Top Legal News
Inside the High Court: Statutory Text and Scalia's Teeth
At the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Justice Antonin Scalia, as he has during several other arguments this term, expressed his frustration that some key statutory language wasn't easily located in materials the parties had submitted to the Court. But this time, the justice's impatience turned into contrition, and he ended up offering a rather colorful apology to one of the arguing attorneys. More »
11th Circuit Dissent Could Push Attorney Fees Case to U.S. Supreme Court
If Georgia's AG wants to keep fighting an order requiring the state to pay more than $10.5 million to attorneys who challenged Georgia's foster care system, he can thank 11th Circuit Judge Edward Carnes for helping to get the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case. Carnes, who has compared the lawyers seeking the fees to a greedy John D. Rockefeller, was one of the judges who dissented from the 11th Circuit decision not to revisit its precedent on when civil rights lawyers should get bonuses for a job well done. More »
Suit Proceeds Against Christie's Auction House Over Fake Basquiat
A buyer who purchased a counterfeit Jean-Michel Basquiat painting from an art gallery that had acquired it a year earlier from Christie's can sue the auction house for fraud and may be entitled to punitive damages, a New York court has ruled. Guido Orsi, who paid the Tony Shafrazi Gallery $185,000 for the work 17 years ago, alleges that Christie's passed off the painting as genuine at a 1990 auction, even though Basquiat's estate had expressed doubts to the auction house about its authenticity. More »
Former O'Melveny Partner to Become Biden's Chief of Staff
Ronald Klain, a former O'Melveny & Myers partner and former chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore, will become Vice President-elect Joe Biden's new chief of staff. Klain, who began his legal career as a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron "Whizzer" White in 1987, is a seasoned political veteran with nearly 20 years of experience in Washington, D.C. He first worked with Biden while chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. More »
Former HMO Executives Get Prison Terms in Fraud Case
Two former executives for a failed health care plan were sentenced to prison Wednesday for taking part in a scheme to hide the company's financial woes. Barry Scheur, the first blind graduate of Yale Law School, was sentenced to 20 months; Robert McMillan, former CFO for the Oath for Louisiana HMO, was sentenced to 13 months. The judge, who said he received some 150 letters attesting to Scheur's "exemplary life of selflessness," departed from federal sentencing guidelines to hand down more lenient sentences. More »
Bingham Brings On Three Clifford Chance Partners in Washington
Bingham McCutchen has added three new partners to its antitrust and trade regulation practice from the D.C. office of Clifford Chance, including that firm's D.C. managing partner, Leiv Blad. Bingham's strategic growth has brought a high number of laterals to the firm's D.C. office over the last few months. Four came on board in August and nine, all from Thelen, joined in September. More »
N.Y. Panel Dismisses Judicial Pay Suit
An upstate New York appeals panel on Thursday dismissed a suit filed by judges seeking to force the state to grant them their first pay raise since 1999. While its decision in More »
Legal Grind Ends for Woman Accused of Dirty Dance
A small North Carolina mountain town has agreed to pay Rebecca Willis $275,000 for banning her from a community hangout eight years ago after residents complained about her dirty dancing. According to court documents, Willis, then 56, was accused of gyrating and simulating sexual intercourse with her partner while wearing a skirt so short it exposed her underwear. Willis described her dance style as "exuberant and flamboyant" but not obscene. More »
Nigeria: It is Time to Check These Dastard Acts-Right Group
The attack by some Naval ratings on Miss Uzoma Okeke has been regarded as an assault that needed to be redress. More »
Nigeria: Representative Escapes Assassins' Attack
A member of the Federal House of Representatives, Mallam Buba Jilbril, yesterday, narrowly escaped death when he was attacked by suspected hoodlums. More »