Posts on ‘March 26th, 2009’

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made news in a recent speech with the cryptic comment that a vacancy on the Court was likely “soon,” but in her formal remarks, posted on the Court’s Web site, she revealed some entertaining tidbits about the “lighter side” of life at the Court. Among them: the 36 handshakes the justices exchange before taking the bench or beginning their conferences, the justices’ favorite lunch guests, and Ginsburg’s husband’s witty attempt to assist her in her correspondence.

A former acting New York state tax commissioner is accused of manipulating the civil service system so she and nine other attorneys could shift from at-will jobs to tenured civil service positions as former Gov. George Pataki’s administration ended. The inspector general’s office said Barbara Billet’s abuse of the system was the “most egregious example” of a “pervasive” pattern in which the tax department customized job requirements for attorney openings so targeted individuals would score best and be hired.

The Senate on Wednesday unanimously confirmed David Kris as assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s National Security Division, giving its strong backing to a widely regarded authority on anti-terrorism investigations. Kris, who spent most of his career in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, is senior vice president and deputy general counsel at Time Warner, where he has worked since 2003. A book he co-authored is considered a leading text on the subject of national security.

The Supreme Court has ruled that a man convicted of armed robbery may not withdraw a guilty plea even though the government reneged on a plea agreement. A condition of the plea was that prosecutors would tell the judge the defendant accepted responsibility for his actions, but he was implicated in another crime in between his plea and sentencing. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that since he “obviously did not cease his life of crime,” giving him credit for accepting responsibility would have been “ludicrous.”

The federal trial of two lawyers in Kentucky for allegedly bilking clients out of millions of dollars from a class action settlement over the fen-phen diet drug will continue after a judge refused to grant a mistrial. The threat of a mistrial arose last week when the attorney representing defendant William Gallion became ill with an unidentified illness that had previously put the trial on hold. Prosecutors allege Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr. took more than their contractual share of the $200 million settlement.

Risk management firm RiskMetrics Group on Wednesday released its annual list of the top 50 plaintiffs firms for securities class actions. Bernstein Litowitz, Coughlin Stoia, and Grant & Eisenhofer topped the list for total shareholder settlement value, number of settlements and average amount for those settlements. The study notes that 2008 was the first time in six years that no plaintiffs firm notched more than $1 billion in total settlements.

Florida Judge Ian Richards demonstrated he could wield more than a gavel when he took a flying leap over his bench to tackle a defendant bent on attacking a former girlfriend who was testifying against him in a domestic violence case. A bailiff was handcuffing the 29-year-old defendant when he bolted toward the witness, who sought refuge between the bench and the witness box. The judge then vaulted the bench to help subdue the attacker.

The Am Law Daily encourages readers to check out a bizarre memo posted on Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft’s client memo Web page. Attributed to the co-chairman of the firm’s financial services department, it accuses former Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez of loafing during his final weeks with the team and — in a nod to the AIG bonus scandal — suggests that the state of Massachusetts slap a 90 percent tax on Ramirez’ salary. And the memo goes on from there.

Ballard Spahr has pushed back start dates for its incoming first-year associates to September 2010, offering a more than $45,000 stipend in addition to the standard $5,000 bar stipend the firm usually offers, according to the blog Above the Law. When contacted by , the firm would neither confirm nor deny the report.

New Jersey Judge Lawrence DeBello has admitted breaching judicial ethics and policies by sending romantic e-mails to his former law clerk via his judiciary e-mail account and using his judicial office to help get her a public defender job. DeBello neither admitted nor denied charges that he gave misleading answers when interviewed about his actions by members of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct.