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A New Jersey lawyer who had been convicted, jailed and disbarred in 2002 for thieving from his firm apparently wasn't dissuaded from his lawless ways, a new criminal episode suggests. Gregory Luhn has an Aug. 5 court date in Bergen County, N.J., at which he is expected to enter a plea bargain on charges that he took more than $200,000 from a business acquaintance who sought his help with filling out tax returns. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office says Luhn held himself out as a lawyer and a tax expert.
Beverly Hills attorney David Karton just wants what he's owed. But a dispute over fees with a former client, which earned an exasperated published opinion from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal on Thursday, doesn't seem any closer to a happy ending. "Neither party should be rewarded for allowing this course of events to occur," wrote Justice H. Walter Croskey.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan blasted the District of Columbia Attorney General's Office at a hearing earlier this week, calling the city's mishandling of a high-profile suit alleging false arrest the "civil counterpart" of the Justice Department's botched prosecution of Ted Stevens. The judge used the phrase "sad commentary" seven times and directed D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles to submit an affidavit addressing a "pattern of shortcomings" and "discovery abuses" in the seven-year litigation.
Two legal research services are in a head-to-head competition to win the loyalty of America's lawyers: Casemaker and Fastcase. So how do the two compare? To find out, attorney Robert J. Ambrogi tested both and sat through online presentations to see which service has the clear edge.
For about 25 years, Capital Properties Associates had turned to Bingham McCutchen for legal advice on everything from real estate deals to litigation. But that relationship is no more, following a months-long fee dispute that has now found its way into litigation. Bingham in early July filed an arbitration claim against Capital Properties seeking $760,000 in unpaid fees. Such arguments over fees come at a time when clients have been moving aggressively to cut legal costs during the recession.
Near the end of three hours of testimony ranging from matter-of-fact to jocular to nostalgic about his youthful enjoyment of music, defendant Joel Tenenbaum admitted liability for downloading and distributing the 30 copyrighted songs at issue in a federal copyright infringement trial in Boston. The admission prompted the lawyers representing the music industry to ask U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner to issue a directed verdict, which would leave only the damages issue to be settled by a jury.
After 4 1/2 years, Delphi Corp. can see the exit sign. U.S. bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain told a packed Manhattan courtroom Thursday that he had approved Delphi's plan to hand over control of the company to its debtor-in-possession lenders. The lenders, in turn, have agreed to forgive billions of dollars of debt. The deal is expected to close by late August, pending regulatory approvals, according to Delphi's lead restructuring lawyer, Skadden's John Butler.
Unhappiness is the sentiment that stands out in the 6,101 replies to The American Lawyer's annual survey of midlevel associates. The magazine asked approximately 80 questions, including queries about billable hours and the path to partnership, but the bottom line is that associates are feeling anxious and frustrated in the wake of mass layoffs and cuts in survivors' salaries, bonuses and basic perks. Associate morale plummeted to the lowest level recorded in the survey's history.
"Sexting" -- teenagers sending nude pictures of themselves or other youths to cell phones or posting the photos on social networking sites -- has sent some prosecutors on the "kiddie porn" warpath. Columbia law professor Vivan Berger questions the wisdom of criminalizing immaturity.
In his last article, EDD Special Master Craig Ball responded to new judicial standards for keyword searches with the first four of 10 steps to fashion more effective, efficient and defensible queries. Here are the next six steps to wring more quality and trim the fat from text retrieval.
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