Posts on ‘July 9th, 2009’

Dole Food has filed a defamation suit in Los Angeles against two Swedish filmmakers whose documentary chronicles a lawsuit alleging that workers in Nicaragua were rendered sterile after being exposed to the pesticide DBCP on Dole’s banana farms. In 2007, an L.A. jury awarded $5.8 million in damages to Nicaraguan workers in that case. But in April, a California judge threw out two similar cases against Dole after finding that the plaintiffs and their lawyers had committed a “heinous and repulsive” scheme of pervasive fraud.

Two lawyers who are waging a challenge to the massive $567 million attorney fee award in the fen-phen diet-drug litigation faced a barrage of aggressive questions Wednesday in an hour-long argument before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a federal law defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman, which denies same-sex couples married in Massachusetts access to certain federal benefits. The suit claims that Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act interferes with the state’s “sovereign authority to define and regulate marriage.” Massachusetts, the first state to allow same-sex marriages, is the first to challenge the law.

The law firm merger market cooled off significantly during the second quarter of 2009, according to reports by a number of legal consultants. Hildebrandt International’s latest MergerWatch found that nine U.S. law firms completed mergers and acquisitions during the quarter, compared to 33 during the first quarter. Similarly, Altman Weil’s most recent MergerLine reported that mergers fell from 25 in the first quarter to seven during the second quarter — a 72 percent decrease.

A New Jersey special master has recommended disbarment for David Gross — who for 20 years was Budd Larner’s managing partner — for pocketing $50,000 from a client instead of depositing the money into the firm account. Though Gross insisted the money was a gift from a satisfied client, Special Master David Cramp was persuaded by testimony from Gross’ former secretary that Gross instructed her to delete from the firm’s computer system a letter he sent to the client about the payment.

Three lawyers were among 13 individuals indicted Wednesday in New York on charges of operating an elaborate mortgage fraud scheme that bilked banks and other lenders out of at least $12 million. The Manhattan DA’s office said evidence uncovered during a 10-month investigation indicates the overall scam, operated from mortgage brokerage firm AFG Financial Group, could have swindled lenders out of at least $102 million. In addition to the 13 people charged Wednesday, another 12, including two lawyers, have pleaded guilty.

A few years ago, most of California’s premium midsize firms lined up to match big firms’ top pay for young lawyers. Now, even as some of the biggest firms have begun to slash salaries, many midsize firms claim to be sticking with $160,000 — though there are some exceptions. As the downturn continues to reshape the legal landscape, leaders at firms like Townsend Townsend and Crew and Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro say they may back off from the top market rate before the year is over.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana launched a class action Tuesday against that state’s board of law examiners, asserting that inquiries into the mental health of those seeking a law license violate federal disabilities law. The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of a woman licensed in Illinois who is seeking admission to the Indiana State Bar Association. She wants an injunction prohibiting the Indiana State Board of Law Examiners from asking certain questions about mental fitness.

Clifford Chance has seen the departure of nearly 50 partners since the beginning of March, with London and New York most affected by the exits. The moves include normal retirements and lateral shifts, as well as those affected by the firm?s partner restructuring. Some 18 partners have left the firm’s London headquarters since March, while the New York litigation practice has lost nine partners, including global litigation chief Mark Kirsch.

Cash is scarce throughout the economy, testing some convictions long
held by in-house and outside counsel alike on the need to scrutinize old
litigation habits, writes attorney Michael Cavendish. Some of the most
endangered practices in corporate litigation are, not surprisingly,
among the costliest, measured in price versus progress made in a
lawsuit. But financial difficulty is providing vital new courses in
business education to platoons of litigation managers and their leaders.