| Life in the Doldrums Continues for Civil Litigators |
| Anyone who hoped commercial litigation would help law firms weather the recession was surely disappointed last year. That's judging by recoveries that National Law Journal affiliate VerdictSearch counted among its Top 100 Verdicts of 2009. Commercial verdicts, including breach-of-contract recoveries, fell from $1.4 billion in 2008 to just $421 mill... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| WaMu, JPMorgan Agree to $6 Billion Settlement |
| Washington Mutual's estate has reached a proposed settlement with JPMorgan Chase and federal regulators that will result in the return of $4 billion in deposits and nearly $2 billion in other cash that will be used to pay WaMu creditors, according to lawyers involved in the matter. As part of the proposed settlement, which still requires bondholder... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| Lehman Report Shows Ex-GC's Fight to the Bitter End |
| Thomas Russo's old life as GC of the collapsed Lehman Brothers is in the news again with the release of the bankruptcy examiners' report. Russo and Lehman's legal department weren't blamed for accounting chicanery, according to the report. But it shows they were involved in negotiations with other financial institutions as the bank fought for its s... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| PSS Systems Atlas Shoulders Legal Holds |
| In large, multinational organizations, implementing a legal hold is difficult, says consultant Brett Burney. It can be impossible to know exactly where data resides, and tracking hold notices for several thousand employees can be quite hopeless, but now PSS Systems Atlas can assist. | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| 2nd Circuit Rejects Most of New York's Attorney Advertising Limits |
| In rejecting the bulk of New York's content-based restrictions on attorney advertising, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Friday that a ban on the use of nicknames like "Heavy Hitters" or client testimonials about pending cases violates the First Amendment. The circuit also held that preventing lawyers from employing special effects or por... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| Court Rules Against Plaintiffs Who Claim Vaccines Cause Autism |
| The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled Friday that thimerosal-containing vaccines do not cause autism, rejecting a second theory advanced by plaintiffs lawyers who blame the injections for contributing to the developmental disorder in children. The rulings in three test cases mark the second defeat for plaintiffs lawyers who are litigating autism-r... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| Davis Polk Leads the Pack in New York; Sullivan and Cleary Hang In There |
| Davis Polk & Wardwell achieved what few New York firms were able to do last year, scoring fat increases in both revenue and profits per equity partner. The firm's revenue grew by about 7 percent, the highest percentage growth among New York firms. The firm's PPP rose an astonishing 10 percent -- at least 5 percent higher than about a dozen other el... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| After 'Citizens United,' Companies Hold Off on Political Ads |
| After the Supreme Court ruled that companies can spend freely on political advertising campaigns, good-government advocates, liberal commentators and even the president warned that a flood of corporate money would overwhelm elections and subvert democracy. But the real impact of the decision may be much less extreme, say in-house attorneys and elec... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| Pillsbury Loses 9 Real Estate Lawyers to Goulston |
| Pillsbury Winthrop is losing nine real estate lawyers -- including the managing partner of its 190-lawyer D.C. office -- to Boston-based Goulston & Storrs, which is known for its real estate expertise. Maureen Dwyer, who has been head of Pillsbury's D.C. office since the firm's merger with Shaw Pittman in 2005, called the move "such a good opportun... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| Interview Strategies: Handling a Callback |
| A callback interview is not the time to coast on the success of earlier interviews, say consultants Valerie Fontaine and Roberta Kass. It's a good idea to brainstorm and come up with some fresh information to discuss, and be prepared to be "on" for many hours with more than one interviewer. | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| Supreme Court Briefs Missing From AG's Senate Questionnaire |
| Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. did not list at least six U.S. Supreme Court briefs that a questionnaire asked him to disclose during his confirmation process in late 2008, the Justice Department acknowledged Friday. Holder spokesman Matthew Miller said the briefs "should have been disclosed as part of the confirmation process" and that they were ... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
|
|
| N.J. High Court to Decide if Counsel Fee Awards Can Cross State Lines |
| The New Jersey Supreme Court heard arguments last week on whether a corporation should be awarded counsel fees in a successful coverage dispute when it prevailed in a state that does not normally provide for them. A state appeals court held that since the corporation was successful in New Jersey on its coverage claim, it could recover counsel fees ... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| Attorney's Defective Disclosure Delays Imposition of Sanction |
| A former in-house attorney who used company funds to cover rent for his summer home won't be practicing in Washington anytime soon. The D.C. Court of Appeals stopped short of disbarring former Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing attorney Oscar W. Weekes Jr., who argued that he had filed an affidavit in 2005 that provided adequate notice in Washing... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| Government Highlights Personal Gain as KB Home Stock Options Backdating Trial Opens |
| KB Home's former CEO "secretly padded his pay" by about $11 million when he backdated his own stock options without the knowledge of others at the company, including its in-house lawyers, a federal prosecutor alleged during opening statements in the criminal trial against Bruce Karatz. "He was the one who stood to benefit the most from the backdati... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
| Evolution of Military Commissions Clouds Debate Over 9/11 Trials |
| The debate over where to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is defined by sharp disagreement over the legal rights of accused terrorists and the relative strengths and weaknesses of civilian and military commission systems. The Obama administration is nearing a decision on where to hold a trial once slated for New York, and officials are struggling to deve... | | 3/13/2010 1:43:14 PM |
|
|
|
| Porn parody studio X-Play wins trademark for use of 'Not'... |
By far the most amusing press release to come across my desk in a long while: This week the United States Patent and Trademark Office registered a trademark granting adult film studio X-Play exclusive use of the word "Not" for adult parody movies . | | 3/12/2010 9:47:05 PM |
|
|
|
| Mortgage Refinancing Without Moving Your Home |
| Once you refinance you are ending your old mortgage deal and switching to a new one. This normally involves switching your lender although you are able to sometimes change handles your current provider. Should you choose refinance along with your current lender it normally involves changing your existing deal. | | 3/12/2010 8:55:12 PM |
|
| Wachovia Loan Modification - How Long Do You Have? |
| If you are in default on your Wachovia home mortgage, you may have considered applying for a Wachovia Loan Modification. You may be rushing around in a panic. How long do you have? | | 3/12/2010 6:59:02 PM |
|
| Loan Modification Myths |
| One of the real estate buzz words today is "loan modification". Do you have a good understanding of what it really is? This article will look at some of the myths surrounding the term mortgage loan modification. | | 3/12/2010 4:42:00 PM |
|
| The Wright Brothers |
In 1899, after Wilbur Wright had written a letter of request to the Smithsonian Institution for information about flight experiments, the Wright Brothers designed their first aircraft: a small, biplane glider flown as ... | | 3/12/2010 3:16:22 PM |
|
| How to Do a Private Mortgage |
| In private mortgage, the money is not lent by a bank or financial institution. Rather the money is loaned by a private individual or a commercial enterprise. | | 3/12/2010 2:53:57 PM |
|
|
|
|
|
| Bad Credit Home Loans For Low Credit |
| Are you ready to buy a house? Do you have enough money to buy your dream house? You are probably going to need help financing such a large buy, which most of the time means getting a mortgage loan. | | 3/12/2010 12:00:51 PM |
|
|
|
| Is it Time to Find a Better Rate? |
| When looking to refinance a home or business, owners are always seeking out the best remortgage offers they can find. Even if it means hours and hours of legwork, the time spent looking for the best, available deal can often pay for itself in terms of lower interest rates and lower monthly payments. | | 3/12/2010 9:29:17 AM |
|
| Suntrust Loan Modification - Too Good to Be True? |
| If you have been looking into a Suntrust loan modification through Obama's Stimulus Plan, you might actually think it is surely too good to be true! Could it be possible to get a lower interest rate for the life of the loan, with the first five years being as low as 2%? | | 3/12/2010 8:59:05 AM |
|