Legal Research

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SEC Goes After Countrywide CEO and Other Top Execs

The National Law Journal

The Securities and Exchange Commission is going after its highest-profile target yet as it sorts through the wreckage of the subprime mortgage meltdown: former Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo, who has been charged with securities fraud and insider trading. Also charged are Countrywide's former COO and president and its former CFO. The SEC accuses the three senior executives of misleading the market by falsely assuring investors that Countrywide was primarily a prime-quality mortgage lender.

Hedge Fund Indictment Says Cravath, Bryan Cave Were Duped

The American Lawyer

Two lawyers and the chief executive of the Quellos Group investment fund face 18 counts related to tax evasion and fraud for a scheme that netted them $86 million in fees and allowed six clients to avoid paying about $400 million in taxes, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. The indictment accuses executive Jeffrey Greenstein and the other defendants of lying to firm lawyers in order to get them to bless the tax shelters in letters indicating to taxpayers that they were legal and would withstand IRS scrutiny.

DOJ: More Evidence Withheld in Alaska Corruption Cases

The National Law Journal

Two former Alaska state representatives who were convicted on corruption charges in the probe that ended the political career of Sen. Ted Stevens should be released from prison because the Justice Department has found information that should have been disclosed to the defense prior to trial, government lawyers announced Thursday. The acknowledgement that prosecutors were negligent in the two cases is a fresh embarrassment for the DOJ, which is already reeling from the collapse of the Stevens prosecution.

Kilpatrick Cuts Associate Pay by 10 Percent

Fulton County Daily Report

Kilpatrick Stockton has announced that it will cut associate salaries by 10 percent, effective July 1. Starting pay will drop from $160,000 to $145,000 in the firm's New York and Washington, D.C., offices and from $145,000 to $130,000 in Atlanta and North Carolina. All associates in the firm's U.S. offices are affected, except for some hired this year, said the firm's co-managing partner. "The reduction was motivated by looking at what the market is doing," she said. "It appears that a market correction is occurring."

2nd Circuit Revives $200 Million WorldCom Investor Case Against Citi

The American Lawyer

Reach back into the Enron era and you may recall Jack Grubman, Salomon Barney's star telecom analyst. When the telecom market collapsed, Grubman resigned as regulators examined his ties to fraud-ridden WorldCom. His touting of WorldCom stock helped lead Salomon's parent, Citigroup, to pay $2.65 billion to settle claims from WorldCom investors in 2004. Now, Grubman's back, as the 2nd Circuit revives a $200 million suit, filed by an investor group that opted out of the Citi deal five years ago.

Car Crash Victims Sue Sonnenschein Partner

The Recorder

Sonnenschein partner Paul Glad is being sued over a March auto accident that resulted in a woman losing part of her leg. The suit alleges Glad was under the influence of OxyContin when he pulled into the handicapped space of a California store, began getting out of the car without putting it in park and rammed a group of parents and girls selling Girl Scout cookies, pinning one mother against a wall. A county deputy DA said the office expects to decide whether to file criminal charges within the next week.

Abramoff's Legal Bills Detailed in New Court Filings

The American Lawyer

Jack Abramoff is back in the news. The former lobbyist, who logged stints at Preston Gates & Ellis and Greenberg Traurig, has been in prison since 2006 after pleading guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials. The Justice Department is now attempting to change Abramoff's restitution order so that his family will be blocked from spending a $500,000 tax refund. The DOJ's filing contains some added information of interest to legal readers: details of payments to Abramoff's lawyers.

Lawyer for N.Y. Ferry Crash Victim Fights for Full $6 Million Fee

New York Law Journal

Nine months after he secured an $18.3 million award for a man paralyzed in the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, attorney Evan Torgan returned to federal court Wednesday to defend the propriety of his retainer agreement and to seek the reinstatement of his full fee. In September, a judge cut Torgan's fee from 33 percent, or about $6 million, to 20 percent, or about $3.6 million. The emotional high point of the unusual hearing came when the plaintiff in the underlying case took the stand on behalf of Torgan.

Federal Judge: Ledbetter Law Limited to Fair-Pay Claims

New Jersey Law Journal

A federal judge in New Jersey has narrowly construed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as extending workers' time to sue only for claims based on pay bias -- not other acts of bias, such as failure to hire. "While the Act certainly contains expansive language ... it ... does not save otherwise untimely claims outside the discriminatory compensation context," she wrote. Issues related to the reach of the act, which was passed in response to a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision, have been dividing the courts.

Hidden Camera Case Turns on Expectation of Privacy in Workplace

The Recorder

Suspecting someone was viewing pornography on a company computer, the director of a California center for abused children set up a secret video system to catch the culprit. The women who shared the locked office that was put under surveillance sued for invasion of privacy, though their images were never seen. Does the mere attempt to tape someone qualify as an invasion of privacy or must there be an actual intrusion for liability to occur? That was the issue before the California Supreme Court during oral arguments.

Gun Dealer May Be Held Liable for Former Employee's Use of Stolen Weapon to Shoot Police Officer

New Jersey Law Journal

In a case of first impression, a New Jersey judge has refused to grant statutory immunity to a gun dealer sued when an ex-employee stole one of its handguns and shot a police officer. Sarco Inc. claimed it was covered under the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which immunizes gun sellers from suits by victims of gun-related crimes. But Judge David Rand wrote that the PLCAA was not intended to apply to suits where the handgun at issue was used by the defendant's own employee.

Circuit Nominees, DOJ Nominee Head to Full Senate

The National Law Journal

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday overwhelmingly endorsed two presidential nominees for prominent legal positions: Andre Davis for the 4th Circuit and Thomas Perez for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. But, in a warm-up for the debate over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, senators divided sharply along party lines over Judge David Hamilton of Indiana, nominated for the 7th Circuit. The three nominations now head to the full Senate.

King & Spalding Wins $133 Million for Clients in International Arbitration

The National Law Journal

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, an organization of the World Bank specializing in disputes between foreign investors and governments, has awarded $133 million to two Italian clients of King & Spalding in a long-running dispute with the Egyptian government over the expropriation of a 161-acre resort property on the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea. The award, issued June 1, is the largest ever granted to individual claimants by the ICSID.

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In Sweden, Pirate Bay Verdict Feeds Populist Movement

IP Law & Business

The April 17 decision by a Swedish court to jail the four founders of the popular file-sharing Web site The Pirate Bay and to fine them $3.6 million for copyright infringement has had a galvanizing effect, especially among young people, sparking demonstrations across Sweden and attracting sympathizers around the world. That's despite the characterization by lawyer Peter Danowsky, who represented plaintiffs in the case, that the decision essentially equated the defendants' activities with organized crime.

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A Matrix to Sort Through EDD Software

Legal Tech Newsletter

With so many electronic discovery products on the market, a tool was needed to navigate the sea of information. Consultant Ari L. Kaplan looks at The E-Discovery Application Matrix, a publicly available resource that contains features and functions for 56 e-discovery software apps.

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Beware of Enforcement Agencies, Say Ex-Bush Officials

The National Law Journal

A group of former George W. Bush administration officials turned white-collar defense lawyers gathered in Washington, D.C., this week to discuss the current enforcement environment as well as changes across federal agencies in response to the financial crisis. While one lawyer likened the pro-enforcement era to "a walk in the woods with a very hungry grizzly bear" and another warned it was "2002 on steroids," the bottom line was: Be afraid, Corporate America. Be very afraid.

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Keeping the Book Closed on Salaries Makes Lateral Hiring Easier

The Legal Intelligencer

Law firms have certainly upped the ante when it comes to lateral hiring standards, and that's accentuated the differences between open- versus closed-compensation systems, when it comes to firms getting partner buy-in for picking up new recruits. Recruiters and firm leaders alike say firms with a closed-compensation model have a clear advantage in the ability to bring on lateral partners in the midst of this recession, largely because that model protects the egos of both existing partners and new recruits.

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Lawyers Operate Without Borders Too

The National Law Journal

Attorney Christina M. Storm founded Lawyers Without Borders to connect attorneys with pro bono projects in Africa and elsewhere. The group now coordinates international projects geared toward protecting the integrity of the legal process abroad. Storm, a partner in three-lawyer Byrne & Storm, says about half of the group's projects are geared toward individual attorneys and half are projects for law firm groups. And due to the economy, there's a long list of deferred associates and other lawyers looking to help out.

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