Corporate Law

Boeing’s legal troubles over airplane grounding could just be taking off

Nearly three dozen lawsuits have been filed against Boeing since its 737 Max 8 aircraft operated by Lion Air crashed in Indonesia on Oct. 29, killing all 189 people aboard. Now that an Ethiopian Air flight in a 737 Max 8 crashed in Ethiopia on March 10 and killed 157…

Mar 14, 2019 2:53 PM CDT

At least 8 theaters drop ‘Mockingbird’ productions after producer of newer play threatens suit

Updated: At least eight theater companies throughout the United States have canceled productions of To Kill a Mockingbird because of litigation threats from the producer of a newer version of the play on Broadway. The New York Times report includes an interview with 11-year-old Olivia Mongelli, who was cast as…

Feb 28, 2019 2:35 PM CST

Former general counsel’s award of nearly $8M upheld; he claimed he was fired for whistleblowing

A federal appeals court has upheld all but $2.96 million of a nearly $11 million federal jury award obtained by a whistleblowing former general counsel of Bio-Rad Laboratories. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco upheld $2.96 million in back pay and stock compensation and $5 million…

Feb 28, 2019 12:41 PM CST

Google ends mandatory arbitration of workplace disputes and ban on employee class actions

Google will end mandatory arbitration of employment disputes beginning March 21, expanding its previous decision to end forced arbitration only in cases of alleged sexual harassment or assault. Google announced the policy change last week, report the New York Times, Axios, Slate, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Wired and the San…

Feb 25, 2019 4:33 PM CST

Relaxation of contraception coverage mandate for employers blocked by 2 federal judges

Federal judges in California and Pennsylvania have issued injunctions blocking the Trump administration from relaxing the requirement for many employers to provide contraception coverage. In the more recent decision, U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone of Philadelphia issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on Monday in a suit by the states of…

Jan 15, 2019 9:12 AM CST

How some law firms are affected by the government shutdown

Law firms handling antitrust, capital markets and white-collar defense work are feeling the effects of the partial government shutdown, which has recently become the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

Jan 14, 2019 10:23 AM CST

A tale of two silver markets—and two disasters

Rivalry between gold and silver touched off the Panic of 1893. Speculation roared back in 1980, when the billionaire Hunt brothers nearly cornered the silver market.

Jan 1, 2019 3:10 AM CST

Top 10 tips for business lawyers

Last month, the ABA Journal published a series of tips for young lawyers from senior lawyers who participated in the ABA’s Briefly Speaking contest. This month, we’re sharing the next round of advice—this time aimed at litigators and business lawyers. Jacob McBride of Weinstein Radcliff Pipkin in Dallas won in…

Dec 1, 2018 1:45 AM CST

KPMG aims to employ 3,000 lawyers within the next few years

Accounting firm KPMG currently employs 1,800 lawyers in offices across 75 countries, and it has plans to expand the number.

Nov 27, 2018 7:00 AM CST

New York takes another tack in climate-change suit against Exxon Mobil

The state of New York has filed a suit that alleges Exxon Mobil misled investors about risks posed to its business by climate-change regulations. The suit, filed Wednesday in New York state court, alleges securities fraud under the state’s Martin Act and fraud, report the New York Law Journal, the…

Oct 26, 2018 9:29 AM CDT

Are lawyers being trapped in their practice niches?

Specialization may have gone too far. The first generation of specialist lawyers got their initial training from the more generalist lawyers whose apprentices they were. This isn’t the case for the second generation of specialists we are seeing today.

Oct 23, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

NY state tax department reviewing Trump fraud allegations outlined in investigative report

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance is reviewing allegations in a New York Times investigative article that concludes President Donald Trump participated in “dubious tax schemes” including “instances of outright fraud” during the 1990s. James Gazzale, a department spokesman, said the agency “is reviewing the allegations” in…

Oct 3, 2018 10:38 AM CDT

IBM, GE, Facebook, Google and the law—lessons learned, or lessons forgotten?

How can newly powerful, global tech companies fulfill their legal responsibilities to customers, employees, shareholders and the different societies in which they operate? And how can lawyers help? Three developments this summer—as well as generations-old choices at IBM—highlight these questions: • On June 19, General Electric was removed from the…

Sep 20, 2018 8:00 AM CDT

Should BigLaw firms worry about increasing competition from the Big Four accounting firms?

The Big Four accounting firms have added legal services, moving beyond tax law and integrating their legal services into a multidisciplinary approach.

Sep 1, 2018 1:00 AM CDT

CBS’ statements on sex harassment violated securities laws, suit asserts

A CBS shareholder filed a lawsuit on Monday that alleges the network made materially false and misleading statements when it submitted securities filings about a code of conduct that bans sexual harassment. The suit claims CBS told regulators about conduct standards that included a zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment, yet…

Aug 29, 2018 9:52 AM CDT