Contracts

Has the Time Come for Renewable Marriage Contracts?

Several lawmakers in Mexico City proposed the idea last year: Permit couples to enter into renewable marriage contracts for terms as short as two years. The idea never became law, but it led a New York Times columnist to consider (and then reject) the idea of 20-year marriage contracts. “The…

Oct 2, 2012 11:20 AM CDT

2 Investigators Sue Church of Scientology Over Halt of $32K Monthly Payments

Two former California police officers say they spent almost 25 years working as private investigators for the Church of Scientology, getting paid $32,000 per month most of that time for their time and expenses only to have the checks suddenly stop arriving in the mail over the summer for unknown…

Oct 1, 2012 5:15 PM CDT

Top N.H. Court Says ‘Innocent Insured’ Includes Duped Law Firm Partner, Nixes Policy Recission

In the latest twist in an attorney misappropriation matter that has created trouble for a longtime law partner to the alleged wrongdoer, the New Hampshire Supreme Court says an insurance company that provided professional liability coverage to the duo’s law firm can’t rescind its policy based on incorrect information supplied…

Oct 1, 2012 4:00 PM CDT

October 28, 1867: Medicine Lodge Treaty Is Signed

On Oct. 11, 1867, members of the Indian Peace Commission, accompanied by 500 U.S. Cavalry troops, gathered on the banks of Medicine Creek in Kansas. There, for the next several weeks, they met with members of five tribes of the Southern Plains with whom white soldiers and settlers had been…

Oct 1, 2012 5:10 AM CDT

Former Programmer Accused of Stealing Source Code Wants Goldman Sachs to Pay $2.4M Legal Fees

A former computer programmer for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. who has now been charged in state court in Manhattan related to his alleged theft of confidential source code from his ex-employer to use in a new job has filed suit seeking over $2.4 million in legal fees. Sergey Aleynikov says…

Sep 26, 2012 8:07 PM CDT

7 Retailers Settle with FTC, Agree to Stop Spying on Up to 400,000 Computer Rental Customers

Seven rent-to-own companies and a software design firm have agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission concerning computers that the retailers rented to customers and then used to spy on them without disclosing in advance that the companies intended to do so. They will not be fined, but…

Sep 26, 2012 4:40 PM CDT

2nd Venture Capital Firm Faces Suit re Claimed Discrimination Against Female Partner

For the second time in less than six months, a venture capital firm in the San Francisco area has been sued for alleged discrimination against a female partner. Such litigation by high-profile women working in the male-dominated field is unusual, and the previous suit, by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers…

Sep 25, 2012 6:56 PM CDT

Attorneys Wage Scorched-Earth Legal Battle Over $11K Share of ‘Millionaire’ Show Winnings

A hard-fought legal battle between two former friends who are both lawyers has resulted in an $11,376 award, multiple fines and legal ethics complaints and an ongoing appeal. It all began with an email in which Kevin Hirsch offered to help 20 friends with an automated phone quiz that could…

Sep 17, 2012 7:37 PM CDT

Ahead By $1.4M After Working for Retiree a Little Over a Year, Lawyer Is Sued and Counterclaims

Attorney Lee Levenson Jr. was making a base salary of $100,000 when he left a Florida law firm and went to work for Billy and Barbara DuBois in 2007, at an annual salary of $350,000. By the time Levenson stopped working as a private attorney for the wealthy retired farm…

Sep 17, 2012 6:34 PM CDT

Judge OKs Damages Claim by Ex-Edwards Wildman Partner Allegedly Ousted Without Required Partner Vote

A former corporate partner of Edwards Wildman Palmer isn’t entitled to his promised pay of $625,000 for his work 2008, because he didn’t bring in anywhere close to the amount of business he was supposed to generate to be paid at this level, a New York judge ruled last week.…

Sep 7, 2012 9:12 PM CDT

Judge in Unshuffled Cards Case Tells Casino to Ante Up $1M to Cash Players’ Chips; Appeal Planned

In a Friday ruling that provoked an angry outburst from the general counsel for an Atlantic City casino and a complaint from another lawyer of a “rigged game,” the Golden Nugget was ordered by a New Jersey judge to ante up nearly $1 million to pay gamblers for the chips…

Sep 4, 2012 4:22 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Checked Credit on Returned Items Accuses Forever 21 of a ‘Penny-Skimming Scheme’

Miami lawyer Carolyn Kellman claims she got less than she bargained for when she returned shorts and a skirt to Forever 21. Kellman, who works at the Strickland Law Firm, has filed a class action lawsuit alleging that refunds on both items were “exactly $0.01 less” than she was due,…

Sep 4, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Ex-Dewey Partners Agree to Pay at Least $50M; Proposed Individual Payments Between $5K and $3.5M

Former Dewey & LeBoeuf partners agreed today to pay at least $50 million toward a bankruptcy court settlement, Reuters is reporting. The defunct firm, which filed for bankruptcy in May, owes creditors approximately $315 million, according to court filings. If the the settlement is approved, former partners will pay between…

Aug 16, 2012 10:15 PM CDT

Some Life Insurers Agree to Seek Out Beneficiaries of Unpaid Policies, and More May Soon Do So

Life insurance policies require beneficiaries to make a claim to collect the money that is due to them, and for more than a century that is the only way benefits generally got paid. But that practice is changing, due in part to the ease of using computerized technology to cross-check…

Aug 13, 2012 10:53 PM CDT

Consumer Lawyer Says Credit Card Debt Collection Suits Are a ‘Robo-Signing Redux’

As debt-collection suits against credit-card holders surge, so do complaints of wrongful conduct on the part of those seeking to get their mitts on consumers’ money. Even when the debt is legitimately owed, companies may not be able to prove the account due to poor record-keeping. In other cases, erroneous…

Aug 13, 2012 10:36 PM CDT