Alternative Dispute Resolution

Judicial Arbitration in Delaware Chancery Court Violates First Amendment, Federal Judge Rules

A federal judge in Philadelphia has ruled that closed-door arbitrations by Delaware chancery court judges violate a First Amendment right of access to trials. U.S. District Judge Mary McLaughlin ruled in a suit filed by the Delaware Coalition for Open Government, report the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), the News…

Aug 31, 2012 11:43 AM CDT

Ex-Perkins Coie Partner Must Arbitrate Pay Dispute With His Former Firm, Federal Judge Rules

A federal judge in California has put a damper on a would-be class action by a former partner over pay practices at Perkins Coie. An arbitration clause in the partnership agreement between the law firm and Harold DeGraff is binding, held U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S White on Monday. However,…

Jul 31, 2012 10:28 PM CDT

Judge Denies Venture Capital Firm’s Arbitration Bid in Lawyer’s Discrimination Case

Calling a lawyer’s filings “terrific,” a California judge said he was nonetheless not persuaded that a venture capital firm is entitled to arbitrate a former BigLaw attorney’s high-profile sex discrimination and retaliation suit against the partnership. Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn gave defense attorney Lynne Hermle the bad news Friday,…

Jul 20, 2012 7:55 PM CDT

Kleiner Perkins to Make New Arbitration Bid in High-Profile Silicon Valley Sex-Discrimination Case

In a ruling that may be revisited, a California judge has nixed a Silicon Valley venture capital firm’s effort to arbitrate a high-profile sex-discrimination suit brought by a former BigLaw associate with sterling credentials. Although Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers had said, in a motion filed last month, that the…

Jul 10, 2012 9:26 PM CDT

Stroock Seeks $261K in Attorney Fees from Ex-Partner Who Sued for Retirement Pay

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan is asking a New York court to enforce an arbitration ruling and award at least $261,000 in attorney fees spent litigating a dispute over a former partner’s retirement benefits. The New York arbitrator ruled on June 18 that former Los Angeles partner Michael Perlis is…

Jul 3, 2012 11:37 AM CDT

A New Dispute Resolution Game Plan Inspired by America’s Favorite Pastime

Business disputes are not for the faint of heart. Dispute resolution focuses to a great degree on process, designed to accomplish the end of a fair trial or a fair hearing. That so few cases are actually tried seems irrelevant in an effort to foster a fair path toward trial.…

May 23, 2012 1:54 PM CDT

How Can You Make Sure Your Client Pays You What You’re Owed?

ABA Journal business of law reporter Rachel M. Zahorsky discusses this topic with Beazley’s Brant Weidner, along with key points for lawyers to contemplate when weighing the risks and rewards of a fee suit and ways to prevent the predicament altogether.

Apr 16, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Federal Circuit Gives Veteran SEC Lawyer Fired Over Inappropriate Email Another Chance to Regain Job

A trial lawyer for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission who was fired after nearly 18 years on the job for sending inappropriate email will get another chance to keep his job. An arbitrator erred by refusing to let Jeffrey Norris present medical evidence that the circumstances which led to…

Apr 10, 2012 9:43 PM CDT

Letters: Law Grads’ Toil and Trouble

LAW GRADS’ TOIL AND TROUBLE Regarding “The Law School Bubble,” January: This bubble has been expanding for years. I started law school in the early 1990s at the University of Oklahoma. A couple of weeks after my acceptance, dean David Swank sent a letter warning of the declining job market…

Mar 1, 2012 10:50 AM CST

Pet Custody Cases Proliferate, Divorce Lawyers Say; One Shares Custody of Dudley Dachshund with Ex

Once upon a time, the family pet was simply considered property. And, even as attitudes towards an animal’s role in a household changed, it was easy for a judge in a matrimonial case to include custody of a pet along with custody of the child or children that it presumably…

Feb 29, 2012 12:17 AM CST

Alimony Arithmetic: More States Are Looking at Formulas to Regulate Spousal Support

If workers’ compensation law “can put the value on a [human] toe, how do you quantify how much the loss of a marriage means to somebody?” asks Atlanta lawyer Randall Kessler. “Divorce law is one of the most discretion-filled areas of law there is,” says Kessler, chair of the Family…

Feb 1, 2012 9:30 AM CST

Supreme Court Upholds Arbitration Provision in Credit Card Contract

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that consumers who received the Aspire Visa credit card are bound by a mandatory arbitration provision in their applications. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion (PDF) in the case, CompuCredit Corp. v. Greenwood. The decision overturns a ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th…

Jan 10, 2012 4:29 PM CST

The Last Word: When the Last Thing You Want to Do Is the First Thing You Ought to Do

It’s a case that stands out in the memory of Robert B. Fitzpatrick, an employment attorney in Washington, D.C., because of the intense emotions involved and because of the way it ended on a positive note for both parties. A client who had worked for a local law firm for…

Jan 1, 2012 10:50 AM CST

The Battle on the Home Front: Special Courts Turn to Vets to Help Other Vets

Photo of Judge Robert Russell by Jennifer S. Altman. When Assistant District Attorney Ray Herman first became involved with Buffalo, N.Y.’s alternative treatment program for military veterans who’d found themselves on the wrong side of the law, he had his doubts. “The whole program seemed a little—I don’t know—touchy-feely,” says…

Nov 1, 2011 10:10 AM CDT

Emory Law Student Accused of Spying Is Freed in Israeli Prisoner Exchange

A third-year Emory University law student who was arrested in Egypt earlier this year and accused of spying for Israel has been freed and the case against him has been dropped. Ilan Grapel, 27, who is a dual American-Israeli citizen, was exchanged for 25 Egyptians held in Israel, in a…

Oct 27, 2011 6:33 PM CDT