Corporate Law

New Twist in Banana Workers Case, as Dole Lawyer Claims 10-Year Fraud

In startling courtroom contentions today that reportedly received support from one opposing lawyer and the trial judge, an attorney for Dole Fresh Fruit Co. claimed a 10-year fraud underlies at least some allegations that workers on Nicaraguan banana plantations were rendered sterile by exposure to a pesticide there. Lawyers in…

Apr 21, 2009 11:23 PM CDT

Former Employees Say Insurer May Have Paid Their Lawyer $5 Million

Did a major insurer make a $5 million payment to a law firm representing former employees against the company? That is the question that may soon finally be answered after more than five years of litigation between Prudential and some of the 359 employees who filed an earlier suit against…

Apr 21, 2009 12:52 AM CDT

2 Pizza Workers, Via YouTube, Allegedly Put Brand at Risk, Now Face Charges

It was just a stupid prank, apparently, rather than a video of actual food preparation. But a clip obviously intended to provoke an “Oh, gross!” response reportedly did just that after it was posted on YouTube—viewed approximately a million times—and became the subject of extensive comments on Twitter. Now the…

Apr 18, 2009 12:59 AM CDT

Company Won’t Reinstate In-House Lawyer; How Much Will That Add to $1.6M Award?

In an unusual decision that could be persuasive in other courts, a Wisconsin appellate panel has recognized the power of an arbitration panel to order reinstatement of an in-house lawyer in an employment discrimination case. Although Menard Inc. argued that it could not be required to employ legal counsel not…

Apr 15, 2009 9:10 PM CDT

BigLaw ‘Has Changed Forever,’ Says Womble Carlyle, Cutting Pay 10 Percent

Imposing a roughly 10-percent pay cut that will be less for some and more for others, a well-known 530-attorney Southeast and Atlantic regional firm says there has been a sea change in corporate law practice. “The world of large law firms … has changed forever,” says Womble Carlyle Sandridge &…

Apr 14, 2009 11:06 PM CDT

AG to Sue NY Law Firm, Charges Process Co. Over Alleged ‘Sewer Service’

The New York attorney general says he will sue a Long Island law firm and has already sued a major process-serving company in the state, contending that they were involved in multiple cases of “sewer service” in which parties to litigation were never properly served with court filings. Additionally, Attorney…

Apr 14, 2009 5:32 PM CDT

Lawyer Predicts ‘Miranda Warnings’ by Law Firms in Corporate Probes

A judge’s recent decision to refer Irell & Manella to the California State Bar for an ethics probe has corporate lawyers speculating it will lead to more detailed warnings by law firms conducting corporate probes. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney said Irell had conflicts of interest when it represented both…

Apr 13, 2009 4:40 PM CDT

Legal-Fees Info to be Returned, But Law Firm ‘Sandbox’ Spat Continues

Updated: Two well-known law firms have partially resolved what one participant has termed a “sandbox” dispute over a PowerPoint presentation about legal fees paid by Sherwin-Williams Co. in lead paint litigation. But harsh words continue on both sides. In an agreed order (PDF) yesterday, Motley Rice, which had somehow obtained…

Apr 10, 2009 8:21 PM CDT

PowerPoint Presentation Sparked Jones Day-Motley Rice ‘Sandbox’ Spat

Updated: It now appears that it wasn’t merely a document but a PowerPoint presentation on legal costs allegedly purloined by an unknown person from a 2004 Sherwin-Williams board meeting that is at issue in a contentious dispute between Jones Day and Motley Rice. Motley Rice, which represents the state of…

Apr 10, 2009 12:59 AM CDT

BigLaw Aided ‘March of Dunces’ That Destroyed Economy, Yale Law Grad Says

Amidst all the fingerpointing over the dismal state of the economy, excessive executive bonuses and the billable hour, the obvious hasn’t yet been stated, a well-known Yale law grad writes. “The whole system is warped,” says Elizabeth Wurtzel in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal. In addition to…

Apr 9, 2009 9:14 PM CDT

DuPont Shifts From BigLaw Model, Hires More Smaller Firms

Not that long ago, the in-house legal department at DuPont Co. was implementing an efficiency strategy concerning outside counsel that called for the corporation to use a smaller number of large global law firms. But now, DuPont—which is viewed by other corporations as a bellwether on legal cost-cutting—is reversing course,…

Apr 7, 2009 12:51 AM CDT

Minority-Owned Midwest Firm Expands to LA and Phoenix

Expanding on earlier growth, a 20-year-old minority-owned commercial law firm based in Milwaukee is adding 10 lawyers and opening new offices in Los Angeles and Phoenix. Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan is essentially acquiring a nine-lawyer minority firm in Los Angeles, Atkins & Evans, to open its office there, according to…

Apr 6, 2009 10:14 PM CDT

Barnes Firm Raids Bryan Cave to Open Atlanta Office, Plans More Hiring

A more than 500-attorney Indianapolis-based law firm is opening its first office in the Southeast, raiding two partners from the Atlanta office of Bryan Cave Powell Goldstein to establish a foothold in the city. Although Barnes & Thornburg is opening its Atlanta outpost with Stuart Johnson and Jason Bernstein, it…

Apr 6, 2009 9:43 PM CDT

As Unpaid Bills Add Up, Some Lawyers Work for Free

When a tech client of attorney David West went bankrupt two years ago, it left Fenwick & West with an unpaid legal bill of $125,534.16. But that’s far from the worst such problem those in the profession are facing, as they strive to strike a balance between collecting their fees…

Apr 3, 2009 7:33 PM CDT

Appeals Court Raps ‘Sophie’s Choice’ Given NJ Plaintiff and Caregiver

A New Jersey judge erred when he gave a plaintiff a “Sophie’s Choice” between pursuing her sex discrimination case against a former employer and caring for her mortally ill 89-year-old father in Florida, a state appellate court has held. It reinstated the case brought by plaintiff Linda Pangione, which Ocean…

Apr 2, 2009 11:55 PM CDT