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: New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library

LAW.COM Newswire Highlights October 30, 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. Japan Tries 'Extremely Rare' Move to Stop BHP Billiton-Rio Tinto Merger The American Lawyer The Japanese government plans to ask European Union regulators to block the proposed merger between mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, citing the possibility of anti-competitive pricing. Japan is taking the unusual step before the EU because its steel companies rely on Rio and BHP for about 60 percent of their iron ore. A Weil Gotshal partner says it's "extremely rare" for a government to request regulatory action from another country on behalf of its customers. Trial Begins in Malpractice Case Against Orrick The Recorder Multimillionaire businesswoman Fritzi Benesch had a "perfect" relationship with her older daughter. But in 1999, 16 years after control of the family clothing business had passed to her daughter, Benesch discovered that her husband, the company's co-founder, had cheated on her. Relationships soured, Benesch sued a plethora of defendants, and now one opponent remains: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, the firm that helped manage the Benesch estate for more than 20 years. Will $700 Million Finally Settle Decade-Old IPO Suit? The American Lawyer A settlement may finally be coming in a lawsuit filed in 2001 against more than 300 tech companies and 55 underwriters, including many well-known banks, which allegedly rigged IPOs to cheat investors. An attorney in the case reportedly submitted a letter asking a New York federal judge to delay hearings until January so the parties can finalize a settlement -- and court papers show the delay was granted. A settlement would end the saga that saw lead plaintiffs lawyer Mel Weiss convicted and imprisoned. Attorney Husband Who Misled Wife About Contract Change Gets Benefit of Original Agreement New York Law Journal A New York attorney is not obliged to pay $52,000 a year in maintenance to his ex-wife even though he acknowledged crossing out a cohabitation clause freeing him to stop the payments from a copy of the separation agreement, a state judge has ruled. The husband stated that he crossed out the clause more than a year after he and his wife signed the agreement, knowing that "the modification was absolutely unenforceable." The judge discounted the wife's testimony that the change was made at the initial signing. Gibson Dunn Defends Seinfeld From Defamation Claims The American Lawyer Some interesting First Amendment issues are beginning to take shape in the tabloid-ready dispute between megastar Jerry Seinfeld and a not-so-famous cookbook author who has accused Seinfeld's wife of plagiarism. In an affidavit filed this week in her defamation suit against Seinfeld, Missy Chase Lapine says that comments Seinfeld made about her on "The Late Show with David Letterman" made her feel "frightened and vulnerable." Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher represents the Seinfelds. Wiley Rein Sues Former Client for Failing to Pay Bills Legal Times Wiley Rein has filed a $450,000 suit against its former client SCC Acquisitions after SCC allegedly failed to pay for work the law firm provided. Says the Wiley Rein partner handling the lawsuit: "We hate to do it, but we run a business and we do want to get paid." Hospitals That Vest Contract Doctors With 'Apparent Authority' May Be Held Liable New Jersey Law Journal A New Jersey appeals court on Wednesday opened the door wide to malpractice liability for hospitals that use contract doctors in circumstances that lead patients to believe they are staff physicians. By keeping mum about a doctor's status as a contractor, a hospital vests the doctor with "apparent authority" and the patient may be presumed to have accepted care in the reasonable belief that the doctor is acting in the hospital's behalf, the court held. Former In-Law Alleges Judge Used Influence to Have Him Fired The Legal Intelligencer A retired Philadelphia judge has been sued by his former brother-in-law for allegedly using judicial influence to have the man fired as a tipstaff and then allegedly falsely charged with forgery. Former Judge John J. Chiovero's brother-in-law alleges that he was targeted after he announced he was divorcing the judge's sister. Last week, Chiovero and other co-defendants filed a motion to dismiss the action -- which they called "patently frivolous" -- for lack of jurisdiction in federal court. DOJ Study: Plaintiffs Win More Than Half of State Court Civil Trials The National Law Journal Plaintiffs won in 56 percent of all state court civil trials in 2005 and were more likely to get a favorable verdict in bench than jury trials, according to a new Justice Department report released on Tuesday. Judges ruled in plaintiffs' favor in 68 percent of the cases, while juries favored plaintiffs 54 percent of the time. The study is the first nationally representative measure of general civil bench and jury trials in state courts. Conservative's Suit Over Denial of Tenure Allowed to Proceed New York Law Journal A former college instructor may proceed with a claim that he was denied tenure because school administrators disapproved of his conservative politics and support for President George W. Bush, and not because of deficiencies as an educator, a federal judge has ruled. Michael Filozof contends the tenure track he was on as a political science instructor at a community college was suddenly derailed in 2003, during a period of hot debate among students and faculty over the ramp-up to the war in Iraq. N.Y. Attorney General Asks Banks for Bonus Information The Associated Press New York's attorney general turned up the heat Wednesday on nine large banks benefiting from the Wall Street bailout to provide information on the calculations and sizes of their executive bonuses. In letters to the boards of directors of Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and seven other banking giants, Andrew Cuomo said taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent. "Taxpayers are, in many ways, now like shareholders of your company, and your firm has a responsibility to them," Cuomo wrote. Peaceful Protest or Unlawful Invasion? Chevron Jurors Hear Contrasting Scenarios The Recorder To oil giant Chevron, making "supplemental" payments to the Nigerian military was a standard and necessary practice to protect its personnel. But to Nigerian villagers, those transactions effectively placed the soldiers "in the employ" of Chevron, making the company liable for the military's actions. Those were two of the wildly divergent scenarios emerging as Jones Day's Robert Mittelstaedt squared off against civil rights litigator Dan Stormer in a wrongful death and torture case watched around the world. Texas A&M Reaches $2.1 Million Settlement in Bonfire Suits Texas Lawyer A judge has signed off on a $2.1 million settlement that Texas A&M University reached with families of four students killed and three students injured in a bonfire accident. A lawyer in the case says the agreement settles all the claims the plaintiffs brought against the university and its employees. The settlement comes nine years after tragedy struck during the traditional construction of a bonfire on the eve of a football game with the University of Texas. The log tower's collapse killed 12 and injured 27. A Reasonable Route to ESI Confidentiality New York Law Journal Confidentiality issues grow more pressing as masses of electronically stored information inundate the discovery process. A decision in the Southern District of Indiana offers an economical, common-sense approach to confidentiality, which practitioners and courts should consider. Visit Legal Technology The Future of 'Say on Pay' in Current Economic Times The Legal Intelligencer Determining the appropriate level of compensation for corporate executives has been a controversial issue within the courtroom and the boardroom. The debate over the federal economic stimulus plan included a cry for compensation limits on executive pay as well as restrictions on golden parachutes. Attorneys Katayun I. Jaffari and Mu'min Islam outline the components and history of "say on pay," describe support and opposition to its implementation and discuss the future of "say on pay" proposals. Visit In-House Counsel Social Obligations in Law Offices: All Frosting, No Cake Texas Lawyer Over the past year The Assistant-at-Law has helped fund a senior trip for a kid she's never met, given money toward a shower gift for someone she doesn't know and bought birthday cakes for people who wouldn't invite her to their homes -- all in the name of office obligations. How did legal professionals get to a place where socializing at work is required and costly, she asks. The Assistant-at-Law proposes a different way of socializing at work: Let's all just be nice to one another with no strings attached. Visit the Career Center 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 October 30, 2008 (boomark / email).