Contracts

Homeowner ‘Cramdown’ Legislation Opposed By Obama

If they go bankrupt, real estate investors who don’t live in the homes they purchase can ask a judge to reduce the principal balances on their mortgage loans. But homeowners don’t have the same “cramdown” right concerning their primary residence, under recent bankruptcy reform legislation. Unless the lender voluntarily agrees…

Jan 20, 2009 8:46 PM CST

Ex-Associate Sues Nixon Peabody Claiming Discrimination—and Contract Breach

A former associate of Nixon Peabody has filed an employment discrimination suit against the international law firm, saying that he was fired last year because of his gender, race and national origin. Henry Har contends in a Los Angeles Superior Court complaint (PDF) filed last month that he was subjected…

Jan 14, 2009 1:27 AM CST

Due to Bigamous Marriage, NY Lawyer Can’t Now Foreclose on Loan to ‘Wife’

A New York lawyer who married a woman almost 20 years his junior when he was in his early fifties can’t foreclose on what he now says was a loan to help her obtain $285,000 in mortgages to buy a condominium in Greenwich Village without providing more evidence to show…

Jan 9, 2009 8:20 PM CST

Big Lender OKs Plan to Let Bankruptcy Judges Reduce Mortgage Balances

In a move that is expected to expedite proposed federal legislation permitting bankruptcy judges to reduce the principal balance on troubled mortgages on owner-occupied properties, a major bank is supporting a plan by Democratic lawmakers to enact such a law. Citigroup’s support for the legislation is expected to persuade other…

Jan 8, 2009 11:43 PM CST

No Billion-Dollar Verdicts in 2008

The year 2008 passed without a single billion-dollar verdict. The top verdict overall last year was in a dispute over a contract for satellites. Jurors awarded $606.6 million against Boeing Co. and a subsidiary. The damages may seem big—but the award was the lowest top verdict of the year since…

Jan 8, 2009 4:54 PM CST

Calif. Law Student’s Class Action Wins $33M Tuition Refund

A lawsuit launched by a former law student at the University of California at Berkeley has netted some $33 million in refunds—make that $42 million, counting interest—for tuition overcharges to some 35,000 UC students. Awards ranged from $1 to $12,000, with graduate students—who were hit with the biggest tuition increases–at…

Jan 6, 2009 11:53 PM CST

Heller Asserts Banks’ Clerical Error Cost Them $57M in Preferred Payments

Two lenders who contend Heller Ehrman still owes them nearly $6 million are fighting a contention that they no longer have a security stake in the law firm because of a mistaken 2007 filing under the Uniform Commercial Code. Heller has already paid the banks $51 million since announcing its…

Jan 6, 2009 12:56 PM CST

Landmark UK Case: Law Firms Can Require Partners to Retire at 65

In a much-watched age discrimination case that is expected to be the basis of law firm retirement policies throughout the United Kingdom, a appellate tribunal has ruled that partners can be forced to retire at a specific age. Although the landmark ruling by the Employment Appeal Tribunal does not finally…

Jan 5, 2009 7:36 PM CST

Dismissed Dental Student Wins $1.72M Verdict Against Professors

A former dental student at the University of Michigan who was dismissed after her third year due to claimed academic deficiencies has won a $1.72 million verdict from four faculty members there. After a 14-day trial, a federal court jury found earlier this month that the four violated the due…

Dec 24, 2008 3:50 PM CST

Retired Lawyer, 74, a ‘Glorified Fence,’ Gets 7 Years in Cezanne Case

A 30-year stolen art saga has ended with a seven-year federal prison sentence for a 74-year-old retired lawyer with dementia who was described by the judge in the case as a “glorified fence.” Robert Mardirosian, a retired Massachusetts lawyer, was sentenced yesterday for attempting to profit from the seven stolen…

Dec 16, 2008 7:28 PM CST

Another Issue for Dreier Lawyers: Lapsed Malpractice Coverage

A scary law firm financial situation that already posed possible liability risks to non-equity partners at Dreier has gotten even more frightening. Initially, with Marc Dreier, the firm’s only equity partner, as the sole person in charge of the 250-attorney partnership’s finances, it seemed that other attorneys there were benefited…

Dec 15, 2008 5:50 PM CST

Florida Fetish Club Sues Competitor, Creating Legal Drama

Individuals in the Tampa, Fla., area for whom “airport security,” “nasty nurse” and “Mad Science ElectroPlay” role-playing fantasies are a turn-on apparently now have more than one option, as far as local fetish clubs catering to their interests are concerned. But that’s a problem for the Largo-based Quest club, the…

Dec 12, 2008 6:50 PM CST

Extra 3 Feet on Freeway Ramp Costs Texas County $525,000

A new ramp linking a portion of Interstate 10 to a parking facility around Houston is 28 feet high. Unfortunately, a visibility easement purchased from Harris County in 2001 by a billboard owner sets a 25-foot height limit for any structures built on neighboring property. After losing a court case…

Dec 12, 2008 5:20 PM CST

Stricter Fla. Mortgage Regulation Still is Lacking, Newspaper Says

Despite a crackdown on individuals in Florida who had a significant role in writing millions of dollars worth of troubled mortgages, some of their colleagues who have been involved in the problem deals continue to ply their trade. Even though a new law bars criminals from being licensed as mortgage…

Dec 10, 2008 6:53 PM CST

Do You Know What You’re Agreeing to Online?

With the landmark trial of Lori Drew complete—she was acquitted of the more serious felonies but convicted of misdemeanor violations—terms of use issues still have legal experts all abuzz. It’s not that there’s anything all that new about terms of use, except that they are everywhere that Internet users want…

Dec 1, 2008 11:31 PM CST