Posts on ‘December 1st, 2009’

Attorneys who have been laid off or who cannot find a job after graduation have plenty of reasons to be disappointed and resentful. But it’s important to remember that these feelings are not uncommon among lawyers who are actually in the sought-after big-firm jobs, notes consultant Kate Neville. She says that lawyers who are searching for jobs have an opportunity to take charge of their careers, learn about their options and make knowledgeable career decisions. Neville provides some tips for job seekers.

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected another request by former Qwest Communications International Inc. CEO Joseph Nacchio to review his insider trading conviction. The Court revealed Monday that it won’t reconsider its decision in October not to take up his case. Nacchio was convicted in 2007 on 19 counts of insider trading, and he reported to prison in April.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s image has been taking a beating lately, between the Bernard Madoff scandal, the rejection of the agency’s proposed $33 million settlement with Bank of America and a general feeling by investors that the SEC has failed to look out for their interests. But now, the beleaguered agency is announcing that, for the first time, it has distributed more than $2 billion in a calendar year to injured investors as a result of its enforcement actions and proceedings.

The folks over at Emigrant Savings Bank won’t easily forget Kirkland & Ellis. On behalf of Metavante Corp., the firm won $2 million in damages against the bank last May, after a breach of contract bench trial before Milwaukee federal Judge J.P. Stadtmueller. That was bad, but here’s a big, fat insult to add to that injury: Last Friday the judge ordered Emigrant to pay nearly $10 million in attorney fees and costs to Kirkland and a Wisconsin firm.

American International Group’s litigation against former CEO Hank Greenberg has been very, very good to Boies, Schiller & Flexner (the Greenberg team) and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (the AIG team). How good? As part of the settlement that the parties reached last week, AIG agreed to pay up to $150 million to cover certain legal fees and expenses incurred by Greenberg and former AIG CFO Howard Smith. And that $150 million doesn’t include the amount that AIG spent in this litigation.

A multimillion-dollar tug of war between the U.S. government and purported investor victims appears to be brewing in the burgeoning federal investigation of alleged Ponzi scheme operator Scott Rothstein, who has lost his law license, his law firm and his personal standing as a philanthropist and a power broker. A key question now is who will get the money seized through forfeiture: Rothstein’s victims, who are considered unsecured creditors in the law firm bankruptcy case, or the U.S. government?

When she graduated four years ago with a law degree at the age of 61, Denise Megan Bronsdon likely did not foresee bankruptcy court in her future. But that’s where she ended up — as a debtor. Bronsdon convinced a Massachusetts bankruptcy court in January that repaying the more than $82,000 she owed in student debt would create an undue hardship. But an appeals court found her decision not to participate in a loan repayment assistance program should be part of the bankruptcy court’s undue hardship analysis.

A recent survey of national law firms done by Wachovia’s Legal Specialty Group shows that despite some economic hardships, the Philadelphia market is faring significantly better than its counterparts across the country. The market’s historically lower rate structure has better prepared the area for the economic downturn and has given it some breathing room in terms of having to make systemic changes to the law firm model, according to Wachovia.

In the latest development involving Seyfarth Shaw’s former representation of Tae Bo creator Billy Blanks, the firm has been sued by one of its own partners. The lawsuit, brought by nonequity partner William Lancaster, alleges that Seyfarth Shaw demoted and exploited him for his role in representing Blanks, who won a $30 million malpractice verdict against the firm. Lancaster claims that even though the verdict against the firm was thrown out in February, Lancaster was coerced into accepting a demotion and an unfair pay cut.

Harvard Law School is scrapping a program — started just last year — that waives 3L tuition for students who commit to some form of public service law for five years after graduation, according to The Harvard Crimson. The reason? Many more students applied for the tuition waiver than the school anticipated. Dean Martha Minow says all current students will be able to participate in the program, but it is “unlikely” that future students will get the same benefit.