Posts on ‘August 30th, 2010’

When it comes to negotiating compensation as part of an employment offer, it’s important to put off discussing the issue as long as possible, say consultants Valerie Fontaine and Roberta Kass. They explain why, as well as some possible ways to sidestep the issue if it comes up too early.

Mary Jane Frisby, a former IP partner in Barnes & Thornburg’s Indianapolis office, was found dead in her home on Thursday, hours after her estranged husband went on a shooting spree and committed suicide across the street from her old firm, according to reports. The incident led the firm and the neighboring state court to temporarily close their offices. In a message posted on Facebook, David Frisby condemned the law firm his wife recently left for an in-house job at engine manufacturer Cummins, according to reports.

A New Jersey appeals court has found sufficient evidence that accounting giant KPMG was negligent in its audits of the books of a ceramic collectibles company but inadequate proof to support a $38 million damages award to another company that acquired it. The panel said KPMG’s spotty audit amounted to malpractice on a non-client, but found that the acquiring company and its president failed to prove that the combined company at the time of the merger was worth its purported value and to justify the jury’s award.

McDermott Will & Emery is countersuing medical device maker Nomir Medical Technologies in Boston federal court for breach of contract and nearly $491,000 in damages following the company’s $143 million claim against the firm for missing patent deadlines. Nomir filed suit against McDermott on July 1, claiming the firm missed four crucial patent deadlines when it represented the company. McDermott says its legal work and costs for Nomir between 2004 and 2008 added up to more than $1.3 million.

The Federal Communications Commission is seeking an en banc rehearing in the “fleeting expletives” case. In July, a three-judge 2nd Circuit panel ruled that an FCC policy fining broadcasters for airing certain expletives was unconstitutionally vague. Now, the FCC wants the entire circuit court to hear its case, arguing in a petition that a rehearing is needed to “maintain uniformity of the court’s decisions, and also to address exceptionally important questions about the agency’s ability to enforce federal law.”

The Federal Circuit on Friday upheld lower court findings that reject a causal connection between childhood vaccines and the onset of autism. The ruling came in the first of a series of test cases heard by special masters for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in 2007. The claims court picked several such cases to test different theories of causation advanced in the roughly 5,000 cases alleging a link to autism filed under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.

The Supreme Court of Ohio last week suspended the law license of Columbus attorney David J. Robinson for one year after finding that he destroyed confidential law firm documents, and later lied about it when he moved to a rival firm. The suspension is half the length recommended by the state’s Board of Commissioners on Grievances & Discipline, which found that Robinson had violated two rules of professional conduct when he lied under oath during his deposition and the hearing and when he destroyed the documents.

David Levin represents entrepreneurs, investors and developers in his legal practice — but he also offers free legal advice to those who run afoul of the law at the annual Burning Man festival. Levin maintains police have become so heavy-handed at the counterculture gathering that he was compelled to form a defense team known as Lawyers for Burners to help cited or arrested participants. He and other fans accuse overzealous officers of destroying the quality of an otherwise peaceful celebration of radical self-expression.

Four months after Hurricane Katrina hit, 5,352 attorneys had offices in New Orleans. Since then, that number has dropped by 19 percent, to 4,342, as attorneys moved elsewhere to make a living. Even so, membership in the New Orleans Bar Association now surpasses its pre-Katrina levels, if only slightly, said Executive Director Helena Henderson. She’s encouraged by the bar association’s numbers, but much work remains to be completed in New Orleans, she said. “People have tremendous legal needs. People still don’t have homes.”

Legal tech shows can be pedestrian when compared to CES or Interop. But the exhibits at the 2010 International Legal Technology Association conference in Las Vegas were striking and included EDD tools with improved visualization, a website archiving service, and a virtual desktop with a DMS.