Posts on ‘March 11th, 2009’

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has drafted companion bills that would limit his authority to contract with private attorneys for litigation and impose a contingency fee cap of $50 million. The latter point is causing particular concern among plaintiffs lawyers, especially given the fact that the cap would be “irrespective of the number of lawsuits filed or the number of private attorneys retained.” The Florida AG’s office says attorneys general around the nation are looking at the issue.

A Mississippi woman embroiled in a custody battle has won a new trial from the state’s Supreme Court, which found that she was badgered by a lower court judge who accused her of having “diarrhea of the mouth.” The high court found that Glenn Alderson, a chancery court judge in Oxford, Miss., violated the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct when he told the plaintiff that she “schemed” to keep her child away from her ex-husband, and when he called her expert witness, a psychologist, a “yo-yo-head.”

Changing his vote during jury duty so he could get back to his busy law practice has come at a high price for San Francisco solo Francis Fahy. A California State Bar Court review panel upheld disbarment for Fahy after finding he violated his oath as a juror and then compounded the problem by lying to the trial court judge when confronted. The panel’s opinion indicated that Fahy might be the first California lawyer ever disbarred for misbehaving while serving as a juror.

The NFL has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to the estate of John Facenda — the legendary football announcer dubbed the “Voice of God” — to settle a federal lawsuit that accused NFL Films of improperly using Facenda’s voice in a promotional film for a John Madden video game. Remarks from both sides hint that Facenda’s distinctive voice will be used in the future in documentaries and other non-advertising projects. “I am pleased that we were able to put the lawsuit behind us,” said NFL Films COO Howard Katz.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore has joined the growing list of firms asking their incoming first-years to wait a few months before starting work — a group that includes recent associate-cutters Latham & Watkins and White & Case, among others. But the Cravath system will work a little differently, a spokeswoman says. First-years will have their choice of start dates: October, November or January. And the start dates will fill up on a first-come, first-served basis.

Last year there were fewer settlements in securities class actions than in 2007, average recoveries dropped and new plaintiffs firms emerged in leadership roles, according to a new study by Cornerstone Research. The report, released today, also found that while heavyweight plaintiffs firms like Coughlin Stoia and Milberg maintain a significant share of settlements, new firms have increased their roles as co-lead counsel.

DLA Piper has sparked anger among its U.K. ranks as full details of the firm’s redundancy package emerge. News of the DLA package, which differs from some rival U.K. firms, surfaced in leaked minutes from a Feb. 27 meeting with employee representatives involved in the firm’s layoff consultation. DLA’s first deadline for voluntary redundancy passed on Tuesday, but a second consultation launched in February could see up to 30 fee earners and more than 100 support staff lose their jobs.

Rambus has spent about $300 million on lawyers in its eight-year patent fight against a group of big memory chip makers. Tuesday, the chip designer inched closer to getting some payoff. California federal Judge Ronald Whyte entered final judgment in one of Rambus’ cases, ordering Korean chip maker Hynix Semiconductor to pay Rambus $397 million in damages and interest. Whyte also finalized a recent court-ordered agreement under which Hynix will pay royalties to Rambus until sometime in 2010.

Paul Hastings, Chadbourne & Parke and Venable announced attorney and staff layoffs on Tuesday. Paul Hastings laid off 44 associates and 87 staff, Chadbourne & Parke cut 25 attorneys, and Venable announced it was laying off a total of 64 employees, including 16 attorneys. All three firms cited the ongoing economic downturn as the reason for the layoffs. Both Chadbourne & Parke and Venable said they will delay the start of this year’s associate class to January 2010, and will pay bar exam expenses.

If accused Stanford Financial Group executive Laura Pendergest-Holt didn’t have lawyers when the federal government first questioned her about an alleged investment fraud, she’s got them now — and they are not messing around. Pendergest-Holt’s attorneys filed a motion Tuesday accusing attorneys working with the court-appointed receiver in the Stanford fraud case of disregarding legal rules — and general politeness — in searching Pendergest-Holt’s home and personal items last week.