3 Ruden McClosky Partners in Miami to Form Own Firm After 20 Staff Layoffs

Three partners in the dwindling Miami office of Ruden McClosky are leaving the firm at the end of the month to start their own law partnership, including bankruptcy and creditors’ rights practice group chair Lawrence Gordich. An associate is also leaving, and a fourth partner has accepted an in-house counsel…

Mar 26, 2010 6:29 PM CDT

Dang Gummit! Law Prof Uses ‘Machine Gun’ Student Grilling Method on Wall Street

In her quest for a new consumer financial protection agency, Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren speaks with the twang of her native Oklahoma and the zeal of a hard-nosed crusader. “Dang gummit, somebody has got to stand up on behalf of middle-class families!” she told the New York Times…

Mar 26, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Stepkids Sue Lawyer’s Widow Over Alleged $1.4M Trust Investment with Bernard Madoff

The widow of a prominent New York City lawyer has been sued by two of his children over the way she allegedly invested the $1.4 million trust fund Howard Squadron established for his family under his estate plan. Anne Squadron put all of the money into a single account—with Bernard…

Mar 23, 2010 11:30 PM CDT

Supreme Court Rules for Student Seeking Discharge of Loan Debt

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on behalf of a litigant seeking to discharge the interest on his student loans in bankruptcy. In a unanimous opinion, the court said the bankruptcy court could discharge the debt even though the former trade school student, Francisco Espinosa, had failed to allege undue…

Mar 23, 2010 3:00 PM CDT

5-Lawyer Edwards Angell Team Doubles Bankruptcy Group at Midsize Sullivan Firm

A five-lawyer team’s move from Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge to Sullivan & Worcester has doubled the size of the bankruptcy practice at the Boston-based midsize firm. Heading the incoming group are partners Jeanne Darcey, who served as co-chair of the restructuring and insolvency department at her former firm, and…

Mar 17, 2010 6:29 PM CDT

Lehman Used Linklaters Opinion to Justify Aggressive Accounting, Report Says

Updated: Jenner & Block chairman Anton Valukas has released a 2,200-page report on the collapse of Lehman Brothers that details the investment bank’s use of an accounting device dubbed a “Repo 105” to keep debt levels off the books. Lehman was unable to find a U.S. law firm that would…

Mar 12, 2010 3:04 PM CST

Another $2.9M in Law Fees OK’d in Heller Bankruptcy While Employees Wait on $6M

A bankruptcy court judge from the Northern District of California has approved another $2.9 million in fees for work done on the Heller Ehrman bankruptcy in the last five months of 2009. Pachulski Stang Ziel & Jones, which represents the estate, collected $800,000; Lovitt & Hannan, which is investigating who…

Mar 10, 2010 10:48 PM CST

Supreme Court Rules 2005 Law Applies to Lawyer Bankruptcy Advice

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that lawyers qualify as debt-relief agencies under a 2005 law that bars such agencies from advising clients to “incur more debt” in contemplation of bankruptcy. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the majority, SCOTUSblog reports. Her opinion (PDF) reads the law narrowly, saying the…

Mar 8, 2010 4:12 PM CST

Bankruptcy Trustee Alleges Orrick Partner Helped Divert Debtor Money

A bankruptcy trustee’s suit alleges a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe conspired with four former executives of an ailing mortgage lender to divert assets to a new company. The partner, Karen Dempsey, is accused of helping Thornburg Mortgage executives use the lender’s money to fund the new, secret business…

Mar 5, 2010 1:08 PM CST

Bankruptcy Filings Up 31%

The number of bankruptcy filings in the federal courts has been on the the rise for years and jumped 31.9 percent in 2009. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts released data Tuesday that shows that bankruptcies filed in the 12-month period ending December 31, 2009 totaled 1,473,675, up from…

Mar 2, 2010 3:09 PM CST

Repayment Plan for Madoff Victims Puts Total Ponzi Scheme Loss at $20B

Victims of Bernard Madoff’s stunning Ponzi scheme argued that they should be reimbursed based on the balances shown in their investment statements for his purported hedge fund. But U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland sided with trustee Irving Picard, agreeing that investors’ losses should be calculated simply by adding up the…

Mar 1, 2010 7:41 PM CST

Real Estate Realities

Mar 1, 2010 11:10 AM CST

Weil Gotshal Clocked $300K a Day on Lehman; Total Bill Now Nears $150M

As law firms struggled in a difficult economy last year, Weil Gotshal & Manges had the advantage not only of being a big name in a hot practice area but having a blockbuster client. The firm has billed some $300,000 a day on the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy case, racking up…

Feb 25, 2010 8:22 PM CST

Judge to Compel 2 Rothstein Firm Lawyers to Turn Over Computer Passwords

A judge overseeing the bankruptcy of the dissolving South Florida law firm at the center of a claimed $7 billion Ponzi scheme says he will order two former partners to turn over their passwords to a secure offsite e-mail storage system. Granting a request by trustee Herbert Stettin, U.S. Bankruptcy…

Feb 24, 2010 7:58 PM CST

Trustee Sues Rothstein Partner for $10M, Alleges Charges for Jewelry, Home Repairs & Reptiles

In at least the third such lawsuit filed against a partner of the South Florida law firm at the center of ex-attorney Scott Rothstein’s reported $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme, a bankruptcy trustee is seeking seven-figure reimbursement from Stuart Rosenfeldt. However, the suit against the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler name partner seeks…

Feb 11, 2010 11:31 PM CST