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LAW.COM Newswire Highlights June 18, 2009

By David Badertscher, PLL

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Law Firms With Biggest Profits Are Resisting Deferrals (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18ra6tokU5SkHnW1W )

The American Lawyer

While many law firms say "better late than never," when it comes to associate start dates, the most profitable Am Law 100 firms disagree. The top 10 Am Law 100 firms in profits per partner are largely avoiding the use of deferrals to deal with a potential overstaffing crunch this fall. "Our start date is, and has always been September for new associates," says a spokesperson for Paul Weiss. The only top 10 firm making deferrals mandatory this year is Schulte, Roth & Zabel, requiring all new associates to start in 2010.

Failure to Supervise Pro Bono Attorney Dooms Divorce Pact (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rafEf2t7hHQVGjG )

New York Law Journal

In granting a woman's bid to void a settlement stipulation because her pro bono divorce attorney -- a former Skadden staff attorney -- made serious errors and was inadequately supervised, a New York state judge has cautioned law firms that, in taking on pro bono cases, they should ensure that counsel "receive appropriate support and supervision, so that they can provide pro bono clients with the same careful legal representation that they provide to paying clients."

Saul Ewing Puts Its Alternative Fees in Writing on the Web (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rahWsdmn8y8OCo7 )

The Legal Intelligencer

Moving beyond all the talk of alternative fee arrangements, Saul Ewing has put its fixed-fee programs in writing -- on its Web site at least. The firm launched this week its "cost certainty commitment" with two different programs in which either a fixed fee or a cost per attorney, per day, will be used on specific types of matters. New matters have already started to come in as a result, and the firm plans to have practice group leaders expand the program.

11th Circuit Rejects Bids to Kill $445 Million Settlement of Suit Against HealthSouth (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18raSDR1CsM2KZBx5 )

Fulton County Daily Report

The 11th Circuit has rejected objections to a $445 million settlement of a securities fraud suit against HealthSouth. Absent further appeals, Wednesday's rulings against former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy and AIG Global Investment Group appear to remove all impediments to the settlement, which resolves massive securities fraud claims against HealthSouth, its insurance carriers and some of its directors and officers -- but not Scrushy, who is serving a prison sentence for an unrelated bribery charge.

Baker Botts: No Conflict in Representing Stanford Receiver (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18raUW4cvICT2SxBw )

Texas Lawyer

R. Allen Stanford, Stanford International Bank and two other Stanford-related entities are seeking to disqualify Baker Botts from representing receiver Ralph Janvey in a fraud suit the SEC filed against Stanford, two of his colleagues and three of his companies. They allege that, from 1985 to 1987, Baker Botts represented Stanford and his father, James Stanford, in organizing Stanford International Bank. The firm denies a conflict of interest, saying it has no record of ever representing Stanford or the bank.

Morgan Lewis Brings On 11 Bingham Lawyers (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18raXehnoYtJkLtFX )

The American Lawyer

Morgan Lewis announced Wednesday it has hired five banking and leveraged-finance partners from Bingham McCutchen, along with a half-dozen associates. The partners include Jonathan Bernstein, the former co-chair of Bingham's banking and leveraged-finance group. Between the credit crisis and recession, it may seem like an odd time for a firm to add lawyers who specialize in lending. But the former Bingham partners say they are busy on new loans, credit restructurings, and debtor-in-possession financings in bankruptcies.

Federal Judge Mulls Copyright Status for Salinger's Holden Caulfield (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18raZwuyiekzCEpKo )

New York Law Journal

A federal judge on Wednesday said she had "serious" doubts about whether a purported meditation on the relationship between author J.D. Salinger and his creation Holden Caulfield is a fair use of material from Salinger's classic novel "The Catcher in the Rye." Southern District of New York Judge Deborah A. Batts ended the hearing by blocking publication of "60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye" for 10 days while she ponders the issues, including whether purely literary characters can be copyrighted.

Milwaukee's Sick-Leave Ordinance Struck Down (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rb1OHJbubpUxlOP )

The National Law Journal

A Wisconsin judge has struck down Milwaukee's sick-leave law, a fledgling ordinance that never really took off since voters approved it last fall. The judge held that the ordinance, which would have required local businesses to provide employees with paid sick days, was unconstitutional and invalidly enacted. Milwaukee, San Francisco and Washington are the only three cities in the country to have adopted paid sick-leave laws in recent years, although no legal challenges have surfaced elsewhere.

Attorney Censured for His Use of Non-Lawyers to Practice Law (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rb46UU4K2gcqhTg )

New York Law Journal

An attorney who formed a company that used non-lawyers to provide closing services for the U.S. government's sale of foreclosed properties has been censured by a New York appellate court. John C. Garas maintained that the services at issue were "clerical in nature involving not the exercising of legal judgment, but the repetition of a series of routine procedures hundreds and hundreds of times in succession." But the court disagreed, finding that Garas aided non-attorneys in the unauthorized practice of law.

Sotomayor Defends Membership in All-Women's Group (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rb6p84XZT6ujdXH )

The Associated Press

Defending her membership in an elite all-women's club, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said in a letter submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the group doesn't discriminate unfairly by gender and includes men in many of its activities. GOP senators questioned Sotomayor's membership in the Belizean Grove, a group of prominent professional women, because federal judges are bound by a code that says they shouldn't join any organization that discriminates by race, sex, religion or nationality.

Grand Jury Indicts Medical-Device Companies for Defying FDA Safeguards (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rb8HlfRfJWMca28 )

The Legal Intelligencer

Medical-device company Norian, Swiss parent corporation Synthes and four executives were indicted Tuesday on charges of defying FDA safeguards by conducting unauthorized tests of a bone cement used in spinal surgery on about 200 patients, three of whom died on the operating table. Prosecutors said, if convicted on all charges, Norian would face a maximum fine of $26 million, Synthes would face a fine of up to $8.8 million, and each of the executives would face a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Circuit Assignments May Give Most High Court Justices 'Home Court' Advantage (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rbaZyqKvAN4566z )

The National Law Journal

The last-minute challenges to the Chrysler Group LLC sale last week focused a rare spotlight on a little-known aspect of the Supreme Court's work: the justices' federal circuit court assignments. When Justice David Souter retires this summer, the Court will make new circuit assignments that, by a rare happenstance, could have special significance because they may end up giving almost all of the justices "home court" circuits -- circuits where they were raised or once served as judges.

Palin Appoints Former Bush Official as Alaska Attorney General (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rbfzYMx1itDQYfr )

The Associated Press

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Tuesday appointed a former Anchorage lawyer with White House and State Department service to be Alaska's new attorney general. Daniel S. Sullivan, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State in the Bush administration, must be confirmed by the state Legislature but will serve in the role until lawmakers reconvene in January. Palin's last attorney general candidate was the first-ever gubernatorial pick to be rejected by Alaska lawmakers.

 

Creating Stable and Consistent Documents (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rbhSbXqh9jVJUjS )

Legal Tech Newsletter

As a large firm, Burns & Levinson was continually struggling with document stability and maintaining a consistent look with the documents it created. Esquire Innovations iCreate and iRedline were the best fit to establish a consistent branding across stable and functional documents.

Visit Legal Technology (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rbkap8jx0adCQoj )

Ex-Lehman Lawyer Uses Company's Bankruptcy as a Launching Pad (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rbmsCjcMR0vvMsK )

Corporate Counsel

Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy last fall was a nightmare for Lawrence Bortstein, the company's global head of technology law. But it also presented him with the opportunity to realize a dream. First it spurred him to consider his career options. Then, after he decided that he was ready to start his own law firm, it gave him his first client: the Lehman estate. Bortstein's new firm is doing some of the same things for the estate that his old in-house team did for the company before it collapsed.

Visit In-House Counsel (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rboKPu62HQNoIxb )

Law School Summer Camp Is Like One Big Shark Tank This Year (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rbr32EZiyH5hEBC )

Fulton County Daily Report

Even though as recently as last year Big Law Summer Camp was a fantasy land, The Snark knows that Summer Campers this year are suddenly in a cutthroat competition for the precious few positions Big Law is likely to offer. But mixed in with the pity The Snark feels toward the Summer Campers is also some fear -- because the sheer competitive gunner-ness that The Snark is seeing as Summers turn up their game makes The Snark's hair stand on end. One popular Summer Game this year: "Stalk the Decision Makers."

Visit the Career Center (

http://editorial.incisivemedia.com/c/18rbtlfPSypxnaAG3 )

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Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on June 18, 2009 (boomark / email).