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LAW.COM Newswire Highlights December 19, 2008

By David Badertscher, PLL

font size=1#13; pfont size=2If you are already an online subscriber to the LAW.COM service you should be able to click on any of the links below, sign in, and access the full text of all articles listed. A subscription to LAW.COM is needed for online access to this service./font/p#13; pfont size=2Ex-Bechtel Lawyer Acquitted in Tax-Credit Prosecution/font/p#13; pfont size=2The Recorder/font/p#13; pfont size=2In good news for in-house lawyers and tax managers, a federal jury acquitted former Bechtel global tax manager Mark Muntean on Thursday on charges of causing Bechtel to file a false tax return. Prosecutors argued that Muntean, an attorney, knew that a $3.3 million credit claimed by Bechtel was improper when he pushed for it. The case is rare. Jay Weill, who was the longtime tax chief in the U.S. Attorney's Office for California's Northern District, said he had never seen a similar prosecution./font/p#13; pfont size=2Paul Hastings Associate Charged With Insider Trading/font/p#13; pfont size=2New York Law Journal/font/p#13; pfont size=2A Paul Hastings associate was among four people charged Thursday in a $4.8 million insider trading scheme involving a former Lehman Brothers representative and his wife, who worked at a public relations firm that had information on impending corporate deals. The Lehman Brothers representative allegedly referred to his wife as the golden goose for the information, which the SEC said he used to curry favor from acquaintances and get cash, luxury items and other benefits in return./font/p#13; pfont size=2Quinn Emanuel Hit With Malpractice Suit/font/p#13; pfont size=2The American Lawyer/font/p#13; pfont size=2Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver amp; Hedges has been hit with a malpractice lawsuit that claims the firm botched a $48.8 million settlement even as it took in some $12 million in contingency fees. Former client Todd Kurtin, a one-time principal at the real estate concern SunCal Cos., is accusing Quinn Emanuel of negligence for failing to advise him of the meaning and ramifications of all terms of the settlement agreement he reached with a former business partner that unwound their co-ventures./font/p#13; pfont size=2Sullivan Associates to See Bonuses Cut, but No Pay Freeze/font/p#13; pfont size=2The American Lawyer/font/p#13; pfont size=2Sullivan amp; Cromwell has told its associates to expect year-end bonuses worth about half of last year's. But, in memos distributed late Thursday afternoon, Sullivan's chairman and vice chairman said the firm intends to issue all associates another check in April, based on the firm's overall financial performance. Sullivan associates have also been told that their salaries will go up in 2009./font/p#13; pfont size=2Dreier Receiver Seeks Necessary Payments/font/p#13; pfont size=2New York Law Journal/font/p#13; pfont size=2With an emergency hearing in the Dreier firm's bankruptcy set for this afternoon, attorneys on Thursday asked the court's permission to use the firm's assets to pay past due wages to staff, keep the firm's professional liability policy afloat and foot other administrative expenses. According to a motion filed Thursday, the firm owes some $97,000 in salaries and compensation to 17 necessary employees./font/p#13; pfont size=2Slump Brings Associate Layoffs at Gunderson /font/p#13; pfont size=2The Recorder/font/p#13; pfont size=2Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin amp; Hachigian laid off at least half of the newest class of associates in its biggest office Monday, the latest in a string of firms to announce associate layoffs. The firm had about 90 associates in its four offices before the layoffs. Partners said the decision was in response to a slowdown in work that would stretch into 2009, according to associates. Most of the first-years had summered at the firm in 2007 and only started in October. /font/p#13; pfont size=2Judge OKs $900 Million-Plus UnitedHealth Settlement Over Backdating /font/p#13; pfont size=2The Associated Press/font/p#13; pfont size=2A federal judge gave preliminary approval Thursday to a $900 million-plus settlement resolving a stock option backdating lawsuit pitting UnitedHealth Group shareholders against the insurer. UnitedHealth has agreed to pay $895 million to settle the class action case. Former Chairman and Chief Executive William McGuire also agreed to pay $30 million, and retired general counsel David J. Lubben is to pay $500,000 under the settlement. The backdating scandal forced McGuire to step down from both roles in 2006./font/p#13; pfont size=2Judge to Receive Reprimand for Court Opinion/font/p#13; pfont size=2The Associated Press/font/p#13; pfont size=2A Florida appellate judge will be disciplined for what he wrote in a court opinion -- an implication that a colleague was out to snooker the public. The Florida Supreme Court ordered Judge Michael Allen to appear for a scolding for criticizing another judge in a concurring opinion. The justices wrote that appellate judges are free to write almost anything but not inappropriately personally attack another appellate judge by accusing him of a crime./font/p#13; pfont size=2Calif. Supreme Court Ruling May Deter Good Samaritans/font/p#13; pfont size=2The Recorder/font/p#13; pfont size=2Would-be heroes were warned by the California Supreme Court on Thursday that they could be liable for damages if they inadvertently injure a person while attempting a rescue. In a 4-3 ruling, the high court held that a state statute immunizing rescuers from liability applies only if the individual is providing medical care in an emergency situation. The case arose after a woman pulled her friend from a wrecked car. Left a paraplegic, the passenger sued her would-be rescuer for negligence./font/p#13; pfont size=2Smith Gambrell Opens Office in New York/font/p#13; pfont size=2Fulton County Daily Report/font/p#13; pfont size=2Smith Gambrell amp; Russell has opened a seven-lawyer New York office at a time when many firms in Manhattan offices are finding the legal market there a treacherous place. Chairman Stephen M. Forte said the fallout in the New York market from the Wall Street financial crisis presents opportunities to a midsize firm from Atlanta. Forte acknowledged that expanding into New York may seem rash in the current economic climate, but he added, We feel it is a very good investment for the future. /font/p#13; pfont size=2Court Strikes Down Ban on Advertising Super Lawyer or Best Lawyer Status/font/p#13; pfont size=2New Jersey Law Journal/font/p#13; pfont size=2Ending months of anticipation, New Jersey's highest court has struck down as unconstitutional a prohibition on attorneys advertising their selections in Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America and other comparative ratings guides. The unanimous court agreed with a special master who found last June that state bans on truthful, fact-based claims in lawful advertising could be ruled unconstitutional when the state fails to establish that the regulated claims are actually or inherently misleading./font/p#13; pfont size=2Berwin Leighton Paisner Set for Russia Launch With Moscow Merger/font/p#13; pfont size=2Legal Week/font/p#13; pfont size=2Berwin Leighton Paisner is on the verge of completing a tie-up with one of Russia's leading firms in a move that would represent the U.K. firm's first foray into the country. According to Russian media reports, Moscow's Pepeliaev Goltsblat amp; Partners is to break up following a fallout between the firm's name partners. BLP confirmed that the firm is in advanced discussions to take a number of partners from the Russian firm as part of the new launch./font/p#13; pfont size=2Judge Rules Aquafina Suits Pre-empted, Source of Water Not Relevant to 'Purity'/font/p#13; pfont size=2New York Law Journal/font/p#13; pfont size=2An attempt to sue PepsiCo for misrepresenting that Aquafina water comes from a pure mountain spring and not from public water supplies has been defeated by federal pre-emption. Plaintiffs claimed they believed that the picture on the label accompanied by the slogan Pure Water-Perfect Taste meant that bottled water came from a pure stream. But a New York federal court granted Pepsi's motion to dismiss, ruling that the federal Food and Drug Administration defines purity and Aquafina fits its definition./font/p#13; pfont size=2Phishing and the Botnet 'Storm'/font/p#13; pfont size=2Special to Law.com/font/p#13; pfont size=2Two of the biggest threats to individual Internet users are phishing and botnets. During the 2008 Black Hat events in Las Vegas this year, the elite of the computer security community focused their efforts on a better understanding of the economics and technology behind these threats./font/p#13; pfont size=2Visit Legal Technology/font/p#13; pfont size=2New Strategy for Whole Foods in FTC Fight/font/p#13; pfont size=2Legal Times/font/p#13; pfont size=2Whole Foods Market is firing back at the Federal Trade Commission in a high-profile antitrust case, striking at the agency in court, in Congress and in the press with a three-pronged strategy. Leading the effort is Lanny Davis, head of Orrick, Herrington amp; Sutcliffe's strategic and crisis communications group, who bolstered the attack by tapping a lobbying firm loaded with former advisers in the Clinton administration. But lawyers in Washington, D.C.'s antitrust bar question whether the strategy will work./font/p#13; pfont size=2Visit In-House Counsel/font/p#13; pfont size=2Hundreds of Ex-Heller, Thelen Lawyers Still Jobless/font/p#13; pfont size=2The National Law Journal/font/p#13; pfont size=2About 200 former Thelen and Heller Ehrman lawyers remain unemployed and face the prospect of pursuing jobs at smaller firms or relocating from major metropolitan areas. An estimated 130 of the 400 lawyers at Thelen, which dissolved on Dec. 1, and 80 attorneys at the defunct Heller, which had 550 attorneys when it dissolved on Sept. 26, have not found a place to land. And it's getting more difficult, according to legal recruiter Avis Caravello, who says most big firms have finished hiring for the year./font/p#13; pfont size=2Visit the Career Center /font/p#13; pfont size=2 /font/p#13; pfont size=2Law.com®/font/p#13; pfont size=2120 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10271-1101 (877) 256-CIRC/font/p#13; pfont size=2Customer Service Phone: (877) 256-CIRC/font/p#13; p /p/font

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on December 19, 2008 (boomark / email).