Posts on ‘August 12th, 2009’

With a unanimous Aug. 7 Senate confirmation vote behind him, conservative legal scholar Douglas Kmiec is now officially the U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Malta. The prolific legal commentator and former Reagan Justice Department official will be on leave from his current teaching position at Pepperdine University School of Law. Kmiec might seem like an odd appointment in an Obama administration — except for the fact that he famously endorsed Barack Obama in the presidential campaign last year.

All-lawyer rock band The Street Vipers made its debut at an annual Day, Berry & Howard spring party/talent show in what was intended as a one-time gig. Instead, the band — made up mostly of what are now Day Pitney attorneys after a merger — is still going strong after 10 years of playing charity gigs and private parties. “We do this for fun and it’s a great diversion. And we’re really good at what we do,” says front man Dave Elliott, a partner in the firm’s securities litigation practice group.

The flood of job-seeking attorneys entering the market following the collapse of the nearly 300-lawyer Wolf Block naturally resulted in a number of lateral hires for other megafirms. But in a decidedly inhospitable job market, many former Wolf Block lawyers have found homes at smaller and midsize firms. Anthony R. Twardowski, a former Wolf Block senior litigation partner, is the latest, joining 48-attorney Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer Toddy as a shareholder in the commercial litigation department.

A chunk of Troutman Sanders’ power industry finance group has broken away to form a six-lawyer boutique, Mercer Thompson. John T.W. Mercer, the former head of Troutman’s project development and finance group, leads the new firm with partner Richard E. “Chip” Thompson II. Both had spent their careers at Troutman. Said Mercer, “Troutman is like an aircraft carrier. We’ve decided to climb in a PT boat and go buzzing around.”

Four organizations representing Jewish and Iranian Americans have filed an amicus brief before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that a federal judge who dismissed a juror during deliberations for having described Iranians as “stubborn,” “rude” and thieves of others’ ideas should also have granted a new trial for the plaintiff, who was born in Iran. The case involves the long-running copyright dispute between MGA Entertainment, manufacturer of the Bratz doll, and Barbie doll maker Mattel.

Drowsy spectators in one suburban Chicago courtroom might want to stifle their yawns from now on. Clifton Williams is facing some time behind bars for making what court documents call a yawn-like sound in Judge Daniel Rozak’s court last month. The yawn happened as Williams’ cousin was being sentenced for a drug charge. Rozak found Williams in contempt of court and sentenced him to six months in jail. Williams could be freed after a status hearing Thursday, if he apologizes and the judge accepts.

A doctor who claims he had to take on a huge tax burden to pay his ex-wife $1.2 million pursuant to a divorce settlement can bring a malpractice claim against the matrimonial lawyer who advised him to sign the allegedly “unrealistic” stipulation, a New York state appeals court has ruled. Seth Fielding claims he incurred heavy taxes when he dipped into a retirement account to satisfy the stipulation, which provided that the payment was to be made from “immediately available” funds.