Posts on ‘December 16th, 2008’

At a short but crackling federal court hearing Tuesday, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher beat back a last-minute effort to stop NBC from airing its “Momma’s Boys” reality show debut. The creator of the popular Turkish reality show “Perfect Bride” claimed that NBC capitalized on the success of the trademarked “Perfect Bride” phrase by using it in marketing materials, and that airing “Momma’s Boys” would endanger the plaintiffs’ ongoing negotiations with an unnamed NBC competitor. The judge denied the injunction.

Siemens AG, rocked by corruption cases that have cost the company both prestige and money, agreed Monday to pay more than $1 billion in fines in Germany and the United States. Under the terms in the U.S., Siemens and three of its international subsidiaries will pay approximately $450 million to the Justice Department to settle charges of making bribes and trying to falsify corporate books from 2001 to 2007. It will pay another $350 million to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A federal appeals court has ruled that the FBI will be able to enforce gag orders on telephone companies and Internet service providers on which it has served national security letters, but only if the bureau itself first seeks judicial review. The 2nd Circuit found that provisions in the Patriot Act concerning the letters run afoul of the First Amendment, but it construed the law in a way that allows the FBI to prevent phone companies and Internet providers from revealing that they have received the letters.

An appeals court has reinstated a claim that a design defect caused a 2000 Ford Explorer SUV to roll over and crash, seriously injuring the driver. Ford had won a “no cause” verdict from a New Jersey jury after the company presented evidence that the driver caused the accident. But the appeals court ordered a retrial last week because the trial judge failed to inform the jury that evidence of the driver’s alleged negligence was irrelevant to the threshold issue in the case: Was the vehicle’s design defective?

Judges on a federal discipline panel have vindicated Judge Manuel Real, but they did so through clenched teeth. The Judicial Council of the 9th Circuit dismissed two misconduct complaints accusing Real of failing to state the reasons for his rulings, finding that the judge’s conduct didn’t meet a standard requiring “clear and convincing evidence of a judge’s arbitrary and intentional departure from prevailing law.” Still, the Judicial Council had words for Real.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday posted online Eric Holder Jr.’s attorney general questionnaire. It looks a lot like the questionnaire he filled out as a nominee to be deputy AG, but for a few voyeuristic details. First: His middle name is “Himpton.” Second: He’s been making a killing at Covington & Burling.

Toy maker Mattel will pay $12 million to 39 states to settle an investigation over Chinese-made lead-tainted toys shipped to the U.S. in 2007, state officials said Monday. As part of the agreement, Mattel also agreed to lower the acceptable level of lead in toys shipped to the states to 90 parts per million — down from the current federal standard of 600 parts per million. Mattel and its Fisher Price unit recalled more than 21 million Chinese-made toys last year.

Altman Weil, a legal consulting agency, has released its first Flash Survey on the Law Firm Credit Crunch. Lawyers may be surprised — and pleased — to hear that most firms are doing OK, despite the daily news of economic hard times. “We expected to see more distress from law firms. But it appears that market conditions have not yet fully hit law firm balance sheets,” says James Cotterman, an Altman Weil principal.

Joseph Siino, the lawyer who built Yahoo Inc.’s intellectual property department, is leaving the struggling Internet search giant. Yahoo has lost a number of executives this year, its stock continues to slump and it began the process of laying off 1,500 workers last week. Siino, who wasn’t part of the cuts, said he’s leaving to join the growing patent monetization industry, which includes businesses like patent brokerages.