Posts on ‘February 18th, 2009’

Make no mistake, it just got tougher to be an employer. Take it from the expert, Charles S. Caulkins, an attorney at Fisher & Phillips who has spent 30 years representing employers in labor and employment matters. His doom-and-gloom philosophy rests on several factors: the economy; a new, pro-union/employee-friendly president; and several legislative proposals. Caulkins examines all these anticipated changes, what they mean for employers and how lawyers can stay afloat in these murky waters of change.

We use e-mail to communicate with colleagues, clients, adversaries, friends, courts and even complete strangers. It is so prevalent and accessible that little thought is given to the fact that every message typed creates a permanent record that could be an issue in a legal dispute.

A fight, now unfolding before the EEOC, offers a rare look at the tensions that can arise in a legal department around race and gender and the way that a department responds. One of Yahoo’s lawyers — a black woman named Eulonda Skyles — claims her bosses discriminated against her after she came back from a 2005 maternity leave. Although an internal investigation found the charges “meritless,” Yahoo subsequently made changes to its legal department that appear to address some of the issues raised by Skyles.

After the cut comes the job hunt. There was a time when the partners due to be shown the exit from the likes of top U.K. firms Ashurst, Clifford Chance and Linklaters would have gravitated naturally to one of the legions of U.S. firms looking to aggressively grow their business in London. In the current economic climate, such moves look far less assured.

With 64 oral arguments under his belt, Mayer Brown partner Andrew Frey has argued more cases to the Supreme Court than any other lawyer currently in private practice. Now he’s preparing for what may be the biggest — and most unpopular — argument of his career, representing a West Virginia coal company accused, in effect, of buying a state Supreme Court justice through campaign donations while its case was pending before that court. Arguing for the politically incorrect side “makes it more fun,” he says.

A rift between plaintiffs firms in New Jersey and New York is threatening a proposed $350 million class action settlement between the AMA and the United Healthcare Group and is affecting the pursuit of actions against three other insurers. Pleadings suggest relations between the firms began unraveling last year in the UHG litigation over a classic issue: Should we take a reasonable settlement from the defendant now or do we bet on the solidity of our case, keep litigating and get a better deal?

Disk drive giant Seagate Technology settled a patent fight with Cornice Inc. two years ago. Problem is, according to Seagate, its insurer won’t pick up the tab for its lawyers at Fish & Richardson. With the company now suing its insurer, Seagate said in a filing Tuesday that National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh has paid only $4 million of the $10 million it spent on the case.

President Barack Obama announced on Wednesday a $500,000 cap on senior executive pay for companies receiving substantial federal bailout money. Steven Friedman, chairman of the employee benefits practice group at San Francisco’s Littler Mendelson, called the cap “unprecedented.” He also said the move could discourage companies from seeking government bailouts while giving a recruiting advantage to competitors that do not receive federal funds. Friedman examines the implications of the cap.