Contracts

Ex-Law Partner Secreted Assets from Tennis Star Jimmy Connors, Suit Contends

A high-profile client has proven problematic for a small Illinois law firm. Two former partners are now embroiled in litigation over whether one manipulated the firm’s representation of tennis star Jimmy Connors for his own personal benefit, reports the Madison Record. In compensation for work performed for him by Brennan…

May 18, 2010 5:04 PM CDT

It’s Official: NBC Cancels ‘Law & Order’ After 20 Seasons, But Spinoffs Continue

It’s official: NBC announced today that it is canceling the long-running Law & Order legal drama, following unconfirmed reports yesterday that it intended to do so. The news was greeted with particular sadness in New York, where as many as 8,000 people are directly or indirectly employed by the series…

May 14, 2010 6:44 PM CDT

RIP ‘Law & Order’? NBC Said to Mull Killing Legal Drama After 20 Seasons

One of the longest-running legal dramas ever to air on American television may be about to conclude. Unidentified sources say NBC decided not to continue with Law & Order after the current season, the groundbreaking show’s 20th, according to Deadline Hollywood and the Media Decoder blog of the New York…

May 13, 2010 11:31 PM CDT

Remember the $60, 8-Word E-Mail? Client Shares Hard-Learned Legal Cost-Control Tips

News of a law firm that charged nearly $6,000, including $60 for an eight-word e-mail, for a review of an office sublease, got a lot of reader response. Now client Jennifer Walzer is providing more details about the matter, as well as her newfound knowledge about how to control legal…

May 13, 2010 5:59 PM CDT

Judge Rules for Elderly Sister in Lottery Dispute, But Can’t ‘Repair the Discord’

A Connecticut judge has ruled an 87-year-old woman doesn’t have to share her $500,000 lottery jackpot with her 84-year-old sister because their contract to split winnings had already ended. Judge Cynthia Swienton ruled the sisters’ notarized contract ended in 2004 during a spat over a few hundred dollars, according to…

May 13, 2010 2:40 PM CDT

Court Order Nixed in Case re Lawyer’s Claimed $6K Baby-Purchase Offer

A judge in Utah has dismissed a protective order giving the state custody of a baby whose Arizona parents are accused of arranging to sell it for $6,000 to a local lawyer. Because the infant hasn’t yet been born, the state has no jurisdiction, ruled 3rd District Juvenile Judge Jim…

May 12, 2010 8:35 PM CDT

FCC Mulls Cell Phone ‘Bill Shock’ Regs as Family Fights $18K in Download Fees

Unexpected cell phone charges are a common problem—and, as a Massachusetts man found out, can suddenly ring up tabs of as much as $18,000 for unwary consumers. In Europe, though, the worst of the problem is routinely forestalled by text messages from mobile carriers notifying users that they are perhaps…

May 12, 2010 5:25 PM CDT

Condo Developers Sue NY AG, Say Stroock Typo Doesn’t Require Return of $16M

Developers of a New York condo project claim in a federal lawsuit that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo violated their due process rights when he ordered them to return $16 million in down payments held in escrow. Buyers hoping to rescind their contracts are citing an apparent typo in…

May 12, 2010 12:34 PM CDT

Suit Claims Clawback in Kutak Rock’s Partnership Agreement Is Anti-Competitive

A lawsuit by a former partner at Kutak Rock claims the firm’s partnership agreement contains an anti-competitive clawback provision that is an attempt to evade an ethical bar on covenants not to compete. Plaintiff Paul Donsbach alleges that, just days after he submitted his resignation letter on April 28, the…

May 11, 2010 1:49 PM CDT

Attorneys General Target Two Companies Selling Pricey Auto Service Contracts

Attorneys general from nine states have filed suits claiming marketers are using misleading tactics to sell expensive automobile service contracts. Nine attorneys general have sued U.S. Fidelis, and five of them have also sued the Credexx Corp., which does business as Auto One Warranty Specialists, according to a press release.…

May 3, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Pet Cemetery Had Right to Dig Up Dead Dog Over Unpaid Bill, Judge Rules

A municipal judge in New York state has sided with a pet cemetery sued by the owner of Dodo, a beloved mutt whose body was once buried there in an $500 casket beneath an $800 heart-shaped monument. Because Man-Hung Lee hadn’t paid the annual $31 maintenance fee, Hartsdale Pet Cemetery…

Apr 30, 2010 6:49 PM CDT

Judge Raps Kelley Drye for Not Disclosing Receipt of Confidential Opposing Counsel Communication

A law firm’s failure to timely disclose to the court that it had inadvertently received an e-mail containing a confidential client communication by opposing counsel “certainly violates the spirit, if not the letter,” of the New York City Bar’s ethics committee’s opinion on handling accidentally received e-mail, a Manhattan judge…

Apr 29, 2010 8:03 PM CDT

Ex-Toyota Lawyer Explains Split with His Counsel: I Wanted to Go to Trial

A difference of opinion about how his whistle-blower case against Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. should be handled prompted a pending divorce with his trial counsel, says a former in-house lawyer for the company. His lawyers recommended settlement after the validity of his severance agreement, which included a $3.7 million…

Apr 27, 2010 5:09 PM CDT

Supreme Court Bars Class-Action Arbitration Absent Contract Agreement

The U.S. Supreme Court has barred class arbitration of a price-fixing claim in an opinion that scolded an arbitration panel for proceeding as if it had common-law authority. The Supreme Court ruled in a 5-3 opinion that class arbitration may not be imposed on parties who did not agree to…

Apr 27, 2010 2:42 PM CDT

Justice Breyer Considers ‘Joe Bananas’ Influence in Arbitration Contracts

Justice Stephen G. Breyer appeared to be one of the few justices Monday to side with an employee who wants his challenge to an arbitration agreement to be decided by a court. The employer, the Nevada branch of Rent-A-Center, says its arbitration agreement requires questions about unconscionability to be decided…

Apr 27, 2010 1:29 PM CDT