Legal News

Lehman Report Full of Goodies

Posted on March 11, 2010
The early results suggest Jenner chair Anton Valukas has produced a tough report on Lehman's demise.

Anheuser-Busch Hires Skadden in Suit Against Illinois Regulators

Posted on March 11, 2010
The suit alleges the state's liquor control authority is violating the U.S. Constitution by blocking A-B Inbev from buying an in-state distributor.

Reading Between the Lines of King & Spalding's New Pay Scale

Posted on March 11, 2010
An internal memo obtained by sibling publication the Fulton County Daily Report indicates that the firm will "restore" some of the associate salary cuts it put in place last year.

Skadden, L.A. Bankrutpcy Boutique Advising MGM

Posted on March 11, 2010
Skadden Arps and Klee Tuchin are advising movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which is reportedly mulling a prepackaged bankruptcy in order to reorganize some $4 billion in debt.

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Howrey's Looming Partner "Layoffs"

Posted on March 11, 2010
Yes, there will be cuts in the partner ranks, and there will be a lot of them. The firm says, though, that technically they are not layoffs.

Allens Arthur, Mallesons on $3B Takeover Bid for Arrow Energy

Posted on March 11, 2010
Royal Dutch Shell and Petrochina have launched a $3 billion joint takeover bid for Australian coal seam gas company Arrow Energy Ltd. Shell already owns 30 percent of Arrow's coal seam gas acreage, which it acquired in a 2008 deal worth around $500 million...

After Judicial Rebuke, Kaye Scholer Volunteers to Pay Legal Fees

Posted on March 10, 2010
The firm, representing Bank of America in a foreclosure dispute with bankrupt Miami developer Cabi Downtown, has agreed to pay the debtor's litigation legal fees in the Chapter 11 case after drawing criticism from a bankruptcy judge.

Landmark Case Against NCAA Turning Into College Basketball History Course

Posted on March 10, 2010
The lawyers who've brought the case have added a new group of plaintiffs, including members of some the most famous college basketball teams ever.

Ex-Kasowitz Partner Pitcock on Patent Suit Against Google, Facebook

Posted on March 10, 2010
Former Kasowitz Benson partner Jeremy Pitcock is back in the news--and this time it's for his role as a litigator, not a litigant.

S&C Joins General Growth Fray

Posted on March 10, 2010
The firm is advising fund manager Fairholme Capital Management and hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management on a proposal to provide $3.9 billion in new capital to General Growth Properties to help the bankrupt mall operator exit Chapter 11.

"This Isn't the End of Big Law Firm Associates"

Posted on March 10, 2010
But it's the end of something.

Question: What Do Bernie Madoff and David Letterman Have in Common?

Posted on March 10, 2010
Answer: Dickstein Shapiro's Daniel Horwitz. A member of Madoff's Dickstein defense team last summer, the New York litigator and ex-Manhattan prosecutor served as Letterman's lawyer during the criminal investigation into former CBS News producer Robert Halderman's scheme to blackmail the late night talk show host, which resulted in Halderman entering a guilty plea on Tuesday.

Is Victory In Sight for Skadden Client in Fertilizer Wars?

Posted on March 10, 2010
It looks that way, but the fertilizer wars have had a way of taking unpredictable twists and turns.

The New China Hands

Posted on March 09, 2010
As China?s economic landscape has changed, global firms have taken notice. They've been grooming a new group of attorneys--mainland-born and Western educated--to play leadership roles.

Six Firms Score Roles in Centerline Restructuring, Asset Sale

Posted on March 09, 2010
Paul Hastings, Proskauer, Weil Gotshal, Milbank, Nutter McClennen, and Richards, Layton & Finger landed lead legal advisory roles on a complex series of transactions aimed at saving Centerline, a real estate finance and asset management company.

Orrick, Foley Knock Chip World's Dr. Qu Down a Peg

Posted on March 09, 2010
The International Trade Commission has ruled against Tessera, Inc. in a patent infringement case that calls into question the findings of an expert witness used by the San Jose-based technology company for a decade, according to Am Law Daily sibling publication The Recorder.

The Churn: Lateral Moves and Promotions in The Am Law 200

Posted on March 09, 2010
Latham's new Houston office gets an energy boost with several new hires. Jackson Lewis's number of female partners has jumped with additions in the firm's Raleigh office. And the laterals keep coming through the doors at K&L Gates, this time in the firm's London and Miami offices...

Lehman to Judge: Make the Examiner's Report Public

Posted on March 09, 2010
Days before a judge will hear arguments on whether to make the 2200-page report on Lehman's demise public, the Lehman estate weighed in on the side of full disclosure.

Weil, Howrey Helping Merck, Sanofi Through Strange Antitrust Dance

Posted on March 09, 2010
Merck and Sanofi-Aventis have agreed to merge their animal health units, essentially undoing a prior deal that separated those interests as a way of helping Merck clear regulatory hurdles on its way to a $41 billion merger with Schering-Plough. Got that?

In This Case, It's GM Lawyering Up Over Safety Secrets

Posted on March 09, 2010
While Toyota has been pilloried in recent weeks for a recall crisis that affects millions of U.S. automobiles, a small army of defense lawyers for General Motors (including some from Bingham McCutchen) are seeking to seal court documents related to a product liability suit over seat backs, reports sibling publication The Connecticut Law Tribune.

Greenberg Traurig Chicago Partner Hit With Theft of Services Charges

Posted on March 08, 2010
Mark McCombs, a government affairs partner in the Chicago office of Greenberg Traurig, was charged by state prosecutors in Illinois on Friday with bilking more than $1 million from a Chicago suburb through inflated legal bills. GT immediately "severed connections" to McCombs, according to a statement released late Friday...

A Big Day for Lawyers, Free Speech Activists at SCOTUS

Posted on March 08, 2010
At SCOTUS today: A setback for bankruptcy lawyers, and the acceptance of a thorny free speech case.

THE AM LAW 100: Weil Posts Flat Revenue; Slight Rise in Profits

Posted on March 08, 2010
Weil, Gotshal & Manges reported flat 2009 gross revenue and a modest uptick in profits per partner Monday. The results are slightly surprising given the firm's strong bankruptcy practice last year, but executive partner Barry Wolf said that other parts of the firm suffered from the economic downturn.

Baker & McKenzie Chile Partner Discusses Devastating Quake

Posted on March 08, 2010
A week after a devastating 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Chile and slightly shifted the earth's axis, The Am Law Daily caught up with León Larrain, the managing partner of Baker & McKenzie's Santiago office, to see how Larrain and his firm are handling the natural disaster.

A Headache for Arnold & Porter in the Kraft-Cadbury Merger?

Posted on March 08, 2010
The antitrust work in this case may come up against a hurdle the companies didn't anticipate.

Another Week, Another Huge AIG Sell-Off

Posted on March 08, 2010
This deal--the $15.5 billion sale of a life insurance unit--provided major work for Weil, Davis Polk, Dewey and S&C.

And the Oscar Goes To...

Posted on March 07, 2010
In the days before the red carpet is rolled out and all eyes turn to Hollywood for the 82nd annual Academy Awards, it?s business as usual for Greenberg Glusker entertainment attorneys Bonnie Eskenazi and Candace Carlo, whose clients include three of this year?s Academy Award nominees...

The Franchise Ownership Chronicles: Firms Snag Roles on Sports Deals

Posted on March 05, 2010
A chat with Weil Gotshal's Glenn West, who advised on the recent sales of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Texas Rangers. Plus: a team of lawyers surrounds the ailing English Premier League; and the legal world recently lost two noted sports lawyers.

Airgas Deflated in Chancery Court Battle With Cravath

Posted on March 05, 2010
The Delaware Chancery Court has ruled it will not disqualify Cravath, Swaine & Moore from advising industrial gas producer Air Products on its $5.1 billion hostile bid for rival Airgas, the court said Friday aftenroon. Airgas sued Cravath in federal court in Pennsylvania and filed a complaint against Air Products in Delaware, claiming the firm breached its fiduciary duty by representing Air Products because it had advised Airgas on several financings.

The Bankruptcy Files: Homebuilders, Toy Makers, and Media

Posted on March 05, 2010
Cahill Gordon & Reindel, Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis, Troutman Sanders, and Pachulski Stang have landed roles on the latest round of Chapter 11 assignments.

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