Rahm Emanuel, the incoming White House chief of staff, has hired Debevoise & Plimpton’s W. Neil Eggleston for defense counsel in the scandal surrounding Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Valerie Jarrett, set to be a senior adviser in the Obama White House, has hired Mayer Brown’s Vincent Connelly. Prosecutors have not accused either Emanuel or Jarrett of wrongdoing.
Posts on ‘December 24th, 2008’
Ringing Up Some Advice on Holiday Party Harasssment
Economy-driven corporate cutbacks in holiday celebrations this year could be good news in at least one sense for legal and human resources departments: fewer party-related harassment claims. The gift for ACC’s 25,000 members is a free two-minute phone message on “holiday party ethics” — including an overview of acceptable party behavior — for in-house lawyers and HR executives to share with employees.
Cross-Examining Executive Comp Experts Under New, Evolving Rules
Recent events, such as the financial crisis and the enactment of provisions of the Troubled Asset Relief Program limiting certain executive compensation, will likely lead to an increase in the number of disputes over executive compensation. Attorneys Steven A. Beckelman and Daniel P. D’Alessandro outline some of the issues to be considered by counsel in preparing to cross-examine an expert at deposition or at trial on the basis for the expert’s opinion on the amount of compensation and benefits awarded.
Pfizer Hit With $38 Million Jury Verdict in IP Case
A California jury awarded a $38 million verdict against Pfizer on Monday for stealing trade secrets in an effort to keep its controversial drug Bextra on the market. The verdict ended a suit brought more than five years ago by the founder of the Ischemia Research and Education Foundation. The jury found that Pfizer and a statistician at the foundation had acted with malice, meaning a judge can now award punitive damages that by law could reach $114 million, according to an attorney in the case.
Federal Ruling Highlights Open Question in 9th Circuit on Abandoned Trademarks
A federal judge has thrown out a claim by Grocery Outlet Inc. that Albertsons abandoned the Lucky stores trademark when Albertsons and Lucky stores merged in 1998. The ruling poses an open question in 9th Circuit precedent about the correct legal standard of proof to apply to a claim that a trademark owner has abandoned use of a languishing mark. Trademark law requires that abandonment of a trademark must be for at least three years and must be strictly proven before another can take over use of the mark.
5th Circuit Upholds Attorney’s Conviction in Fen-Phen Case
A federal appeals court on Monday upheld the conviction of an attorney for swindling a pharmaceutical company out of millions of dollars over the diet drug fen-phen. Robert Arledge was convicted in federal court in 2007 of one count of conspiracy, four counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. He was sentenced to six years for his role in the scheme, which netted more than $6 million from the drug company Wyeth. He was the only lawyer charged in the case.
The Latest From the Ashes of Lehman
Monday was a pretty smooth day in the history of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. First, the big news: A federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Lehman’s prized investment-management unit, Neuberger Berman, to a group of its own managers and employees. The bad news: The sale fetched $922 million for Lehman — far less than the $2.15 billion Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman bid in September. The judge also approved the sale of Lehman’s French investment unit to Nomura Holdings of Japan for one euro.