Posts on ‘March 11th, 2010’

A panel discussion by outsourcing experts and in-house counsel on Wednesday highlighted the in-house reluctance to pay for work by first- and even second-year associates, even as in-house lawyers on the panel acknowledged that the trend could harm their hiring pools in the future.

After practicing law in New Jersey for 57 years, Martin Burger learned something new: You can be reprimanded by the state Supreme Court for paying paralegals a percentage of fees on cases they bring in. He also learned the punishment could have been worse. In an order made public on March 5, the justices adopted the Disciplinary Review Board’s finding that Burger capitalized on paralegal Lita Biederman’s contacts in the Filipino community to generate immigration cases.

The D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility has recommended to the
D.C. Court of Appeals that former White House aide Claude Allen, who
pleaded guilty in 2006 to one misdemeanor count of theft of property
under $500, be suspended from the practice of law for one year. Allen
contended that his conduct was a result of severe stress stemming from
his time as an assistant to President George W. Bush for domestic policy
issues during and after Hurricane Katrina.

Finding there was no more than speculative injury, a federal judge has dismissed a class action suit against Aetna filed in the wake of news that the insurer’s computer database may have been hacked and that personal data of up to 450,000 job applicants were potentially at risk. The judge added his voice to a growing chorus of judges who have held that such a claim of “increased risk of identity theft” is not enough to confer standing to sue. He noted that the courts are divided on whether plaintiffs in such cases have standing.

Former Sens. John Breaux and Trent Lott are in talks to more formally combine forces with law and lobbying firm Patton Boggs, according to a source. Rumors of such a deal have been spreading for months. Breaux, via an assistant, declined to comment, but said he has had offers from other firms since the Breaux Lott Leadership Group opened. Breaux and Lott are already special public policy advisers to Patton Boggs.

Once among the most respected professionals in the South Florida legal community, Lewis Freeman pleaded guilty Wednesday to wire fraud conspiracy. Federal prosecutors said that Freeman defrauded up to 250 clients, allegedly using misappropriated funds to “support a lifestyle that was well above his means,” while moving millions of dollars among accounts to hide his actions. Freeman is free on bond, awaiting his May 19 sentencing, where he could receive a prison term of 10 to 14 years under federal guidelines.

As state court systems nationwide struggle with budget shortfalls, a Boston Bar Association task force is trying to head off a proposed $10 million Massachusetts court system cut in the upcoming fiscal year. They’re not alone. Court systems in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Texas and Virginia are facing slashed budgets, higher fees and fewer resources or demands to curtail spending.

In a challenge to a San Francisco law that bans tobacco sales at drug stores, three California appeal court justices on Wednesday looked like they wanted to avoid ruling on Walgreens’ constitutional argument that the city is violating equal protection rights. Instead, the panel appeared more interested in whether a drug store that sells food is really a grocery store that would be exempt. The local ordinance bans tobacco sales at drug stores but not at supermarkets or stores like Costco.

King & Spalding announced on Tuesday its long-awaited 2010 pay scale for Atlanta partner-track associates in an internal memo obtained by the Fulton County Daily Report. The new pay scale ranges from $135,000 for a first-year associate to $190,000 for an eighth-year. Depending on class year, the new pay scale either lessens the effect of a September pay cut or restores some associates’ pay to what they were making a year ago. The firm also announced that it will pay associate bonuses for 2009.

Former Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman partner Jeremy Pitcock is back in the news — and this time it’s for his role as a litigator, not a litigant. Pitcock filed a patent infringement lawsuit Monday in Manhattan federal court on behalf of his client Wireless Ink against Google and Facebook, alleging that the Facebook Mobile application and Google Buzz infringe on one of Wireless Ink’s patents.