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ABA Plans for Litigation Over FTC Rules on Identity Theft

The National Law Journal

The president of the American Bar Association said Wednesday the group may file a suit by the end of next week if it cannot persuade the Federal Trade Commission to exempt lawyers from new regulations set to take effect Aug. 1. The ABA has been lobbying for months to have lawyers kept out of the regulations, which require businesses and organizations that act as "creditors" to establish a program for preventing identity theft. The FTC and the ABA differ on how much of a burden the regulations would put on businesses.

Trump, Morrison Cohen Settle Dueling Lawsuits

New York Law Journal

The war between Donald Trump and his former lawyers at Morrison Cohen is over. Trump has settled two state suits he brought against the law firm on the eve of one going to trial. Both sides said Tuesday they were pleased with the deal, which resolved separate claims of malpractice and misappropriation of Trump's name on the firm's Web site. "They're happy, I'm happy, and everyone's happy at this time," Trump said in an interview. The firm still represents a property group in litigation against Trump's company.

Apple Drops Pursuit of Site With iPhone Hacking Tips

The Recorder

Notoriously secretive Apple Inc. has dropped legal threats against BluWiki, a Web site that hosted discussions about how to use computer software other than the company's iTunes with iPods and iPhones. Apple said it's calling off the dogs because it no longer uses the software code that was the subject of the online discussion, but BluWiki's pro bono lawyers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation claimed victory, saying that Apple hadbacked off of overreaching legal claims.

Troutman Cuts Associate Pay

Fulton County Daily Report

Troutman Sanders announced Wednesday that the firm will cut associate pay, effective Aug. 1, for the remainder of the year -- but the pay cut will vary for each associate. "If we do increases that are merit-based, then we should do decreases that are merit-based," firm Chairman Robert W. Webb Jr. said. "What we are trying to do is get back to where we perceive the market to be," he said.

The Bush Judicial Legacy, by the Numbers

The National Law Journal

The new issue of Judicature offers the most comprehensive empirical look yet at former President George W. Bush's judicial legacy. Through 59 confirmed appointments to appeals courts, 261 to district courts and two to the Supreme Court, the Bush administration "definitely achieved" a goal of moving the federal bench to the right, says one editor. Tallying 2,680 decisions by Bush-appointed district court judges, a political scientist concludes "the Bush team is on the whole the most conservative on record."

Suit Over Alleged Process Server Fraud Aims to Vacate 100,000 Judgments

New York Law Journal

New York AG Andrew Cuomo is demanding information from dozens of debt collection law firms throughout the state as part of a civil lawsuit to overturn more than 100,000 faulty default judgments, he announced Wednesday. The suit seeks to vacate all default judgments where the sole evidence that a defendant received service notifying him that he was being sued was an affidavit from American Legal Process. That company's owner was arrested and charged with fraud and other felonies in April.

Ernst & Young Ordered to Pay $10.2 Million on Negligent Auditing Claim

Daily Business Review

A Florida jury on Wednesday ordered accounting giant Ernst & Young to pay $10.2 million on a negligent auditing claim, rejecting a request for $400 million on more serious allegations. The verdict eliminated the possibility of a punitive damage award. Businessman Alan Schein was seeking damages for himself and a mortgage marketing company he sold to Illinois-based Superior Bank before the bank failed in 2001 after years of Ernst & Young audits.

Another Blagojevich Defense Team Member Bites the Dust

The National Law Journal

The legal defense team for indicted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is once again looking for another attorney to join the fight against federal criminal charges. The defense needs to rehire a fourth lawyer because Giel Stein has quit the team just weeks after joining it. After a court hearing on Wednesday at which Judge James Zagel accepted Stein's exit from the case, Stein said in an interview that he couldn't comment on his departure because it related to privileged information in the case.

N.J. Legislation Would Decriminalize 'Sexting' by Teens

New Jersey Law Journal

Recognizing that teenagers who e-mail nude or sexually suggestive photos of themselves to friends aren't really child pornographers, New Jersey legislators are proposing alternatives to criminal prosecution that may be more effective in stanching the practice. Pending bills in the state Assembly and Senate would create a diversionary program, by which minors who are charged with the creation, distribution or exhibition of nude photos can avoid prosecution by completing a course focusing on the consequences of such acts.

Aetna Recoils at Five-Headed Plaintiffs Leadership of Class Action Suit

New Jersey Law Journal

Five competing plaintiffs firms in a class action for millions of Aetna insureds and doctors have agreed to share the role of interim class counsel rather than pick one to take the lead. But Aetna doesn't like the idea. Its defense counsel maintains that a five-headed leadership would be unwieldy, would worsen bickering among the firms and would drive up litigation costs -- something a federal judge sought to avoid when warning earlier this year against a class counsel feeding frenzy over fees.

White House Won't Say Who Prepared Sotomayor

The National Law Journal

At the request of a Democratic Senate, the Bush administration in 2006 produced a list of 38 members of the Republican legal elite who helped Samuel Alito Jr. practice the answers he would give to senators during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing. But this time around, the Obama administration says it won't name those who participated in practice sessions with Sonia Sotomayor, declining to give a clear reason for keeping the information hidden. Republicans haven't pressed the White House for a list.

Dreier IP Group Lands at Troutman Sanders

New York Law Journal

Troutman Sanders said Tuesday it is expanding its New York office by hiring five intellectual property lawyers who were left adrift after the abrupt collapse in December of Dreier LLP. The group, led by senior patent litigator Albert Jacobs Jr., has had a bumpy ride. Jacobs brought his team to Dreier from Greenberg Traurig in 2007. But 18 months later, Marc Dreier was under arrest for fraud and Jacobs' group was rushing to escape the fallout. "It's not the way I wanted to spend my Christmas, let's just say," Jacobs said.

Change or Die: Reflections on Richard Susskind's 'The End of Lawyers?'

The American Lawyer

In Cooley partner Michael Stern's estimation, Richard Susskind's "The End of Lawyers?" is a dry, sometimes boring, often infuriating, small-print book written by a supercilious academic who thinks "the law is not there to provide a livelihood for lawyers," but rather that their incomes are, at best, a byproduct that society must incur as the price of the rule of law. But you should still read it. Why? It's a road map to the archipelago of legal innovation emerging all around us. Ignore it at your peril.

Get Attorneys on Board to Manage Records

Special to Law.com

An attorney's duties in representing clients extend beyond the practice of law, says consultant Eric Mosca. They are frequently asked to be knowledgeable in records management. Mosca looks at three areas in which law firms can help lawyers overcome their reluctance to deal with records.

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Make Sure Workers Take Their Vacations, Say Employment Lawyers

The National Law Journal

Attorneys are responding to recent studies that show a big chunk of the work force is saying no to vacation this year, worried that a short break from work may lead to a permanent one. Not only are employers at risk of having burned-out employees coming to work during this downturn, but many are also going to get stuck cashing out millions of dollars in unused vacation days at the end of the year, says Littler Mendelson's Brian Dixon, who offers tips on how to make sure vacation is taken.

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In Legal Writing, Dross Disappears and Points Emerge as Groupings Improve

New Jersey Law Journal

Legal writing is all about groupings -- sets, subsets and categories. These are the building blocks of logic, writes Sills Cummis & Gross' Kenneth F. Oettle, and can increase the efficiency with which information is delivered and force a writer to confirm that the message is on point. Regrettably, the kind of precise grouping that typically takes place late in the editing process is sometimes skipped in the rush to get product out the door, Oettle says. He offers some examples and guidance to help avoid this pitfall.

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