Corporate Law

Court awards over $500K in wrongful dismissal case to rogue trader who cost bank nearly $7B

A rogue trader who cost the French bank that employed him some $7 billion has been awarded over $500,000 in a wrongful dismissal case. A French labor court said Société Générale must have known what Jerome Kerviel was doing, so blaming him for the adverse consequences that ensued and firing…

Jun 7, 2016 4:00 PM CDT

Judge’s finding that Dell buyout was too cheap is ‘sending shudders all over Wall Street’

A Delaware chancery judge’s decision last week that a buyout group paid too little for Dell Inc. is drawing praise from shareholder advocates and creating alarm in corporate boardrooms. The judge, Travis Laster, ruled that the buyout group led by company founder Michael Dell underpaid shareholders by $6 billion, even…

Jun 7, 2016 11:59 AM CDT

Panama firm obscured the trail of US funds to protect clients’ money from scrutiny, says NY Times

While there can be legitimate reasons for moving funds abroad to shell corporations, wealthy clients of the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca wanted to know, as one put it in an email to the firm: “How does a US citizen legally get funds to Panama without the knowledge of the…

Jun 7, 2016 10:50 AM CDT

Late-night comedian John Oliver buys nearly $15 million of medical debt—and forgives it

Late-night comedian John Oliver concluded a scathing review of the U.S. debt-collection industry on Sunday with a nearly $15 million giveaway of old medical debt. “It is pretty clear by now debt-buying is a grimy business, and badly needs more oversight, because as it stands any idiot can get into…

Jun 6, 2016 4:22 PM CDT

Lawyer exits partnership at 275-attorney firm to take lead role in consumer law practice

After a decade defending institutional clients in lending and debt-collection cases, Florida lawyer George Andrews decided it was time for a change. So he gave up his partnership in 275-attorney Shutts & Bowen and his 21st-floor office. Last month he joined Loan Lawyers and he is now working out of…

Jun 6, 2016 9:25 AM CDT

Man hurt by SWAT team as he tried to cash check can seek another $3.3M award from Bank of America

When Rodolfo Valladares went to a Florida branch of the Bank of America in 2008, he was just trying to cash a $100 check. But after he was mistaken for a robber by a teller, a SWAT team was called, and Valladares was kicked in the head by responding law…

Jun 3, 2016 3:53 PM CDT

San Francisco mulls fining, prosecuting home-share sites like Airbnb for listing unregistered units

In 2015, a law took effect in San Francisco that requires those who make short-term rentals available on sharing sites such as Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO to register with local government. But only around 1,400 of an estimated 7,000 or more owners who rent rooms and entire homes to travelers…

Jun 3, 2016 11:53 AM CDT

Are private education programs for shoplifters a second chance or extortion?

Debra Black was accused of stealing about $6 worth of goods from a Goodwill store. Black, a quadriplegic in her early 60s, claims she didn’t intend to steal. She says she hung a child’s purse and other items from the arm of her wheelchair so she could use her hands,…

Jun 1, 2016 2:40 AM CDT

A new dawn for Cuba as it opens for business

The 90-mile corridor between Key West and the north coast of Cuba is far wider, deeper and considerably more dangerous when you factor in everything that's happened between the two countries during the last 57 years. Former ABA President Stephen Zack (with a flag from pre-revolutionary Cuba in his office) escaped from the island as a teenager two years after Fidel Castro seized power.

Jun 1, 2016 12:10 AM CDT

A ‘seismic shift’ in Texas: BigLaw shops raid local firms for top talent and big bucks follow

Until recent years, attorneys at top Texas corporate law firms routinely followed the standard of a bygone era in refusing to jump ship to accept a competitor’s higher offer. No more. In what the Texas Lawbook (sub. req.) describes as a “seismic shift” in the business of law in the…

May 31, 2016 4:15 PM CDT

Appeals court overturns $1.27 billion penalty for Countrywide’s sale of risky mortgages

A federal appeals court has overturned a $1.27 billion civil penalty against Bank of America for risky loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by its Countrywide unit. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that the government had failed to prove Countrywide acted…

May 24, 2016 2:20 PM CDT

Chance to work on ‘biggest disputes in trial work’ lures small litigation boutique to Boies Schiller

A small New York boutique known for its lawyers’ complex litigation skills will be joining forces with Boies, Schiller & Flexner next month. Former federal prosecutor Sean O’Shea, 59, who served as business securities fraud section leader for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Brooklyn before forming his own firm 20…

May 24, 2016 6:18 AM CDT

No liability for movie theater owner in Colorado movie massacre, jury decides

A Colorado jury on Thursday found no liability on the part of a movie theater owner in a lawsuit over a shooting massacre at an Aurora premiere of the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. Jurors deliberated only three or four hours before rejecting claims that more security…

May 19, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

Disbarred securities lawyer gets 30 months, must pay $1.95M to IRS in tax case

A disbarred New York securities lawyer who subsequently moved to Florida has been sentenced to 2½ years in prison and ordered to pay $1.95 million to the Internal Revenue Service in a federal tax-evasion case. Paid in part in stock options for working as outside counsel to a corporation, William…

May 19, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

Takata says up to 40M more air bags must be recalled; Hawaii sues on consumers’ behalf

Adding to the largest recall in U.S. auto safety history, Japanese manufacturer Takata Corp. on Monday said it was recalling an additional 14 million air bags in vehicles in this country because of defective inflators. The auto part manufacturer told Reuters that up to 40 million air bags would need…

May 18, 2016 10:30 AM CDT