9th Circuit Court

French Judge Participating in U.S. Homicide Investigation

Stymied by the puzzling stabbing death of a 36-year-old French citizen, those in charge of the San Francisco investigation have turned for help to French authorities. A French investigator has been helping for several months, and a French judge will soon hear evidence from witnesses in federal court, reports the…

Jun 10, 2008 4:24 PM CDT

Lawyer Bans Opponent from Hotel in Hard-Fought IP Case

Concerned that sensitive documents might be delivered to the wrong legal counsel, a corporate client in a hard-fought federal case reportedly contracted with the hotel at which its own attorney was staying not to allow lawyers or staff from the opposing side to stay there, too. Then, when heavy-hitting Los…

Jun 9, 2008 8:46 PM CDT

Ex-Broadcom CEO Indicted in Options Backdating—and Drug—Case

Federal indictments unsealed today may shed some light on why billionaire Henry Nicholas III reportedly was seen hanging out in a California courthouse this week and last week, awaiting possible charges in the hope of reducing potential bail restrictions. In addition to being charged with conspiracy and securities fraud concerning…

Jun 5, 2008 7:46 PM CDT

Billionaire Waits at Courthouse for Possible Broadcom Indictment

Ordinarily, when a major corporate figure is about to be indicted, prosecutors notify his lawyers so he can turn himself in rather than be arrested and paraded past media photographers in a “perp walk.” But the relationship between federal prosecutors and lawyers for billionaire Henry Nicholas III, the former CEO…

Jun 4, 2008 5:24 PM CDT

Brocade Stock Options Backdating Bill: $160M, Biggest So Far

Brocade Communications Systems Inc. has agreed to pay $160 million to settle a class action over stock options backdating in the biggest such settlement so far in a series of similar cases against other corporations. It must still be approved by the court before it is final. The settlement follows…

Jun 2, 2008 9:50 PM CDT

Billionaire Olenicoff’s Plea Docs Describe Tax Evasion Techniques

Recent court filings concerning a tax evasion plea deal by billionaire Igor Olenicoff may cast a brighter light on similar efforts by less-wealthy individuals to evade U.S. income tax. Filings in federal court in Santa Ana, Calif., show the real estate magnate had accounts with Barclays Bank in the Bahamas,…

May 30, 2008 11:18 PM CDT

Feds Seek 33 Months for Melvyn Weiss, Former Milberg Partner Asks for 18

A federal probation office report is recommending that Melvyn Weiss be sentenced to a 33-month prison term on Monday for his admitted role in a secret payments scheme to class action clients. It allegedly also involved the high-profile plaintiffs securities law firm at which he was formerly a name partner.…

May 27, 2008 11:29 PM CDT

Claimed Calif. Land Grant Scheme Scams 400-Plus Homeowners

Authorities say more than 400 struggling California homeowners, many of them Spanish-speaking, were tricked into paying up to $10,000 for worthless “land grants” and other bogus measures claimed to provide protection from foreclosure. Four individuals have been arrested and a fifth is being sought in a case that involves over…

May 27, 2008 5:01 PM CDT

9th Circuit Reinstates Challenge to ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

A federal appeals court is allowing an Air Force nurse to challenge the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy under a standard that makes her case easier to prove. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that the government would have to show its policy on gays in…

May 22, 2008 11:30 AM CDT

Patent Holding Company on the Defensive in Attorney Fee Dispute

A patent holding company that unsuccessfully sued Palm and other defendants is now on the defensive, as Palm pursues attorney fees awarded by a judge who questioned the holding company’s pretrial investigation and discovery conduct. In an effort to recover the awarded fees, Palm has filed a motion seeking to…

May 21, 2008 10:41 AM CDT

Brother of Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski: How I Dealt With His Guilt

When Ted Kaczynski said he was too busy to come visit his younger brother in 1986, Dave Kaczynski was puzzled. How could his older brother be all that busy, living a hermit’s life, without a steady job, in a small cabin in the Montana wilderness? A decade or so later,…

May 19, 2008 7:41 PM CDT

Friend’s Mom Charged With Fraud Over MySpace Cyberbullying Suicide

Updated: A 49-year-old Missouri woman accused of helping to concoct a fictitious MySpace account used in a cyberbullying campaign that allegedly drove a neighbor’s child to suicide was indicted today by a federal jury in Southern California. Lori Drew is charged with three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization…

May 15, 2008 9:36 PM CDT

PI-to-Stars Anthony Pellicano Guilty in Dirty-Tricks Litigation Case

Updated: Private eye Anthony Pellicano and four co-defendants were all found guilty today by a federal jury in Southern California in a racketeering, fraud and conspiracy case that had attracted worldwide media attention because of its star-studded witness lineup. It had also been watched with interest by the legal community…

May 15, 2008 8:58 PM CDT

Judge Refuses to Dismiss Countrywide Shareholder Suit

A California federal judge has refused to dismiss a shareholder lawsuit against directors and officers of Countrywide Financial Corp. Judge Mariana Pfaelzer ruled Tuesday that confidential witness accounts cited in the complaint were credible and suggested “a widespread company culture that encouraged employees to push mortgages through without regard to…

May 15, 2008 10:58 AM CDT

Founders & Gen’l Counsel Sued By SEC in Broadcom Options Backdating Case

Broadcom Corp.’s two founders, its general counsel and a former chief financial officer were all named as defendants today in a civil complaint filed over options backdating by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in federal court in California. The four “perpetrated a scheme from 1998 to 2003 to fraudulently…

May 14, 2008 9:08 PM CDT