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Home / Archive: May 2008
Securities class action filings have increased. Although one would expect the subprime mess to create fertile ground for securities class action plaintiffs, a number of countervailing factors have ensured that it is ultimately the plaintiffs who have been drawing the short straw. Chadbourne & Parke partner Scott Balber describes recent pro-business, defendant-friendly legal precedent from both the U.S. Supreme Court and the influential 2nd Circuit that has contributed to the anti-plaintiff atmosphere.
A Missouri woman was indicted Thursday for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on MySpace against a 13-year-old neighbor who committed suicide. Lori Drew, who allegedly helped create a MySpace account to convince the girl she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy, was charged with conspiracy and fraudulently gaining access to someone else's computer. The U.S. Attorney said this was the first time the federal statute on accessing protected computers has been used in a social-networking case.
Hong Kong is set to introduce cross-border competition laws, with the government kicking off a three-month consultation process on May 6. The consultation, the second on the subject, is set to end on Aug. 5, with the government then planning to introduce a bill during the 2008-09 legislative session. The legislation is only likely to regulate anti-competitive agreements and abuse of market position and may not include merger control, but it will still make a big difference to the jurisdiction.
Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano was convicted Thursday on federal racketeering and other charges for digging up dirt for his well-heeled clients to use in lawsuits, divorces and contract disputes against the rich and famous. Pellicano was convicted of all but one of the 77 counts against him. A number of dramas played out during the nine-week trial and cast a spotlight on the seamy side of Hollywood, detailing death threats, offers of murder and extramarital affairs.
Joining a number of other law firms that have shortened their names in recent years, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan is now going by the one-word name Sutherland for everyday usage, as part of a rebranding project that also includes a new logo and updated Web site. One change that didn't make the grade: a large capital "S" as an icon to anchor the firm's new logo. The firm's marketing director says committee members decided it was "too close to Superman."
The crews are in place. White papers are being drafted. And with the presidential election less than six months away, the three presidential candidates -- or their surrogates -- are already thinking about how the Justice Department might look under a new administration. And so far, most of what the candidates are pitching sounds pretty familiar. What follows is a snapshot of each candidate's plans for the Justice Department.
A part-time actress and elementary school teacher has won her bid to remain anonymous in a $5 million suit against a jewelry company that she claims violated her civil rights by using her image in an Internet ad with a "decidedly pornographic look." Acting Supreme Court Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich of Manhattan held that "the only purpose revelation of plaintiff's name could have would be to further discomfit plaintiff and perhaps deter her from litigating the matter."
Good thing for Alex Kozinski the federal claims court was run in the early 1980s by a certain judge named Alex Kozinski. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals chief judge reached back to his salad days this week for a precedent that would allow him to impose sanctions on an attorney who filed a frivolous discipline complaint against a district judge -- an apparent first transgression.
Most in-house counsel know the types of inquiries that should trigger evidence preservation or collection protocols. Once there is reason to believe there will be litigation or investigation, the duty to preserve kicks in immediately. But what's next? IE Discovery's Stacy Jackson and Jennifer Scrafford provide 10 questions that in-house counsel should consider and have ready answers for to help make collection efficient and cost-effective.
A suit filed Thursday seeks to halt the "illegal and outrageous" attempt by New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli to strip state public pension credits from lawyers who did work for school districts and other government entities. The plaintiffs -- attorneys who received pension credits for work they performed for local governments -- contend that the state's actions violate the New York Constitution and the Fifth and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
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