Legal News

The PM Roundup: Start Looking, WilmerHale Tells Lawyers, More

By Ashby Jones

Ah, it’s too easy, but Swedish tennis player Robin Soderling gets our dedication today. After dispatching with Rafael Nadal on Sunday, Soderling spanked Nikolay Davydenko today in the French Open quarterfinals. We’ll see if he can keep it going on Friday against Chilean Fernando Gonzalez. In any event, enjoy the win, Robin, but we feel confident you’ll remember the day for the Law Blog dedication.

Today’s news:

Start Looking, Wilmer Tells Lawyers: Law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr is telling some of its more experienced lawyers that it's time to look for jobs somewhere else. William Perlstein, co-managing partner of the firm, said Tuesday that some associates and counsel have been told that they won't have jobs at the firm after this coming fall. Perlstein acknowledges that at least some of the cuts are tied to the economic downturn, though he stresses that the firm isn't having layoffs. BLT Blog; Above the Law.

Chrysler to Second Circuit: Judge Arthur Gonzalez on Tuesday ordered an appeal of Chrysler's sale to Fiat to be heard by the Second Circuit, a move that lawyers for the American carmaker had sought in an effort to fast-track the deal. Normally, appeals to bankruptcy court decisions are heard in federal district court, but cases may be moved directly to the appeals court if a judge finds it necessary. "This case involves a matter of public importance, and an immediate appeal may materially advance the progress of this case," wrote Gonzalez. NYT; Bloomberg

Schapiro Vows Fixes: Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday she has been “disappointed” to learn of shortcomings in the agency’s internal operations and vowed to fix them. She added that a merger with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission could be a logical move. WSJ

Court Backs EMC in Non-Compete Case: A California Superior Court Judge declined to bar EMC Corp. from preventing the former head of its storage business, David Donatelli, from assuming all the responsibilities of a high level job at Hewlett-Packard Co. The action means Donatelli can’t supervise the storage business at H-P as originally planned, although he can do other parts of his new job, pending further court proceedings. WSJ

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on June 02, 2009 (boomark / email).