Posts on ‘September 1st, 2009’

Some big-firm lawyers are busier than others nowadays, but it’s not just the bankruptcy groups getting work. Options exchanges have been a boon to benefits and executive compensation lawyers, filling a void in their workload left by the M&A lull. Baker & McKenzie’s Valerie Diamond, for instance, says options exchanges — in which companies turn underwater options into better-priced options, restricted stock or cash for the benefit of shareholders or employees — are now taking up 70 percent of her time.

Where in the world is federal prosecutor Sean Cronin? The Miami U.S. Attorney’s Office has been ordered to pay $600,000 in legal fees and costs as punishment for misbehavior in a prescription drug case led by Cronin that disintegrated. The Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office won’t confirm or deny Cronin’s current assignment. Neither will his attorney. Cronin’s office voicemail says he will be away until February. But the Daily Business Review found him.

The 9th Circuit has upheld a lower court decision in favor of DaimlerChrysler AG in a lawsuit that alleged a subsidiary of the corporation committed human rights violations in Argentina in the 1970s and ’80s. The district court lacked personal jurisdiction over Germany-based DaimlerChrysler AG, according to the opinion, because the parent corporation does not have “pervasive and continual control” over subsidiary Mercedes Benz USA. The circuit court noted that the appellants could file claims in Germany and Argentina.

The 9th Circuit has ruled that Paris Hilton can continue pursuing a lawsuit against Hallmark Cards over the use of her picture and catchphrase “That’s hot” on a greeting card. Hilton sued the company in 2007 after it began selling, without her permission, birthday cards of a cartoon of a waitress serving food to a patron. A photo of Hilton’s face was pasted on the cartoon’s body. Hilton alleges that the card ripped off her appearance as a waitress in an episode of her reality TV show “The Simple Life.”

Dewey & LeBoeuf and Paul Hastings have landed leading roles on Walt Disney’s $4 billion cash and stock acquisition of Marvel Entertainment, a deal that gives Disney the rights to more than 5,000 Marvel characters, including Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk. Dewey’s representation of Disney, a longtime client of M&A Chairman Morton Pierce, reaffirms the firm’s role as the Mouse’s go-to outside counsel. The deal also cements the role of Paul Hastings as Marvel’s counsel.

In oral arguments on Wednesday, the California Supreme Court will be asked to decide whether factual information — such as witness statements and fact summaries — is as privileged in opinion letters as the legal advice being given. Specifically, the court will be asked to decide whether trial court judges may conduct in camera reviews of opinion letters and then share redacted versions of them with the opposing party.

In the closely watched court battle over Delaware’s scotched plan to launch a sports betting lottery, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday handed down an opinion that explains why the judges permanently blocked the lottery last week in a ruling from the bench. In its decision, the unanimous three-judge panel sided with all the major sports leagues and declared that the proposed expansion of Delaware’s gaming would violate the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.

Patent-hoarding giant Intellectual Ventures has long beat the drum that
it doesn’t file lawsuits. But now the company has started selling some
of its 27,000 patents to people who aren’t afraid to sue — and in some
cases IV will get a share of the prize. In this new phase for
Intellectual Ventures, litigation is much more likely. It’s a scary
scenario for tech companies that may end up in the legal crosshairs, but
industry observers say it was only a matter of time.