Posts on ‘July 22nd, 2009’

A federal judge in Los Angeles, ruling on an issue that had been remanded to his court by the 9th Circuit, has granted attorney fees to two law firms that objected to the $49 million settlement in an antitrust class action against the publisher of the BAR/BRI bar examination review course. But U.S. District Judge Manuel Real, who originally had denied fees to the objectors, granted significantly less than the attorneys had requested.

Gay rights groups’ attempt to intervene in a federal challenge of California’s Proposition 8 has created a rift with the high-powered attorneys heading the case, turning erstwhile allies into head-butting competitors. Both sides have diverging visions of legal strategy. The gay groups are pushing a cautious, narrow approach based on the circumstances of Prop 8, while Theodore Olson, David Boies and their backers are seeking a decisive victory for all gay couples under the U.S. Constitution.

Shockwaves reverberated through the civil defense bar in September 2007 when a federal judge imposed sanctions on several lawyers and their clients for engaging in discovery tactics that the judge said were designed to delay and drive up the costs, but that many lawyers say are nothing more than business as usual. And so it was no surprise that the courtroom was packed when the 3rd Circuit recently held oral argument to review the sanctions. By the end, it was anybody’s guess how the appellate court would rule.

In a settlement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Monday, TD Ameritrade agreed to return some $456 million to roughly 4,000 customers who bought now-frozen auction-rate securities. Also Monday, Cuomo announced that his office intends to file fraud charges against Charles Schwab & Co. if a similar matter is not resolved by Friday. The SEC is pursuing another downstream broker, Morgan Keegan, with a civil suit filed in federal court in Georgia on Tuesday.

Co-founder Lee C. Bromberg and partner Erik P. Belt resigned from IP boutique Bromberg & Sunstein on Monday after clashing with the rest of the partnership over whether to accept a merger overture from a larger firm. Bromberg and Belt favored the merger, while the remaining 16 partners voted against it, said Bruce D. Sunstein, who co-founded the firm in 1979. In their resignation letter, Bromberg and Belt wrote that larger firms are better able to handle complex intellectual property matters.

Akerman Senterfitt has announced it is cutting associate pay by 10 percent, according to sources familiar with the firm. The pay cuts were reportedly ordered in an effort to prevent job cuts, which may be the next course of action if the economy doesn’t improve soon. The firm is also said to be shifting away from lockstep raises and plans to implement a merit-based compensation system. One source said bonuses may zero out the pay cut’s impact for high-performing associates.

A civil suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday reads like a script for a big screen Hollywood legal thriller. Hollywood tax lawyer Matthew Krane is suing his former client, entertainment industry billionaire Haim Saban, over a $36 million fee Krane was paid for referring Saban to an investment fund run by the Quellos Group. The suit charges Saban with attempting to get his hands on the $36 million, and in the process makes several provocative allegations.

Up to 35 workers from 56 Miami-Dade County departments such as Water and Sewer and Human Services could soon find themselves as clerks in the Florida court system. The impending moves are part of a domino effect resulting from a complex system of seniority and bumping rights triggered by a recent round of layoffs ordered by Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts Harvey Ruvin. His office, which employs 1,400 people, announced 145 job cuts last month as a result of budget cutbacks passed by the Florida Legislature.

A former Crowell & Moring administrative staff member has filed a $300,000 lawsuit against the firm, alleging that she was fired after 18 years with the firm because of her age. Mona Saunders, 54, sued in D.C. Superior Court on July 10 under the D.C. Human Rights Act. According to Saunders’ complaint, she was employed by Crowell from 1990 to 2008 in several jobs with no performance issues.

Tax lawyers for large corporations and wealthy individuals expect some busy years ahead as cash-strapped states turn to taxpayers for solutions. Attorneys say the recession has made state and local tax agencies more aggressive, and in the last year, some have begun reinterpreting existing tax code when it brings in more money. “[California] is taking positions to maximize revenue in an aggressive way that they normally would not have done in the past,” says Reed Smith partner Brian Toman.