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The future of the Voting Rights Act seemed in peril on Wednesday, as conservative members of the Supreme Court expressed strong doubt about its constitutionality during arguments in a case challenging the law's preclearance provisions, which require that certain jurisdictions submit proposed changes in voting procedures to the Justice Department to prevent dilution of minority voting power. Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote will be crucial, voiced concern about the differential treatment of states under the law.
An attorney who was fired after working six years as a staff lawyer at a New York court's disciplinary committee may proceed with a $10 million damage lawsuit that she was discharged in retaliation for claiming her superiors were "whitewashing" cases, a federal judge ruled Monday. However, the judge threw out the attorney's claim that she had been fired because she is black, in ruling on a summary judgment motion brought by the Office of Court Administration.
A former associate of now-defunct Thacher Proffitt & Wood who admitted to netting up to $800,000 from an insider trading scam has been disbarred. A New York appellate panel refused Amir Rosenthal's request to resign from the New York Bar, noting that conviction of a federal felony triggers automatic disbarment when an offense is identical to or essentially similar to a felony under New York Penal Law.
Nixon Peabody has cut first-year associate salaries in its major offices from $160,000 to $145,000 and also announced plans to cut associate salaries across the board, a spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday. According to a statement released by the firm's managing partner, in addition to cuts in major offices, first-year associates in offices outside "major financial centers" will see a salary reduction. And the base pay of current associates will be adjusted, "based on individual performance and contribution to our firm."
Nearly four months after laying off 10 lawyers, Chicago's Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon has taken the job-cutting ax to another 10 associates, along with seven secretarial staff. Officials at the 200-attorney firm cited the economic downturn as the reason for the layoffs. The last round of cuts at Wildman Harrold happened in January, when five income partners and five associates were let go.
As General Motors moves closer to a possible bankruptcy filing, it's turning to a Weil Gotshal alum who predicted he was done representing the auto giant when he left the firm in 2007. When Martin Bienenstock left Weil to launch a restructuring practice at Dewey & LeBoeuf, he brought all his clients over except one: GM. With a June 1 deadline to restructure and a bankruptcy filing "probable," GM may follow streamlining plans Bienenstock has been drawing up alongside restructuring financial adviser Jay Alix.
In the challenging economic environment in which most companies are currently operating, reducing outside counsel expenses is getting increased attention. Although it is difficult to offer either a "one-size fits all" approach or a guaranteed array of silver bullets, former Safeway GC Michael C. Ross offers some qualitative approaches. Now is the time for in-house lawyers to devote more attention to creating or enhancing relationships with outside counsel that will deliver genuine cost control and reduction.
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