Legal Research

Selections from National Law Journal Daily Headlines July 29, 2008

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: NLJ.com, July 29, 2008.

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FROM THE UPCOMING ISSUE  |  Retirement plan suits gain in federal appellate courts
"A recent 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision allows former employees who have redeemed retirement accounts to sue the retirement plan administrators for alleged fiduciary breaches that diminished their account payout. The decision also opens the door for more Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases and echoes recent decisions from three other circuits. "

WEB-ONLY  |  Kozinski, facing disciplinary inquiry, to keep low profile at conference
"Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, facing a discipline inquiry over discovery he had sexually explicit photographs on a personal Web site, has scrubbed his public appearances for the circuit conference this week in Sun Valley, Idaho."

WEB-ONLY  |  L.A. files suit against financial institutions, alleging bid rigging of municipal bonds
"The City of Los Angeles recently filed a lawsuit against more than 30 financial institutions accused of participating in an alleged conspiracy to rig bids on municipal bonds, costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. In the suit, the city alleges that financial institutions, including Bank of America, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Wachovia Corp., violated California's antitrust law by colluding with brokers to rig the bidding process for providers of investment vehicles for municipal bonds."

WEB-ONLY  |  McDermott wins bid for attorneys' fees in Muslim inmate case
"McDermott, Will & Emery has won a bid for attorneys' fees and costs stemming from a pro bono case in which it secured the rights of two Muslim inmates to receive special food and prayer privileges while incarcerated. A federal judge in Boston determined that the law firm was entitled to $250,929 for its work in representing two inmates on civil rights claims against the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. "

WEB-ONLY  |  Judge's ordered search of lawyer's office spurs motion to disqualify
"The lawyers for an accused murderer near Dallas have filed a motion to disqualify the judge in the case after prosecutors obtained a search warrant to seize materials allegedly protected under attorney client privilege from one of the lawyer's office."

WEB-ONLY  |  Two openings on Fla. high court draw 50 applications
"Fifty lawyers, judges and law professors representing a wide cross section of the state's legal landscape applied for two open Florida Supreme Court vacancies. The spots now open became available when justices Kenneth Bell and Raoul Cantero resigned earlier this year for family reasons. Two other justices will retire next year, when they hit mandatory retirement age."

WEB-ONLY  |  Hippies, sword-wielding Mongols and the 9th Circuit's image problem
"At the 9th Circuit judical conference, Judge Jay S. Bybee employed visual aids for his speech on the divergence of views on the law between the 9th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court: projecting a slide of sword-wielding Mongol hordes attacking on horseback, he said, 'This is how we appear to the Supreme Court.' For a photo of a colorful band of 1960s hippies, he said, 'But this is how other circuits see us.' The 9th Circuit, widely viewed as the country's most liberal circuit, in recent years has often found itself the most-reversed circuit by the Supreme Court."

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on July 29, 2008 (boomark / email).