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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge John L. Segal granted an injunction requested by Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. to stop former in-house attorney Dimitrios Biller from publicizing privileged information about Toyota. Segal granted the injunction with respect to a consulting firm that Biller now operates and referred the matter to the State Bar of California for possible disciplinary action, but made clear that his order won't affect federal litigation in which Biller accuses the automaker of discovery abuses.
Tax lawyers Jonathon Moore and Charles Bruce already had their hands full defending themselves from allegations that they botched a client's matter, resulting in millions of dollars in Internal Revenue Service back taxes and penalties. Now the lawyers' insurance company has come forward saying it no longer wants to cover the malpractice case.
Though the rejected Securities and Exchange Commission settlement with Bank of America for alleged disclosure deficiencies in BofA's merger with Merrill Lynch has been getting all the attention, the pending securities class action against the company could end up being more important -- at least in terms of BofA's liability. On Monday, the lead plaintiffs in the case -- an ad hoc group of public pension funds from Texas, Ohio, the Netherlands and Sweden -- filed their consolidated class action complaint against BofA.
A Manhattan judge says he is "willing to take a fresh look" at a request that has been greeted skeptically by many courts. Although nearly every other state judge to have considered the issue has refused to allow such evidence, a hearing Tuesday will focus on whether to allow the defendant in a high-profile murder case to submit expert testimony at trial about what makes people confess to crimes they did not commit.
High-ranking U.S. government officials usually are protected from claims that they violated a person's civil rights. They?re accustomed to having their actions in office judged by history, not the courts. In lawsuits stemming from law enforcement and intelligence efforts after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, however, three federal courts have left open the possibility that former Attorney General John Ashcroft and a hard-line lieutenant may be held personally liable.
If there is a firm model built for the dawning post-recession era, it's probably a litigation boutique with low overhead and a flexible billing structure. That model has attracted two new converts: Steven Molo of Shearman & Sterling and Jeff Lamken of Baker Botts have announced that they're leaving their firms to start up MoloLamken, which will have offices in New York and Washington, D.C.
Exploring the parameters of a statute that protects the right of inmates to freely exercise their religion, a federal appeals court has ruled that a prisoner who founded a religion that requires martial arts sparring but forbids eating meat or appearing nude in front of non-members was properly barred from leading a prison congregation. But a unanimous 2nd Circuit panel concluded that denying the inmate his religious dietary regime might not be the "least restrictive means" to address security concerns.
There are online ratings for books and restaurants. Why not have similar systems for mediators and arbitrators? The International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution's arbitrator rating system is slated to launch in January; if it succeeds, it could put the concept on the map.
Dorothy Brown, the circuit court clerk for Cook County, Ill., has found a new way to raise revenue for her cash-strapped operations: selling advertising to law firms on her office's Web site. Lawyers who have bought the ads say they see it as a way to reach potential clients. But a Chicago lawyer who is suing Brown's office over the issue on behalf of a Cook County litigant contends that Brown is essentially giving a public endorsement of the lawyers' services by allowing their ads on the Web site.
Citigroup has filed a suit in Manhattan federal district court against Morgan Stanley, claiming that Morgan Stanley reneged on a deal to pay Citi $245 million in the event that an issuer of collateralized debt obligations failed to make payments on a line of credit Citi provided. According to the complaint, the liquidation of the CDO didn't cover the $245 million Citi is owed, and Morgan Stanley has refused to make up the difference.
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