Posts on ‘October 10th, 2008’

DLA Piper has announced a joint venture agreement with the international division of Kuwait’s Al Wagayan, Al Awadhi & Al Saif. The venture will go under the name DLA Piper Kuwait and will provide global legal services to local and international clients operating in Kuwait. The joint venture further expands DLA Piper’s presence in the Gulf, where it has more than 120 lawyers.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has recruited 27 partners from Heller Ehrman, which has declared its intention to dissolve. Orrick Chairman Ralph Baxter hailed the additions Thursday, pointing to the “critical mass” of antitrust lawyers joining the firm. Other firms, including Covington & Burling, Arnold & Porter and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, also have recently announced Heller hires in recent days.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched a “pre-emptive” strike against state personal injury suits with a rule issued this week on “designated seating position,” according to consumer and trial lawyer groups. The rule contains language that would specifically pre-empt state tort claims related to seat belt injuries.

Former Solicitor General Theodore Olson says antitrust law has been turned on its head by the D.C. Circuit’s July ruling in favor of the Federal Trade Commission’s effort to block the merger between Whole Foods and Wild Oats. Olson filed a motion this week for leave to support Whole Foods’ petition for an en banc hearing, writing that the panel revived outdated cases that had no business interpreting modern economic issues.

The former chief executive and chief financial officer of Duane Reade, the New York area’s largest drug store chain, were indicted Thursday on charges of exaggerating the company’s income by millions of dollars. Anthony Cuti and William Tennant were charged in federal court with securities fraud, making false entries in books and records and making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission and auditors. If convicted of the most serious charge, the men could face up to 20 years in prison.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges received a $5 million advance in September from Lehman Brothers for work leading up to the bank’s bankruptcy filing, according to Weil’s formal application this week to be retroactively hired as Lehman’s bankruptcy lawyers. In a separate filing, Lehman sought to employ Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle as its conflicts counsel. The $5 million Weil has received could be a drop in the bucket — one estimate expects Lehman to pay $906 million in legal fees.

A New York state appellate panel has thrown out the convictions of a personal injury attorney and his firm, finding that the state presented insufficient evidence the defendants used “steerers” to sign up accident victims or that they coached clients to fabricate injuries. Following a nonjury trial in 2005, Daivery Taylor and his firm, Silverman & Taylor, were found guilty of charges stemming from the alleged conspiracy. Taylor was sentenced to five years of probation and a $5,000 fine and was disbarred.