Posts on ‘August 10th, 2009’

“Suicide by cop” has officially passed muster in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled Friday that a federal judge didn’t abuse her discretion by admitting expert testimony that Cammerin Boyd, a man shot and killed by San Francisco police in 2004, had intentionally provoked the confrontation. Boyd’s mother and daughters sued the city, but after a six-week trial and only three hours of jury deliberations in San Francisco federal court, the city was exonerated.

It’s really all about the fees. Houston criminal defense attorney Dick DeGuerin no longer wants to represent R. Allen Stanford, — who has been in custody since June, after he pleaded not guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges — because he doesn’t have assurance that Stanford will have money to pay him for future work. But Stanford’s new legal team hasn’t filed papers to substitute into Stanford’s criminal case, because they too want to be sure they will be paid.

In today’s uncertain economic times, as foreign governments implement varying bailout strategies for previously private enterprises, the number of “foreign officials” for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act purposes has the potential to dramatically increase, say attorneys Stephanie J. Meltzer and Christopher E. Tierney. This is particularly true given that the percentage of foreign government ownership or amount of control needed to deem employees “foreign officials” for FCPA purposes remains an open question.

Martindale-Hubbell Connected is an online community designed for legal professionals that is quickly expanding as lawyers realize the advantages to connecting and collaborating with trusted colleagues. Here, two different lawyers with different needs chronicle their connection to M-H.

Sometime in the last year, with no fanfare, Williams & Connolly welcomed David Aufhauser back to the firm. Aufhauser possesses the sort of gilded resume entries that any firm would covet: former GC of banking conglomerate UBS, and a former GC of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. But he has another entry in his biography that makes his return to Williams & Connolly somewhat surprising. Last October he settled charges that he engaged in insider trading at UBS, agreeing to pay $6.5 million.

A joint defense in a patent case can allow defendants to share information and create a strong unified front, but the collaboration is high-stakes. One of the biggest risks is colorfully referred to as a “Texas rat fuck” — a bunch of defendants settle, and leave one hanging in the wind.

Did Pfizer cross the line on the eve of last month’s crucial test trial involving its controversial Neurontin drug? Questions linger about why the world’s largest pharmaceutical company sent a former CIA agent to a whistleblowing scientist’s home the day before he was due to testify. The scientist told The Am Law Litigation Daily he and his family felt intimidated by the investigator’s appearance and are still shaken by the event. Pfizer has apologized, but maintains in a newly filed brief that the investigator followed standard protocols.

Since January, Democratic lawmakers have pushed legislation that would reverse the effects of recent high-profile Supreme Court decisions, many of them driven by the Court’s five-member conservative majority. The bills have little in common except that they would all override the Supreme Court’s interpretations of law. Each bill is an expression of liberals’ frustration with the direction of the Roberts Court — and their hopes for Sonia Sotomayor.