Posts on ‘February 4th, 2010’

A case that has transfixed Hong Kong for much of the past year came to a close Tuesday, with a judge denying a feng shui master’s claims that he is the rightful heir to the estate of one of the world’s richest women. Nina Wang, the chairwoman of one of Hong Kong’s largest real estate companies, died in 2007, leaving behind an estimated $4.2 billion. Feng shui practitioner Tony Chan then claimed Wang had left it all to him, contradicting a 2002 will in which she left everything to a charitable foundation.

Right now, in a Big Law office somewhere in America, a first-year associate with nothing else to do is looking busy at the office by planning the social event of his or her life — a Big Law wedding! But The Snark reminds us that, as with all Big Law events, a Big Law wedding comes with unspoken rules of decorum and social expectations, now made a little more complicated by economic realities. For those planning a Big Law wedding, The Snark discusses some things to keep in mind about locations and guest lists.

A prospective law school student who alleges he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has filed a suit in federal court in Texas, seeking a court order to force the Law School Admissions Council to provide him with accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act for the Law School Admissions Test. Matthew Scott Jones claims the LSAC should provide him with double time to take the test and his test results should not be flagged as “not taken under standard conditions.”

Congressional Democrats are continuing to gather ideas for limiting corporate involvement in elections as they prepare legislation responding to last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC. At a hearing before a House Judiciary subcommittee, witnesses called by the subcommittee’s Democratic majority introduced a slew of proposals for Congress to consider. They warned that corporations will now be able to influence lawmakers simply by threatening to use their general treasuries.

California’s Commission on Judicial Performance on Tuesday publicly censured Judge Brett Klein, who stepped down from the bench on Dec. 1, barring the 20-year veteran from future judicial assignments. The CJP dinged Klein for his handling of a class action against a clothing store chain and found that Klein had abused his authority when he altered the final approval order to make a $2,500 award to the lead plaintiff and $125,000 in fees to a plaintiffs lawyer payable in $10 gift vouchers from the retailer.

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has responded forcefully to a former associate’s suit that accuses the firm of denying her partnership because she is gay, ignoring her complaints about sexual harassment and instructing lawyers to write exaggerated negative performance reviews of unpopular associates. The firm is also facing two separate employment discrimination suits, one of which includes allegations of racial discrimination.

U.S.-educated Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui faces the possibility of life in prison after being convicted by a New York jury Wednesday of trying to kill FBI agents and U.S. military personnel while she was detained in a police compound in Afghanistan in 2008. The trial was peppered with outbursts from Siddiqui, who was removed from the courtroom several times. In addition, the federal judge excused two jurors who became fearful after being menaced by a member of the audience.

Foreign dictators, high-living bureaucrats and arms dealers are still able to funnel millions of dollars in potentially corrupt money into the United States despite post-Sept. 11 laws cracking down on money laundering, according to a Senate investigation. The Senate Homeland Security subcommittee on investigations, which wrote the report, has summoned several of the U.S. lawyers, real estate agents and bankers involved in the financial transactions to a hearing Thursday.

In a memo from firm CEO and managing partner Robert Ruyak, Howrey has announced a “reduction-in-force” affecting both associates and staffers at the firm. A Howrey spokeswoman confirmed that 29 associates and 65 staffers from Howrey’s 10 U.S. offices are affected by the cutbacks. Howrey’s six offices in Europe and one office in Asia are unaffected by the downsizing. The cuts come less than a year after the firm eliminated 25 members of its secretarial staff last April.

A Massachusetts probate judge recently ordered prominent Boston family lawyer Gerald Nissenbaum and another attorney to refund a client’s estate nearly $329,000 in excess legal fees. According to the order, E. James Veara of Dennis, Mass.-based Zisson & Veara, and Nissenbaum sought about $500,000 in attorney and guardian fees for an 83-day guardianship of Kenneth Simon, which ended with Simon’s death on Nov. 2, 2005.