Corporate Law

Is a new federal discovery rule needed? Fearful of sanctions, some companies don’t discard documents

Fearful of adverse consequences if they inadvertently discard electronic documents that are deemed to be relevant in litigation, some of the biggest companies in the U.S. are simply saving all documents, including email sent via employees’ electronic devices. A minority of federal courts say companies can be sanctioned even if…

Nov 27, 2013 3:55 PM CST

Students fuming after law lecturer’s mistaken claim that exam cut by fire alarm would be rescheduled

First there was the mid-exam fire alarm that sent some 450 law students taking a closed-book corporations test to mill around outside for a half-hour or so Nov. 12. Then, after everyone returned to complete the exam and the clock was started again from scratch, a couple of Sydney University…

Nov 26, 2013 6:40 PM CST

Contraceptive-coverage mandate will be reviewed by Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider the constitutionality of the health care law’s contraceptive mandate in challenges by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. The court granted cert on Tuesday, report the Washington Post, SCOTUSblog and CNN.com. At issue is whether for-profit companies can be required to…

Nov 26, 2013 5:39 PM CST

Judge axes defense jury verdict in malpractice case due to conduct of insurer lawyer watching trial

A New York judge has overturned a jury verdict for the defense in a dental malpractice case due to the conduct of a lawyer who was retained by a major insurance company to follow trial developments as a spectator in the case. That lawyer, Scott Greenspan of Manhattan, “violated the…

Nov 20, 2013 5:45 PM CST

Customer zapped with $3.5K charge for critique of Web retailer; its terms of use ban ‘disparagement’

Updated: A Web retailer has ignited an Internet firestorm by adding an anti-disparagement provision to its terms of use—and enforcing it. Customer Jen Palmer says she was caught between a rock and a hard place when Kleargear.com threatened to impose a $3,500 fine if she didn’t take down the criticism…

Nov 20, 2013 5:15 PM CST

NY Times: Kramer Levin to bring in John P. Coffey as chair of complex litigation group

After losing a campaign to become New York’s attorney general several years ago, John P. “Sean” Coffey got involved in starting a litigation-funding investment firm and said he didn’t know if he would ever return to law practice. But last summer he helped Allen & Overy defend a former Goldman…

Nov 13, 2013 7:19 PM CST

Judge mulls possible sanctions for Samsung and counsel over Apple info disclosure

A federal magistrate judge in California is mulling potential sanctions against Samsung Electronics and its counsel over the possible violation of a protective order concerning discovery in a hard-fought, big-bucks patent-infringement case. Apple provided confidential information to Samsung’s law firm, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which was supposed to be…

Nov 11, 2013 9:30 PM CST

Is it illegal to implant a remote-control device in a cockroach? PETA asks AG to nix RoboRoach kit

It may be legal to crush, poison or trap and release a cockroach you find in your home. But that doesn’t mean you should be allowed to implant electrodes into the insect’s brain so that its movements can be controlled with the help of a smartphone application, an animal rights…

Nov 6, 2013 8:25 PM CST

Workers object to spending time that’s not on their employers’ dime

How much thought do you put into dressing yourself in the morning? Very little, probably (especially if it’s pre-coffee). That’s because it’s just part of the routine, something that has to be done before beginning the workday. But what if each workday you had to put on, say, protective gear—jumpsuit,…

Nov 1, 2013 5:40 AM CDT

NYC agrees to ban tobacco sales to those under 21

A planned New York City ban on supersize sugary drinks was nixed by the judicial branch. However, the city council on Wednesday passed what was described as life-saving legislation to ban sales of tobacco products to those under 21. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has said he will sign the bill,…

Oct 31, 2013 8:15 PM CDT

Civil rights probe launched against Barneys and Macy’s by state attorney general

The state attorney general has launched a civil rights probe of Barneys New York and Macy’s Inc. following claims by several black customers that they were stopped by New York City police after making expensive purchases. In letters sent to top executives for both stores, Kristen Clarke, the chief of…

Oct 29, 2013 3:40 PM CDT

Another famed NY retailer faces ‘shop and frisk’ allegations in suit by black actor

It isn’t just after shopping at Barneys New York that black customers claim to have been detained by city police due to legally making expensive purchases. Treme actor Robert Brown, who is a 2008 graduate of Amherst College, says in a lawsuit against Macy’s that he was handcuffed and “paraded”…

Oct 28, 2013 4:50 PM CDT

Barneys hires civil rights expert, CEO says no customer of store should be accosted by cops

The chief executive of Barneys New York has apologized following claims by two black customers that they were detained by police after making purchases and retained a civil rights expert to review the upscale department store’s policies and procedures. CEO Mark Lee said a member of the U.S. Commission on…

Oct 25, 2013 6:40 PM CDT

Ex-client in $2.2M law firm chair-collapse case wins reinstatement of ‘substantial’ verdict

A would-be client of a Florida personal injury law firm wound up without the legal representation he had sought after his chair collapsed as he was meeting with an attorney in 2003. But Robert Friedrich did eventually wind up with a big win against Fetterman & Associates in the premises…

Oct 24, 2013 11:00 PM CDT

Family sues car dealership, says they were held at gunpoint on mistaken theft claim over BMW loaner

An Idaho family of four has filed suit against an automobile dealership, contending that all were traumatized when they were stopped by sheriff’s officers near Coeur d’Alene and held at gunpoint, along with their dog, because of a mistaken theft report about a loaner BMW. Casey and Sheree Bryntesen sued…

Oct 24, 2013 7:20 PM CDT