Posts on ‘December 5th, 2008’

An investment adviser with authority to make investment decisions and power of attorney to sue but who has not been assigned the claim does not have constitutional standing to bring an action on behalf of clients under federal securities laws, the 2nd Circuit ruled in . The suit alleged that firms that provided underwriting, auditing or legal services to Adelphia Communications were complicit with Adelphia’s misleading statements and disclosures about debt levels.

Nationally known lawyer Philip Kay has won millions of dollars for clients in discrimination and harassment cases over the years. But he might be facing his biggest fight with California Bar prosecutors, who have charged him with turning two cases into three-ring circuses by repeatedly impugning court orders and caustically accusing judges of misconduct in front of jurors. Prosecutors also claim Kay entered into an illegal fee-splitting agreement in a sexual harassment suit against megafirm Baker & McKenzie.

The beer vendor at New Jersey’s Giants Stadium has agreed to pay $25 million to settle the case of a girl paralyzed in a crash with a drunken football fan under an 18-month-old secret agreement that an appeals court unsealed Wednesday. Antonia Verni, now 10, was rendered a quadriplegic in a 1999 crash that occurred a few hours after a game. Under the settlement, Verni and her mother received $19.5 million in cash and annuities that will generate more than $60,000 a month for Antonia’s care.

In what could turn out to be the biggest comeback in San Francisco Bay Area legal history, Tower Snow Jr., the controversial captain of the now-defunct Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, confirmed this week that he is looking for a law firm job. After Brobeck’s collapse and an ill-fated effort to build a West Coast office for London’s Clifford Chance, Snow retreated to Napa Valley to raise his daughter and work as a consultant from home. But now, he says he’s looking for a job as a securities litigator.

The 9th Circuit declined to review en banc a major pro-gay rights ruling — now comes the politics. Left standing on Thursday was a May opinion, in which the court prescribed a higher level of constitutional scrutiny to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The federal government must now decide whether to seek certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court. But unless the Bush administration decides to file a cert petition before Jan. 20, that call will be left to President Obama.

Lawyers, like the rest of the world, have embraced the ease of electronic communication. So it came as a bit of a shock to attorney Steven Kern to encounter an adversary who refused to communicate with him by e-mail, insisting that any papers he sends her be faxed or delivered by overnight mail. In fact, New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Siobhan Krier went so far as blocking Kern’s e-mails and accusing him of “unprofessional behavior.”

Charles Rothfeld has argued 23 cases before the Supreme Court, and is part of Mayer Brown’s impressive stable of top-tier appellate advocates. But he is also soft-spoken by nature, which may explain why, when he began arguing in , Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg interrupted to ask him, “Could you raise the podium?” That simple request triggered a comedy of errors and, eventually, a rare apology from the chief justice.

It’s beginning to seem as though it would be more newsworthy to find a firm that isn’t laying off attorneys, whether openly or by stealth. On Thursday, it was Proskauer’s turn. The firm is parting ways with 25 administrative staff and 35 associates, according to a statement. Proskauer said the layoffs are due to both the economic crisis and the “unprecedented reduction in our historical lawyer attrition rate.”

The wide-ranging discretion in federal sentencing given to district judges by the U.S. Supreme Court allows a tougher prison term to a gun offender in New York City than in other parts of the country in part because of the unique problems guns pose in urban areas and the city’s efforts to stem handgun violence, the 2nd Circuit has ruled. The court also used its opinion to expand on the degree of discretion given trial judges and the approach the circuit takes in reviewing sentences for reasonableness.

Marc Dreier, the founder and managing partner of New York’s Dreier LLP, was arrested Tuesday in Toronto on a charge of impersonation. According to , the charges against Dreier stem from a multimillion-dollar deal between the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and Fortress Credit Opportunities. The arrest is likely to pose unique problems for Dreier LLP: While the firm has more than 250 attorneys, Marc Dreier is the only equity partner.