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Many lawyers think that keywords viable for a Google search should also suffice for the production of electronically stored information. In a recent ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge Peck has sounded the alarm that such haphazard searches will no longer pass muster in the 2nd Circuit.
Pattie Walsh, the former head of employment for the Greater China region at Australia's Minter Ellison, will join DLA Piper in August to head the firm's Asia employment practice. Joining Walsh from Minter Ellison is associate Alison Smith. Based in DLA's Hong Kong office, Walsh will focus on staffing issues associated with mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations and outsourcing in Asia.
The Snark warns readers that now is not the time to take a week-long vacation from your Big Law job to celebrate your continued employment. You need to hang in there until the storm passes -- and until you're sure you're not going to get canned. Taking vacations is always frowned upon in Big Law, especially exotic or exciting ones that don't involve family obligations. Instead, to keep your sanity in these anxious times, The Snark recommends playing hooky for a day, preferably in the middle of the week.
Misdemeanor courts are a waste of time and money, according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, which on Tuesday issued a first-of-its-kind report on the status of the courts. The report, which involved research at courts in seven states, concludes that state and local governments are wasting millions of tax dollars to prosecute petty offenses, as well as violating the constitutional rights of citizens who are often coerced into cutting deals without legal representation.
What has the world come to when Cravath, Swaine & Moore has a terrible year? As the latest Am Law 100 report shows, the firm that has served for decades as the touchstone for prestige in the profession last year suffered a 13 percent drop in revenue and a 24 percent plunge in profits per partner. The firm has also asked incoming first-year associates to delay their start dates. All this leaves some observers wondering: As Cravath goes, so go New York's top firms?
Mark Levy, Washington, D.C.-based counsel and chair of Kilpatrick Stockton's Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy practice, died in an apparent suicide in the firm's D.C. office Thursday morning. "This is a tough time," said lawyer Dennis Gingold, who called Levy one of the district's finest appellate lawyers.
For at least the second time this month, a defendant has won a patent infringement trial in federal district court in East Texas. A couple weeks ago, we reported on a directed verdict for ADT Security Services, which came even before ADT put on its defense. Now a jury in Marshall, Texas, has cleared Sun Microsystems of a wide range of claims -- including patent infringement, trade secret theft and breach of contract -- made by Versata Software, which was seeking more than $100 million in damages.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday waded into the contentious debate that takes place in public schools every day between parents seeking special education services for their children and school administrators who are trying to contain costs. At issue is whether parents must first try out the special ed program offered by the public school before they can move their child to a private school program and seek reimbursement for the tuition. As is often the case, Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared to hold the key vote.
Sen. Arlen Specter's move to the Democratic Party brings his new colleagues a tad closer to controlling 60 seats in the Senate, but it's not clear that his switch will have much effect on the fate of nominees for the federal bench and the DOJ. The Pennsylvanian has vowed not to change his independent approach -- and on Tuesday, true to his word, he said for the first time that he is "opposed" to the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to be assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel.
A newlywed convicted of drowning his wife in the bathtub will try to get a new trial by alleging that jurors took the unusual step of conducting experiments to probe his testimony, legal analysts said. The defense's request for a new trial is based partly on allegations that some jurors performed at-home experiments on how long it takes a body to air-dry after a shower or bath. Paramedics had testified that the woman's hair was wet, but that her surroundings and her husband appeared dry.
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