Posts on ‘August 7th, 2009’

The U.K.’s top law firms have tightened their grip on the purse strings, increasing equity partner count by less than 4 percent despite a double digit increase in overall partner numbers over the last five years. Legal Week research into partner headcount changes at the U.K.’s largest 25 firms by revenue shows that, on average, partner count grew by 16 percent from 2003-04 to 2008-09. There was only a 3.7 percent increase in equity partner numbers during the same period.

There’s a growing consensus that third-year law students are ready to handle felony criminal matters, with proper supervision. This week, Ohio became the 42nd state to allow 3Ls to handle more than misdemeanors after a long campaign led by a non-profit that partners with several law schools. Not everyone was on board with the change. A few local lawyers argued it would lead to lower quality defense for indigent criminals, and at least one major area law school backed off supporting the change.

About seven months ago, attorney Timothy N. Toler of three-lawyer transactional construction law firm Toler & Hanrahan got a very unusual cold call. Based on a referral, the general counsel of SMS Siemag, a German engineering and metallurgical company, was calling Toler about work involving the building of a $4.6 billion steel processing facility in Alabama. “I think it is indicative of the times that general counsel are becoming more comfortable contacting small firms,” says Toler.

A New York court reporter piloted a Long Island Rail Road train during rush hour after an engineer allegedly allowed him to operate the double-decker train, a district attorney said in a statement Tuesday. The court reporter pleaded not guilty Tuesday to second-degree reckless endangerment for allegedly guiding the diesel-powered train at speeds reaching 80 miles per hour over multiple crossings and signals.

Another week, another major retail company turns to Weil, Gotshal & Manges to guide it through bankruptcy. This time it’s Finlay Enterprises, a jewelry retailer with 200 stores nationwide. Weil began representing Finlay in March 2008, and has billed the company about $1.3 million since then. Partners and counsel on the case will bill between $650 and $950 per hour, while associate rates will range from $355 to $640 per hour, according to an affidavit filed in federal bankruptcy court Thursday.

A former Florida appeals court judge whose esteemed legal career ended amid accusations that he helped a stripper hide money from creditors pleaded guilty to bank fraud Thursday. Thomas E. Stringer admitted that he lied about the source of funds for a down payment on a home in Hawaii. He had listed himself as the sole owner, even though he was jointly investing in the house with an exotic dancer with whom he was involved. A prosecutor said the 65-year-old Stringer will not face prison time.

Federal regulators announced Thursday that AIG’s ex-CEO Maurice Greenberg and ex-CFO Howard Smith had agreed to pay $16.5 million to settle charges that they helped the insurance giant hide losses from 2000 to 2005, when an accounting scandal forced Greenberg out. (Greenberg will pay $15 million; Smith, $1.5 million). Greenberg still faces a lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general’s office.

TechRadium, a Texas-based developer of mass notification systems, filed a complaint Tuesday in Houston federal court alleging that Twitter infringes on its patented technology. The dispute arose after TechRadium learned that municipal governments were considering using Twitter for public emergency alerts. TechRadium seeks economic damages and a permanent injunction barring Twitter from infringing on its patents.

Arguing that a copyright infringement claim — especially one that may be invalid — is no justification for banning a book, four of the United States’ biggest news organizations on Thursday lined up behind a Swedish author’s bid to publish a literary work whose central character is a 76-year-old version of Holden Caulfield. As a precedent for allowing the book’s publication, the brief cites the Vietnam War-era “Pentagon Papers,” which the Supreme Court refused to suppress despite government officials’ arguments.

A federal judge has dealt a major setback to the “indirect purchaser” plaintiffs in the massive antitrust litigation over the marketing of Wellbutrin XL, a popular antidepressant drug, by tossing out most of the claims on standing grounds. The plaintiffs, a group of employee benefit plans, were aiming to pursue the case as a class action, but U.S. District Judge Mary A. McLaughlin ruled they are entitled to pursue antitrust claims in only four states and consumer protection claims under the laws of two states.