Business Development

Firm That Made Job Offer to Presiding Judge Not Liable for Damages

A New Jersey Appellate Division judge dismissed legal malpractice and deprivation of due process counts against a firm who offered a job to a judge before he ruled in which the firm was the prevailing party. The suit was filed against Herten, Burstein, Sheridan, Cevasco, Bottinelli, Litt & Harz and…

Mar 13, 2010 12:21 AM CST

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

Lawyers for 9-11 Responders Would Take One-Third Under Settlement

Rescue and cleanup workers at the destroyed World Trade Center site have reached a settlement that creates a compensation system similar to the one established for the families of the victims of the Sept. 11 attack. The settlement will be paid by an insurance company funded by the federal government…

Mar 12, 2010 1:17 PM CST

‘Slayer’s Statute’ Indictments Dismissed Against Defense Lawyers

The Georgia Supreme court dismissed indictments last week against two lawyers who accepted payment from their client. The trouble was that their defense client, Debra Post, eventually pleaded guilty to murdering her husband but paid them with proceeds from his estate and life insurance policy. And under Georgia’s “Slayer’s Statute,”…

Mar 11, 2010 1:57 AM 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

Kaye Scholer Will Pay Opponent’s Legal Fees After Judge Blasts Pleading

Kaye Scholer has agreed to pay an opponent’s legal fees after a Florida bankruptcy judge criticized the law firm for trying to “score a litigation point” in its pleadings. The law firm represents Bank of America in a foreclosure action against a Miami condominium developer, the Wall Street Journal (sub.…

Mar 10, 2010 12:59 PM CST

Name Partner Says Split Over Alternative Fees Partly Prompted Decision to Leave

A former name partner at Halleland Lewis Nilan & Johnson says he left the Minnesota law firm partly because of a dispute over alternative fees. Keith Halleland, a co-founder of 50-lawyer Halleland Lewis, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune he advocated alternatives to billable hours, partly spurring his decision to form…

Mar 9, 2010 3:51 PM CST

Harvard Law Prof Nesson on the Hook for Motion Cost in Downloading Trial

Some pro bono litigation could prove costly for Harvard law professor Charles Nesson. Nesson led the defense for graduate student Joel Tenenbaum, who was ordered to pay $675,000 for unlawfully downloading 30 songs on the Internet. Now Nesson may be on a hook for some of the record companies’ legal…

Mar 8, 2010 3:39 PM CST

Greenberg Traurig Partner Charged With Overbilling Client By $1M to Gain Prestige in Firm

A now-former partner of Greenberg Traurig has been criminally charged with theft for allegedly overbilling a government client in the Chicago suburbs by more than $1 million. Mark McCombs, 50, is accused of taking advantage of longstanding professional and personal relationships with officials in Village of Calumet Park and charging…

Mar 6, 2010 2:23 AM CST

Lower Legal Fees in Defamation Suits Could Dull Luster of UK Libel Mecca

A plan to cut hefty “success” fees paid by losing parties to libel lawyers in Britain could help level the playing field by reducing what the Justice Secretary terms “disproportionate” legal bills. Under the proposal, which is set to take effect in April, fees could be cut as much as…

Mar 3, 2010 11:51 PM CST

US Attorney Files Fair Housing Suit Over Condo Rules Restricting Kids’ Play

Contending that a Massachusetts condominium association violated fair housing law by restricting children’s play activities in outdoor common areas, the local U.S. attorney has filed a federal lawsuit against Stonecleave Village in Methuen and its property managers. The suit claims they violated federal law that prohibits discrimination against families with…

Feb 26, 2010 7:08 PM CST

McGuireWoods Denied Fee in $49M BAR/BRI Settlement; Conflict Cited

A federal judge has ruled that McGuireWoods won’t get any attorney fees in a $49 million antitrust settlement with BAR/BRI parent company West Publishing Corp. U.S. District Judge Manuel Real ruled earlier this month that the law firm is not entitled to $12 million in fees because of a conflict…

Feb 18, 2010 1:50 PM CST

EEOC Hit with $4.5M Legal Fee Award in Losing ‘Pattern & Practice’ Case, Plans Appeal

A federal judge has ordered the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to pay an Iowa trucking company’s $4.56 million legal bill after dismissing what she characterized as a pattern and practice sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the federal agency in 2007 on behalf of female drivers. Although “not unprecedented,” a fee…

Feb 17, 2010 10:56 PM CST

2 Partners of Well-Known Firm Downsize, Now Answer Own Phones at Own Shop

Two seasoned partners have left a well-known Connecticut-based law firm to form their own small practice, where they now answer their own phones, clean the coffeepot and, noting that the mahogany table in the conference room had seen better days, sanded it down and refinished it. Their new firm is…

Feb 17, 2010 7:02 PM CST

By Using Only 2 Law Firms, 1 Co. Cuts Legal Budget 20% and Saves Staff Lawyer Time

Levi Strauss & Co. chopped perhaps 20 percent off its outside counsel costs by having Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Townsend and Townsend and Crew handle all of its global legal work on a flat-fee basis. Although the company doesn’t disclose its total legal budget, comparable companies have budgets topping…

Feb 17, 2010 5:46 PM CST