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LAW.COM Newswire Highlights December 23, 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=2How Thacher Proffitt Came to an End/font/p#13; pfont size=2The American Lawyer/font/p#13; pfont size=2The announcement that Sonnenschein Nath amp; Rosenthal will hire 100 lawyers from Thacher Proffitt amp; Wood signals the end of the Wall Street firm, which saw its fortunes fall as the securitization market collapsed. A Thacher partner confirmed on Monday that the firm expects to announce dissolution plans by Dec. 31. Yet it could have been much worse, lawyers involved in the transaction say./font/p#13; pfont size=2Missing Dreier Escrow Snags Bankruptcy Payments/font/p#13; pfont size=2New York Law Journal/font/p#13; pfont size=2Within hours of Marc S. Dreier's arrest in Toronto on an impersonation charge, a nearly nine-year-old bankruptcy, which was supposed to be closed out with a final $38.5 million payment to unsecured creditors, was brought to a standstill. Three requests that Dreier wire the money from a firm client trust account so it could be distributed to creditors went unheeded. The news that all or some of the escrow money is missing has triggered a remarkable turnabout./font/p#13; pfont size=2IP Win Leads to $400K Fee Dispute/font/p#13; pfont size=2The Recorder/font/p#13; pfont size=2Big wins at trial usually mean big payments for lawyers. But after beating back a lawsuit from the powerful Hollywood studios, Kaleidescape Inc. fired its lead trial lawyer and is refusing to pay $400,000 in fees, according to a lawsuit filed by IP lawyer Thomas Moore against his former client. A clear company-saving victory like this is such a rare thing, Moore said. I really thought I was going to get paid. The company's CEO says the termination was over performance, not fees./font/p#13; pfont size=2Judge Slashes Attorney Fees in GM Stock Settlement /font/p#13; pfont size=2The Associated Press/font/p#13; pfont size=2A judge slashed legal fees Monday in a $303 million settlement between General Motors and investors, saying a 19 percent share sought by attorneys was excessive and wouldn't sit well with the middle class. Lawyers will get 15 percent of the pool of money, or $45 million. Two lead lawyers and five law firms had requested nearly $60 million in compensation, saying the case was risky because of GM's financial condition and no guarantee of victory. /font/p#13; pfont size=2FBI Whistleblower Alleges Government Misconduct in Stevens Case/font/p#13; pfont size=2Legal Times/font/p#13; pfont size=2A special agent with the FBI is accusing government prosecutors in the Ted Stevens case of intentionally withholding exculpatory evidence from Stevens' lawyers and scheming to conceal a witness from the defense team. The whistleblower, whose name was redacted from a complaint released Monday afternoon, writes in the complaint of encountering many serious problems in the Stevens trial that seemed to stem from case mismanagement. The agent says efforts to rectify problems through supervisors failed./font/p#13; pfont size=2Counsel Asks N.Y. High Court Not to Suspend Surrogate-Elect Over Campaign Contributions/font/p#13; pfont size=2New York Law Journal/font/p#13; pfont size=2Nora Anderson should be allowed to become Manhattan surrogate on Jan. 1, even as the Manhattan DA prosecutes her on felony charges of concealing improper political contributions during her campaign for the bench, her attorney has told New York state's high court. If the court decides to suspend Anderson, the attorney is urging that it do so with pay because Anderson is supporting an ill mother and brother, and the surrogate-elect will be prohibited from practicing law when her term begins on Jan. 1./font/p#13; pfont size=2Money Laundering Conspiracy Charge Struck Against Defense Lawyer /font/p#13; pfont size=2The Associated Press/font/p#13; pfont size=2A federal judge on Monday dismissed a money laundering conspiracy charge against a prominent attorney accused of illegal dealings with a Colombian drug lord. The issue was whether $5.2 million transferred from Colombia to attorney Ben Kuehne's accounts were exempt from criminal prosecution because they were essentially legal fees. Kuehne still faces other charges, including obstruction of justice and wire fraud, but the conspiracy count was considered the heart of the case. /font/p#13; pfont size=2Prosecutor in Marc Rich Case Endorses Holder for AG Position/font/p#13; pfont size=2Legal Times/font/p#13; pfont size=2One of the prosecutors in the criminal case against commodities trader Marc Rich says Eric Holder Jr. shouldn't be disqualified from the attorney general job because of his involvement in Rich's pardon. In a letter released Monday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, James Comey says that, while Holder's role was a huge misjudgment, Holder's actions in that case may make him a better steward of the DOJ because he has learned a hard lesson about protecting the integrity of that great institution./font/p#13; pfont size=2Matching Market Rates, Dechert Announces Associate Bonuses/font/p#13; pfont size=2The Legal Intelligencer/font/p#13; pfont size=2After a turbulent year, Dechert will hand out associate bonuses at market rate. The firm may also hand out merit bonuses and will progress salaries for associates consistent with past practice, according to a memo from firm Chairman Barton Winokur. The news comes at the end of a roller-coaster ride for Dechert, which began 2008 by opening a Hong Kong office but by December was announcing layoffs./font/p#13; pfont size=2Thousands of Resentencings Narrow Gap Between Crack, Powder Cocaine Penalties/font/p#13; pfont size=2New Jersey Law Journal/font/p#13; pfont size=2Federal judges across the U.S. have reduced thousands of crack cocaine sentences this year in a resentencing effort to narrow the disparity between penalties for the crack and powder forms of the drug. Concern over the higher numbers of blacks sentenced for crack versus powder cocaine has driven efforts to revise the law. A report by the U.S. Sentencing Commission shows that since March, courts have handled 17,168 motions for a reduced sentence and granted 12,119 of them, or 70.6 percent. /font/p#13; pfont size=2Archer amp; Greiner Merges With Pelino amp; Lentz/font/p#13; pfont size=2The Legal Intelligencer/font/p#13; pfont size=2New Jersey-based Archer amp; Greiner has acquired Philadelphia firm Pelino amp; Lentz, effective Jan. 1. The combined general practice firm will retain the Archer amp; Greiner name and will employ more than 175 attorneys, placing it among the 25 largest firms in Pennsylvania. Archer amp; Greiner has more than 150 attorneys and has additional offices in New York City; Philadelphia; Wilmington, Del.; and Princeton and Flemington, N.J. /font/p#13; pfont size=2Teenager's 911 Call About Dad Driving Drunk Held Sufficient Cause for Stop/font/p#13; pfont size=2New Jersey Law Journal/font/p#13; pfont size=2A teenage daughter's 911 call to police that her father was driving drunk was enough to justify a stop of his vehicle, even without evidence of erratic driving, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Monday. Reversing two lower courts, the justices found the daughter's age immaterial. From the television, the Internet, and education in our schools, we have no doubt that a seventeen-year-old may fairly understand when someone is drunk, the court said./font/p#13; pfont size=2Clifford Chance Eyeing Indian Nuptials/font/p#13; pfont size=2The American Lawyer/font/p#13; pfont size=2The Economic Times of India reports that Clifford Chance is in tie-up talks with Indian firm AZB amp; Partners -- a union that would involve client referrals, consultation, and joint training and marketing. While foreign firms are not allowed to operate in India, and joint ventures with domestic Indian firms are also prohibited, many international firms are opting to pursue informal tie-ups with Indian partners in anticipation of the country eventually opening up its legal market./font/p#13; pfont size=2Visit Law.com's expanded International News section/font/p#13; pfont size=2Rules to Help Ease E-Discovery Tensions/font/p#13; pfont size=2The National Law Journal/font/p#13; pfont size=2Electronic discovery illuminates the tension between inside and outside counsel with respect to the scope and depth of discovery-compliance efforts. But there are some basic rules of engagement to help ease tensions and allow client and counsel to strengthen their relationship. /font/p#13; pfont size=2Visit Legal Technology/font/p#13; pfont size=2'Bet-the-Company Lobbying' Emerging as New Strategy/font/p#13; pfont size=2Legal Times/font/p#13; pfont size=2You're familiar with bet-the-company litigation. Now get used to bet-the-company lobbying. As the financial crisis is threatening entire sectors of the economy, the high stakes and desperate tactics that characterize some of the most heated courthouse battles have moved to the corridors of Congress. And companies are devoting whatever it takes to save themselves. Veteran lobbyists are seeing a pattern that's affecting their outlook, their strategies and potentially their bottom line./font/p#13; pfont size=2Visit In-House Counsel/font/p#13; pfont size=2Legal Secretaries Find Door to Advancement Shut/font/p#13; pfont size=2Texas Lawyer/font/p#13; pfont size=2Is it true that law firms never promote legal secretaries from within? Very true, according to The Assistant-at-Law, a legal secretary for a Texas-based firm. In her own experience, and based on what she's seen, legal secretaries don't just face a glass ceiling, but a lead one. It's not that she's never seen a legal secretary obtain a promotion, but exceptions -- such as the secretary who received a promotion only after developing a bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome -- are less than inspirational./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#13; p /p#13; p /p#13; p /p#13; p /p/font

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on December 23, 2008 (boomark / email).