Legal Research

If you are already an online subscriber to the LAW.COM service you should be able to click on any of the links below, sign in, and access the full text of all articles listed. A subscription to LAW.COM is needed for online access to this service.

Federal Judge Dismisses $186 Billion 'Cash Sweep' Class Action Against Brokerages

The American Lawyer

New York federal Judge Richard Sullivan on Monday dismissed a $186 billion class action that was filed against Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Charles Schwab and Wachovia. Plaintiffs claimed that the brokerages' disclosures about their cash sweep programs were inaccurate and that the brokerages owed customers a fiduciary duty to place their extra cash in highest interest-bearing accounts. The judge rejected all of the plaintiffs' claims, citing 2nd Circuit precedent on brokers' duties to customers.

Home Restoration Client May Be Money Pit for Law Firms

New York Law Journal

At least four law firms have been left hanging for millions of dollars in legal fees from a home restoration company whose former chairman pleaded guilty to fraud involving another corporation. The latest firm left waiting for payment by Home Solutions of America is Riker Danzig. Ironically, the firm was defending the company in a suit brought by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius over $2.5 million in unpaid fees. Unpaid fees have also driven two Texas-based firms to try to withdraw from defending the company in a class action.

Ratings Agencies Hit With Suit Blaming Them for Economic Meltdown

The American Lawyer

The Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi has filed a federal suit against Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch, claiming the agencies misled investors by giving high ratings to subprime mortgage-backed investment entities. Unlike a California Public Employees' Retirement System case, which was filed in state court and focuses on only the pension fund's losses, the Mississippi action purports to represent "all persons or entities who purchased mortgage pass-through certificates" sold by J.P. Morgan Acceptance.

Bank of America Makes Peace With Parmalat for $100 Million

The American Lawyer

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges has managed to squeeze out another settlement for Parmalat, the new-and-improved version of the Italian dairy company that collapsed under the weight of internal fraud in 2003. On Tuesday, Bank of America announced that it had reached a $100 million global settlement with Parmalat in a deal that includes a cash and non-cash component. The BofA settlement follows a $150 million deal between Parmalat and one of its former auditors, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

Indicted for Threatening 7th Circuit Judges, Web Talk Show Host Looks to First Amendment Defense

The National Law Journal

Hal Turner, the Web talk show host indicted for encouraging the killing of three federal judges, pleaded not guilty Tuesday. His lawyer told the magistrate judge that Turner was a former FBI informant who had helped authorities thwart an assassination attempt on Barack Obama. The lawyer also suggested a possible First Amendment defense when he told the judge that Turner was only expressing opinions, albeit "outlandish" ones, when he posted Web messages saying the judges "deserve to be killed."

Jury Pins $370 Million Verdict on Former Guess CEO

The Recorder

A lawsuit brought nearly two years ago by former Guess CEO Georges Marciano has backfired, leaving Marciano on the receiving end of a $370 million jury verdict, according to opposing counsel. The millionaire magnate who steered the rise of Guess jeans had sued five former employees of his real estate company for embezzlement and fraud, but when those employees filed cross-complaints alleging libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress a year ago, the French designer's case went downhill.

Debevoise Nabs Two Banking Partners From Goodwin

New York Law Journal

Debevoise & Plimpton said Tuesday that it had hired two banking partners from Goodwin Procter. Gregory Lyons, the former co-chair of Goodwin's financial services group, will join Debevoise as a partner in New York, serving as co-chair for the Americas of the financial institutions group. Satish Kini, a Washington, D.C., partner, will co-chair Debevoise's banking practice.

Latest Lawsuit by 'Pants Judge' Goes in the Hamper

The Associated Press

A federal judge has thrown out a wrongful-termination lawsuit by a former D.C. judge who was fired after filing a $54 million lawsuit over a pair of pants. Roy Pearson claimed that the District used the fact that he was being vilified in the media to cut him out of his $100,000-a-year job as an administrative judge. The District's judicial commission did not cite the pants lawsuit as the reason for firing Pearson. But the presiding federal judge suggested there was a "strong basis" to do so.

Prison Consultants Help Madoff, Other White-Collar Inmates Get Good Digs

The Associated Press

Bernard Madoff once had the best that money could buy when it came to his many homes. For his latest accommodations, he sought out a different kind of broker: a type of prison consultant increasingly popular among white-collar wrongdoers. From Martha Stewart to Michael Vick, prison consultants are often hired by celebrities, white-collar miscreants and disgraced politicians to lobby for good prison placement, mitigate sentence length and offer crash courses in prison culture.

Feds in Bank Fraud Case Drop All Charges Against Former Greenberg Partner

Daily Business Review

U.S. Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan issued an order Monday dropping all charges alleging that Carlos Loumiet helped conceal fraud at Miami-based Hamilton Bank before it collapsed seven years ago. Dugan cited an insufficient case record and the exclusion of a key witness before concluding there was insufficient evidence that "Loumiet's conduct caused the requisite harm to establish the 'effect' element necessary to hold him responsible."

Court Refuses to Dismiss Indictment Against Former Judge

New York Law Journal

A federal judge has declined to dismiss an indictment against former New York Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo for allegedly trying to extort $10,000 from a lawyer practicing before him to help pay for the ex-judge's defense against misconduct charges brought by a judicial conduct commission. Judge Gary L. Sharpe set Aug. 24 as the tentative start date for Spargo's trial.

McCarter & English Chairman Remembered for Leadership, Adept Litigating

New Jersey Law Journal

Andrew Berry, the chairman of McCarter & English who spearheaded its transformation from a local firm to a regional power, died Friday at age 69. Berry was known as an adept defense litigator, representing clients in the financial, life sciences, pharmaceutical, consumer and industrial-products industries. He was equally well regarded as a law firm leader, having led the firm in the past 12 years through an unprecedented era of expansion while encouraging its lawyers' devotion to pro bono and charitable activities.

Big Names Weigh In on Attorney-Client Privilege Issue

Fulton County Daily Report

The Obama administration and a group of law professors and former federal judges are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Mohawk Industries' plea for a change in the way many appellate courts deal with questions of attorney-client privilege. The group, which includes U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan, former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr and legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, argues that a Mohawk win would undermine district court judges' ability to control the discovery process.

Visit In-House Counsel

Advising Small Businesses on Obama's Stimulus Package

Special to Law.com

Armed with news clippings and press releases, small business owners and entrepreneurs are financially and emotionally drained, and are ready to take advantage of the U.S. government's promises of fiscal assistance. But corporate lawyers need to be ready to separate the facts from the feel-good messages and to objectively advise clients regarding the positive and negative implications of the U.S. government's Financial Stability Plan, says attorney Amy E. D'Agostino.

Visit In-House Counsel

Six More Keys to Better Searching

Law Technology News

In his last article, EDD Special Master Craig Ball responded to new judicial standards for keyword searches with the first four of 10 steps to fashion more effective, efficient and defensible queries. Here are the next six steps to wring more quality and trim the fat from text retrieval.

Visit Legal Technology

Overcome Insecurity and Bring In More Business

The Legal Intelligencer

These are tough times, and lawyers are receiving lots of advice on how to cope. It may all make sense and even sound easy, yet many careers are still floundering. Business development may be the sticking point, says consultant Nadine Slavitt, due to something lawyers don't like to talk about -- lack of self-confidence. Slavitt says two of the usual reasons why lawyers may feel insecure about networking include a negative internal dialogue and a lack of experience, which are both manageable issues.

Visit the Career Center

Entertainment Law Boutiques Find Deals Are Drying Up

The National Law Journal

So much for a Hollywood ending. The economic recession has hit the most escapist of industries as deals for actors, musicians, directors and other talent in the entertainment sector have plummeted, according to attorneys who structure transactions. The downturn in deals -- affecting both their number and value -- could hit the proliferation of entertainment law boutiques especially hard because the lawyers at those firms feed off a single revenue stream: They get a percentage of the deals they draft.

Visit Small Firm Business

Copyright 2009. Incisive Media US Properties, LLC. All rights reserved.