Posts on ‘May 19th, 2009’

To the category of unintended consequences, you can add a Supreme Court ruling that could help securities class action defense lawyers and their clients. The Court voted 5 to 4 Monday to throw out a claim that former attorney general John Ashcroft and FBI director Robert Mueller violated the Constitutional rights of a detainee caught in a post-9/11 roundup. The decision could make it harder on securities class action plaintiffs at the pleading stage by requiring them to plead facts and not just conclusions.

Many corporate law departments are focusing on the need to address the “diversity pipeline” into the legal world to ensure an expanding stream of diverse individuals equipped to become successful attorneys and leaders in the profession. Here is a sampling of programs that help to attract, advise and advance students and professionals of color into all aspects and phases of a legal career, including leadership and management positions.

Thousands of in-house attorneys are no farther away from critical information than a Web browser. Whether they’re looking for another view on a general issue of law or suggestions of best practices, in-house lawyers can find a powerful tool in social networks tailored to their needs.

A dozen Supreme Court scholars, asked by The National Law Journal for their picks for a nominee to succeed retiring Justice David Souter, put some off-the-grid choices on their short lists, including private-practice lawyers and politicians as well as law professors and judges. All agreed that the president should select a woman or another nominee who would bring diversity to the Court. The candidate who got the most nods is described by one scholar as “a liberal for the Obama era.”

Investors who lost a total of about $4.5 million in a Ponzi scheme allegedly run by fund manager Arthur Nadel have sued Holland & Knight, claiming the offering documents the firm helped Nadel prepare failed to mention key facts — including that Nadel had been disbarred for fraud, according to the complaint. The documents are private placement memos, which enticed investors to put money in one of several funds allegedly controlled by Nadel, since charged with using those funds to orchestrate a $360 million scheme.

In this year’s Best Legal Department competition, you might say that everyone’s a winner. Overstatement? Sure. But it sums up the hard choices Corporate Counsel judges faced. In tallying up our final grades, there wasn’t a whole lot separating the leading contenders. In the end, though, we once again picked a department that prevailed against adversity, this time against a backdrop of financial meltdown.

Boards of directors and management currently face the question of whether, and how, to provide guidance in an unprecedented economic environment. Recent, rapidly changing market conditions, stock market declines and historically low business confidence levels are causing many public companies to rethink whether they can responsibly provide earnings guidance. Attorneys Lisa A. Fontenot and Brandon W. Loew summarize the considerations and recent approaches taken by some of the largest U.S. public companies.