States

$81.5 M in Fees Approved

Plaintiffs attorneys were awarded about $81.5 million in attorney fees yesterday following settlement of a case that alleged price fixing of DRAM computer chips. The money will be split among some 40 firms that worked on the case, In Re Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) Litigation, the Recorder reports. The…

Aug 16, 2007 11:54 AM CDT

NY Gun Suit Survives

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the city of New York that claims 15 out-of-state gun sellers engage in retail practices that lead to illegal gun use. U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein of Brooklyn rejected defendants’ argument that the court did not have personal jurisdiction…

Aug 16, 2007 11:35 AM CDT

Great Expectations: Law Clan in 14-Year Estate Battle

Corrected: When Walter L. Green died in 1993, the prominent Prince George’s County jurist, lawyer and businessman left an estate variously estimated as worth between $17 million and $30 million, as well as a detailed 10-page will explaining how to divide it. The basic plan, however, wasn’t particularly complex: after…

Aug 15, 2007 10:57 PM CDT

Gov’t Atty to Put ‘White Hat’ on Targets

A soon-to-be-former New York government regulator plans to switch sides and serve as a consultant helping those targeted by such probes to don a “white hat” and work cooperatively with the federal, state and/or local agency involved. David M. Grandeau, a lawyer known as an aggressive state lobbying regulator, will…

Aug 15, 2007 10:28 PM CDT

Top Va. Tech Payment: $180k Per Death

Settlement amounts were announced today in a plan to compensate victims of the April massacre at Virginia Tech and their estates. Families of the 32 students and faculty shot to death by a troubled student will each be offered $180,000 under the plan, which is funded by donations, according to…

Aug 15, 2007 9:53 PM CDT

Classic Exam Question in Benoit Case: Who Died When?

Most lawyers probably remember a case or two from law school that dealt with the issue of short-term survivors. Estate attorneys often address it by drafting wills that require a brief period of survivorship (perhaps as little as 48 hours or as much as a month) before a beneficiary can…

Aug 15, 2007 9:08 PM CDT

Lawyer Attacks Pit Bulls, Saves Woman

When Paul Geller spotted two pit bulls attacking a pregnant woman walking her small dog in Delray Beach, Fla., this past weekend, he didn’t hesitate. Pulling over to the side of the road, the 39-year-old plaintiffs securities litigator warned his 8-year-old son not to try this himself and then leaped…

Aug 15, 2007 8:05 PM CDT

Hard Job Hunt, $40-$70 K, for ‘07 Grads

Competition for graduates of the nation’s biggest and best-known law schools has driven starting salaries at some major firms well over $150,000 and prompted whispers of a once-unthinkable $200,000 at some point in the foreseeable future. But legal job-market reality is much different for the vast majority of those with…

Aug 15, 2007 7:19 PM CDT

FL Fights for Internal State Farm Docs

A battle between Florida regulators and the state’s biggest property insurer is capturing the attention of lawyers there and elsewhere, because of what’s really at issue. Property insurance rate-setting is the official topic. But attorneys on both sides are waiting to see whether State Farm, a Bloomington, Ill.-based insurer, has…

Aug 15, 2007 5:26 PM CDT

Tale of 2 Cities: Tampa Porn Dorm Legal, But Miami’s Isn’t

A so-called porn dorm in Tampa, in which women live and participate in sexual activities that are videotaped and publicized over the Internet, is apparently legal. But that doesn’t mean that a comparable business—featuring buffed-up young men who are paid $1,200 plus room and board to live in a house…

Aug 15, 2007 4:34 PM CDT

Schools Fret Over Race-Based Assignments

Schools throughout the country are having to parse a June Supreme Court decision to decide if they will continue to assign students to schools based on race. While the high court struck down race-based assignments in Seattle in Louisville, Ky., National Public Radio reports that other districts are counting on…

Aug 15, 2007 4:29 PM CDT

Judge Summons Qualcomm Lawyers

A federal magistrate has ordered former lawyers for Qualcomm Inc. to appear in court later this month to face possible misconduct sanctions stemming from their roles in a cell phone patent case. The LA Times reports that U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major has ordered more than a dozen lawyers from…

Aug 15, 2007 4:09 PM CDT

BDO Socked With $351 M in Punitives

Updated: A Miami jury has ordered BDO Seidman to pay $351 million in punitive damages for failing to uncover fraud at a financial services firm. With punitives, the total damages award now comes to $521 million, the Associated Press reports. (See this ABAJournal.com post for more information on the $170…

Aug 15, 2007 2:15 PM CDT

Charities Could Contest Astor Will

Public institutions that stood to inherit more money from earlier versions of Brooke Astor’s will are most likely to object to changes made in the final years of her life. The New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum Art are among the charities that will receive smaller donations from…

Aug 15, 2007 1:17 PM CDT

Ogletree Adds Two New Offices

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart is opening offices in St. Louis and Detroit. The move to St. Louis will make Ogletree the only national labor and employment law firm in the city, managing partner Gray Geddie told the National Law Journal. “St. Louis is a large corporate headquarters city,”…

Aug 15, 2007 11:44 AM CDT