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Selections from National Law Journal Daily Headlines August 17, 2009

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source:NLJ.com August 17, 2009.

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For litigators, a different kind of recession

"What happened to the wave of litigation that was supposed to swamp corporate America in 2009? A year ago, as the economy began its freefall, corporate law departments were preparing for an all-out assault by plaintiffs. That forecast made sense: Recessions usually breed litigation. But the early numbers for this recession are showing something quite different."

 

Hard times are forcing fundamental change

"State court officials across the country, saddled with unprecedented budget cuts that are expected to worsen next year, are considering drastic measures to save money, such as permanently closing courthouses, shaving staff positions, realigning judicial districts, rewriting criminal laws and overhauling the structure of their courts."

 

Left to their own resources ? in a good way

"While court systems nationally are struggling with budget cuts, a few states and counties are constructing financial buffers against economic crashes. The Florida Legislature has voted to shift excess revenues generated by filing fees from the budgets of the state's independently elected court clerks to a new trust fund that will support the courts."

 

The nation's judges are sharing in the pain

"For the first time in decades, judges are absorbing direct pay cuts or work furloughs to help their states grapple with severe budget deficits. In some cases, judges are having reductions imposed upon them by legislators. Others are voluntarily accepting pay cuts, even in states with constitutional limits on cutting judicial pay."

 

Ruiz slammed for taking too long on cases

"D.C. Court of Appeals Judge Vanessa Ruiz, who has been aggressively pushed by a number of well-connected Democratic lawyers for promotion to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, is being taken to task for having an excessive backlog of undecided cases. As part of a mandatory review before Ruiz could be reappointed to another 15-year term, the seven-member D.C. Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure wrote that her backlog was "the highest by far" of any appellate judge at the court."

 

Everybody's getting on case against bad ads

"This time it's the fine print causing problems. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo last week ordered nearly 40 auto dealers to stop running allegedly deceptive ads about the federal "Cash for Clunkers" program. Cuomo contends the dealerships misled consumers into believing certain cars qualified for the trade-in rebate by omitting eligibility requirements. But it's just another day in the war on advertising, say lawyers who defend advertisers."

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on August 17, 2009 (boomark / email).