Legal Research

Selections from the National Law Journal Daily Headlines July 11, 2008

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: NLJ.com, July 11, 2008

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FROM THE UPCOMING ISSUE  |  Rise in copper thefts fuels insurance suits
"The rising price of copper and other metals has spurred a rash of metal theft, and victims are waging court battles over who should foot the bill. State officials are grappling with how to prosecute the spike in theft of copper plumbing and electrical wiring as insurance coverage disputes and negligence claims related to copper theft are turning into state and federal lawsuits."

FROM THE UPCOMING ISSUE  |  Exxon Valdez families ask if they can collect millions in interest on award
"The Supreme Court has asked Exxon to respond to a recent filing by the Alaskan fishermen, families and others whose $2.5 billion-punitive damages award for the Exxon Valdez oil spill was cut roughly to $500 million by the Supreme Court in June on whether they may collect interest of almost an equal amount on that award. David Oesting, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, hopes the high court will clarify whether his clients are entitled to interest on terms set earlier in the case by a lower court. "

WEB-ONLY  |  In an appellate first, attacks on wills barred after estate owner dies
"For the first time, a California appellate court has said that when a conservator seeks court approval of an estate plan, while the subject is living, any challenge to the will must be raised at that hearing ? not when the person dies. The appellate decision is the first in the country to say attacks on wills would be barred after the estate owner dies, if there has been a court-approved substituted judgment, according to David Baer, attorney at Hanson Bridgett Marcus Vlahos & Rudy in San Francisco."

WEB-ONLY  |  Law firm mergers haven't slowed ? but the number depends on whom you ask
"Law firms didn't slow down their march to the altar in the second quarter of 2008, but just how many mergers occurred depends on whom you ask. Altman Weil announced a sharp increase in merger activity during the second quarter. But competitor Hildebrandt International said merger activity was closer to holding steady compared to the first three months of 2008."

OPINION:

RIGHT TO CROSS-EXAMINE  |  Lab technicians, too
The most important case for the future of our criminal justice system is going to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court next term. In Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, it will decide whether a criminal defendant has the right to cross-examine a lab technician who tested evidence. The case could determine how courts handle DNA evidence; it is crucial to the future of criminal procedure. The court should reaffirm a vigorous adversarial system, and hold that forensic evidence must be subjected to cross-examination."

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on July 11, 2008 (boomark / email).