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Are civil trials disappearing? The answer, it turns out, is tough to pin down. The Am Law Daily takes a look at recently released federal court statistics for the 2007 fiscal year and uncovers some startling numbers in the mammoth report.
Another criminal backdating investigation is officially over now that federal prosecutors have told defense lawyers that their stock option probe of KLA-Tencor and its former CEO is concluding, and that no indictments will be filed. However, Kenneth Schroeder and former general counsel Lisa Berry are still battling the SEC.
The nomination of Alaska's first female governor to the GOP ticket raised eyebrows Friday as a Washington insider picked the ultimate legal outsider. Unlike others touted as top VP contenders until almost the moment the choice was announced, Sarah Palin did not attend law school. The former journalist, mayor and Miss Alaska Beauty Pageant finalist has made friends as well as enemies in the legal community on issues ranging from natural gas production, gun control and Alaskan government to family scandals.
Legal Technology editor Sean Dohery weighs in from the exhibit hall of the International Legal Technology Association's annual meeting. Doherty measures how the conference delivers on this year's theme, "Global Perspective, Peer Advantage," and highlights the news heard on the floor.
Finding that investors had failed to properly allege fraud, a federal judge has dismissed a securities fraud suit against Comcast that accused the company of making false statements about its projected growth throughout 2007, despite knowing that it faced rising capital expenditures and slowing subscriber growth. The judge took the rare step of dismissing the case "with prejudice," saying the plaintiffs didn't deserve another chance to amend the suit because it had already been amended once.
Judge Charles Canady, who as a congressman helped prosecute then-President Clinton at his impeachment trial, was appointed Thursday to Florida's high court. As GC to Jeb Bush, Canady defended the then-governor's voucher program, which let children in failing public schools switch to private schools at taxpayer expense. The Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional. Canady made his non-activist leanings clear in his application by promising to be mindful of "the limited role of the judicial branch."
A three-month trial that pitted Mattel against Bratz maker MGA Entertainment brought a $100 million jury award for the house of Barbie, but the legal battle is far from over. Still at question is whether MGA can continue to make and market its saucy, urban-influenced dolls -- and if it can, whether it will have to pay Mattel royalties for those rights. Mattel attorneys say they will seek an injunction to stop MGA from making more Bratz dolls. A blanket ban on the dolls could devastate MGA, said one expert.
The stay of a June court order that gave the New York Legislature and governor 90 days to raise the pay of the state's 1,300 judges will remain in effect, a state appeals court has ruled. However, the Appellate Division, 1st Department has established an expedited schedule for its consideration of . The lead attorney for the four judges who sought to compel a raise called the expedited schedule a "very positive development."
Talk about pressure. They haven't yet graduated from law school, and already four young Floridians will be arguing before Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. The University of Florida Levin College of Law was so thrilled to land Roberts, the school planned its annual event around his schedule. Roberts apparently enjoys moot court competitions; he presided over one at Columbia Law School in April.
Subprime mortgage lender Option One Mortgage Corp. and former parent company H&R Block will face a groundbreaking discrimination case over its lending practices to blacks and Latinos in Massachusetts state court instead of its preferred venue, federal court. The Massachusetts attorney general's office filed the lawsuit against Option and H&R Block for allegedly selling predatory loan products to black and Latino borrowers in Massachusetts and charging them higher fees than similarly situated white buyers.
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