Contracts

Following pay changes with Idaho public defender’s office, agency saw more than 1,000 withdrawals

Updated: Recent Idaho public defender pay rate changes led to many counsel heading for the exits, and the Idaho State Bar issued a formal ethics opinion due to concerns. It recognizes financial hardships can cause conflicts in legal representation but notes that counsel cannot leave a case without the court’s approval.

Nov 13, 2024 9:07 AM CST

Dentons, Boies Schiller call lawsuit claims against them ‘literally incoherent’ and ‘utterly implausible’

Dentons and Boies Schiller Flexner are asking a New York City federal judge to toss a racketeering lawsuit against them in legal briefs that deride the allegations by its former clients as “literally incoherent” and “utterly implausible.”

Nov 5, 2024 3:27 PM CST

4th Circuit upholds $1M sanction for law firm that tried to ‘sabotage’ federal court’s authority

Updated: A federal judge had inherent power to impose a $1.05 million sanction against a national law firm for asking state courts to order an end to U.S. district court litigation, a federal appeals court ruled last week.

Oct 29, 2024 3:50 PM CDT

Your lawsuit against X is required to be filed in Texas, according to new terms of service

Lawsuits filed against X, formerly known as Twitter, have to be filed in federal court for the Northern District of Texas or in state court in the state’s Tarrant County, according to the social media company’s new terms of service.

Oct 23, 2024 9:11 AM CDT

With attorney fees, Gibson Dunn must pay over $725K to ex-partner who had earned $60M

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has agreed to pay a former partner more than $140,000 in attorney fees unless the amount is overturned in an appeal of his much higher arbitration award.

Sep 19, 2024 9:57 AM CDT

Did you read the small print? ‘Infinite’ arbitration clauses are on the rise

Companies tend to prefer arbitration over a jury trial for a number of reasons. In arbitration, there’s usually a quicker and quieter resolution, more confidentiality, no jury, limited appeal and discovery, and relaxed evidentiary rules.

Sep 6, 2024 11:46 AM CDT

Prosecutors and public defenders strike for higher pay in this California county

Public defenders and prosecutors are among about 250 government attorneys who went on strike Monday in California’s Sacramento County following two years without a contract.

Aug 27, 2024 12:31 PM CDT

BigLaw partner was demoted and later told to hang up his spurs, age-bias suit alleges

Fox Rothschild no longer has a mandatory retirement age of 72. But the law firm nonetheless discriminates against older equity partners, a lawsuit alleges, by demoting them, transitioning their role as billing attorney to younger partners, and making them sign renewable one-year contracts.

Jun 3, 2024 1:18 PM CDT

BigLaw firm and client sanctioned nearly $275K after judge sees ‘nasty litigation tactics’

A federal judge in Colorado has ordered Seyfarth Shaw and its client, a subsidiary of the Stryker Corp., to pay nearly $275,000 as an additional sanction for improper discovery tactics.

May 29, 2024 10:16 AM CDT

Dentons and Boies Schiller face $300M racketeering suit after client loses international arbitration

A Massachusetts businessman has filed a $300 million racketeering lawsuit against Dentons and Boies Schiller Flexner alleging that the law firms failed to inform him that his contract to develop a power plant in Senegal, a country in West Africa, was invalid.

May 2, 2024 2:12 PM CDT

How to rid house of leavened products during Passover? Mormon law prof has contracts for that

A professor at the William & Mary Law School was acting as a “friendly gentile” when he helped draft contracts to purchase unused leavened foodstuffs and lease its storage locations from members of another law professor’s synagogue in suburban Philadelphia.

Apr 24, 2024 12:08 PM CDT

4 data security considerations for GCs when engaging contract lawyers

Contract management. Compliance updates. Discovery responses. Intellectual property portfolio management. These rote, often-time-consuming tasks can all be part of an in-house counsel’s day-to-day schedule. The problem? Many can devolve into costly time sinks for a legal department’s salaried talent.

Apr 17, 2024 3:08 PM CDT

Lawyer mistakenly filed ‘verbatim copy’ of opponent’s brief, leading to loss for Romantics band member

A trial court did not abuse its discretion when it required a member of the rock band the Romantics to pay triple damages after his new attorney filed a “verbatim copy” of the opponent’s brief by mistake, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.

Mar 5, 2024 8:20 AM CST

Contracts imposing $50K in liquidated damages for lawyer departures lead to suspension recommendation

The founding partners of Tully Rinckey should each be suspended for 90 days because of employment and separation agreements that restricted departing lawyers’ right to practice, according to an ethics recommendation.

Feb 22, 2024 1:17 PM CST

10 Questions: In crafting a new career, this Texas contracts attorney created a community

The brainchild of Laura Frederick, a former in-house lawyer for Tesla, ContractsCon debuted in 2022. Her path from law practice to entrepreneurship began during the pandemic, and she’s since built a global community of contract law professionals via LinkedIn and created How to Contract, a successful online legal education platform.

Feb 1, 2024 1:10 AM CST