Posts on ‘March 27th, 2009’

In the midst of the toughest job market in anyone’s memory, numerous law firms seem to be eyeing attorneys from the dissolving Wolf Block. Deals are already being struck, with the president of Cozen O’Connor saying on Thursday that his firm, a former potential merger partner of Wolf Block’s, had signed up several groups, including real estate, trusts and estates and tax attorneys. Stradley Ronon, Drinker Biddle, and Littler Mendelson have also picked up attorneys from Wolf Block recently.

An indictment against a Manhattan lawyer charged with conspiracy for advising his clients that they could quit their jobs at a nursing facility has officially been dismissed, according to the attorney who represented the lawyer. The decision to close the case against attorney Felix Vinluan comes after a Brooklyn appeals panel ruled earlier this year that allowing the conspiracy charge to stand would “eviscerate the right to give and receive legal counsel.”

A woman who did not disclose her depression to the employer that fired her for excessive absenteeism cannot collect unemployment insurance benefits, or argue that her rights were violated under the ADA, a New York appeals court has ruled. The unemployment board ruled that Mawuli Anumah forfeited unemployment benefits by not taking reasonable steps to protect her position, even though she had been on notice for more than a year that her excessive tardiness and absenteeism were jeopardizing her job.

If the federal government’s evolving medical marijuana policy takes more concrete shape in the weeks ahead, the first signs may come in pending California cases. A Los Angeles judge has postponed the sentencing of a former dispensary owner and ordered the DOJ to put its new position in writing by the end of April. In another case, Santa Cruz teamed up with a local dispensary to sue the U.S. attorney general and other federal officials for allegedly interfering with California’s medical marijuana laws.

In a decision that equates pole dancing with a dramatic or artistic performance, a New York judge has determined that cover charges imposed by a strip club are not subject to state sales taxes. The judge determined that Nite Moves qualifies for a “dramatic arts” sales tax exemption after she reviewed DVDs of exotic dancers, material from the Web site PoleJunkies.com and testimony from Nite Moves’ primary witness, a Columbia University-trained cultural anthropologist and dance expert.

Gibson Dunn is representing a former American International Group executive who has taken the brunt of the blame for the company’s trading in credit default swaps, a congressional aide says. The aide says that Michael Bopp, a partner in the law firm’s Washington, D.C., office, is representing Joseph Cassano, who led AIG’s financial products division in London and has been singled out for his role in the firm’s downfall. The committee aide confirms a report that lawmakers are interested in learning more about Cassano.

A 14-year-old New Jersey girl has been accused of child pornography after posting nearly 30 nude pictures of herself on MySpace — charges that could force her to register as a sex offender if convicted. The case comes as prosecutors nationwide pursue porn cases resulting from kids sending nude photos to one another over cell phones and e-mail, a practice known as “sexting.” However, legal experts could not recall another case of a child porn charge resulting from a teen’s posting to a social networking site.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has removed a Missouri federal judge from a $28 million contract case based on the judge’s use of profanity and his angry dismissal of the case over testy allegations of discovery abuse. Judge Dean Whipple of the Western District of Missouri at one point commented, “I kept telling you to produce stuff, expert stuff. You ducked. You wove … . You must produce them. Jesus Christ, I don’t want any more ducking and weaving from you on those 58 documents.”

On Thursday, less than four months after Marc S. Dreier was arrested, bidders gathered at now-defunct Dreier LLP to bid on everything from mugs and pens with the firm’s logo to computers and bookcases. Some items up for grabs quickly sold at bargain prices, including a Herman Miller Eames chair at the relatively rock-bottom price of $1,250. At one point, an ex-Dreier employee shouted, “They just sold my office for a hundred bucks.”

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out a lower court decision that barred Proskauer Rose from withdrawing as counsel for the former chairman of Credit Bancorp even though he couldn’t pay his legal bills. The three-judge panel ruled on Tuesday that the New York-based law firm was not obligated to defend Richard Blech in a civil suit stemming from his guilty plea to securities fraud in 2003 that allegedly bilked investors out of $210 million. He was sentenced to six years in prison.