The Supreme Court announced that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent the night at Washington Hospital Center for observation after apparently experiencing a bad reaction to the combination of cold medication and a prescription sleeping aid. She had taken the medications before getting on a plane bound for London Wednesday evening. The 76-year-old justice was taken to the hospital, where she stayed overnight and was released Thursday morning, with doctors stating she is in stable health.
Posts on ‘October 15th, 2009’
Book Review: ‘7 Steps for Legal Holds’
In “7 Steps for Legal Holds of ESI and Other Documents,” attorneys John J. Isaza and John J. Jablonski explain how to go about a legal hold — and why you must — in serial fashion, describing the legal and business drivers behind the holds that can be used to create more efficient business processes.
Alleging Negligence, Madoff Victims Sue SEC for $2.4 Million
After the relentless pounding the Securities and Exchange Commission has taken for failing to expose Bernard Madoff’s fraud, it was probably only a matter of time before the agency was sued for negligence. That time came Wednesday, when Herrick Feinstein filed a complaint against the government on behalf of two Madoff victims, who lost more than $2.4 million. The complaint relies heavily on a report issued by the Office of Inspector General for the SEC, which was critical of the agency’s handling of warnings about Madoff.
Trial of Former Hedge Fund Managers Begins in Federal Court
Opening statements got under way Wednesday in the closely watched federal trial of two former Bear Stearns hedge-fund managers accused of touting their subprime-mortgage-backed fund even after they believed the market was going to implode. The funds crashed in June 2007, costing investors $1.6 billion. Defendants Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin “lied over and over again in an attempt to keep their investors in these funds,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Sinclair told the jury in opening arguments.
High Court Justices Doubt Lawyers Should Be Paid Extra for Winning
All the Supreme Court justices are lawyers, but most showed little
empathy for their fellow attorneys on Wednesday as they debated whether
legal fee awards can be enhanced for superior performance or exceptional
results under a federal fee-shifting statute. Civil rights groups assert
that the prospect of enhanced fees is necessary to attract quality
representation in the litigation they pursue. But several justices
seemed more worried about high legal fees than encouraging lawyers to do
public-minded work.
N.J. High Court Weighs Limits of Fair-Reporting Privilege
The New Jersey Supreme Court is being asked to consider the boundaries of the fair-reporting privilege that protects news media from defamation suits. Last year, an appeals court ruled that the privilege does not apply if an article is based only on an initial court pleading that has not been subjected to judicial review. On Wednesday, the lawyer for the publisher defendant in the case told the state Supreme Court that the ruling, if upheld, would essentially bar the media from fairly reporting the news.
Robbins Russell Scores Mega-Win for Creditors in Chapter 11 Fraud Suit Against Banks
The lawyers at D.C. boutique Robbins Russell are known for their strength in appellate work, but they’ve proven more than capable at trial as well. The most recent example came Tuesday, when the Florida federal bankruptcy judge overseeing Chapter 11 proceedings for one of the country’s largest homebuilders ruled in favor of the unsecured creditors committee the firm represents. The ruling against a bevy of financial institutions could cost the bank defendants as much as $688 million.