Opening the Rehnquist Files
Papers released Monday by the Hoover Institution focus on aspects of William Rehnquist's early years on the U.S. Supreme Court, including a domestic surveillance case; an inkling of Rehnquist's perception of Justice William Brennan; and Rehnquist's role as the Court's social animal, who tried to liven things up with improvements in certain procedures. More »
2nd Circuit Says Reports Fail to Warn of Insurance Kickback Scheme
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued its latest statement on when news reports of corporate fraud trigger an investor's duty to inquire further before buying stock. The circuit decided that general news reports about kickbacks between insurance companies and brokers were not enough to constitute "storm warnings" for purchasers of stock in The Hartford Financial Services Group. More »
Calif. AG Urges State's High Court to Decide Prop 8's Fate
California Attorney General Jerry Brown urged the state Supreme Court on Monday to offer an immediate and thorough review of three cases challenging Proposition 8 -- a move that cheered the measure's opponents and upset its proponents. Although Brown is obliged to defend Prop 8, opponents of the Nov. 4 initiative that eliminated same-sex marriage called the AG's push for review a significant step and noted that Brown could have asked that the cases be dismissed out of hand. More »
En Banc 3rd Circuit to Hear Key Criminal Appeals
In a pair of en banc arguments on Wednesday, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will tackle questions that could have a broad impact on how appellate courts review criminal sentences and on the scope of the federal courts' powers in granting relief in habeas corpus petitions. Criminal defense lawyers will be watching both cases, not only for their direct impacts, but for how the 3rd Circuit's newer judges vote. More »
Insurers Jump on the Bailout Bandwagon
The federal bailout plan reminds the Am Law Daily of the classic kid's board game Hungry Hungry Hippos, with financial services firms playing the role of the colorful hippos lunging to gobble up their share of government cash. Hartford and three other insurance companies with no history of banking have joined the parade, scrambling to buy small savings-and-loans, which allows the insurers to qualify as banks and become eligible for the bailout billions. Not everyone thinks the maneuver is kosher. More »
Gregory Craig Named Next White House Counsel
President-elect Barack Obama has picked Williams & Connolly partner Gregory Craig as White House counsel, filling the first major legal position in his administration with a top Washington lawyer who represented President Bill Clinton during his impeachment. Craig was a close adviser to Obama throughout the campaign and among the first lawyers to back his presidential bid. The selection has only fueled speculation about who Obama will tap as attorney general. More »
3 Arrested in Shooting Death of Lawyer
A mortgage lawyer was slain during a botched ambush robbery set up by the man's business partner, who allegedly paid a stripper and her boyfriend to commit the holdup, police said Monday. James DiMartino was shot and killed Oct. 21, after he arrived for what he believed would be a business meeting in a restaurant parking lot in eastern Long Island. The three suspects have pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. More »
SEC Charges NBA Owner With Insider Trading
The owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with insider trading Monday. The SEC alleges that in June of 2004 Cuban told his broker to sell all 600,000 of his shares of stock in Mamma.com, an Internet search engine company, after he allegedly knew the stock price would become diluted before the company announced it was issuing more shares. The agency estimates Cuban avoided more than $750,000 in losses. More »
Calif. Appeals Court Revives Transgender Inmate's Claim Against Prison System
Breaking new ground in California, a state appeals court has ruled that prison guards owe inmates a special duty of care, potentially exposing prison officials to negligence suits. The subject of Friday's unanimous decision has been addressed by other states and federal courts, but never before in California. The ruling revives a suit by a transgender woman who said she was raped repeatedly while being held in Folsom State Prison in 2006. More »
Defense Community Rallies Behind Attorney Indicted in Money Laundering Case
As indicted attorney Ben Kuehne's legal costs continue to rise, the Miami legal community is hosting a fundraiser and has created a legal defense fund to help out their colleague. Kuehne was indicted in 2007 for alleged money laundering in connection with his vetting of legal fees for attorney Roy Black, who was representing Colombian drug kingpin Fabio Ochoa. The indictment stunned the Miami legal community, where Kuehne is well known and admired. More »
Sutherland's Chandler Joins Wife at King & Spalding
Last week John A. Chandler retired from Sutherland to -- as he put it -- consider the next phase of his life. Meanwhile, his wife, Elizabeth Tanis, left Sutherland for King & Spalding in hopes of bigger opportunities for her accountancy liability practice. On Monday, after a 36-year career at Sutherland, Chandler joined King & Spalding as a partner at the firm. Chandler said both he and Tanis had been in talks with King & Spalding, but his move was delayed by issues of client conflicts. More »
New York U.S. Attorney to Join Kirkland & Ellis
Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia informed the Justice Department on Monday that he will step down effective Dec. 1. Garcia, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005, will join Kirkland & Ellis. Deputy U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin will head the office until President-elect Barack Obama names a successor. More »
Clinton Administration Veterans Figure Heavily Among Obama Legal Picks
Dozens of former Clinton administration officials are experiencing renewed popularity as President-elect Barack Obama assembles the legal arm of his administration. Four of the five members announced Friday as part of Obama's Justice Department transition team are Clinton administration veterans. And all of the top candidates mentioned regularly by D.C. insiders as potential AGs have Clinton administration ties. At this point in the transition, however, names for key DOJ legal slots have yet to emerge. More »
Supreme Court Takes Up Judicial Ethics Case
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up a West Virginia case that could trigger the Court's first major review of the impact of increasingly costly judicial elections on the appearance and reality of justice at the state level. After several weeks of unexplained delay in acting on the case, the Court announced it was granting review in a case that asks when a campaign donation by a party in a case is large enough that the judge receiving the donation must recuse to avoid violating due process rights. More »
Alston Offers Early Retirement to Staff
Alston & Bird is making an early retirement offer to senior staff. Alston's memo detailing the voluntary offer was posted on the Above the Law blog last week, accompanied by outraged comments that the firm was giving its older employees the ax. Alston's managing partner, Richard R. Hays, told the More »
Case Against Dead Lawyer Rejected; Trial Judge's 'Volume of Errors' Cited
A New York appeals panel has thrown out a breach of contract claim against a deceased attorney, citing the well-established principle that the dead cannot be sued. Initially allowing the case against the late lawyer to proceed was the first of many mistakes by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Barbara R. Kapnick, according to the unanimous reversal. "This matter arrives before this Court as a result of a volume of errors rarely seen in this Department," Justice James M. Catterson wrote for the panel. More »
Magazine Opposes High Court Petition
The National Geographic Society is challenging a photographer's U.S. Supreme Court petition for review, which, if granted, could revisit the high court's 2001 landmark copyright ruling that said publishers can't sell previously published freelance contributions for use in computer or online databases without renegotiating publication rights with the authors. Writing for the National Geographic, Kenneth W. Starr said the 11th Circuit's en banc ruling resolved the conflict between the 11th and 2nd Circuits. More »
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tapped to Oversee $700 Billion Economic Bailout
President George W. Bush nominated Southern District of New York Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Barofsky on Friday to be the special inspector general overseeing the $700 billion federal economic rescue plan. Barofsky has handled white-collar prosecutions as a member of the securities and commodities fraud unit, including winning the convictions of Tone Grant, the ex-president of Refco, and Phillip Bennett, its former CEO. More »
Robinson & Cole Nabs N.Y. and Conn. Attorneys From Thelen
Robinson & Cole has agreed to absorb more than 30 Thelen lawyers from New York and Connecticut offices, adding heft to the firm's construction, real estate, employment and finance practice groups, among others. The addition is in line with "many of our key objectives," which include strengthening the firm's New York office and adding to the firm's intellectual property and technology law capacity, says Robinson & Cole managing partner Eric Daniels. More »
Solo Calls State Bar's Grievance Against Him 'Fascism'
A Texas criminal defense attorney challenging his conviction for contempt of court for making an obscene gesture during a March appearance before a judge faces a new hurdle: The State Bar of Texas has filed a grievance against him. The Bar-initiated grievance alleges that solo Adam Reposa's actions while representing his client in that court appearance, including arguing with his client over whether to take a plea deal, violated state professional conduct rules. Reposa calls the grievance "fascism." More »
First of Many Lawsuits Filed Over Minn. Bridge Collapse
The first of what is expected to be many lawsuits stemming from the collapse of a Minnesota freeway bridge into the Mississippi River was filed last week. The suits were brought by the Minneapolis firm of Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben on behalf of three people who were injured and the family of one person who was killed when the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed on Aug. 1, 2007. The collapse killed 13 people and injured 150. More »
Former Supreme Court Justice O'Connor to Join 3rd Circuit Panel
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is scheduled to participate in deciding 16 cases and hearing four oral arguments this week as a visiting judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The first lawyer to argue before O'Connor -- Gibson Dunn & Crutcher's Mark Perry -- will be a familiar face because he clerked for O'Connor during the 1993-1994 high court term. Joining Perry on a brief will be Eugene Scalia, son of O'Connor's former Court colleague. More »