Bankruptcy Law

Hewitt Asked to Pay $9M for Error in Enron Settlement Payout

Enron’s successor company is asking a federal judge to order the human resources firm Hewitt Associates to pay $9.15 million to cover an error in settlement payouts to former Enron employees. Employees in Enron retirement plans are due a settlement of $218 million. When the first $89 million payment was…

Jan 25, 2008 1:12 PM CST

Citigroup Rolls Dice on Trial in Enron Creditor Litigation

It wasn’t just Enron Corp. that was responsible for the massive fraud that wiped out the once-mighty energy trader, creditors contend. Nearly a dozen banks also participated, they argue. And, of the 11 financial institutions accused of wrongdoing, 10 have settled for a total of $1.73 billion, upping the ante…

Jan 23, 2008 4:54 PM CST

January Remains a Popular Month for Lateral Hires

Law firms often make lateral hires in January after the books have been closed for the previous year, and 2008 is no different. Lawyers with practices in bankruptcy and corporate finance appear particularly popular as lateral hires, the National Law Journal reports. And bankruptcy lawyers will remain in demand in…

Jan 23, 2008 1:57 PM CST

Examiner Raps O’Melveny, Firm Apologizes for Discovery ‘Mishap’

O’Melveny & Myers says a discovery “mishap” is to blame for 700,000-plus missing e-mails in the bankruptcy of subprime lender New Century Financial Corp. The law firm apologized for the error even as it faced additional criticism from a bankruptcy examiner who said the law firm had not been forthright…

Jan 23, 2008 12:46 PM CST

BigLaw Masses Troops in Subprime Feeding Frenzy

A growing tsunami of investigations, class actions and bankruptcies resulting from the U.S. mortgage meltdown has created a business boom in some BigLaw practice areas. “Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom alone says it has roughly 100 lawyers across the firm working on subprime-mortgage fallout for clients such as Wells…

Jan 18, 2008 9:48 PM CST

Duke Rape Prosecutor’s Bankruptcy May Not End His Money Problems

The punishment continues for a disbarred North Carolina prosecutor who lost his job and his law license after pursuing a meritless rape case against three members of the Duke University men’s lacrosse team. Mike Nifong filed today for bankruptcy against creditors, including the three athletes found by the state attorney…

Jan 15, 2008 9:24 PM CST

Bankruptcy Judges Question Countrywide Errors, Evidence

Bankruptcy judges are criticizing the business practices of Countrywide Financial, part of the legal headaches that Bank of America Corp. will be taking on when it acquires the troubled lender. Improper charges and suspect evidence have gotten the attention of judges overseeing the bankruptcies of Countrywide borrowers. The company is…

Jan 14, 2008 12:48 PM CST

Big Attorney Fees for O’Melveny in New Century Legal Woes

The government probe and bankruptcy of subprime lender New Century Financial Corp. is translating into some big legal fees. O’Melveny & Myers has earned more than $12.5 million in six months for restructuring work and representation of the company in an investigation by the Justice Department and the Securities and…

Jan 11, 2008 1:19 PM CST

AIG Unit Agrees to Pay $42.5M for Environmental Cleanup

A subsidiary of American International Group Inc. has agreed to pay $42.5 million to clean up environmental contamination at four industrial facilities that had been owned by Fruit of the Loom. The money will be used to clean up four sites in Michigan, New Jersey and Tennessee, the Associated Press…

Jan 10, 2008 6:51 PM CST

Judge Calls Countrywide ‘Re-Created’ Letters a Smoking Gun

A lawyer for a borrower being pursued by Countrywide Financial Corp. had a question: Why did a letter purportedly sent in September 2003 have an office address for him that he didn’t move to until after that date? The letter was one of three supposedly notifying the client of Kenneth…

Jan 8, 2008 5:44 PM CST

Trustee Says Pillsbury Should Return $4M Fee

A bankruptcy trustee is recommending that Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman be forced to return about $4 million in fees to a former client because of an undisclosed conflict of interest. Trustee Dennis Connolly also suggested that the San Jose bankruptcy court delay setting an amount so it could consider interest…

Dec 12, 2007 12:16 PM CST

Irked Client Publicly Zings Counsel

Apparently unsuccessful in an effort to contest a $342,000 legal bill in court, the owners of a bankrupt construction company have taken their complaints over the way a big Buffalo, N.Y., law firm handled their case to the court of public opinion. A billboard, a website, flyers distributed to area…

Dec 7, 2007 1:04 AM CST

Judges Crack Down on Law Firm ‘Foreclosure Mills’

Judges across the country are noticing deficiencies in foreclosure suits, some of them filed by law firms that handle thousands of cases a year. Such high-volume “foreclosure mills” typically receive a set amount for each case; the pay in Ohio, for example, is $1,000 a case, the Wall Street Journal…

Nov 30, 2007 2:51 PM CST

Bankruptcy Leader Jumps from Weil to Dewey

The co-head of the restructuring practice at pre-eminent bankruptcy firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges has jumped to Dewey & LeBoeuf. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) calls the move by New York attorney Martin Bienenstock “a major shake-up in the bankruptcy world.” Bienenstock told the newspaper he accepted the offer…

Nov 30, 2007 12:10 PM CST

More Bankruptcy Trustees Target Law Firms

More law firms are facing lawsuits by bankruptcy trustees who claim lawyers helped companies hide financial problems. Such suits “have largely replaced shareholder class actions in the nightmares of law firm managing partners,” the New York Law Journal reports. “These suits are often better funded, better lawyered and, with the…

Nov 27, 2007 12:11 PM CST