Corporate Law

Heller Seeks Growth, Loses Lawyers

Has Heller Ehrman’s growth strategy backfired? That’s the question posed by the Recorder, which reports that the firm’s corporate group in San Diego lost nearly half its lawyers in the last six weeks. Lawyers acquired in 2003 now dominate the corporate group. “What I understand is that there was an…

May 11, 2007 1:14 PM CDT

Jury Gets Splenda Ad Case

Splenda’s slogan that it’s “made from sugar so it tastes like sugar” is the subject of a civil suit that goes to a jury today. Equal argues that consumers are confused by the slogan and it amounts to false advertising, according to the Legal Intelligencer. Splenda claims it’s true because…

May 11, 2007 12:22 PM CDT

Options Plea Deal: Lawyer to be Jailed, Pay $52M

The former top lawyer at software maker Comverse Technology Inc. was sentenced today to a year and a day in jail and ordered to pay $52 million for his role in a stock options backdating scheme. A federal district court judge in Brooklyn imposed this sentence on William Sorin in…

May 10, 2007 6:58 PM CDT

Ex-Hollinger Exec Tells of Plan to Divert Cash

A senior executive at Hollinger International testified in Chicago yesterday that he and media magnate Conrad Black plotted to divert noncompete payments to top company executives, including themselves. Star witness F. David Radler, the ex-president and COO of Hollinger, said the plan to funnel money through a Canadian company was…

May 9, 2007 3:33 PM CDT

A Legal Victory for Ex-NYSE Chairman

The former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange has won a significant legal ruling in his fight to keep a $190 million pay package. The suit, filed by then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in 2004, had claimed that Richard Grasso’s accumulated compensation was unreasonable and that he did not disclose…

May 9, 2007 2:53 PM CDT

Lawsuits Trade Accusations in Dow Firings

Two officials fired by Dow Chemical sued the company yesterday, claiming they were defamed by claims they were improperly involved in third-party discussions about a company takeover. Dow has in turn sued the men, executive vice president Romeo Kreinberg and senior adviser J. Pedro Reinhard, for alleged breach of fiduciary…

May 9, 2007 2:31 PM CDT

Trial Lawyers Decry Judge’s $65M Pants Suit

Often a target itself of claims by big business that it promotes frivolous litigation, a well-known American trial lawyer group is now pointing the finger at someone else. A Washington, D.C., judge who reportedly filed a $65 million lawsuit against his local dry cleaner for temporarily misplacing his suit pants…

May 8, 2007 7:43 PM CDT

GC Fired As Company Probes Backdating

Another backdating probe, another general counsel gets the boot. But in the case of Matthew Gloss, dismissed as general counsel of Marvell Semiconductor Inc., it’s not clear if his firing was because of backdating, according to the Recorder. A press release noting the departure of Gloss and others at the…

May 8, 2007 12:14 PM CDT

Lawyer: Sarbanes-Oxley Misused Against Me

A Greenwich, Conn., lawyer charged with destroying evidence under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act says he has a clear conscience. Prosecutors claim Philip Russell destroyed a computer containing child pornography, owned by the music director for a church he represented, the Greenwich Time reports. He has pleaded not guilty to destruction of…

May 7, 2007 4:40 PM CDT

No Docs, But Big-Name Lawyer OKs $200 Million

A renowned Chicago lawyer and former Illinois governor testified yesterday that he approved $200 million in payments as a corporate director and audit committee chair without documentary support. In his second day of cross-examination yesterday in the trial of press baron Conrad Black and other executives accused of participating in…

May 3, 2007 7:42 PM CDT

Tort Reform: Chamber vs. Trial Lawyers

Battling press releases today between two arch-enemies in the legal arena contend that the U.S. does, and does not, have a legal system in critical need of so-called tort reform. Weighing in on the side of further restrictions on the right of individual Americans to sue big corporations for legal…

Apr 25, 2007 10:42 PM CDT

Surprise Statement, Gutsy Defense in Apple Case

The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports that a public statement by Apple’s former CFO could complicate matters for Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Fred Anderson says he warned Jobs that the company would have to take a charge against earnings if it backdated stock options. The Securities and Exchange Commission…

Apr 25, 2007 12:46 PM CDT

Battle of CEOs Over Warner Music Deal

The former CEO of Simon & Schuster has sued Edgar Bronfman Jr. saying the businessman backed out of an oral deal to pay him for help negotiating the $2.6 billion purchase of Warner Music Group, the Los Angeles Times Reports. Richard Snyder seeks $100 million in the suit filed yesterday…

Apr 24, 2007 5:52 PM CDT

‘Girls Gone Wild’ Founder Gets 35 Days in Jail

The founder of the “Girls Gone Wild” video company pleaded guilty to criminal contempt yesterday for failing to meet a settlement deadline. Joe Francis was fined $5,000 and sentenced to 35 days in jail, the Los Angeles Times reports. Francis wiped away tears as he apologized to the court for…

Apr 24, 2007 5:13 PM CDT

SEC Options Backdating Suit for Ex-Apple GC?

A former general counsel for Apple Inc. may be sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for her role in allegedly backdating two stock options grants to company executives, according to her counsel, the Bloomberg news service reports. The SEC will likely sue Nancy Heinen this week, according to her…

Apr 23, 2007 5:53 PM CDT