Posts on ‘November 18th, 2009’

There is a long and time-honored tradition among other cultures, and other professions, of giving the mind and spirit a break from the day-to-day grind, notes attorney Janice Mock. It’s called a sabbatical. You’ve heard of it, right? Right — just not anywhere near your office door. Embracing the notion of what a world with sabbaticals for lawyers as commonplace would look like, Mock discusses the benefits of sabbaticals both for the attorneys who take them and for the law firms that allow them.

Smaller and midsize law firms have been able to reduce expenses — but revenues have declined faster than their ability to trim costs. That’s according to the recently released Survey of Law Firm Economics, conducted by ALM Legal Intelligence. The survey shows that firms reduced expenses by 1.8 percent last year, but revenue slid by 4 percent. But on the positive side, the firms surveyed, depending on size, are able to collect their fees 96 percent to 98 percent of the time despite the downturn.

Six months after the California Supreme Court lowered standing requirements for consumer class actions, a state trial judge has certified a class of consumers who bought contact lens solution linked to an infection that can cause blindness. A plaintiffs attorney credited the certification to the state Supreme Court’s May 18 decision in In re Tobacco II Cases, which said class actions alleging consumer fraud can go forward even if not all the class members have suffered injuries caused by deceptive advertising.

Since becoming the first Hispanic U.S. Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor has mamboed with movie stars, exchanged smooches with musicians at the White House and thrown out the first pitch for her beloved New York Yankees. A famous jazz composer even wrote a song about her: “Wise Latina Woman.” Few Americans can name most of the justices, but Sotomayor has become a celebrity — all without having made a single major decision at the nation’s highest court.

More than 14,700 U.S. taxpayers came forward to disclose billions in offshore bank accounts in 70 countries under a voluntary Internal Revenue Service program allowing most to avoid criminal prosecution as long as they pay what they owe, IRS officials said Tuesday. Also Tuesday, the IRS unveiled the criteria being used to determine which American UBS accounts will be disclosed under an August agreement to obtain names of 4,450 U.S. taxpayers believed to be hiding assets in secret bank accounts.

The federal government might get to collect billions of dollars in court-ordered restitution under a new divorce decree between imprisoned former Cendant Chairman Walter Forbes and his wife of 27 years. A Connecticut judge has ordered Forbes’ ex-wife to transfer ownership of homes in Connecticut and Wisconsin back to him, plus half of the couple’s jewelry and art collections. The ruling allows the federal government and Cendant to attach liens to recover almost $3.3 billion to which the court says they are entitled.

Donald Trump will not be taking over the bankrupt casino and entertainment company that bears his name, but he and his daughter will retain a stake in the entity under the terms of a deal Trump struck with the bondholders who will take the company out of bankruptcy, according to court records. Trump agreed not to compete with Trump Entertainment in New Jersey and five neighboring states; he remains free to use the Trump name elsewhere.