Contracts

Mortgage Modification Stymied by Lucrative Lender Late Fees

Much has been said about how the so-called securitization of mortgage loans—reselling small fractions of the loans to multiple investors, sometimes again and again—has stymied efforts to encourage lenders to renegotiate mortgage interest and other loan terms with struggling homeowners. But another factor in addition to the difficulty of obtaining…

Jul 30, 2009 9:36 PM CDT

Schulte Roth Files $2.8M Fee Suit Against Troubled Investment Firm

Schulte Roth & Zabel has sued Highland Capital Management, claiming the troubled investment firm owes $2.83 million in legal fees. The summons filed Monday in New York state court says Schulte Roth has unpaid invoices dating to June 2008, the American Lawyer reports. Highland Capital counters that Schulte Roth overbilled…

Jul 30, 2009 11:42 AM CDT

Closed Firm Jenkens & Gilchrist Awarded $3M in Suit Against Ex-Client

The dissolved Dallas law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist has been awarded $3.14 million in a fee suit against a former client. The firm was also awarded $1.15 million in attorney fees and $300,000 in prejudgment interest, bringing the value of the verdict to more than $4 million, according to Texas…

Jul 30, 2009 11:24 AM CDT

Lawmaker to Lenders: Modify Mortgages, or We’ll Revive ‘Cramdown’ Bill

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee is threatening to revive stalled legislation that would give bankruptcy judges greater power to revise mortgage terms and even reduce the principal balance if lenders don’t start modifying more mortgages. Despite the mortgage relief programs rolled out this year, foreclosures and delinquencies…

Jul 30, 2009 12:27 AM CDT

Fair Use Nixed in Music Download Case, So Defense Team to Focus on Damages

The defense team in a high-profile illegal music downloading case against physics graduate student Joel Tenenbaum had hoped to rely on a fair-use doctrine defense. But after that plan was nixed by U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner, who said interpreting fair use in this manner would eviscerate copyright law, the…

Jul 29, 2009 8:12 PM CDT

Big Bank Blinks; Is This the End for Mandatory Consumer Arbitration?

One of the country’s major banks has blinked after announcements by two well-known groups that they would no longer participate in mandatory arbitration in which consumers are required to participate under the boilerplate terms of credit card agreements. JPMorgan Chase says it will no longer arbitrate such disputes and is…

Jul 24, 2009 9:52 PM CDT

Town Mgr. Weds Porn Actress and Is Fired, Raising Legal Issues

Seeking to avoid disruptive publicity, a small Florida town fired its manager after learning that he had recently married an adult film actress. But Scott Janke’s firing this week by the town council of Fort Myers Beach was probably even bigger news, according to the Associated Press. It also raises…

Jul 23, 2009 7:46 PM CDT

Dual Pact in $8.4M Detroit Texts Case Didn’t Seem ‘Nefarious,’ Lawyer Says

When an attorney representing the city of Detroit suggested two separate settlement agreements to document an $8.4 million pact resolving police whistle-blower litigation and keeping secret racy text messages between the then-mayor and a top aide, there was no reason to suspect anything “nefarious,” plaintiffs lawyer Mike Stefani testified today…

Jul 23, 2009 5:27 PM CDT

Dan Rather Allowed Access to K&L Gates Probe Documents

A Manhattan judge has ruled that former CBS anchor Dan Rather may get access to e-mail messages between members of a panel hired to investigate one of his stories and K&L Gates, the law firm working on the probe. The ruling gives Rather access to more than 3,000 documents in…

Jul 22, 2009 5:38 PM CDT

Jailed Attorney Sues Billionaire Ex-Client, Seeking to Retain $36M Quellos Fee

Seeking to retain $36 million in claimed advisory fees paid in connection with a Quellos Group tax shelter that put a billionaire media mogul in hot water, a jailed California lawyer has sued his former client in the latest chapter of a convoluted investment saga that has created trouble for…

Jul 22, 2009 5:30 PM CDT

Suit by Fired Lateral Partner Says Edwards Angell Should Have Lowered Expectations

A lateral partner fired for failing to meet revenue projections claims in a lawsuit that Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge should have lowered its expectations after the economic downturn. Edwards Angell hired Stephen Connoni from K&L Gates in September 2007, the New York Law Journal reports. Connoni was to be…

Jul 22, 2009 2:02 PM CDT

Non-Muslims Turn to Shariah Courts in UK to Resolve Civil Disputes

Shariah courts in the United Kingdom aren’t just being used by Muslims. A small but growing number of non-Muslims also are turning to the religious tribunals to resolve commercial disputes and other civil matters. The tribunals, which apply Islamic law based on the Koran, can offer a swifter resolution than…

Jul 21, 2009 5:22 PM CDT

Okla. High Court Holds Injured Casino Patrons Can Sue in State Courts

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that people injured in Chocktaw casinos can sue in state courts as well as tribal courts. The tribe’s gaming contract with the state had permitted tort suits in “courts of competent jurisdiction” on a limited basis, but did not define the term, lawyer Daniel…

Jul 13, 2009 5:47 PM CDT

Montana Judge Rules After 24 Years in Forgotten Case

A retired Montana judge issued a ruling this week in a case apparently put on hold in 1985 when he was diagnosed with cancer. On Monday, former District Judge Ronald McPhillips of Toole County ruled against the plaintiff, who had contended his partner swindled him out of his share of…

Jul 2, 2009 4:06 PM CDT

Poverty Lawyer Finds Coverage Problems in ‘Travel Protection’

A poverty lawyer turned to a newspaper columnist after her parents discovered their “travel protection” plan wouldn’t give them a cruise refund, despite her father’s heart attack and later death. Catherine Bendor’s parents had agreed to pay for a cruise costing nearly $10,000, and paid an extra $978 for travel…

Jun 29, 2009 1:10 PM CDT