Posts on ‘August 26th, 2009’

The Federal Circuit has agreed to an en banc rehearing that could result in reversal of a written description requirement for patents that it imposed a dozen years ago. The court will tackle whether the patent code requires a specific “written description” of the invention in addition to enabling language that explains how to make and use it. The question is hotly debated across the intellectual property community, said an attorney in the case, George Washington University Law School’s John Whealan.

A Brooklyn attorney has failed in his bid to withdraw his guilty plea to several felony charges related to a massive fraud scheme. The case stemmed from defendant Steven Coren’s representation of contractors on public housing and infrastructure projects who were required by federal and state law to pay laborers a “prevailing wage.” In March, Coren pleaded guilty to defrauding the government of millions of dollars earmarked for such employee-benefit contributions. In July, he moved to withdraw his plea.

Bonnie Kramer has been a plaintiff in more than 100 Americans with Disabilities Act suits, but she has rarely, if ever, been subjected to the kind of extensive discovery requests that The Mid-America Management Corp.’s lawyers at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey have put her through. Her inexperience shows. In an opinion dated Aug. 20, Cleveland Federal District Court Judge Donald Nugent granted Midamco’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed Kramer’s claims. But the case isn’t over yet.

Jenner and Block’s Michael K. Lowman and Andrew F. Merrick examine SEC v. Founding Partners Capital Mgmt., a recent federal court ruling that significantly curtails the power of the Securities and Exchange Commission to pursue ill-gotten gains from relief defendants in an SEC enforcement action. The ruling is significant for practicing securities lawyers because it confirms that there are important boundaries that circumscribe the SEC’s authority to pursue claims against relief defendants.

After a decade of electronic discovery, lawyers have recognized a gap between what a string of binary code can do and what a lawyer’s dual-hemisphered brain can do to prepare for trial. What kind of meaningful relationship is ahead in the marriage of litigators and computers?

When Stanford International Bank, the financial institution founded by larger-than-life Texan R. Allen Stanford, imploded earlier this year after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused the bank of fraud, assets belonging not just to investors but also to financial advisers once employed there were frozen. Now, with the help of lawyers in Texas and Georgia, those financial advisers are trying to get their money back. And Stanford isn’t the only one taking the heat.

With his death Tuesday night at age 77, Sen. Ted Kennedy leaves a legal legacy that spans not just decades but touches nearly every major area of the law. The Kennedy imprint, either as original sponsor or a leading proponent, is on the nation’s landmark voting rights laws, its workplace discrimination laws, immigration reform, judicial nominations and other major issues.

The Federal Reserve has been ordered by a federal judge to release records about emergency loans made to investment banks and other financial institutions during the height of the economic meltdown. Rejecting a Federal Reserve claim that the material was exempt from disclosure, Southern District of New York Judge Loretta Preska granted a Freedom of Information Act request from the Bloomberg organization. Her decision contrasted with one made by fellow Southern District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in July.