"It just may be the first legal job fair of its kind: The job seekers don't expect to get paid by the recruiting organizations, and the recruiting organizations don't expect the job seekers to stick around for more than a year. That's the idea behind an event next week in Newark, N.J., that aims to connect incoming associates who have deferred start dates with public interest law organizations that want some virtually free temporary help. The Volunteer Lawyers for Justice is organizing the fair in response to the confusion and concerns regarding law firms' public interest programs for deferred incoming associates."

WEB-ONLY  |  Chicago's public defender wins victory over staff cuts ? but he won't have time to savor it
"Illinois's Cook County Public Defender Edwin Burnette won a state appellate victory this week in his battle with Cook County Board of Commissioners President Todd Stroger over 2007 worker and pay cuts in the public defender's office. The ruling comes as a swan song for Burnette, whose six-year term expires April 1."

WEB-ONLY  |  Judge rejects motions to dismiss witness tampering conviction against 'America's Sheriff'
"A federal judge has rejected three motions filed by Mike Carona, the former sheriff of Orange County, Calif., who Larry King once called 'America's Sheriff,' that sought to overturn his conviction on witness tampering. "

WEB-ONLY  |  Private employers nervous over proposed paid family medical leave for federal workers
"The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, which would give more than 600,000 federal workers four weeks of paid family leave to care for a newborn or adopted child, cleared a House subcommittee last week. The bill also would let federal workers use up to eight weeks of accrued paid sick time or annual leave immediately following the first four weeks of parental leave."

WEB-ONLY  |  3d Cir. takes broad view of when CAFA cases can move to state court from federal court
"A recent precedent-setting 3d U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion takes a broad view of when Class Action Fairness Act cases can move to state court from federal court. The ruling analyzed two separate issues of first impression related to CAFA's so-called local controversy exception."

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on April 02, 2009 (boomark / email).