Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal Research Blogs -> New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library

Legal Research

: New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library

Selections from National Law Journal June 15, 2009

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: NLJ.com,  June 15, 2009.

Subscription required for online access:

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/subscribe.jsp

Plaintiff suits against automakers stall out

"As Chrysler and GM dispose of billions of dollars in assets and debts, plaintiffs in potentially thousands of death and injury claims will either be out of luck or will face near insurmountable obstacles to success. When both auto companies emerge from bankruptcy, they are expected to do so "free and clear" of all pending and future claims and interests in all property sold prebankruptcy."

 

DOJ may rein in use of 'honest services' statute

"A key weapon in the arsenal of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and his prosecutors in Chicago has been a section of the federal anti-fraud statute that makes it a crime to deprive citizens or shareholders of "honest services." But the Supreme Court's decision to review the conviction of newspaper magnate Conrad Black may put the brakes on the practice."

 

Less buck for their bang

"The Supreme Court law clerk hiring season has begun. It is a pricey mating dance in which hiring bonuses for the much-prized clerks have escalated rapidly, reaching $250,000 last year ? only five years after bonuses first broke the $100,000 barrier. But that was before the economy tanked, bringing down law firms along with everyone else."

 

Health care bill brings on lobbying rush

"With health care reform, Congress is prepping to reshape roughly one-sixth of the economy. Big pharmaceutical and insurance companies have poured millions of dollars into lobbying over the broad strokes of the legislation. But even the details will send shocks through smaller players across the country, and they're spending money on K Street, too. "

 

Sanctions sustained against Crowell & Moring partner

"A federal appeals court has upheld a $372,000 sanction against a Crowell & Moring partner and affirmed his five-year suspension from practice in bankruptcy court in a big swath of Florida".

 

Anatomy of an arbitration disaster

"A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on May 28 affirmed an arbitration award of more than $4.1 billion to Paul Thomas Chester, a former executive at iFreedom Communications Inc., who brought a wrongful termination suit against his former employer, its affiliated businesses and the founder, Timothy Ringgenberg. Michael D. Young, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Atlanta's Alston & Bird, spoke to The National Law Journal about the lessons that employment lawyers and their clients could learn from the outcome in this case."

 

Mass. high court upholds payout of unused vacation for terminated workers

"The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts recently ruled that the state's Wage Act requires companies to compensate involuntarily terminated Massachusetts workers for their unused vacation time. "

 

THE PRACTICE

Communicating in times of crisis

"How a company responds to a legal crisis will be used by the public, competitors, judges and public officials to take measure of the company involved. Without a cogent plan for coordinating legal and public relations strategies, calamity is possible and opportunity may be lost."

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on June 15, 2009 (boomark / email).