Legal Research

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'Miranda' Dealt One-Two Punch by High Court

The National Law Journal

It has not been a good week for the famed Miranda warning at the hands of the Supreme Court. In a decision Wednesday, the Court established new, more permissive rules for police who want to question a suspect for a second time after the suspect invokes his Miranda rights to remain silent. And in a Tuesday ruling, the justices said that Florida's alternative wording of the warning is acceptable, even though it does not explicitly state that a suspect has a right to have a lawyer present during questioning.

3rd Circuit Upholds Conviction of Former Rite Aid General Counsel

The Legal Intelligencer

The 3rd Circuit has upheld the conviction of Franklin Brown, the former general counsel of Rite Aid, on fraud and obstruction charges in connection with the $1.6 billion accounting scandal that sent half a dozen executives to prison and cut the company's stock price in half. The unanimous three-judge panel rejected Brown's claims that both the prosecutors and judge had engaged in misconduct, and that secretly recorded tapes of his conversation with another executive had been tampered with.

Google Rallies Defenses After Italian Court Convicts Company Execs Over Online Video

The American Lawyer

An Italian criminal court judge has convicted three Google executives, including chief legal officer David Drummond, for footage on the company's now defunct video-sharing platform that prosecutors say violated that country's privacy laws. Though the Google executives don't face any prison time, the verdict still is a huge setback, especially considering the liability precedent it could set in Europe, according to defense attorney Samuel Buffone, who says this is the sort of thing that could "break the Internet."

Toyota Grilled Over Lobbying Efforts, Ties to Regulators

The National Law Journal

Lawmakers fired questions Wednesday at two Toyota executives about whether the company's lobbyists are too cozy with government regulators and whether those relationships slowed the response to complaints about the automaker's safety record. The hearing, the second on Capitol Hill this week, also served as a forum for lawmakers to debate proposals related to the U.S. tort system. One Democrat warned Toyota president Akio Toyoda that the automaker should expect significant losses as a result of products liability lawsuits.

Seyfarth Shaw Plans to Link Merit Pay and Billing Rates for Associates

The National Law Journal

Seyfarth Shaw on Wednesday rolled out more details on how its new merit-based compensation system for associates will work. The new merit levels will be the basis for how much the firm charges clients for associates' legal services, the firm said. The system may be unique in spelling out a link between client billing rates and associate pay, says one consultant. While clients may appreciate knowing what level of service they're paying for, he added that clients may also shy away from hiring the lowest performers.

Judge: Disclosure Obligation in Terror Trial Applies to Top DOJ Officials

New York Law Journal

Prosecutors must produce memos by high-ranking Justice Department officials on the transfers of an accused terrorist because they might explain why he was kept out of the criminal justice system for almost five years, a New York federal judge has ruled. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, in an opinion unsealed Wednesday, ruled on Jan. 21 that the discovery obligations of prosecutors extend to the memos because DOJ officials can rightly be considered part of the "government" within the meaning of Rule 16 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Philadelphia Jury Finds for Wyeth in Hormone Replacement Therapy Case

The Legal Intelligencer

After more than six hours of deliberation, a Philadelphia jury unanimously returned a defense verdict Wednesday in a lawsuit alleging that a hormone replacement therapy drug caused breast cancer in an Indiana woman who died of the disease. The verdict in favor of drugmaker Wyeth came because the jury found a lack of factual causation of Cheryl Foust's disease by her use of the HRT drug Prempro. The defense in the case, however, did not get all of the answers it wanted on the questions presented to the jury.

Coughlin Stoia to Get a New Firm Name as Partners Change Roles

The Recorder

Securities plaintiffs attorney Patrick Coughlin will soon scale back his duties and take his name off the letterhead at San Diego-based Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins. Coughlin will become of counsel at the end of June and will step down from the executive committee. At the same time, the 180-lawyer firm is promoting Michael Dowd to name partner. By the end of March, the firm will go by Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd.

Revenue Plunges 14 Percent for DLA Piper's U.S. Operations

The American Lawyer

DLA Piper's U.S. operations report that gross revenue declined nearly 14 percent in 2009, to just over a billion dollars. Revenue per lawyer and profits per equity partner fell only about 5 percent, due to cuts in the firm's lawyer ranks; DLA laid off 101 U.S. associates last year. Firm Chairman Frank Burch said the firm broadly cut its expenses and improved its balance sheet by increasing its reliance on paid-in partner capital, while continuing to attract high-profile laterals.

Former Client Moves to Disqualify Fish & Richardson From New Patent Case

The Recorder

Patent firm Fish & Richardson did $300,000 worth of patent prosecution work for Openwave Systems from 2000 to 2007, and now Openwave and its lawyers at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius want Fish disqualified from representing Openwave's opponent in what stands to be a much juicier piece of litigation. The conflicts issue is a constant challenge for the few patent boutiques like Fish that have patent prosecution and litigation practices. And it's why most big general practice firms don't have big patent prosecution practices.

Ex-Detroit Mayor Argues He Can't Make Restitution Because 'Burgers and Beer' Aren't Enough

The National Law Journal

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick says there's good reason he can't afford to make a $79,011 restitution payment he owes from a text messaging scandal: He has to maintain a high-class lifestyle for his job. That contention is at the heart of an emergency motion filed this week in an attempt to postpone a probation-violation hearing. Kilpatrick's lawyer contends that Kilpatrick doesn't have the money and that, to earn it, he must "function in the upper echelons of society."

Supreme Court Rules in Case Involving 'Demeanor-Based' Rejection of Juror

Texas Lawyer

The Supreme Court this week reversed a 5th Circuit decision regarding the "demeanor-based" rejection of a potential juror in a death penalty case. The case involves a defense objection under Batson v. Kentucky to the prosecution's peremptory strike of a potential juror because of her "body language." Batson forbids striking potential jurors from a panel solely based on race. The Supreme Court found that the 5th Circuit got it wrong when it looked at Batson and its progeny to arrive at its decision.

Man Held in Courthouse Graffiti Threat Against Judge

The Associated Press

A Pennsylvania man has been arrested on charges he spray-painted a threat against a judge who sentenced him to probation in an assault case. Paul Sirmons was awaiting arraignment Wednesday on charges of vandalism, terroristic threats and criminal mischief.

7th Circuit Worries -- but Not Too Much -- About Insurer Influence in Attorney Fees Case

The National Law Journal

The 7th Circuit reversed two lower court decisions on the awarding of attorney fees to private parties who prevailed over the U.S. government. The court also took a stand for the first time on whether an insurance company's paying for litigation should make a difference in awarding fees. The three cases were brought under the Equal Access to Justice Act, which allows the granting of fees to parties of limited means "unless the court finds that the position of the United States was substantially justified," said the decision.

Judge Finds No Reason to Look for Misconduct in KB Home Case

The National Law Journal

A federal judge refused on Tuesday to look into whether the government committed prosecutorial misconduct in its criminal stock options backdating case against former KB Home Chief Executive Officer Bruce Karatz. Karatz's lawyer, John Keker, asked for an evidentiary hearing after a judge tossed out a similar case against two former Broadcom executives. Calling the allegations in the KB Home case "sheer speculation," U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II said the Broadcom matter has "nothing to do with this case."

Step 2 for Legal Holds: Analyze the Trigger Event

Special to Law.com

Once the first step in implementing an effective written litigation hold is taken and a trigger event to preserve evidence is identified, the organization needs to analyze the implications of the event, say Howett Isaza partner John Isaza and Goldberg Segalla partner John J. Jablonski.

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What Women Want: Law Firm Partnership Details

The American Lawyer

Some women lawyers are angry about law firms' dismissal of a request by the National Association for Law Placement for details about the breakdown of their equity versus nonequity partners. Some believe firms are just protecting billing rates, while others think NALP should push harder.

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Southern Lawyers Don't All Wear Seersucker

Fulton County Daily Report

We don't know The Snark's identity, but we do know The Snark hails from Atlanta. Reaction to recent snow in Atlanta may have played into regional stereotypes, leading The Snark to discuss certain conceptions about Southern lawyers -- including some that are grounded in reality.

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