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Contact the
NCADA
8000 Weston Parkway
Suite 325
Cary, NC 27513
Phone: 919-657-1576
Tollfree: 1-800-233-2858
Fax: 919-677-0761
 info@ncada.org |
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> Microsoft Lawyers Map Out the Bid for Yahoo
In the days after Microsoft's bid for Yahoo, the players in the merger drama had their legal teams beating the antitrust drums. Google, which hit the blogosphere to bash the deal as anti-competitive, has a team of antitrust veterans. Microsoft, too, has a connected advocate in Charles "Rick" Rule, who worked with Thomas Barnett, the head of Justice's Antitrust Division, while the two were at Covington & Burling. The antitrust lawyers may be key to hammering out a deal -- and their work is cut out for them.
> $4.1 Million Fees Award Upheld in Kia Class Action
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has upheld $4.1 million in plaintiffs attorney fees awarded by a Philadelphia judge in a Kia Motors faulty-brake class action. The Superior Court panel found there was no palpable abuse of discretion by Common Pleas Judge Mark I. Bernstein, and echoed his reasoning that the plaintiffs attorneys' award was reasonable considering the rates the defense counsel charged, which topped out at $595 per hour for partners -- rates higher than those requested by plaintiffs' counsel.
> 9th Circuit: No Sovereign Immunity for DA Contractors
Private companies that run diversion programs administered by dozens of California district attorneys are now open to legal attack. A 9th Circuit panel ruled Wednesday that state sovereign immunity does not extend to a private contractor hired by the Santa Clara County DA's office to go after individuals who passed bad checks. Public Citizen Litigation Group's Deepak Gupta, who argued the plaintiff's case, said the opinion is important in an age of increased privatization of governmental functions.
> Small Law Firm Thrives as Real Estate Market Swoons
Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle is benefiting from shifts in the real estate and legal industries even as the U.S. economic downturn takes a toll. The 24-lawyer firm specializes in real estate, related lending work and general corporate and business law. And it's content to stay its current size since larger firms refer "less lucrative" work to Meltzer Purtill. "It doesn't make economic sense" for larger firms to do general corporate work on employee matters and other day-to-day issues, says Brian Meltzer.
> Fulfilling Expectations at LegalTech
LegalTech conference attendees' expectations of finding products and services to reduce costs and control workflow for e-discovery were met head-on by vendors and consultants. But EDD wasn't the only concern at the show, where BI, document management, VoIP and other technologies shared the floor.
> Are In-House Counsel Ready to Embrace Social Networking Sites?
With the launch last week of DLA Piper's Facebook-style networking tool, it looks as if the social networking buzz is slowly working its way into the legal world. For the comparatively isolated in-house legal community, having easy online access to peers and external counsel alike could spell the beginning of an era of greater empowerment and integration, but how ready are they to log on and be counted? It is a question that corporate counsel may have to ask themselves sooner rather than later.
> SEC Settles With Calif. Lawyer Over Opinion Letter
A California lawyer incurred the Securities and Exchange Commission's ire for an opinion letter that led to a client's pump-and-dump stock scheme. According to the SEC, Kenneth Christison opined that client Michael Paloma did not have to register shares of four so-called microcap companies with regulators. Paloma used Christison's letter to persuade a transfer agent to issue millions of shares. The client then dumped the stock on the open market after artificially inflating their prices via spam e-mail.
> Latham Leads Strong Year in L.A., Could Surpass Skadden as Top-Grossing Firm
Could Latham & Watkins supplant Skadden as the nation's top-grossing law firm? The answer may be yes, if Skadden posts anything short of a solid financial year. This week Latham posted 2007 revenues of just over $2 billion -- up a whopping 23 percent from last year. It also claimed $2.2 million profits per partner, a similarly massive year-over-year increase. Latham was one of several L.A.-based firms to post strong financial numbers in 2007, though some saw slower growth in revenue per lawyer.
> Allen & Overy Claims Pole Position in 2007 Debt Capital Markets Tables
Allen & Overy has retained the top spot in the latest international debt capital markets rankings, with the Magic Circle firm seizing an 8 percent market share for 2007. The firm advised managers on 651 deals worth a combined $331.8 billion over the last year to top the table compiled by Thomson Financial. The result means A&O has claimed the top spot in the rankings for three consecutive years, although the London giant has seen its market share dip by 1.6 percent compared to 2006.
> Lawyer Gets 5 Years for Aiding Client's Escape Attempt
An attorney charged with smuggling a 14-inch saw blade to a jailed client was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday, although nearly one year will be subtracted because the lawyer has been jailed since his arrest last February. Georgia attorney William P. Keenan was representing Dareon Varner against charges of armed robbery, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony when the lawyer slipped Varner the blade.
> N.Y. High Court Ruling Ends 6-Month AIDS-Phobia Cutoff
People enduring a waiting period to find out if they have contracted the AIDS virus will no longer be limited to receiving damages for only six months of emotional distress, New York's highest court has held. The Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the time limit "appears to be unprecedented in our common law tort jurisprudence" and is unfair to victims of possible negligent exposure to AIDS who may suffer far longer than six months from "AIDS-phobia," the fear of having been exposed to the disease.
> Not Even U.S. Supreme Court Victory Can Vanquish $79.5 Million Punitive Award Against Philip Morris
On Jan. 31 of this year, the Supreme Court of Oregon, on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, reinstated the entire $79.5 million punitive damages award that the Court had overturned nearly one year earlier in Philip Morris USA v. Williams. Appellate litigator Howard J. Bashman examines this turn of events, and reflects on the implied lessons for litigation associates and others.
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