Posts on ‘May 20th, 2009’

An Oregon man who left jury duty after lunch because he was “extremely bored” was due back at the courthouse Tuesday to be arraigned on a charge of contempt of court. A police report says officers found 25-year-old Grant Faber near his home and asked why he skipped out. He said he was bored, and “just couldn’t take it” anymore.

The doctrine of primary assumption of risk bars a claim filed on behalf of a teenage skier who broke his tibia trying to slide along a rail at a winter sports complex, a New York appeals court has ruled. As a self-described expert with 13 years’ experience, the plaintiff was aware of the risks of rail sliding and acknowledged falling before during a rail maneuver, the court ruled, rejecting the argument that the rail posed a hidden risk because its support bars were not covered or cushioned.

Bidders interested in two luxury properties previously owned by disgraced attorney Marc S. Dreier may want to head to the Hamptons next month. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart M. Bernstein has set a June 17 auction date for properties in East Quogue, N.Y., that were seized by prosecutors following Dreier’s arrest in December. A report by the receiver in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Dreier said selling the homes could generate $12.5 million or more.

Federal Judge Marilyn Hall Patel has sentenced ganja guru Charles “Eddy” Lepp to a 10-year prison term, rebuffing the defense’s try for a shorter term in the wake of the one-day sentence previously given to a medical marijuana activist. Patel refused to allow a religious or medical marijuana defense for Lepp, who had a corporate charter to run Eddy’s Medicinal Gardens and Ministry of the Rastafari. Patel questioned Lepp’s sincerity regarding his faith, saying he didn’t display a depth of knowledge about Rastafarianism.

Baker & Hostetler’s Irving Picard, the Chapter 7 trustee for Bernard Madoff’s dissolving money management firm, has been busy firing salvos against feeder funds seeking to recoup money for out-of-pocket Madoff investors. On Monday, Picard targeted the largest of those funds, Fairfield Greenwich Group. He slapped the Stamford, Conn.-based investment firm with a civil suit seeking $3.54 billion in funds withdrawn before Madoff’s arrest. They’re not the only heavy-hitters Picard will battle in the months to come.

Senior Judge Thomas Hogan of the District of Columbia and Judge Susan Webber Wright of the Eastern District of Arkansas have been selected for seven-year terms on the secretive 11-member Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which oversees intelligence-gathering activities. Hogan handled the creation of a case management order for Guantanamo Bay habeas petitions, while Wright is perhaps best known for dismissing Paula Jones’ sex harassment suit against Bill Clinton and for presiding over Whitewater-related legal issues.

Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has issued an order requiring the Boston U.S. Attorney’s Office to hold a training program focused on discovery in criminal cases this fall. The order also gives the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts until Nov. 20 to submit additional affidavits explaining why Wolf shouldn’t issue sanctions against the office and Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan for prosecutorial misconduct in a criminal case.

The ex-girlfriend of a Washington, D.C., Superior Court magistrate judge pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that include stalking the judge and breaking into her home. Prosecutors allege that Taylar Nuevelle stalked and harassed Magistrate Judge Janet Albert through, among other things, a barrage of e-mails and text messages after their relationship ended, and that Nuevelle broke into the judge’s home and tried to commit suicide there. Nuevelle allegedly texted Albert, “Feeling powerful? All abusers do.”

After five months of trial, a jury has cleared chemical companies of nearly all the claims brought by the city of Modesto, Calif., in the latest phase of a decade-old groundwater pollution case. The jury awarded Modesto about $18.3 million in damages to cover cleanup costs, but that amount could be nullified by settlements the city has already reached with other defendants. Since the suit was filed, defense attorneys brought in from around the U.S. succeeded in whittling down many of the claims against the companies.

In this climate of increased enforcement, it is imperative that firms doing business in foreign markets, both currently and in the future, become familiar with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Both the anti-bribery and books-and-records provisions present significant issues for any company doing business abroad. Attorneys Michael Crites and Greg Mathews provide four essential preventative measures individuals and businesses can use to protect themselves from possible violations of the FCPA.