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: New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library

LAW.COM Newswire Highlights November 6, 2008

By David Badertscher, PLL

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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. An Early Line on Legal Slots in Obama Administration Legal Times Barack Obama has been president-elect for less than 48 hours, but Washington, D.C., lawyers are already in the throes of one of their favorite guessing games: Who'll get key jobs in the new administration? Much of the action is centered on slots at the regulatory agencies and the Justice Department -- positions that are more likely to have a direct impact on clients than Cabinet-level or West Wing jobs like White House counsel or attorney general. And names are already being bandied about by D.C. insiders. Fighting Over Voter-Approved Ban on Gay Marriage Puts Squeeze on California's Chief Justice The Recorder Legal groups and three city attorneys asked the California Supreme Court on Wednesday to invalidate Proposition 8, arguing that the voter-approved ban on gay marriage is a constitutional revision that should have been processed through the Legislature, not the ballot box. The lawsuit throws the hot-potato issue of same-sex unions back to the high court -- and it snares Chief Justice Ronald George in a political vise as his scheduled 2010 retention election approaches. Lawyers Predict Top Business Litigation Issues for President-Elect Obama The American Lawyer Most lawyers don't keep a crystal ball in their office, but if pressed, some will take a crack at forecasting the future. A selection of litigators shared their predictions about the legal and political issues that could impact their practice areas over the next four years. Regardless of which side of the political aisle they stand on, these experts agreed that the financial crisis is likely to lead to sweeping changes in bankruptcy and securities law, energy policy and financial regulation. Antitrust Fears Kill Yahoo-Google Ad-Sharing Deal The Recorder Yahoo's lawyers were ready to fight a government lawsuit blocking the search engine's ad-sharing deal with Google. One small problem: Google wasn't. Google general counsel David Drummond announced in a blog post Wednesday that his company wasn't willing to go to the mat with antitrust regulators to save a deal that was viewed as a lifeboat for rival Yahoo. The partnership would have outsourced some of Yahoo's search advertising to Google and brought in an estimated $800 million a year. Bush Got a Conservative High Court, With Caveats Legal Times Most Supreme Court commentators believe conservatives are finally riding high in the saddle at the high court -- and enjoying it. Increasingly, their ascendancy is being viewed, as author Jeffrey Toobin puts it, as President George W. Bush's "most enduring triumph." But it's fair to wonder whether even this part of the Bush legacy is the shining success it is cracked up to be. Coming months will bring new tests of just how far to the right Bush has turned the Court. Europe Blocks BHP Billiton-Rio Tinto Deal The American Lawyer European Union antitrust authorities objected to the proposed merger between mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton on Tuesday, saying it cannot proceed as planned. That leaves BHP's antitrust lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with the job of altering the deal to make it more palatable to authorities. U.S. and Australian antitrust authorities have already approved the deal, but experts believe BHP will have to divest itself of some assets to gain European approval. 3rd Circuit: Truth in Lending Act Provides Unwaivable Defense The Legal Intelligencer A provision in the Truth in Lending Act that excuses minor inaccuracies on the part of lenders is not an "affirmative defense" that must be specifically raised by the defendant, but instead is a "general defense" that cannot be waived, the 3rd Circuit has ruled. The decision could prove to be a significant boon to banks that seek to rely on a "tolerances for accuracy" defense under a TILA provision that was designed to help creditors avoid "extraordinary liability" for small disclosure discrepancies. Goodwin Plans First Asian Office With Hong Kong Launch The National Law Journal Goodwin Procter plans to open its first Asian office in Hong Kong to build on the firm's private equity, venture capital and fund formation expertise. The Boston-based Goodwin, which has registered as a foreign law firm in Hong Kong and will open an office there in January, is also exploring other expansion opportunities in Asia. New York partner Yash Rana and Menlo Park, Calif., partner Brian McDaniel plan to relocate to Hong Kong to open the new office. Treasury Department Picks Two Law Firms to Handle $700 Billion Bailout The National Law Journal The U.S. Treasury Department has tapped Hughes Hubbard & Reed and Squire Sanders & Dempsey to help execute the $700 billion bailout package that Congress passed in October. The two firms were each awarded contracts worth up to about $5.5 million. The department said it asked five law firms to bid on the bailout work, and that four firms responded in late October. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was awarded a $300,000 contract in early October to consult on the bailout. Man Goes to Court to Fight His Own Impending Autopsy The National Law Journal A man anticipating death from mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that is invariably fatal and that is caused by inhaling asbestos, is challenging the constitutionality of a court order that requires his body to be autopsied as a condition of his estate being paid a settlement. Said the man's attorney: "Autopsy is very invasive; no one should have to do it if they don't want to." Fired by Judge Accused of Indecent Exposure, Former Court Reporter Settles With State The Associated Press The ex-court reporter for a former judge who was sentenced to prison after being convicted of indecent exposure while on the bench has reached a $170,000 settlement in a federal suit against Oklahoma. Lisa Foster claimed that Judge Donald Thompson fired her after she informed a judicial council of his behavior, and that the judge caused her emotional distress through conduct that was "utterly intolerable in a civilized community." Thompson was accused of using a penis pump while presiding over trials. Lawyers Make Closing Arguments in Courthouse Shooting Case Fulton County Daily Report Lawyers making their closing arguments in the Georgia courthouse shooting case on Wednesday largely agreed on the facts but were worlds apart in their descriptions of what led up to the shootings. One of Brian G. Nichols' defense lawyers said Nichols' actions can be blamed on mental illness -- but a senior assistant district attorney said it was Nichols' anger and frustration over his impending rape conviction, not insanity, that caused the 2005 rampage that left four people dead. Backup, Replication and Disaster Recovery Legal Tech Newsletter Two key components of a modern disaster recovery plan are backup and replication. Ben Weinberger of Lathrop & Gage describes how his firm, with sophisticated IT leadership and the right management of vendors, implemented a backup and replication plan to better weather coming storms. Visit Legal Technology Why Law Departments Should Beware Super-Sized Firms New York Law Journal The success of law firms depends on a variety of factors, including differences in management, operations and the wide range of characteristics they emphasize. Consultant Rees W. Morrison hones in on the factor of sheer numbers of lawyers as a primary driver of disadvantages for law departments. He sketches some of the downsides to law departments when they retain massive law firms and considers seven attributes of giant law firms and their attendant disadvantages for law departments. Visit In-House Counsel We Were Told You'd Bring Billables Legal Times In this slowing economy, lateral associate hiring is down while the desire for lateral partners with portable books of business is thriving. The key phrase is "portable books of business" -- meaning billable work that the partner will be able to bring from the old firm to the new one. Yet almost all lawyers squirm at the thought of answering, "What are your portables?" during a lateral job search. Attorney search consultant Dan Binstock has an easy solution for those facing this dreaded four-word question. Visit the Career Center How Solos Stayed Afloat After Hurricane Ike Texas Lawyer While large firms located in tall office buildings on Galveston Island, Texas, mostly escaped serious damage done by Hurricane Ike, solos and small firms with offices in one- or two-story structures were decimated. Texas Lawyer visited four solo and small-firm lawyers who are rebuilding their law offices on the island as well as their practices. While they're dealing with different kinds of problems, they all have the same resolve -- there's no way they're leaving Galveston. Visit Small Firm Business Law.com 120 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10271-1101 (877) 256-CIRC Customer Service Phone: (877) 256-CIRC

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on November 06, 2008 (boomark / email).