Legal Research

Selections from National Law Journal Daily Headlines April 24, 2009

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source:NLJ.com, April 24, 2009.

Subscription needed for online access:

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/subscribe.jsp

WEB-ONLY  |  Calif. appeals court resurrects legal malpractice claim against Perkins Coie
"A California appeals court has resuscitated a legal malpractice claim against Perkins Coie in a protracted battle between the law firm and In4Network, which hired the Seattle-based law firm in 2002 to sue the University of Southern California over a deal for surround-sound technology gone awry."

WEB-ONLY  |  Award against plaintiffs' lawyer tripled
"A Massachusetts Superior Court recently tripled a jury award against a Massachusetts plaintiffs' lawyer to $215,067 and ordered him to pay $250,000 of his opponents' attorney's fees in a case involving a contingency fee agreement."

9th Circuit upholds $49M BAR/BRI settlement, but remands case to re-evaluate plaintiffs' attorney fees
"The 9th Circuit has upheld a $49 million settlement in an antitrust class action against the parent company of BAR/BRI, but sent the case back to a district court judge to re-evaluate the amount of attorney fees awarded to the plaintiffs' counsel. The court also reversed the district court judge's decision not to award attorney fees to the lawyers representing objectors, who had filed the appeal."

WEB-ONLY  |  Judge denies Chevron's $485,000 claim in human rights case
"Citing 'stark' economic disparity between destitute Nigerian villagers and an international oil company, a federal judge denied $485,000 in legal costs claimed by Chevron Oil Co. for its victory in a decade-long human rights abuse case brought by the villagers."

WEB-ONLY  |  Fresh skirmishing over work-product privilege
"Corporate counsel and business organizations have jumped back into the fray over whether a company's so-called tax accrual work papers, prepared with the assistance of in-house and external counsel, are protected work product."

WEB-ONLY  |  An impeachment expert talks about the Judge Jay Bybee case, and its importance for constitutional law
"A coalition of organizations is calling for the impeachment of 9th Circuit Judge Jay Bybee, claiming the "facilitation of torture" through a memo written when he was assistant attorney general in 2002 constitutes a 'high crime and misdemeanor' under the Constitution. We asked impeachment scholar Michael Gerhardt about the impeachment process and this potentially controversial step."

WEB-ONLY  |  Federal judge considers contempt charges over leaks to Boston Globe
"The chief federal judge of Massachusetts issued an order asking the Boston U.S. attorney's office to explain why he shouldn't bring contempt charges for a leak of grand jury testimony to the Boston Globe. An April 16 Globe article stated that unnamed government officials confirmed that a state representative and the chief of staff for the speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives testified before a federal grand jury this month."

WEB-ONLY  |  Illinois high court ruling in sexual harassment case may have ripple effect
"The Illinois Supreme Court ruled this month that a supervisor who created a hostile workplace for a woman he harassed made his employer liable for his misconduct despite the fact that he was not a supervisor of the victim. The ruling may have a major impact on how employers in the state and perhaps other states monitor and prevent sexual harassment in the workplace."

WEB-ONLY  |  Judge forgot to put 'not guilty' on verdict form
"A Michigan appellate court has overturned an involuntary manslaughter conviction because a judge forgot to include the words "not guilty" on the verdict form used by the jury. According to the court, Judge Annette Berry properly instructed jurors to issue a guilty or not-guilty verdict on the first-degree murder charge, but erred when she failed to include not guilty as a choice for the lesser offenses of second degree murder or involuntary manslaughter."

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on April 24, 2009 (boomark / email).