Tag Archives | Legal

Law firm layoffs are running rampant, with Allen & Overy, DLA Piper, and Eversheds all confirming office closures, outsourcing to back offices or other overhauls affecting dozens of lawyers and staff, mainly in Europe. “As pricing pressure from clients continues, firms have become less tolerant of chronically underperforming lawyers, practice areas, and offices,” says Zeughauser [...]

It looks like one for the record books. As of mid-January, the number of applicants for seats in American Bar Association-accredited law schools has fallen by 20 percent since last year. If the trend holds through the final months of the admission cycle, law schools could see a drop of 38 percent from a peak [...]

The D.C. Circuit has declared unconstitutional a series of recess appointments President Obama made to the National Labor Relations Board, setting up a potential government request that the U.S. Supreme Court weigh the scope of presidential appointment power. The ruling was a major blow to the Justice Department, which defended the appointments as a valid [...]

The nomination of Debevoise partner Mary Jo White as the next head of the Securities and Exchange Commission means the agency will continue with an aggressive approach to Wall Street enforcement, financial regulation attorneys say. As the first female U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, she became known for taking down white-collar [...]

The nomination of Debevoise partner Mary Jo White as the next head of the Securities and Exchange Commission means the agency will continue with an aggressive approach to Wall Street enforcement, financial regulation attorneys say. As the first female U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, she became known for taking down white-collar [...]

After achieving mixed results in its first suitable seating class action trial, Kmart is betting on new counsel to handle what could be a much larger battle. The head of Winston & Strawn’s San Francisco labor and employment group is off the case, along with two other partners, according to a court filing. A Paul [...]

You drive your Segway scooter to the local bar. You drink. You get drunk. It gets to be last call, and perhaps the bar owner plays the song “Closing Time” (“You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here”) as he pushes you out the door. Can you drive your Segway home despite [...]

President Barack Obama will nominate Mary Jo White, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton and a former Southern District U.S. Attorney, as the next chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today, a White House official has confirmed. White, now a white-collar defense lawyer, has been at Debevoise since 2002. Her tenure in the [...]

A former attorney with Wilmer Culter Pickering Hale and Dorr has filed a $5 million discrimination suit against the firm, in which she alleges that the firm retaliated against her taking leave to adopt a child. The complaint alleges discrimination “because of her age, sex and family responsibilities,” as well as for retaliation and wrongful [...]

A federal appeals court has struck down an Indiana law that imposes broad social media restrictions on most registered sex offenders, finding it unconstitutional. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the law — which bars most registered sex offenders from using social networking websites, instant messaging services and chat programs [...]

Here are today’s three burning legal questions, along with the answers provided by the blogosphere. 1. Question: I live in the U.K. There is a guy at my door who says he is from the government and is here to “inspect the efficiency rating of my refrigerator.” This has to be a scam, right? Answer: [...]

Less than one week ago I wrote here: I’m predicting it right here and now: “In re: Subway 11-Inch Litigation” In a world where lawyers file class actions against basketball teams for resting their star players for the night that “class members” attend a game, how can there not be a class action on behalf [...]

The D.C. Circuit has upheld the dismissal of a challenge over the government’s classification of marijuana as a top-tier dangerous drug, siding with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s contention that there is a lack of adequate studies showing marijuana’s medical efficacy. The advocacy group Americans for Safe Access and several individuals, including a disabled veteran, were [...]

Five federal judicial nominees got a nomination hearing today before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a sign that Democrats will continue to push aggressively to reduce the historically high number of vacancies on the federal bench. The nominees included four for district court judgeships and one for the U.S. Court of International Trade. Go to Source [...]

A federal judge in Texas today sentenced James M. Davis, the former chief financial officer of Stanford International Bank and Houston’s Stanford Financial Group, to five years in prison in connection with an alleged conspiracy to defraud investors who bought about $7 billion in CDs sold through SIB. Go to Source Author:

I like to track license plate squabbles here at LBW. For example, as you may recall, the license plate “X32 IARO” is not permitted in Sweden (look at it in the mirror to see why). And “GIV ME A” is banned in Illinois, at least on Hummer vehicles. On the other hand, as Eric Lipman [...]

After years of political stalemate, immigration has become a likely centerpiece of President Obama’s second term, with both the White House and federal lawmakers planning to push a comprehensive bill during the next few months. Lobbyists see a renewed enthusiasm for reform from both parties — and a rare opportunity to secure some long-awaited fixes [...]

In a dispute over destroyed records, including those on convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff and other high-profile cases, a federal judge has ruled that the SEC did not abuse its discretion in how it responded to a request to recover them, finding that the Federal Records Act only required taking action to recover records that [...]

The preliminary jobs numbers for 2012 are in, and while last year’s herky-jerky hiring in the legal sector resulted in a net increase of 7,800 jobs for the year — or 0.7 percent more than in 2011 — the legal industry nonetheless grew at just half the rate of the broader economy, according to the [...]

California’s Judicial Council has authorized courts to handle traffic infraction proceedings by remote-location video despite objections from criminal defense attorneys, who complained the set-up could violate the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause, and interpreters, who questioned whether courthouse-based language specialists will be able to speak confidentially or translate documents accurately via video. Go to Source Author:

It’s been a good week in court for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, with agency lawyers racking up wins in two proceedings involving cases of systemic discrimination, a top priority under the EEOC’s new strategic enforcement plan. The cases involve United Parcel Service and Cintas Corp. Go to Source Author:

Nearly two years after Howrey went under, the trustee overseeing the defunct firm’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy is ramping up his efforts to recover tens of millions of dollars from former partners and the firms they moved to. Trustee Allan Diamond says he is seeking about $100 million in clawback claims for money paid to former [...]

Nearly two years after Howrey went under, the trustee overseeing the defunct firm’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy is ramping up his efforts to recover tens of millions of dollars from former partners and the firms they moved to. Trustee Allan Diamond says he is seeking about $100 million in clawback claims for money paid to former [...]

Here are today’s three burning legal questions, along with the answers provided by the blogosphere. 1. Question: Is there any way for a man to be arrested for sexual assault if he has consensual sex with a woman? Answer: Yes — if he pokes holes in his girlfriend’s condoms to try to get her pregnant. [...]

In response to budget cuts and courthouse closures, the California Judicial Council today will consider allowing trial courts to hold traffic infraction proceedings by remote-location video. Critics call the proposal potentially unconstitutional and possibly unworkable, citing concerns about technology quality and whether defendants will be able to talk confidentially with their lawyers and interpreters. Go [...]

Washington, D.C.’s first micro-distillery — or, at least, its first legal one — has filed a lawsuit seeking to protect its trademark against legal action brought by a New York gin producer. New Columbia Distillers, the D.C.-based producers of Green Hat Gin, was sued for trademark infringement in November by Green Farms II LLC, which [...]

President Obama’s plan to use his executive authority to prevent gun violence comes on the heels of proposed legislation intended to give more power to gunshot victims after the fact. The new legislation by Representative Adam Schiff, D-Calif., would undo provisions of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005, which limits the [...]

In response to budget cuts and courthouse closures, the California Judicial Council today will consider allowing trial courts to hold traffic infraction proceedings by remote-location video. Critics call the proposal potentially unconstitutional and possibly unworkable, citing concerns about technology quality and whether defendants will be able to talk confidentially with their lawyers and interpreters. Go [...]