Posts on ‘October 7th, 2009’

The litigation equivalent of Halley’s comet is about to streak into view in Manhattan federal district court. When trial in the shareholder suit against Vivendi and two of its former executives begins this week before Judge Richard Holwell, it may be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness a so-called “f-cubed” securities class action trial, involving foreign investors who bought shares of foreign companies on foreign exchanges.

When Summit Entertainment needed an attorney to help promote its new vampire movie, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” general counsel David Friedman turned to an old colleague from his former Paramount Pictures job. That lawyer, Nancy Derwin-Weiss, had moved to Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon and helped it break through the barriers that have frustrated more than one East Coast firm’s ambition to go Hollywood. And at least three other firms from outside California are using similar tactics to get into entertainment law.

The longtime lawyer for Harry Markopolos, the forensic accountant who tried to warn the SEC about Bernie Madoff, is starting over. Gaytri Kachroo stepped down as the international practice chair at McCarter & English three months ago because of potential conflicts over her work representing victims of Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme. Last week, she hung out her own shingle for Kachroo Legal Services. The firm is a one-lawyer shop for now, but Kachroo has big plans, which include some immediate hiring.

A former Biopure executive has been sentenced to three years in prison for pretending he had terminal cancer to dodge a federal lawsuit filed by securities regulators. Howard Richman, a former vice president at the Massachusetts-based biotech company, had pleaded guilty to an obstruction of justice charge in March.

Democrats in Congress are trying to counter another Supreme Court decision on employment discrimination, this time taking aim at a ruling that makes it harder for older workers to prove age bias. A measure introduced Tuesday would effectively reverse a 5-4 decision from earlier this year that said workers must show age was the decisive factor in a demotion or layoff. Previously, older workers had to show that age was just one factor in the employment decision.

Some of the judges deciding a woman’s harassment claim against her employer for allowing lewd sex talk in the office resorted to code in Tuesday’s oral argument, debating with lawyers whether “the b-word,” “the c-word” and “the f-word” could amount to discrimination. But other judges were more explicit, and the full court argument at the 11th Circuit was hardly dull. At issue was whether the law allowed the woman to bring her case even if the language wasn’t necessarily directed at her but was about women in general.

On Tuesday the founding partner of McKool Smith filed a patent infringement suit in federal court in Tyler, Texas, against more than 20 of the best-known companies in the Fortune 100, including Amazon, Citigroup, Google, Apple and Staples. McKool’s client, Eolas Technologies, claims that the defendants have infringed two of its patents on technology allowing interactivity on the Web. Back in 2004, Eolas won a $565 million judgment against Microsoft for one of the patents asserted in the current action.

A “disgruntled consumer” expelled from a private finance course he later allegedly blasted on a popular consumer complaint Web site as a “joke and a scam” may not be sued for defamation, a New York judge has ruled. The judge also rejected claims by plaintiff Swiss Finance Academy against Web site www.ripoffreport.com. In July 2008, posts on the Web site accused the program of being a “bait & switch company,” which required participants to “bring your OWN pillow, sheets, comforter and shower towels.”

A group of about 90 former Heller Ehrman partners has logged a defense against creditors’ claims that the firm was insolvent in 2007, a key point the creditors need to prove to build a fraudulent transfer suit. The brief — which is the first peep from any former Heller partners in the 10-month-old bankruptcy — blames the recession for the firm’s demise and asserts that creditors cannot possibly prove that Heller was undercapitalized by the end of 2007, or that funds were fraudulently transferred thereafter.

An attorney recruiting firm has leveled a $100 million lawsuit against Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, claiming that the law firm squeezed it out of a placement deal last summer. CB Legal Search LLC contends that it helped orchestrate an insurance practice group’s move in July from Chicago’s Bollinger, Ruberry & Garvey to Los Angeles-based Lewis Brisbois but was cut out of the deal by the law firm.