Browse >
Home / Archive: December 2008
With a focus on productivity, Joyce Hamel of Rusin undertook a re-evaluation of the firm's stand-alone digital dictation technology. Hamel opted for a software solution, BigHand, with a reputation as a legal workflow system designed for attorney and secretary relationships.
More than 23,000 pet owners in the U.S. have asked for money from a $24 million settlement for owners of dogs and cats who were sickened or died after eating pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical. Owners with claims were set to start getting checks next year, but payments could be held up while a judge sorts out last-minute appeals filed by four people. The snag pits lawyers against each other in a complex, emotional case. "If one of their objections succeeds, the class comes unraveled," said one lawyer.
A D.C. lobbyist sued for $27 million Tuesday over an article that she says gave the false impression she had an affair with Sen. John McCain. The suit claims that, as a result of the article, Vicki Iseman suffered an "avalanche of scorn, derision, and ridicule" that damaged her health. A law professor said the key to Iseman's case will be whether the court defines her as a public or private figure. Public figures have to show malice by a news outlet and meet a higher standard of proof.
Court records reveal some key details of Sidley Austin's work for the Tribune Co. in connection with the media conglomerate's bankruptcy filing. For its efforts, the law firm has so far collected $4.5 million in advance retainers. As of Jan. 1, the law firm's top partners will be charging as much as $1,100 per hour.
CoStar Realty Information has filed a suit against Dumann Realty that alleges its managers illegally accessed CoStar's Web site by borrowing another customer's user information, rather than paying a subscription that costs hundreds of dollars a month. CoStar is accusing Dumann, as well as the alleged co-conspirators who lent it the account, of copyright infringement and is asking that Dumann pay $150,000 a pop for every photo or database it accessed.
The financial whirlpool created by Bernard Madoff continued to churn Tuesday as the price tag of liquidating his old firm rose, and duped investors including actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick struggled to accurately estimate how much they lost. Meanwhile, one part of the cost of cleaning up after Madoff's collapsed firm came into clearer focus, as a federal bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved the transfer of $28.1 million to cover expenses tied to the liquidation of Madoff's investment firm.
While there's been much focus on the rich victims of an alleged $50 billion scam wrought by Wall Street fund manager Bernard Madoff, federal securities investigators have quietly moved on another suspected Ponzi scheme, much smaller in scope but similarly devastating. Attorneys for investors claim that the network branched out across several states, targeting people with little investment experience and few assets. Attorney Jared Levy estimates the losses could exceed $100 million.
The latest data on part-time attorneys isn't likely to shock anyone in the legal world: Working part-time is an option few attorneys take, and the vast majority of those who do are women. According to figures compiled by the National Association for Law Placement, 5.6 percent of U.S. attorneys work part-time, and about 74 percent of them are women. That represents only a slight increase from the previous year, when 5.4 percent of attorneys worked part-time and 75 percent were women.
Next Page »
