Legal Research

Selections from National Law Journal Daily Headlines December 19, 2008

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: NLJ.com, December 19, 2008.

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FROM THE UPCOMING ISSUE  |  U.S. attorney's office in Chicago seeks to stop Winston & Strawn from representing defendant entangled in Blagojevich probe
"The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago, which last week leveled corruption charges against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is trying to stop Winston & Strawn and the law firm's chairman, Dan Webb, from representing another defendant entangled in the investigation of the governor."

WEB-ONLY  |  The Madoff litigation: no billion dollar jackpots; more like 'medium-sized litigation'
"Lawsuits are flying in the aftermath of Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion investment fraud, but legal experts don't expect to see investors recovering large amounts of their lost funds. John C. Coffey, a Columbia Law School professor who specializes in corporate law, said he doesn't anticipate any financial recovery to top $20 million, making it relatively small potatoes compared to other legal issues that firms are dealing with involving the meltdown of the financial markets."

WEB-ONLY  |  Blagojevich's bid for state to pay for his counsel is dismissed as 'absurd'
"In a swift response to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's request that the state pay for lawyers to help him fight federal criminal corruption charges, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan rejected the suggestion as 'absurd.' " 

WEB-ONLY  |  Number of subprime-related suits reaches unprecedented level
"The number of subprime-related court filings has reached an unprecedented level and is expected to continue skyrocketing as economic conditions worsen, according to a new report by Navigant Consulting Inc."

WEB-ONLY  |  Coalition asks Bush to commute excessive sentences for low-level crack cocaine offenses
"A coalition of 29 civil rights, religious, academic and justice organizations have asked President Bush to commute excessive sentences for low-level crack cocaine offenses before he leaves office next month."

WEB-ONLY  |  Lawyers' association criticizes appointments to Board of Immigration Appeals as too prosecution-oriented
"The newest appointees to the Board of Immigration Appeals continue a "one-sided recruitment pattern' that discounts private immigration practice experience and favors government 'prosecution" experience, charged a national association of attorneys who teach and practice immigration law."

WEB-ONLY  |  Mass. high court rules judge should be reprimanded for improper letters to Boston Herald
"The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that state court Judge Ernest B. Murphy should be publicly reprimanded for writing improper letters to Boston Herald publisher Patrick J. Purcell that demanded settlement of Murphy's libel lawsuit against the newspaper. "
 

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