Posts from ‘March, 2009’

A Georgia jury on Friday awarded a 4-year-old boy and his mother $2.3 million in damages from an injury the boy suffered during a circumcision when he was an infant. The jury laid the blame on the obstetrician who performed the circumcision and the pediatrician who treated the child later. A plaintiffs lawyer in the case said lawyers for the defendants struck men from the jury, which wound up including 11 women.

Lawyers representing several Guantanamo detainees are challenging the Obama administration’s new definition for enemy combatants, arguing that the president’s re-tooled formula is still too broad and violates traditional laws of war. The lawyers point out that the Authorization for the Use of Military Force in Afghanistan, passed in 2001, says nothing explicit about detention powers, and that the Supreme Court, in cases such as , has chosen to apply a narrow reading of the resolution.

Gun rights advocates have filed a new lawsuit in Washington, D.C., federal court, this time seeking to make it possible for American expats to buy guns when they’re back home in the United States. The suit challenges a government requirement that forces gun buyers without a federal firearms license to fill out their state of residence on a special transaction form. Alan Gura, who successfully argued the landmark Supreme Court gun case , is representing the plaintiffs.

A recent New Jersey case demonstrates how not to write a retainer agreement. An expert retained by attorney George Farmer for a medical malpractice case sued Farmer due to a fee dispute, resulting in a $73,477 judgment for the expert. A state appeals court affirmed the dismissal of Farmer’s later suit against the client’s estate for out-of-pocket expenses, including the expert’s fees, citing retainer agreement flaws such as the nonspecific statement that the client “may be required to pay for expenses.”

The arduous process of selecting a jury began Monday in the criminal case accusing Anthony D. Marshall and lawyer Francis X. Morrissey of prevailing upon Marshall’s mother, socialite Brooke Astor, to change her will to shift millions of dollars that had been directed to charities to her son. The 18-count indictment also accuses Marshall of stealing millions more from his mother during her lifetime while managing her affairs under a power of attorney.

Skadden Arps’ Washington, D.C., office and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s U.S. offices confirmed layoffs last week. Due to economic reasons, Skadden’s D.C. office cut 25 staff positions and Gibson Dunn laid off 36 staff members across its nine U.S. offices. Also, 11 Skadden attorneys have left for new boutique Buckley Sandler, which was co-founded this month by the former head of Skadden’s consumer financial services enforcement and litigation group.

In a memorandum sent to associates on Thursday, Weil, Gotshal & Manges announced it is reducing its summer program from 12 weeks to 10 weeks and deferring its incoming associate class to January 2010. Associates deferred until January will receive a $15,000 stipend in September from the firm. Weill is also extending to associates the option of taking a one-year deferral at a “firm-approved public service or pro bono position” — for an additional $75,000.