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While welcomed by the Haitian-American community, the temporary protected status granted by the Obama administration to Haitians living in the United States is turning out to have its pitfalls, say attorneys and paralegals. Among the problems: The status is good for only 18 months. After that, they say, what are the thousands of Haitians to do? Experts say there is no way the devastated country will be rebuilt by then.
Within the big pyramid that is the law firm are many little pyramids, each topped by a rainmaker, notes the Rodent. And it's vital that an associate cultivate one of these "pharaohs" who will advocate for him or her. An orphan associate is an eternal associate, says the Rodent.
A New York jury this week convicted the business partner of a Long Island lawyer who was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Korean restaurant in October 2008 for arranging the hit. Ronald Thornton was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of James DiMartino, who worked for Nationwide Court Services. Thornton had constructed an elaborate plot to kill DiMartino, including conspiring with a stripper to recruit two men to carry out the killing for $8,000.
Chefs and restaurant owners have been opening new eateries in Oakland, Calif., right through the recession, and lawyers have been eager for a seat at the table. Local firms like Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean are stepping up their marketing efforts and plumbing their personal networks to raise their profiles. Chef Daniel Patterson, who is married to Wendel Rosen associate Alexandra Foote, says word of mouth is invaluable in the tight-knit culinary community, noting, "Restaurateurs are not very lawyer-savvy."
A law firm that engaged a retiring judge in employment talks while he presided over one of its cases is not liable for damages to the other party, a New Jersey appeals court ruled Wednesday. The appeals court affirmed the dismissal of legal malpractice and deprivation of due process counts against Herten Burstein and attorney Thomas Herten. The court found no evidence the job offer caused the judge to rule in the firm's favor but ordered a new trial, concluding the judge's conduct had the appearance of impropriety.
The D.C. Circuit on Thursday declined to rehear a major case on the rights of street demonstrators, sparking a worried dissent from one judge that the decision could have a chilling effect on political expression. The circuit let stand a ruling from November, in which a three-judge panel found that police had the right to arrest an entire group of marchers once some members of the crowd began to riot, even if officers never ordered the crowd to disperse.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Thursday appointed former Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye to take over his office's investigations of Gov. David Paterson for possibly misusing police personnel to intervene in an aide's domestic violence case and for improperly accepting Yankees tickets. Having concluded that an immediate resolution did not appear imminent, Cuomo said it was best to bring in someone like Kaye so there is no taint of conflict of interest while the AG is widely thought to be preparing a run for governor.
Montgomery Blair Sibley, best known for his representation of the late
"D.C. Madam," had his law license suspended for three years by the D.C.
Court of Appeals on Thursday. The court's decision is a reciprocal
disciplinary sanction that stems from a 2008 decision by Florida's
Supreme Court to pull Sibley's license in that state for three years
because he failed to pay more than $100,000 in child support and because
he repeatedly filed "vexatious and meritless" lawsuits against judges
who have been assigned his cases.
The independent examiner's report investigating the collapse of Lehman Brothers is out, and the snippets making early headlines suggest that the examiner, Jenner & Block Chairman Anton Valukas, spreads the blame around in a thorough 2,200-page report. The report, which cost $38 million to produce, points a finger at JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Lehman higher-ups, among other parties.
A settlement has been reached by New York City and its contractors with plaintiffs in the more than 9,000 cases involving respiratory and other illnesses suffered by police, firefighters and workers who responded to the World Trade Center terror attacks and cleaned up the site. A federal judge is set to receive the parties today to discuss the settlement, which comes just two months before trial on 12 "bellwether" cases brought by plaintiffs who claim that the city and its contractors failed to warn and protect workers.
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