Legal Research

If you are already an online subscriber to the New Jersey Law Journal News Alert Service you should be able to click on any of the links provided below, sign in, and access the full text of articles listed.

Subscription required for online access unless otherwise noted:

SECOND-TIER FIRMS FEELING THE PINCH
"While New Jersey's Top 20 firms held their own in 2008, despite the onset of a national recession, the largest firms just below them took it on the chin. In contrast with the modest growth in the Top 20 reported in April, the 20 second-tier firms showed a drop in revenues and in profits ? the first falloff in the three years the Law Journal has studied these firms' financials. Last year, lower-tier firms together produced revenues of $543.2 million (down 3.4 percent from 2007) and profits of $177.5 (down 0.5 percent). The 2008 downturn occurred while the Top 20 firms registered a 3.9 percent growth in revenue and a 2.4 percent rise in profits."

EMPLOYMENT WOES FUEL UPTICK IN LAWYER DEPRESSION
"The attorneys who attended a recent weekly support group in Manhattan were from different backgrounds and at varying stages of their careers, but one thing they all shared was a growing nervousness over the stagnant job market. Depression increasingly has been recognized as a major problem among attorneys, members of a high-stress occupation vulnerable to anxiety even in good times. And these are not good times. the New York City Bar's Lawyer Assistance Program says more lawyers are calling, and a greater number have been suffering from depression that stems, at least partly, from the decline in their personal and professional prospects brought on by the economic downturn. The organization this month started a support group, where for an hour a week for six weeks, lawyers can commiserate and share stories about their struggles."

CONSUMER ANTITRUST CLASS CERTIFIED AGAINST BABIES 'R' US
"A federal judge has certified a class action consumer antitrust suit against retail giant Babies "R" Us and a group of manufacturers of popular baby products after concluding that a price-fixing conspiracy could be proven entirely through "common evidence." The decision clarifies the scope and effect of two recent decisions ? one from the U.S. Supreme Court and one from the Third Circuit ? that altered the pleading standards for price-fixing cases and made the test for winning class certification more rigorous. The suit alleges that Babies "R" Us is the dominant retailer in the baby products market and that it used that power to eliminate competition from heavily discounting Internet retailers by coercing manufacturers to institute minimum price controls and bans on discounting."

SCHERING-PLOUGH WINS DISMISSAL OF 'OFF-LABEL' SUIT
"A recent decision by a New Jersey federal court sets a tough standard for plaintiffs trying to piggyback on government investigations of off-label drug marketing. In dismissing a lawsuit against Schering-Plough Corp., federal district court Judge Stanley Chesler ruled that even if the company has violated off-label marketing rules -- as it seems to have done for two cancer drugs ? plaintiffs must prove that the drug was marketed for an ineffective use, and the patient received no benefit from it. The case against Schering-Plough stems from a government investigation of the off-label marketing of two cancer drugs, Intron and Temodar."

DLA PIPER LAWYER JOINS FLASTER GREENBERG
"The ailing economy has caused a number of Big Law attorneys to migrate to smaller firms, trading in their international platforms and hefty rates for a more regional focus. intellectual property attorney Thomas Durling is a recent example of this trend. On July 13, Durling, a partner at 3,700-lawyer, 67-office DLA Piper since 2005, made the sizable leap to the 72-lawyer, seven-office Flaster Greenberg, where he is now a shareholder in the Philadelphia office. Durling said none of his clients outright suggested that he move to a smaller firm. Rather, it was the realization that the increasing rate pressure associated with the overhead of an international law firm turned off some regional companies."

New Jersey Law Journal®
P.O. Box 20081, 238 Mulberry Street, Newark, N.J. 07101-6081
Customer Service Phone: (973) 642-0075