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Battle Lines Set, Senate Debates Sotomayor

The Associated Press

The Senate held a history-making debate Tuesday on confirming Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic justice, with Republican opponents asserting she would bring bias to the bench and Democratic supporters saying she was a mainstream moderate. There was little doubt that President Obama's first high court nominee would be confirmed with bipartisan support as early as Thursday, but senators lined up to weigh in on her fitness for the bench, with an eye perhaps toward the next Supreme Court battle.

Accused of Threatening Witnesses, Attorney Takes the Stand to Explain 'Kill' Phrasing

New York Law Journal

Defense attorney Robert Simels took the stand Tuesday to defend himself against charges that he plotted with a client, the since-convicted Guyanese drug kingpin Shaheed Khan, to threaten and bribe potential witnesses. Appearing calm and looking directly at jurors throughout his testimony, Simels explained his repeated statements about a need to "neutralize" or "kill" a witness -- as heard in secretly taped conversations played by prosecutors -- as being typical of lawyers' vernacular.

Citing Cuts, Public Defenders Refuse New Cases

The Recorder

Public defenders in Alameda County, Calif., stopped taking many out-of-custody misdemeanor and probation violation cases Monday, citing the expected loss of 14 attorneys through layoffs on Sept. 4. Public Defender Diane Bellas' actions reflect the dire choices public defenders around the U.S. face as government budgets shrink. Across the bay in San Francisco, Public Defender Jeff Adachi said his office started declining complex, time-intensive cases in March and has since referred about 20 defendants to private counsel.

GE Pays $50 Million to SEC, $200 Million to Lawyers and Accountants

The American Lawyer

It only took seven years, but on Tuesday the SEC finally took General Electric Co. to task for reporting materially false results in financial statements in 2002 and 2003. The company agreed to pay $50 million to settle SEC allegations that it misled investors, but GE did not admit or deny wrongdoing. The company wrote a much bigger check to the lawyers and accountants who investigated the alleged wrongdoing: roughly $200 million, according to a GE statement.

Lawyer Couple Must Turn Over Prospective Client Information to Former Firm

The National Law Journal

The 9th Circuit on Friday upheld a district court's preliminary injunction ordering two former Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro lawyers to hand over information they gathered for the firm on prospective Australian clients -- including some who signed retainers -- and also to stop identifying themselves as firm representatives. This case is the second time a national plaintiffs firm has sued Eran Rubinstein and Susan M. Boltz-Rubinstein after contracting with them to find international institutional investor clients.

Calif. Supreme Court Narrows Workplace Privacy

The Recorder

Employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the workplace, the California Supreme Court held Monday, but that right has limits. And it doesn't prevent employers from conducting hidden surveillance for "legitimate business concerns." The case arose after video equipment was put in two women's office in an attempt to catch someone who had been viewing pornography at the workplace, a facility for abused children. The two women were not suspects, but they sued for invasion of privacy after discovering the camera.

Speedo Suit: Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water

The American Lawyer

A pre-2008 Olympics lawsuit charging Speedo and USA Swimming with violating antitrust laws in a conspiracy to promote the LZR Racer swimsuit at the expense of rival suits -- in part by making allegedly false public comments and limiting competitor ads in USA Swimming publications -- is paddling ahead to trial. Rival swimsuit maker TYR's case hinges in part on comments the U.S. national coach made to swimmers hoping to make the team, including a claim that the LZR gives swimmers a "2 percent advantage" over competitors.

Suspended Attorney Target of Mortgage Lender's Lawsuit

Daily Business Review

A former candidate for Miami-Dade public defender is accused of misdealings in a complex foreclosure lawsuit spearheaded by JPMorgan Chase Bank based on more than $10 million in alleged serial mortgage fraud on a single Miami Beach property. Washington Mutual Bank, which was acquired by JPMorgan last September, alleges that Gabriel Martin, whose law license has been suspended since 2006, prepared loan documents as its closing agent but failed to properly carry out his duties.

Golf Course GPS Maker's Bankruptcy Filing Lands Midsize Firms in Sand Trap

The American Lawyer

The bankruptcy filing by Florida-based GPS Industries, a manufacturer of golf course global positioning systems, has left 17 firms bereft of more than $875,000 in legal fees. The bulk of the fees are owed to two midsize firms that represented the struggling company: TroyGould in Los Angeles and Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery in Chicago are out more than $815,000 in fees. In a quarterly filing with the SEC, the firms expressed doubt that the company would be able to stay in business.

Gibson Dunn Wins Dismissal of ePlus Backdating Suit

The American Lawyer

It's not just product liability cases that are being affected by tougher pleading standards. Last week, federal Judge Richard Leon of the District of Columbia dismissed with prejudice a derivative suit filed over backdating practices at a company called ePlus, which was represented by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Because ePlus' certificate of incorporation exempts directors from liability unless they've acted in bad faith, the plaintiffs must plead facts showing they had knowledge of their wrongdoing, the judge reasoned.

Citing Madoff, Judge Slams SEC for 'Relentless' Pursuit of Legitimate Company

Fulton County Daily Report

A federal judge in Atlanta has sharply criticized the Securities and Exchange Commission for what he described as a seven-year "relentless pursuit" of a Tennessee businessman and his lawyer partner while "studiously ignoring Bernard Madoff and the largest Ponzi scheme in American history." Judge Marvin Shoob fined defendants Steven Wyer, Tennessee attorney Kurt Beasley and their defunct capital investment company, Merchant Capital, a total of $58,000 -- not the $10 million the SEC asked for.

No Overtime Pay Due NutriSystem's Phone Sales Force, Federal Judge Rules

The Legal Intelligencer

A federal judge has rejected the claims of a group of NutriSystem sales associates who said they were cheated out of overtime pay. Because the workers are paid commissions for every order they take, the judge concluded that the company's pay scheme qualifies for the "retail commission exception" in the Fair Labor Standards Act. Court papers offered a behind-the-scenes look at strategies used to sell the leading diet plan, such as forbidding call center workers from sitting idle for more than five minutes at a time.

Patton Boggs Picks Up Mortgage Finance Group

The National Law Journal

Patton Boggs has brought on a six-lawyer mortgage finance team from Weiner Brodsky, the firm announced Tuesday. Partners Richard Andreano and John Socknat started work in the firm's Washington, D.C., office Monday, and will be joined by three associates. Partner Michael Waldron will work out of the firm's Dallas office. Andreano and Socknat said the group made the move primarily to take advantage of Patton Boggs' public policy capabilities.

Review: Averatec All-in-One

Legal Tech Newsletter

When considering a new law office computer, function usually wins over style. Luckily, according to consultant Brett Burney, the All-In-One desktop computer line from Averatec offers the best of both worlds when it comes to a functional PC that looks sleek and marvelous sitting on a desk.

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How to Structure 363 Sales of Assets in Bankruptcy

The National Law Journal

As the recession continues, more businesses are being forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In many cases, the bankruptcies are liquidations, not reorganizations, says Robbin Itkin, the head of Steptoe & Johnson's West Coast business and financial restructuring group. Itkin, a partner in the Los Angeles office, talked to The National Law Journal about how 363 sales are structured and what thorny legal issues buyers and sellers might face when dealing with assets in a bankruptcy.

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Which Firms Did Layoffs Well -- and Which Didn't?

The American Lawyer

Since January 2008, Am Law 200 firms have laid off more than 2,900 lawyers. This year, as part of its annual midlevel survey, The American Lawyer asked 6,101 third-, fourth-, and fifth-year associates between late March and mid-May to assess how their firms handled layoffs and how the news was communicated to them, and combined those scores into a single "layoff composite." In a year filled with disappointment, how the bad news was delivered and how departures were characterized mattered.

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Relatively Unknown Lawyer Takes On High-Profile Tesla Litigation

The Recorder

Yosef Peretz isn't a Silicon Valley insider. He came from Israel nine years ago and set up a plaintiff-side employment practice in San Francisco in 2003. But now the relatively unknown lawyer is at the center of a risky, high-profile lawsuit brought by Tesla Motors co-founder Martin Eberhard accusing Tesla and CEO Elon Musk of defamation and claiming he wasn't paid severance after being ousted as CEO two years ago. Peretz is also representing a group of laid-off Tesla employees in another defamation suit.

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