Contracts

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

Paul Weiss Partner Can’t Get Divorce Deal Do-Over Because of Madoff Losses, NY Top Court Says

A partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison can’t revise his divorce settlement because his proceeds included $5.4 million invested with Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, New York’s top court has ruled. The decision by the New York Court of Appeals reverses a January 2011 ruling allowing a do-over for…

Apr 4, 2012 12:08 PM CDT

Fed’l Class Action Says Social Network, Game Apps Take Smartphone Contact Info Without User OK

Apps for popular social networking sites and games including Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and possibly Angry Birds are accessing confidential personal address book data without user permission, contends a federal suit filed in Austin, Texas, this week. The suit, which was filed in federal district court in Travis County, seeks an…

Mar 15, 2012 7:01 PM CDT

Gulf War Hero, a Disbarred Lawyer, Is Accused of Participating in Claimed $54M Fraud on US Military

A former lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve who previously made a name for himself as a politician and New Hampshire lawyer, before being disbarred in 2006, is now gaining a high profile in a new arena. David Young, 49, a Green Beret and Gulf War hero, is accused by…

Mar 15, 2012 4:55 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Worked at Colo.‘s Biggest Foreclosure Firm Says Legal Process Is Based on ‘Blind Faith’

A lawyer who formerly worked at Colorado’s biggest foreclosure law firm says attorneys often filed foreclosure papers without ever seeing the original documents, probably resulting in foreclosure judgments in cases in which the plaintiff lenders actually had no legal right to the homes they obtained. Keith Gantenbein, 31, is expected…

Mar 13, 2012 5:55 PM CDT

Bankruptcy Lawyers Warn of Looming Student Loan ‘Debt Bomb’

Student loan debt could turn into another crisis for the economy, according to the president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. William Brewer is putting a pessimistic spin on his group’s survey of 860 bankruptcy lawyers. “This could very well be the next debt bomb for the U.S.…

Mar 12, 2012 12:30 PM CDT

Courtroom Questioning Reveals Upcoming Death of ‘Desperate Housewives’ Character

Audience members in a packed courtroom gasped and two female jurors put their hands to their mouths yesterday as a producer of the Desperate Housewives television program revealed in his testimony the unexpected death of a character in an episode scheduled to air this weekend. Executive producer George Perkins was…

Mar 10, 2012 1:11 AM CST

Suit Challenges Landlord’s Digital Payment Policy; Tenants See Elder Bias

A suit filed by four older residents of a Los Angeles apartment building challenges a new policy requiring tenants to pay rent online. Residents at the Woodlake Manor Apartment building obtained waivers from the policy after a tenants right group organized a mass protest, but some fear the waivers will…

Mar 7, 2012 1:49 PM CST

City of Portland, Ore., Sues Insurer to Recover In-House Defense Costs of $1.5M

Saying that the use of its own in-house city attorneys to fight employment-related claims conferred a benefit to its insurance carrier, the city of Portland, Ore., has filed suit against its former liability insurer. Filed Friday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the suit seeks reimbursement of nearly $1.5 million Portland…

Mar 6, 2012 9:37 PM CST

Facing the Alternative: How Does a Flat Fee System Really Work?

While every law firm is culturally unique, often the same fears and concerns—namely diminished profit margins and budget difficulties—plague outside counsel when it comes to changing billing practices. For many, creative fee schemes seem to create more nightmares than profits. But a few outside firms and their business clients have…

Mar 1, 2012 11:10 AM CST

Pin with Caution, Says Lawyer Who Deleted All Her Pinterest Posts

Updated: Pinterest is a great place to find new ideas for almost every topic imaginable, but if you’re posting images of those ideas, you’d better have permission, says a lawyer who recently deleted all her posts. Pinterest, a social sharing website where users “pin” things they like on “boards,” launched…

Feb 29, 2012 9:29 PM CST

Pro Se Plaintiff Wins $850 Small-Claims Award in Data-Throttling Case Against AT&T

Individuals who purchased “unlimited data” plans from AT&T in years past presumably may have expected to use as much as they wanted. But, after warning customers, the telecommunications company has started slowing down the speed at which the heaviest users of such plans can proceed. It stopped selling such plans…

Feb 24, 2012 9:50 PM CST

Promise of Love and Affection Isn’t Sufficient Consideration for Contract, Ohio Supreme Court Says

A couple in an off-again, on-again romantic relationship never had a valid contract to split property proceeds because the consideration was love and affection, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled. Amber Williams and Frederick Ormsby had two written contracts regarding a home first owned by Williams, according to the opinion…

Feb 24, 2012 2:42 PM CST

Suit by Law Student Claims Her School Negligently Admitted Her

A law student in Tennessee with $80,000 in education debt claims in a suit filed this week that her school should not have admitted her. The $750,000 suit by Morgan Crutchfield says Lincoln Memorial University accepted her even though she had not completed her undergraduate degree and will be ineligible…

Feb 17, 2012 12:30 PM CST

Employment Lawyer Offers Love Contract Tips to Reduce Office Romance Risks, Provides Form

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, an employment lawyer is offering tips on how to draft a love contract to help reduce the risks of workplace romance. While few would suggest that pursuing a relationship with a fellow employee or, worse, a subordinate, is a smart career move (dating a…

Feb 14, 2012 11:00 PM CST