Posts on ‘March 9th, 2009’

Reasserting its defenses of former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo for his authorship of various war-on-terror memos, the Obama administration sent its lawyers to San Francisco on Friday to thread the following needle: Torture — illegal. Extended military detention — under review. Lawsuit against an ideologically hostile former government attorney — bad, very bad.

The Supreme Court announced Friday that it has agreed to the request by the solicitor general’s office to vacate and remand the 4th Circuit’s judgment in the case of one-time enemy combatant Ali al-Marri. The justices instructed the 4th Circuit to dismiss the case as moot, and also agreed to the Obama administration’s request to transfer al-Marri from military detention to the civilian justice system. The Court’s action spells an end to al-Marri’s Supreme Court case, which was set for argument April 27.

February was another tough month for the U.S. legal industry. According to a report by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people employed in legal services shrank by 4,200 that month. The 0.36 percent drop from January’s numbers reflects a continued series of layoffs by U.S. firms. On Thursday alone, Pillsbury confirmed it was letting go 155 lawyers and staff, Wiggin & Dana cut 28 legal and administrative positions and Arent Fox announced 13 associate layoffs.

Last week Lyondell Chemical Co., in Chapter 11 and facing the specter of
liquidation, closed on a hard-won deal for more than $8 billion in new
and refinanced loans. The so-called debtor-in-possession financing –
reportedly the largest one in history — was wrangled from a consortium
of 14 bank lenders in late December but took until early March to come
to fruition. And it did not come easy, lawyers for the DIP lenders said.

In 1999, patent attorney Scott Harris and two buddies attempted to break new ground by applying to patent a “paradigm” for marketing software to customers. On Friday, the Federal Circuit, relying on its recent decision, rejected their patent claim. Harris said he was disappointed but not surprised, saying the Federal Circuit is lately “trying to restrict the scope of patents, and this is just one more in a series.” Harris added that he may appeal to the Supreme Court.

King & Spalding announced Friday that it laid off 37 associates and counsel and 85 staff firmwide. The reductions, which constitute 4.2 percent of the firm’s lawyers and 6.4 percent of its nonpartners, were due to “the continuing decline in the U.S. and global economies,” said Robert D. Hays Jr., the firm’s chairman. King & Spalding’s revenue increased by 6 percent last year, to $652 million, as the firm continued to expand, but profit per partner dropped almost 12 percent, to $1.23 million.

After years of partner defections and a leadership structure that many thought was untenable, Mayer Brown announced on Friday that Chairman James Holzhauer would step down before the end of the year. An immediate successor wasn’t named. Holzhauer says health issues and a weariness with the constant travel associated with management duties influenced his decision.

First-year associates laid off from dissolving firm Thacher Proffitt & Wood aren’t just out of jobs — they owe the firm money. In an unusual move, the firm’s dissolution committee and bank are pursuing the former associates for repayment of salary advances issued last year to cover their bar and startup expenses. Says the dissolution committee chairman, “The situation is the bank is our secured creditor, for better or for worse. And our main obligation as the dissolution committee is to collect all receivables.”