Posts on ‘July 14th, 2009’

With venture capital all but dried up, government contracts lawyers say they are getting a lot of questions from high-tech companies eager to compete for stimulus funds. But government money comes with quite a few strings attached, which means more red tape to explain to clients. That’s not necessarily a roadblock, lawyers said, but clients will need good compliance infrastructure as they go down that road.

A California federal judge has certified a nationwide class action on behalf of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have been subject to allegedly illegal application fees. The suit alleges that the U.S. government has been charging immigrants an additional cost on top of a $50 registration fee Congress prescribed for those seeking Temporary Protected Status. The plaintiffs contend the government can’t charge more for collecting “biometric” information: fingerprints, an electronic signature and a photograph.

A new party has entered the high-stakes copyright skirmish over a photograph that served as the basis for the most ubiquitous image of the 2008 presidential campaign: the man who took that photograph. So far, the dispute has pitted The Associated Press against artist Shepard Fairey, but freelance photographer Mannie Garcia, represented by Boies, Schiller & Flexner, says he is the rightful owner of the photograph copyrights.

Answering criticisms that her heritage and gender will influence her
judging, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor told the Senate Judiciary
Committee on Monday that her judicial philosophy is “simple: fidelity to
the law.” Republican senators wasted no time in outlining their areas of
concern, which they are sure to flesh out in questioning of the nominee
that begins today. However, echoing most analysts, senators predicted
that Sotomayor would be confirmed by the full Senate later this summer.