Legal Research

Selections from National Law Journal Daily Headlines, March 25, 2009

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: NLJ.com, March 25, 2009.

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FROM THE UPCOMING ISSUE  |  Suit accuses Milberg firm, Lerach, other attorneys of allegedly extorting settlement
"The Minnesota developer of Indian-owned casinos has alleged that the Milberg law firm and three lawyers, including jailed attorney William Lerach, extorted an $18 million settlement from the firm in a 2000 securities class action. The suit, filed March 23 in the Minnesota district court, alleged that Lerach, along with his former firm Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes & Lerach, engaged in a racketeering conspiracy to force a securities class settlement from Stratosphere Corp. and Grand Lakes Inc., in a 2000 Nevada class action."

FROM THE UPCOMING ISSUE  |  A veteran employment attorney defends AIG bonuses: they're ethically offensive, but a contract is contract.
"Employment attorney Carolyn Plump says the lawyer in her can't sit by and watch AIG get trashed for actions it may have legally been required to take. This week she spoke to The National Law Journal about the AIG scandal, Congress' response and, in her opinion, the legal profession's duty to preserve the sanctity of the contract."

WEB-ONLY  |  States take aim at deceptive drug ads
"State attorneys general are loading their guns with some potent ammunition against drug companies that run deceptive ads: warning letters from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In recent years, a growing number of states have grabbed hold of FDA warning letters citing unlawful marketing practices and are using them to sue drug companies for false advertising, in some cases winning multimillion-dollar settlements."

WEB-ONLY  |  Nation's two largest state public pension funds ask to be named lead plaintiffs in securities class action against Merrill, BoA
"The nation's two largest state public pension funds asked a federal court in New York to name them lead plaintiffs in a securities class action against Bank of America Corp. for its handling of the merger with Merrill Lynch & Co. The 1.6 million-member California Public Employees' Retirement System and the 833,000-member California State Teachers' Retirement System alleged that Bank of America management misstated or withheld important details of Merrill Lynch's financial condition at the time bank shareholders voted on the merger."

WEB-ONLY  |  Judge refuses to grant mistrial in federal case against two 'fen-phen' attorneys in Kentucky
"The federal trial of two lawyers in Kentucky for allegedly bilking their clients out of millions of dollars from a diet drug class action settlement will continue after a judge refused to grant a mistrial. The threat of a mistrial arose last week when Macon, Ga., attorney O. Hale Almand, who represents defendant attorney William Gallion, became ill again after previous bouts with an unidentified illness that put the trial on hold earlier this month. Federal prosecutors allege that Gallion and another lawyer, co-defendant lawyer Shirley Cunningham Jr., fraudulently took more than their contractual share of the 2001 fen-phen settlement."

WEB-ONLY  |  In a sign of economic times, value of structured settlements jumps by 25%
"In a sign of the economic times, the total value of structured settlements ? in which plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits accept periodic payments rather than one lump sum of cash ? jumped by 25% during the fourth quarter of 2008, compared to the previous quarter, according to statistics from Structured Financial Associates, a structured settlement brokerage firm based in Atlanta."

WEB-ONLY  |  1st Circuit widens copyright protection for factual works
"A recent 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision recently widened copyright protection for factual works such as training or instructional materials. Chief Judge Sandra L. Lynch's March 19 opinion explained how courts should apply the copyright law's originality requirement and exclusion from copyright protection for processes and systems."

COLUMN

FROM THE UPCOMING ISSUE  |  FEDERAL REGULATION
"Throughout his eight years in office, President Bush?s administration encountered strong opposition for not displaying sufficient regulatory activism. With Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, the Obama administration will likely shift to more proactive federal regulation. President Obama?s campaign platform contained a promise to increase regulations, including those by the EPA, OSHA, FDA and CPSC. From his selections for agency heads, it appears that Obama intends to fulfill this promise."

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on March 25, 2009 (boomark / email).