Contracts

Judge Calls for End to Lawyers’ Obfuscation, Suit’s ‘Madness’

A federal judge in New York has called for an end to the “madness” caused by lawyers arguing over a contract to buy shares in a marketing company that installs supermarket kiosks. U.S. District Judge William Pauley III ruled that a Hong Kong investment company breached a contract to buy…

Jan 28, 2008 2:52 PM CST

Debtor Sues Opposing Law Firm for Filing in Wrong Court

By filing suit in the wrong location, a Chicago law firm violated the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a downstate Illinois man contends. Friedman and Wexler filed suit in Cook County, where the law firm is located, rather than Madison County, where plaintiff Robert Harris and the company to…

Jan 25, 2008 8:15 PM CST

1st Legal Outsourcing Summit: Good Contracts Needed in Growing Industry

A first-time summit in New York City last week of Indian legal process outsourcing companies and their counsel shows how the industry—which could result in some $4 billion in foreign legal work being sent to India by 2015—is growing. However, some issues in the fledgling industry remain unresolved, such as…

Jan 22, 2008 7:30 PM CST

Lawyer for ‘Judge Alex’ Faces Tough Time in Supreme Court

The lawyer for a TV judge “seemed stunned and weary” after a tough U.S. Supreme Court argument yesterday, his seventh appearance before the court, Legal Times reports. Eric Brunstad Jr. has developed an impressive Supreme Court practice from his offices at Bingham McCutchen in Hartford, Conn., but the justices “hammered…

Jan 15, 2008 4:40 PM CST

Judge Threatens to Halt Democratic Debate Over Kucinich Exclusion

NBC News says it will appeal a Las Vegas judge’s ruling requiring Dennis Kucinich to appear in a Democratic debate this evening. Judge Charles Thompson has vowed to issue an injunction blocking the debate if the network doesn’t allow Kucinich to participate, the Associated Press reports. The network wants to…

Jan 15, 2008 2:35 PM CST

Oops. Lost Passbook Costs Utah Lawyer Up to $832,000

Back in the day when a savings account required a passbook in which the bank manually entered each deposit and withdrawal, a client of Ogden, Utah, attorney George B. Handy established one that named Handy as trustee and deposited $150,000. Then the client died in a plane crash. More than…

Jan 11, 2008 11:00 PM CST

Lawyer Says Subprime Suits Could Be ‘Bigger Than Enron’

A lawyer at a well-known British firm says a wave of lawsuits being filed over subprime mortgage issues could eventually exceed the scope of the litigation over the infamous Enron debacle. “In terms of the potential numbers of lawsuits, the subprime crisis could be bigger than Enron,” Tim House, an…

Jan 11, 2008 4:49 PM CST

N.H. City Says Attorney Malpractice Nixed Insurance

A New Hampshire municipality has sued its former legal counsel for malpractice, contending that he not only failed to appropriately advise the city of Claremont of the legal risks associated with firing the city tax assessor in 2000 but also failed to advise the city that the tax assessor, Steve…

Jan 7, 2008 9:17 PM CST

Sperm Donor Not Liable for Child Support, Court Rules

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that a private sperm donor does not have to pay child support to a woman who promised he would have no financial obligations as a result of the arrangement. Joel McKiernan had been paying up to $1,500 a month to support twin boys born…

Jan 3, 2008 4:53 PM CST

Due to Copyright Law Generation Gap, Future Protection is Murky

Once upon a time, as far as relative old-timers at least in their 40s and 50s are concerned, many Americans felt that certain obvious copyright violations were not only illegal but wrong. A subsequent sea change in technology, though, has not only made the moral issue of copying much murkier,…

Dec 20, 2007 11:28 PM CST

Ohio Supreme Court: Surrogate Mom Has No Parental Right to Triplets

In a cutting-edge case that has spotlighted the gap between traditional family law principles and state-of-the-art medical options for dealing with infertility, a Pennsylvania woman who carried triplets to term as a surrogate mother for an Ohio man has been found to have no parental rights over the infants. Because…

Dec 20, 2007 10:49 PM CST

Former Michigan Law Prof Fights Alleged Gay Bias

A cutting-edge breach-of-contract case brought by a former law professor denied tenure at the University of Michigan could have an impact on gay bias claims and education law nationwide, depending on its outcome. Because there is no law in Michigan protecting employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,…

Dec 20, 2007 8:09 PM CST

Already Rich, Bride Seeks More From Soon-To-Be Ex-Husband #4

In a case that may change the way antenuptial agreements are handled in the U.K., a wealthy British bride who had essentially separated from her fourth husband within six months of their marriage is seeking to invalidate a premarital pact that each keeps his or her own assets in a…

Dec 20, 2007 4:33 PM CST

Calif. Sues Janitor Cos., Claims ‘Flagrant’ Independent Contractor Abuses

In an apparent escalation of an ongoing effort to police companies that misclassify employees as independent contractors, two California agencies have announced joint litigation against two janitorial companies that send workers to restaurants in multiple counties. In the first lawsuits resulting from a coordinated effort by Jerry Brown, the state…

Dec 20, 2007 1:35 AM CST

No $12M, No Problem: Law Firms OK $174M Contingent Fee

Last year, Alaska officials weren’t successful when they sought $12 million from the state legislature to fund potential litigation against a former Alaska actuary. But that didn’t prove to be a significant roadblock to bringing suit—Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison and a local law firm agreed to take the…

Dec 18, 2007 11:59 PM CST