Contracts

Award Cut to $54K from $1.92M in Music File-Sharing Case

In a decision that is hardly music to the ears of the recording industry, a federal judge in Minnesota last week slashed a stunning $1.92 million award in a landmark file-sharing case concerning a woman found to have stolen and shared 24 songs over the Internet. Reducing the amount owed…

Jan 25, 2010 11:59 PM CST

Ex-Partner Suit: Two Firms Using My Name Is One Too Many

Updated: It isn’t unusual for a law firm to leave a former partner’s name on its shingle after he has made a final exit from law practice into the grave. But Lawrence Charfoos is still alive and well, not to mention practicing at a competing new firm, Charfoos Giovan &…

Jan 25, 2010 7:02 PM CST

Sign of the Times: Clorox Seeks Lawyer for Social Media Issues

Clorox is hiring an in-house lawyer to focus on legal issues surrounding social media. The company’s ad for a social media legal expert is “rather surprising,” but it’s a sign of the times, Advertising Age reports. Many companies already use social media to promote their products, and Clorox is no…

Jan 25, 2010 3:14 PM CST

Drinker Biddle Wins $1.78M Bill Battle; Firm Clocked 5,225 Hours in 3 Months

Drinker Biddle & Reath has won a $1.78 million award from a Pennsylvania state-court jury in a hard-fought legal bill battle that bared ordinarily confidential fee details in a bet-the-company patent litigation case. It all began in 2006, when AgriZap Inc. retained the Philadelphia-based firm to handle a patent dispute…

Jan 21, 2010 11:14 PM CST

Execs & Gen’l Counsel Among 22 Nabbed in 1st FBI Foreign Bribes Sting

In what one observer described as a case of “compliance roulette” marking an apparent new era of federal enforcement concerning illegal foreign bribes, 22 people—including corporate executives and at least one general counsel—have been arrested in what is reportedly the first FBI undercover sting operation concerning the Foreign Corrupt Practices…

Jan 19, 2010 11:57 PM CST

Unswayed By ‘Tiger Woods’ Defense, Judge OKs Charges in Letterman Extortion Case

Unpersuaded by a defense argument that a television producer accused of attempting to extort money from David Letterman should be treated just like women who received seven-figure payoffs from golfer Tiger Woods, a New York judge has OK’d the continued prosecution of Robert “Joe” Halderman. In a bid to get…

Jan 19, 2010 6:35 PM CST

Orrick Lawyer Demands Takedown of $100K Blog Bounty Offer for Info on Apple Computer

An attorney for Apple reportedly sent a takedown demand to a tech industry gossip site, contending that Valleywag’s offer of up to $100,000 in bounty for information about his client’s much-anticipated tablet computer amounts to illegal encouragement to steal trade secrets. In a contest announced earlier this week, the Gawker…

Jan 15, 2010 7:43 PM CST

Star Wizards Guard Charged With Gun Felony in Locker-Room Incident

Already in hot water with the National Basketball Association over a Dec. 21 incident in which he admittedly brought unloaded guns into the locker room in apparent violation of league rules, star Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas is now facing a felony gun possession charge over the situation. Filed this…

Jan 15, 2010 12:45 AM CST

Ex-Client Sues Debevoise for $55M re ‘Variety of Chimera & Boondoggles’

It’s a truism that a law firm that sues a client to collect an unpaid bill is almost asking for a malpractice claim. And a $6 million unpaid-bill suit filed by Debevoise & Plimpton last year against a former client is not the exception that proves the rule. In an…

Jan 14, 2010 7:03 PM CST

Posner Blasts ‘Out of Control’ Class-Action Lawyer in Fee Fight

A federal appeals court has blasted an Illinois class action lawyer as “out of control” and ordered sanctions for bringing a groundless suit for fees against his former law firm partners. The lawyer, Rex Carr, “is locked in mortal combat with his former law partners,” but the litigation is groundless,…

Jan 14, 2010 2:20 PM CST

Ex-Associate Tries Again, Wins Ruling He Can Seek $12M in Fees From Former Firm

Dismissing other claims by a former associate of Labaton Sucharow, a New York state judge has nonetheless ruled in his favor concerning what she calls the “big issue.” Jon Adams, a former assistant New Mexico attorney general, can continue to pursue a contract claim that the firm owes him about…

Jan 12, 2010 7:26 PM CST

Law Prof’s Advice to Suspended Wizards Guard: Turn Off Twitter

Providing a legal analysis tonight of the National Basketball Association’s stunning indefinite suspension today, without pay, of Gilbert Arenas, a Vermont Law School assistant professor offered a succinct suggestion to the star Washington Wizards guard: Turn off your Twitter account. It was bad enough to bring guns, which apparently may…

Jan 7, 2010 1:39 AM CST

Surrogate Mom Unrelated to Twins Wins Ruling She Is Legal Parent

A surrogate who is not biologically the mother of the twin girls she bore for her brother and his male partner is nonetheless their legal parent, a New Jersey judge has ruled. In a custody dispute reminiscent of the so-called “Baby M” suit that dominated the headlines two decades ago…

Jan 5, 2010 1:21 AM CST

New Exam Issue Tests NYU Law School: How to Grade, When Some Saw Questions Earlier?

In at least the second such snafu reported this month concerning a law school exam, New York University administrators are now pondering how to handle a situation in which some of the students in a law school class, through no fault of their own, saw the questions in advance. Earlier,…

Dec 19, 2009 12:41 AM CST

Setting Stage for ‘Lawyer’s Dream’ Divorce, Tiger Woods’ Wife Retains Attorney Sorrell Trope

Despite Tiger Woods’ reported desire to save their marriage after a widely publicized series of alleged extra-marital affairs on his part, his wife apparently has decided to file for divorce from the world-renowned professional golfer and may have moved from their Florida home. And, in a signal that she may…

Dec 18, 2009 8:56 PM CST