Legal Research

Selections from National Law Journal Headlines March 29, 2009

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: NLJ.com, March 30. 2009.

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Billing out of the box
"When it comes to billing, it's time to get creative. Midsize and small firms are responding to the tanking economy by doing everything from adopting flat rates and packaging legal services to bartering their work in limited situations."

FINRA faces blitz of claims
"Accused of lax oversight in the wake of recent financial frauds, FINRA, the largest nongovernmental regulator of securities firms, is now facing an explosion of arbitration claims stemming from troubles in the capital markets. Moving some of those claims into the FINRA arbitration process are about a dozen law school securities arbitration clinics across the country, which are fielding numerous requests for help, often from elderly investors."

FAMILY LAW  |  One year later, Zion raid has ripple effect
"The April 2008 raid on a Texas polygamist sect's ranch that triggered national headlines has impacted family law on a number of fronts, providing new ammunition in custody disputes and warning lawyers about potential pitfalls in cases alleging abuse. Among them: Don't rush to judgment when abuse is suspected. That was the strongest message that came out of the raid that one year ago this week led to the largest custody battle in U.S. history when law enforcement agents raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch."

DERIVATIVE ACTIONS  |  Attorneys in shareholder case drop fees
"The plaintiffs' lawyers in a shareholder derivative lawsuit involving allegations of stock-options backdating against Cirrus Logic Inc. have agreed, in a revised deal filed this month, to drop all attorney fees, which the judge in the case had described as 'almost entirely unmerited.' The revised deal, which was approved on March 25, comes as judges in derivative actions involving the backdating of stock options have questioned the amount of attorney fees in cases involving noncash settlements."

LITIGATION  |  FDA letters are key in deceptive drug ad suits
"State attorneys general are loading their guns with some potent ammunition against drug companies that run deceptive ads: warning letters from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In recent years, a growing number of states have grabbed hold of FDA warning letters citing unlawful marketing practices and are using them to sue drug companies for false advertising, in some cases winning multimillion-dollar settlements."

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on March 30, 2009 (boomark / email).