Posts on ‘December 9th, 2008’

A three-judge Federal Circuit panel upheld an attorney fee award of nearly $17 million on Monday because of baseless filings and bad-faith patent litigation by two drug companies. Takeda Chemical Industries sued two generic drug companies — Mylan Laboratories and Alphapharm Pty. Ltd. — for patent infringement, and was granted an award of attorney fees under a section of the law that permits that award to prevailing parties in “exceptional cases.”

Antitrust attorneys expect the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to ramp up merger scrutiny in President-elect Barack Obama’s administration and boost negotiation and document review work for lawyers. In that kind of climate, companies would need more help from lawyers to sell the merits of the deal to the government, said Jim Wilson, chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law.

Two litigators who have been arguing about the breakup of their firm for two years are squabbling now over shares of a proposed $2.45 million fee in a class action settlement with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield. Who gets to trumpet the settlement in the media is also an issue. Bruce Nagel and David Mazie, formerly of Nagel, Rice & Mazie, represent separate plaintiffs in consolidated class action suits aimed at getting Horizon to increase benefits for eating-disorder patients.

A San Francisco Bay Area biotech company and its former executives have burned through three layers of D&O insurance, and a fourth carrier won’t pay without a fight. An insurer for Brisbane, Calif.-based InterMune is refusing to honor a $5 million policy needed to defend the company’s former CEO, Scott Harkonen, whom federal prosecutors accuse of illegally marketing the company’s Actimmune drug. The case will likely be the first of its kind to reach a jury.

As manager of information systems at Chester, Willcox and Saxbe, Wayne Smith loves the sights, sounds and smells of the server room. Yet this is not what information technology is all about in the modern law firm, says Smith. To be a thoroughly modern IT leader, you need an M.B.A.

A year ago, firms were playing suitor, but the seduction has apparently ended. Some firms are now acting the cad. First came the layoffs. Then, during the fall recruiting season, some firms rescinded job offers to second-year law students — even before students’ official response period of 45 days had ended. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld confirms that it took back some offers, but other firms are taking a more indirect approach.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested in their homes by FBI agents on corruption charges Tuesday morning. According to the , the charges relate to benefits Blagojevich allegedly sought for himself in a new Obama administration in return for selecting the president-elect’s successor to the U.S. Senate. While there’s no word yet on whether Blagojevich has retained counsel, Winston & Strawn chairman Dan Webb would seem to be a likely candidate.

Marc Dreier, the founder of Dreier LLP, was arraigned Monday on federal
charges of pawning off $113 million in bogus securities to two hedge
funds. A New York judge, who will oversee the SEC’s action to recover
the money, named Paul Weiss’ Mark Pomerantz as receiver to protect the
firm’s assets. In another civil suit, Wachovia Bank alleged Dreier had
defaulted on a $9 million revolving credit note. Meanwhile, in the wake
of Dreier’s arrest last week on an impersonation charge, many lawyers
are jumping ship.

Just in time for the holidays, the U.S. Department of Justice has released a new model leniency letter for companies that want to avoid being criminally prosecuted for antitrust violations. But the companies may not be so thankful. In the letter, the government tightens up its amnesty program for corporations and individuals. Deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust Scott Hammond calls the changes “clarifications,” made “to clear up any perceived ambiguities.”