Posts on ‘September 17th, 2009’

Two San Francisco Bay Area lawyers best known for representing clients in performance-enhancing drug cases have been retained by individuals who secretly videotaped an alleged bribery scheme in Ecuador related to a mammoth environmental mass torts case against Chevron. A statement released by a plaintiffs group in the case states that Diego Borja and Wayne Hansen have retained Cristina Arguedas and Mary McNamara, respectively, as the fallout grows over recordings released by Chevron two weeks ago.

Without summer associate programs to rely on, law students are turning to alternate ways of gaining practical experience and making connections that could lead to full-time jobs. One such alternative is externships, where students work, unpaid, for credit under supervision at a government agency, nonprofit organization or sometimes a corporation. Law firm externships are barred by ABA rules. Demand for, and participation in, externships have increased significantly, according to law school administrators.

When Laidlaw International learned it was being investigated by a state grand jury, the Illinois company told employees who were potential witnesses and targets that they would be provided with counsel on the company’s dime — if they selected lawyers from a preapproved list. If they chose anyone else, it would be at their own expense. But the Division of Criminal Justice is asking the state Supreme Court to void those retainers on the ground that they create a conflict of interest.

At a hearing this week, the New Jersey Supreme Court appeared sympathetic to a municipal court judge who faces ethics sanctions because his law partner made political contributions without his knowledge or consent. The judge’s attorney said the court will have to decide whether lawyers can be held vicariously liable for their partners’ actions, which could impact firms large and small. “This is an extremely important case because there are many part-time judges who work for large firms that make contributions,” he said.

For nearly two years, drug dealer-turned-paid FBI snitch Deneal Bobo has been taping drug exchanges with a camera hidden inside a baseball cap, helping federal prosecutors in California indict no less than seven people on crack dealing charges. Even though Bobo has continued to commit crimes while on the government payroll, his targets’ guilty pleas are piling up. Yet the progeny of prosecutions fathered by Bobo also led to a stinging rebuke of the government’s tough new sentencing policies.

K&L Gates’ new Chicago office has lured its first group of Chicago laterals, cutting Kelley Drye’s head count in that city by about one-fourth. Making the move: partners David Rammelt and Susan Greenspon, one counsel and three associates. Rammelt and Greenspon said they made the move principally because of their clients’ growing need for a firm with a broader international reach, especially in Europe and Asia, and because K&L Gates is more comfortable with alternative fee arrangements.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in a case of first impression that the protection of Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act extends beyond employees to independent contractors. The panel voted 3-0 that a discrimination action could go forward under the section. The court sided with three other federal appeals courts — the 1st, 7th and 11th Circuits — in its decision.

A report this week about a May reunion of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens’ former law clerks sent another tremor through the high court community about the possibility that the justice is planning to retire at the end of the upcoming term. The first signal came with recent news that Stevens had hired only one law clerk for the 2010 term. But some are saying that neither fact is proof positive that this term will be Stevens’ last.