Posts on ‘November 2nd, 2009’

Without expatriate whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, offshore tax havens for Americans might still be a great way to hide money from the IRS. For his help in uncovering an international network of hidden money, the former UBS banker received a 40-month federal prison sentence. Three Washington, D.C.-based government watchdog groups say the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge William Zloch will discourage other bankers from coming forward to the IRS under a three-year-old whistleblower law.

In 2007, MWE China Law Offices looked like it could be the future of China practice. The new Chinese law firm was to be the exclusive ally of Chicago’s McDermott Will & Emery and would carry the 1,000-lawyer U.S. firm’s brand into China. It seemed an ingenious way for an American law firm to enter local Chinese practice while skirting official restrictions barring foreign firms. But three years later, no one has followed MWE China’s example, and rivals now openly question the firm’s long-term viability.

The key for most deferred law firm associates who are working at public interest and government agencies is to concentrate on developing as many legal skills as possible. And the challenge for agencies is to get the most out of them for about a year, meaning associates have to get up to speed quickly. “Frankly it’s about a six-month learning curve to catch up,” said Lynne Kelley, the New York City Bar’s executive director, at a training program. “That is, it will take six months before you feel you won’t throw up.”

Last month, the federal bankruptcy judge overseeing Tousa’s Chapter 11 ruled in favor of unsecured creditors who claimed that several major financial institutions engaged in a fraudulent conveyance when they lent Tousa $500 million before it filed for bankruptcy. Now, bondholders in the Chicago Tribune and Lyondell bankruptcies are trying to capitalize on that ruling. One attorney says Tousa has forced financial institutions to evaluate their liability on the “no money down” LBOs they financed in 2007.

California State Bar Court judges, preparing for arguments this month in a Santa Clara County prosecutor’s appeal of his suspension, have more than the opposing parties’ briefs at their disposal. A rare amicus curiae brief has been filed with the court by the California District Attorneys Association, claiming that a February ruling that suspended Benjamin Field for four years sets bad precedents all around.

There was an “Alice in Wonderland” quality to the Supreme Court Monday morning, where clocks throughout the building were off-kilter — apparently triggered by an unsuccessful effort to turn them back when daylight saving time ended early Sunday morning. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. took note of the glitch from the bench, and the ancient clocks in the courtroom kept changing times as the morning arguments proceeded.

Under federal law dating back to 1802, one way for a case to wind up before the Supreme Court is for a federal appeals court to certify a question to the justices. It has never been a frequently traveled path to the high court, but it has been allowed from time to time — though not since 1981. On Monday the justices rejected such a request by the 5th Circuit to resolve a statute-of-limitations issue that could affect prosecution of long-ago civil rights cases in the South.

A Canadian engineer who claims he was sent by the U.S. to Syria to be tortured in 2002 cannot sue U.S. officials in federal court, the 2nd Circuit said Monday in an in banc ruling. The 7-4 majority held that Maher Arar failed to state a claim under the Torture Victim Protection Act and that his remaining claims did not satisfy the test for “implied” constitutional causes of action under the 1971 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

Breast cancer survivor Donna Scroggin has had a roller-coaster ride through the judicial system. She won a $27 million punitive damages award in Arkansas federal court in a product liability suit against Wyeth and Upjohn, only to see the award tossed by the trial judge. Now, the 8th Circuit has upheld the judgment in favor of Upjohn — but has ordered a new punitive damages trial against Wyeth.

In a ruling that provides a helpful summary of the criteria for lead counsel in Delaware class actions, Chancellor William Chandler III of Delaware Chancery Court denied a motion to reconsider his choice of lead counsel in a shareholder class action challenging the merger of Dress Barn and Tween Brands. Chandler analyzed Rigrodsky & Long’s four arguments for why he shouldn’t have chosen Levi & Korsinsky as lead counsel, and methodically dismissed all of them.