Posts on ‘June 3rd, 2009’

The 7th Circuit on Tuesday ruled that the Second Amendment right to bear arms cannot be held to restrict state gun control laws until the Supreme Court rules that the right applies to the states. As a result, the ruling in National Rifle Association v. Chicago will likely give Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor some much-needed political cover against criticism of a similar Second Amendment ruling she joined in on the 2nd Circuit earlier this year.

Gibson Dunn and Paul Weiss are representing the indentured trustee and a bondholder group that will have leading roles in General Motors’ Chapter 11 proceedings. Wilmington Trust Corp. will serve as indentured trustee for nearly $23 billion in GM bonds. The bondholder group is the automaker’s largest group of unsecured creditors, with $22.8 billion in debt. Whatever roles the bondholders will play in GM’s Chapter 11 case, their lawyers will likely play prominent roles in its debt restructuring.

In an unusual move, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr is telling some of its more experienced lawyers it’s time to start looking for jobs elsewhere. A co-managing partner says some associates and counsel have been told they won’t have jobs at the firm after this autumn. The announcement is part of a new career program at the firm, under which associates and counsel are either promoted or told to “pursue other careers” if they are unlikely to be recommended for advancement.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on a terrorism suspect’s
constitutional claims may help commercial defendants obtain
pre-discovery dismissals of claims against them. The Court’s decision in
Ashcroft v. Iqbal should make it easier for defendants to win
motions to dismiss commercial cases, especially in cases involving
seemingly weak or speculative claims or where allegations of the
defendant’s knowledge or intent play a critical role, say attorneys
Robert A. Schwinger and Eric Twiste.

According to attorney Mark. A. Berman, given the publicity engendered by companies sanctioned for failing to preserve or produce relevant electronically stored information, litigators should know clients’ document preservation obligations and their protocols in maintaining ESI.

Reversal — a common if sometimes painful part of life for appellate judges — was in the spotlight last week as Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor found herself under intense scrutiny for the handful of times that the Supreme Court reversed her decisions. Only five of Sotomayor’s 232 opinions for the 2nd Circuit have been reviewed by the Court, and three were overturned. Supporters and scholars say the reversal rates don’t show much at all about the quality of her decisions or how the Court regards her work.

Federal courts in Pennsylvania have had markedly different reactions to two strikingly similar First Amendment cases involving students who were disciplined for ridiculing their principals by creating fake profile pages on MySpace. The ACLU, siding with the students, has won one of two cases. And now, remarks from two oral arguments reveal a sharp split among appellate judges about how to view the ever-evolving issue of student free speech cases within the context of the Internet and social networking sites.

Greenberg Traurig is facing a malpractice investigation by the Heller Ehrman estate, according to court filings and an attorney representing Heller’s creditors committee. At issue: Greenberg’s apparent failure to discover that Heller’s biggest creditor, Bank of America, had terminated its security interest in the firm. Lawyers familiar with the matter say Heller would have had better leverage with its creditors if it had known BofA wasn’t a secured creditor and may have even been able to avoid bankruptcy.