Posts from ‘May, 2009’

The use of trial technology has exploded. Unfortunately, the variety and affordability of the technology has not always been met with a corresponding improvement in the quality of trials themselves, as lawyers often fail to choose the most appropriate and effective technology.

The Justice Department has popped another pharmaceutical company for overcharging the Medicaid program. Aventis Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis U.S., has agreed to pay the United States $95.5 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by misreporting drug prices to skirt its Medicaid rebate obligations. The settlement comes about 10 days after the DOJ announced it would join whistleblower lawsuits against pharmaceutical giant Wyeth.

A major climate change lawsuit brought by eight states against five utilities has been pending decision for nearly three years before a 2nd Circuit panel on which Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is the presiding judge. The delay, some have posited, is the result of the controversial nature of the case, and that was only heightened by initial speculation about Sotomayor as a potential Supreme Court nominee and how any decision might affect her chances.

For years, regional firms that constitute much of the Second Hundred were told they were the wrong size: too big to compete with boutiques’ narrow focus and too small to match The Am Law 100’s national footprints and marquee names. But as the financial sector began its meltdown last year, the Second Hundred’s slow-growth strategies were vindicated. Firms that outperformed were ones that pointedly ignored The Am Law 100’s usual recipe for growth: relentless focus on the most lucrative markets, practices and clients.

Houston-based manufacturer FMC Technologies is looking to update its roster of outside counsel and hire firms that embrace innovation, technology and, especially, alternative billing arrangements. But its general counsel, Jeffrey Carr, isn’t holding an auction or putting out a request for proposals to find them. He’s using Legal OnRamp, a social networking site for lawyers. Says Carr, “We like doing things differently. Some people call us grenade throwers. Some people call us crazy. But it works.”

A former real estate lawyer whose license had already been revoked in Virginia was disbarred by consent Thursday in an order handed down by a Washington, D.C., appeals court. The D.C. disbarment follows last year’s arrest for trying to arrange sex with a minor over the Internet. According to court records, after engaging in sexually explicit online conversations with someone he thought was a girl under the age of 15, Ronald M. Cohen set up a meeting, only to find police officers waiting for him when he arrived.

What exactly do law firms want in their new hires? A survey asking law firm practice chairs, hiring partners and recruiters about the things law schools could do to better prepare students for law firm life provides some concrete answers: business acumen, a greater focus on global issues, management skills and the ability to write well. While the survey targeted law schools, its results can provide some insight for attorneys seeking law firm jobs or those who want to succeed in the job they have.

MGA Entertainment has asked a federal appeals court to halt the transfer of its Bratz dolls to Mattel while it appeals a judge’s ruling. In an emergency motion, Mattel contends that a court order to give trade secrets and its most popular product to its biggest rival before an appeal is reviewed would be “devastating and irreversible.” Last month a federal judge upheld a $100 million jury verdict against MGA following a legal battle in which Mattel accused the Bratz designer of creating the concept while working for Mattel.

Being drunk behind the wheel of a parked vehicle, even with the engine running and the parking brake off, can’t carry a DWI conviction without proof of intention to drive, a New Jersey appeals court held Tuesday. The Appellate Division said the trial court ignored evidence that the defendant, found asleep in his idling pickup truck, had no intent to move the vehicle. The ruling is a departure from New Jersey courts’ tendency to uphold DWIs based on observational evidence of any form of operation of a vehicle.

A New York attorney’s pro se federal action over a $35 fee for a bounced check, among other issues, has been dismissed. The dismissal represents yet another defeat for plaintiff Todd C. Bank in his battle with his landlord’s collection agency. New York federal Judge Jack B. Weinstein described Bank’s filings in the present case as “highly contentious” and “concerned with largely frivolous arguments about the Federal Rules and practice.”