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With No Deal, Madoff to Plead Guilty to 11 Counts

New York Law Journal

Unless he changes his mind, Bernard L. Madoff will plead guilty Thursday to 11 counts in the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt told New York federal Judge Denny Chin Tuesday that Madoff, 70, faces as much as 150 years behind bars. Should the judge accept the plea, he will then confront the controversial issue of whether to order Madoff imprisoned immediately. Sentencing in the case, the judge said, is months away.

Justice Souter Describes 'Annual Intellectual Lobotomy' During Court Term

Legal Times

Robert Bork once said serving on the Supreme Court would be "an intellectual feast." By contrast, Justice David Souter said at an event Monday night that he undergoes a "sort of annual intellectual lobotomy" when the Supreme Court term begins in October, a condition that he said lasts until the end of the term. The offhand remark opens an interesting window into his thinking about his job -- and why conventional wisdom has it that he is considering leaving the Court soon to repair to his New Hampshire home.

SonicBlue Case Costs Pillsbury $10 Million

The Recorder

Pillsbury has reached a $10 million settlement in a malpractice dispute with bankrupt client SonicBlue, a court filing Tuesday shows. The firm will pay $7.6 million and forgo $2.4 million in outstanding fees to SonicBlue's estate, according to the filing, which awaits approval by a bankruptcy judge at a hearing slated for March 31. SonicBlue's estate had sued Pillsbury for malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty, demanding the firm return $4.2 million in fees and pay $11 million in damages.

Paul Hastings, Chadbourne & Parke, Venable Announce Attorney Layoffs

The National Law Journal

Paul Hastings, Chadbourne & Parke and Venable announced attorney and staff layoffs on Tuesday. Paul Hastings laid off 44 associates and 87 staff, Chadbourne & Parke cut 25 attorneys, and Venable announced it was laying off a total of 64 employees, including 16 attorneys. All three firms cited the ongoing economic downturn as the reason for the layoffs. Both Chadbourne & Parke and Venable said they will delay the start of this year's associate class to January 2010, and will pay bar exam expenses.

Hynix Ordered to Pay Rambus $397 Million in Patent Dispute

The Recorder

Rambus has spent about $300 million on lawyers in its eight-year patent fight against a group of big memory chip makers. Tuesday, the chip designer inched closer to getting some payoff. California federal Judge Ronald Whyte entered final judgment in one of Rambus' cases, ordering Korean chip maker Hynix Semiconductor to pay Rambus $397 million in damages and interest. Whyte also finalized a recent court-ordered agreement under which Hynix will pay royalties to Rambus until sometime in 2010.

Cravath Asks First-Years to Delay Start Dates -- but With a Twist

The American Lawyer

Cravath, Swaine & Moore has joined the growing list of firms asking their incoming first-years to wait a few months before starting work -- a group that includes recent associate-cutters Latham & Watkins and White & Case, among others. But the Cravath system will work a little differently, a spokeswoman says. First-years will have their choice of start dates: October, November or January. And the start dates will fill up on a first-come, first-served basis.

NFL Settles 'Voice of God' Case

The Legal Intelligencer

The NFL has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to the estate of John Facenda -- the legendary football announcer dubbed the "Voice of God" -- to settle a federal lawsuit that accused NFL Films of improperly using Facenda's voice in a promotional film for a John Madden video game. Remarks from both sides hint that Facenda's distinctive voice will be used in the future in documentaries and other non-advertising projects. "I am pleased that we were able to put the lawsuit behind us," said NFL Films COO Howard Katz.

Jury Duty to End With Disbarment for Calif. Lawyer

The Recorder

Changing his vote during jury duty so he could get back to his busy law practice has come at a high price for San Francisco solo Francis Fahy. A California State Bar Court review panel upheld disbarment for Fahy after finding he violated his oath as a juror and then compounded the problem by lying to the trial court judge when confronted. The panel's opinion indicated that Fahy might be the first California lawyer ever disbarred for misbehaving while serving as a juror.

How to Win a New Trial: Claim the Lower Court Judge Badgered You

The National Law Journal

A Mississippi woman embroiled in a custody battle has won a new trial from the state's Supreme Court, which found that she was badgered by a lower court judge who accused her of having "diarrhea of the mouth." The high court found that Glenn Alderson, a chancery court judge in Oxford, Miss., violated the state's Code of Judicial Conduct when he told the plaintiff that she "schemed" to keep her child away from her ex-husband, and when he called her expert witness, a psychologist, a "yo-yo-head."

Fla. Attorney General Seeks to Cap Fees for Outside Counsel

Daily Business Review

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has drafted companion bills that would limit his authority to contract with private attorneys for litigation and impose a contingency fee cap of $50 million. The latter point is causing particular concern among plaintiffs lawyers, especially given the fact that the cap would be "irrespective of the number of lawsuits filed or the number of private attorneys retained." The Florida AG's office says attorneys general around the nation are looking at the issue.

Wash. Supreme Court Justice May Benefit From Own Ruling

The Associated Press

A Washington high court justice who gained national headlines for shouting "Tyrant!" at then-U.S. Attorney Michael Mukasey during his keynote at a black-tie dinner could be awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars under a ruling he wrote. Justice Richard B. Sanders' lawyers have written that, due to Sanders' decision in a case over public record withholding penalties, the state owes as much as $614,670 on top of the $18,112 he was previously awarded in his own lawsuit, in which he sued for documents about himself.

New DOJ Team in Stevens Case Makes Courtroom Debut

Legal Times

The Justice Department replacement team in the Ted Stevens post-trial litigation appears to be striking a new, conciliatory tone after the judge in the case excoriated a group of DOJ prosecutors for failing to turn over documents to Stevens' defense team. A new lawyer in the case, Paul O'Brien, chief of the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, repeatedly used the word "voluntarily" at a status hearing on Tuesday in the case, saying the government planned to voluntarily turn over documents to Stevens' lawyers.

2nd Circuit Clarifies Consecutive Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

New York Law Journal

A defendant who is subject to a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence for drug trafficking is exempt from a five-year minimum for a firearms offense if the crimes occurred together, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The circuit, rejecting the arguments of prosecutors, said the five-year minimum for guns is inapplicable where the drug trafficking offense "is part of the same transaction or set of operative facts as the firearms offense."

Litigation Activity Accelerating in China

The American Lawyer

Litigation activity in China is growing at a rapid pace, according to a report issued Tuesday by the nation's top judge. Chinese courts handled 10.7 million cases of various types in 2008, up 11 percent from the year before. Cases that saw an increase ranged from fraud, which grew 13 percent, to labor disputes, which jumped a whopping 94 percent.

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International Posts: The Cambodia Tribunal's Richard Rogers in Phnom Penh

Special to Law.com

On March 31, after 30 years of impunity, senior members of the bloody Khmer Rouge regime will face their first trial before a United Nations-backed tribunal in Cambodia. Richard Rogers, the British-born lawyer coordinating the defense team for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, tells Law.com how he made the move from London barrister to Coudert Brothers patent litigator to international war crimes specialist.

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State Laws Require Secure Personal Data

The National Law Journal

Connecticut, Massachusetts and Nevada enacted laws requiring businesses to institute compliance to secure personal data from identity theft. Nick Akerman and Melissa J. Krasnow, partners at Dorsey & Whitney, discuss the new laws and their significance for businesses and law firms.

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In-House Lawyers Feel Economic Pinch

Fulton County Daily Report

The economic downturn is pushing corporate legal departments to a new level of frugality, particularly when it comes to the cost of outside counsel, according to a group of in-house lawyers who spoke at the Leadership Institute for Women of Color Attorneys in Law & Business. "When we get letters from law firms saying how much they are going to increase their fees in 2009, everybody breaks out in laughter, because that is not happening," said Sandra Mulrain, division counsel for Georgia-Pacific.

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Get Control Over Your Bill Collection -- Now

Legal Times

Even in the best of times, it's not a good idea to wait until the fourth quarter to begin addressing bill collection issues. Consultant Jake Krocheski notes that in these more challenging times, it is vital to be proactive, to have a good management system in place at the beginning of the year, and to follow through vigilantly all year long. Krocheski suggests that law firms take several steps, both internally and with clients, to get a handle on the bill collection process before things get out of control.

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