Corporate Law

Judge nixes Vanguard tax lawyer’s whistleblower suit, says it violates legal ethics rules

A former in-house lawyer for a mutual fund giant has lost his bid to collect whistleblower fees for his allegations that the company underpaid $1 billion in federal and state income tax over a period of decades. Because attorney David Danon was still working in-house as counsel for Vanguard Group…

Nov 18, 2015 9:40 AM CST

Left with bill and arrested after blind date exits mid-meal, woman sees most of civil suit dismissed

Arrested for theft after her blind date exited during dinner and left her with a restaurant bill of $127.86 three years ago, an Ohio woman sued both the restaurant and the city of Wooster after she won the criminal case. But a federal judge last week dismissed most of the…

Nov 16, 2015 11:45 AM CST

Did BigLaw lawyer lie to help client get millions to buy Maxim? Or was he a victim of his client?

A former counsel to Bryan Cave was hired because he told the firm a wealthy businessman was his client. Then attorney Harvey Newkirk helped the businessman’s son, Calvin Darden Jr., in a fraudulent attempt to persuade lenders to provide millions of dollars to buy Maxim, a federal prosecutor told a…

Nov 11, 2015 3:35 PM CST

DOJ: Hacking schemes ‘breathtaking in size and scope’ targeted 12 companies, got data on 100 million

Expanding charges in a case against two Israeli men and a U.S. citizen, a federal prosecutor on Tuesday unsealed a superseding indictment (PDF) and accused them of playing a role in a sprawling years-long series of hacking schemes that stole personal data for 100 million people and targeted a dozen…

Nov 10, 2015 3:55 PM CST

General counsel for Al Jazeera America seems to lack a law license, New York Times says

The general counsel for media company Al Jazeera America has been suspended and a BigLaw firm has been brought in to conduct an investigation of a claim by the New York Times that he is not licensed to practice law. David Harleston, an executive with Al Jazeera who also serves…

Nov 9, 2015 4:15 PM CST

Volkswagen makes $1K no-strings offer to diesel vehicle owners in emissions scandal

Beset by a barrage of litigation over software that turns on emission controls in diesel vehicles only when they are about to be tested, Volkswagen has announced a no-strings compensation offer for some 482,000 owners of such Volkswagen and Audi vehicles in the U.S. They will receive a $500 gift…

Nov 9, 2015 3:50 PM CST

Coal company will change disclosures on business risks of climate change to end state AG’s probe

The nation’s largest publicly traded coal company, Peabody Energy Corp., has agreed to change its shareholder disclosures to reflect the business risks associated with climate change and the regulatory response. The agreement, in the form of an assurance of discontinuance (PDF), ends an investigation by New York Attorney General Eric…

Nov 9, 2015 7:44 AM CST

Law firm criticizes a Nissan ad which featured a race with school bus, urges people to sign petition

Update: A New York personal injury law firm is seeking to take a leading role in a public campaign over a Nissan Altima ad that they are calling irresponsible. “In this commercial, Nissan is promoting unsafe driving habits,” says Brindisi Murad Brindisi & Pearlman in a Thursday blog post. The…

Nov 6, 2015 3:50 PM CST

Defendant who says he was pressured by judge to give blood sues company that accepted his donation

An Alabama man says he was pressured into donating blood by a state-court judge during a Sept. 17 hearing. He has sued the blood donation center which was operating out of a bus outside the Perry County Courthouse that day. Filed Friday in Perry County by attorney Martin Weinberg, the…

Nov 6, 2015 2:55 PM CST

Ban on credit-card surcharges is a free-speech violation, 11th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has struck down a Florida law barring merchants from imposing a surcharge on customers for credit card use. The law, which allows discounts for cash, violates the First Amendment because it targets businesses that want to call price differences based on credit card use a surcharge…

Nov 6, 2015 9:00 AM CST

Exxon Mobil disclosures about climate-change risks are probed by New York AG

Exxon Mobil is being investigated by the New York attorney general’s office to determine whether the company lied to consumers about climate change risks or lied to investors about how those risks could affect its oil business. News of the probe was reported Thursday by the New York Times, which…

Nov 5, 2015 3:50 PM CST

Lawyer charged in marijuana operation case says state and federal laws ban prosecution

Arrested last year at his Denver law office, a Colorado attorney facing federal charges in connection with an alleged illegal marijuana operation says he shouldn’t be prosecuted. That’s because state law permits him to do what he did and a federal budget amendment bans the use of federal funds to…

Nov 3, 2015 1:55 PM CST

Report: At least 5 civil judges in Chicago area get death threats in anonymous letters

At least five judges in Cook County, Illinois, recently received death threats in anonymous letters sent to their chambers. They had the word “frank” instead of a postage stamp and listed on the return address portion of the envelopes the names and addresses of other judges, said Chief Circuit Court…

Nov 3, 2015 10:15 AM CST

Arbitration clauses effectively eliminate consumer rights for many, New York Times reports

Once virtually unheard-of, clauses requiring individuals to arbitrate consumer and employment disputes are now ubiquitous in documents ranging from applications for cable television service, a credit card or a bed in a nursing home to job-related paperwork. Additionally, many such agreements also bar individuals from bringing class actions. The result…

Nov 2, 2015 9:00 AM CST

Our hamster toy looks nothing like Fox News anchor, says Hasbro in response to lawsuit

A hamster toy manufactured by Hasbro Inc. shares a Fox News anchorwoman’s name. But it looks nothing like Harris Faulkner, the award-winning anchor of Fox Report Weekend, and hence her lawsuit against the toymaker must fail, the company argues in a motion to dismiss (PDF) filed last week. Citing the…

Nov 2, 2015 7:05 AM CST