Posts on ‘October 30th, 2008’

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.