Posts on ‘October 8th, 2009’

By all accounts, Joel J. Seidemann, the veteran litigator who closed the case against Brooke Astor’s son Anthony D. Marshall and lawyer Francis X. Morrissey, is pugnacious, unrelenting and highly effective. And Seidemann’s take-no-prisoners advocacy paid off this week in what was one of the most high-profile cases of his 27-year career. On Thursday, its 12th day of deliberations, the jury in the Astor case delivered guilty verdicts on 15 counts of a 17-count indictment.

Recently regarded as regional also-rans next to U.S. and U.K. global players, Australian firms have been raising their profiles in the past year. They could aggressively expand in Asia’s biggest markets, but that would mean going toe-to-toe with wealthier U.S. and U.K. firms that have already made large investments in offices and practices in the region, not to mention rising local firms. Teaming up with global firms may be their ticket in, but would their loss of independence be too high a price to pay?

LinkedIn is very different from Facebook and similar social networking sites. It is designed for businesspeople to share professional contacts; there is limited personal information and no photos other than an optional headshot. Consultant Nancy Roberts Linder notes that the site is typically used to find an “in” with a particular person or company, and can help with background research. But Linder says that to really make LinkedIn work for you, you need to know and use some of its finer features.

Gay marriage supporters in California got attention by hiring conservative stalwart Theodore Olson as their public face. But opponents’ choice of Charles Cooper will likely play as large a role in shaping the momentous case. Like Olson, Cooper has a stellar reputation for advancing conservative constitutional positions. Unlike Olson, Cooper runs a small shop of only a dozen lawyers. Many conservatives see Cooper’s hiring as evidence that, on this issue, the culture at large law firms is solidly against them.

There’s no place in the Magic Kingdom for stand-up motor scooters. For the last couple of years, a class of disabled people has been dueling with Walt Disney over Disney’s ban of Segway scooters at its theme parks in Florida. The two sides reached a settlement last December in which Disney agreed to acquire a small fleet of stand-up scooters. A Florida federal judge gave the deal preliminary approval, but then had a change of heart. On Tuesday he voided the settlement and threw out the suit.

A banker who cited bonus politics when he jumped from UBS AG to Linklaters earlier this year has rejoined the Swiss financial institution in his old role of global head of strategic solutions. Former Cravath tax partner Lewis Steinberg had left UBS at a time when banks’ pay plans were under scrutiny and, as he then told The Am Law Daily, he felt he could “be adequately compensated and perhaps better compensated” at a law firm. Steinberg said Monday that his views have changed as the market has “normalized.”