Corporate Law

Altman Weil Survey Says Corporate Legal Budgets Cut As Most CLOs Negotiate for Lower Law Firm Bills

A new Altman Weil survey of corporate legal spending isn’t happy news for law firms. For the first time in three years, more in-house legal departments are reducing, rather than increasing, their spending on law firm services, the Phildelphia Business Journal and Reuters report. Almost 40 percent of those responding…

Nov 5, 2012 11:15 PM CST

Told Apple Needs 14 Days to Change ‘Untrue’ Samsung Correction Notice, UK Judge Expresses Disbelief

Ordered by the United Kingdom’s High Court of Justice last month to put a post on its website explaining that a competitor didn’t copy its iPad design, Apple Inc. tried to comply but published a notice that was “untrue” and “incorrect,” according to British judges. Then, when Apple was ordered…

Nov 1, 2012 9:53 PM CDT

Judge Fights to Uphold Delaware’s Reputation of Being Fair to Corporations

On a chilly December morning a week before Christmas, Leo Strine, the top judge on the Delaware Court of Chancery, is in a giving mood. A group of lawyers that won a $1.26 billion award in a dispute over the acquisition of a mining company has returned to court seeking…

Nov 1, 2012 10:00 AM CDT

Woman Sues Apple Over Smart Devices, Says She Never Agreed to Have Location Data Tracked and Stored

In a legal case that could become a class action, a Canadian woman has sued Apple Inc., contending that she and her son did not consent, when they purchased or were given an iPhone and iPod, to have their location data tracked and stored. Anyone with “moderate computer knowledge” could…

Oct 31, 2012 7:11 PM CDT

Wal-Mart Centralizes Compliance, Ethics and Investigation Units, Hires Sidley Lawyer to Oversee

Wal-Mart announced Wednesday it has hired a Sidley & Austin lawyer to oversee its compliance, ethics and investigation units, Reuters reports. Jay Jorgensen, a partner at Sidley’s Washington, D.C., office, will serve as Wal-Mart’s senior vice president and global chief compliance officer. He will report to Wal-Mart general counsel Jeff…

Oct 24, 2012 9:43 PM CDT

Newly Public Boy Scouts ‘Ineligible Volunteer’ Files Could Lead to Lawsuits In States with Long SOL

Newly public internal “ineligible volunteer” files kept by the Boy Scouts of America, some of them decades old, could lead to additional child sex-abuse litigation against the nonprofit group, in states such as Oregon and Washington that have generous statutes of limitation concerning the time frame in which lawsuits must…

Oct 22, 2012 4:00 PM CDT

LA Times Unveils Database of Boy Scouts’ Files; Top Oregon Court Order May Spark New Civil Cases

As an Oregon Supreme Court ruling earlier this year took effect on Thursday, making more than 1,200 ‘ineligible volunteer’ files maintained by the Boy Scouts of America public, the Los Angeles Times unveiled a comprehensive database of these files and more. Dating back to material from the late 1940s, and…

Oct 18, 2012 9:00 PM CDT

Report: Verizon Sells Smartphone App Usage, Browsing and Location Data; Critics Claim Wiretap Issues

A CNET News report that Verizon Wireless is selling aggregated information about its customers’ geographic location, application use and Internet browsing habits has raised questions about whether this practice could violate laws against wiretapping. Verizon says that its Precision Market Insights program, which offers reports to third-party marketers about customers’…

Oct 18, 2012 8:33 PM CDT

Settlement Stops Trial of Lawyer’s Claim That Insurer Set Him Up for Prosecution, Ruining His Career

A trial of a Texas lawyer’s tortious interference lawsuit seeking $25 million in damages from an insurer that he claimed ruined his career by setting him up for criminal prosecution came to a sudden halt Tuesday after the parties reached a settlement. Attorney John Flood, who represents plaintiff Todd Hoeffner,…

Oct 18, 2012 5:40 PM CDT

Spokane Diocese Sues Law Firm That Handled Its Bankruptcy, Seeks $12M Legal Fee Clawback and Damages

Updated: The Catholic Diocese of Spokane has filed a malpractice suit against the law firm that handled its $50 million bankruptcy, contending that the church was ill-served by the strategy Paine Hamblen developed to deal with priest sex-abuse issues. The suit, which was spearheaded by Bishop Blase Cupich after he…

Oct 15, 2012 8:15 PM CDT

Fed. Circuit Says Trial Judge Abused Discretion in Smartphone Sales Ban, Aligns with Posner View

In a Thursday ruling in one of several recent patent cases related to smartphone technology, a federal appeals court said a U.S. District Court judge in California abused her discretion by granting a pretrial injunction sought by Apple Inc. that banned sales of the Galaxy Nexus marketed by Samsung Electronics…

Oct 12, 2012 9:38 PM CDT

Minn. Judge Disqualifies Covington from Representing State In Big Enviro Case Against Ex-Client 3M

Agreeing that 3M Co. had been betrayed by a major law firm’s decision to help the Minnesota attorney general pursue an environmental suit against its former longtime corporate client, a judge has disqualified Covington & Burling from continuing to represent the state in the litigation against 3M. In a Thursday…

Oct 11, 2012 11:22 PM CDT

Lawyer Seeks $25M From Insurer, Says He Was Set Up in Criminal Case That Destroyed His Legal Career

A jury trial is beginning this week for a Texas lawyer seeking $25 million in a tortious interference suit against an insurance company with which he formerly had dealings while representing plaintiffs in asbestos cases. Warren Todd Hoeffner, 48, contends that Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. set him up to…

Oct 11, 2012 4:25 PM CDT

Retrial Begins for Ex-Mayer Brown Partner Accused of Aiding Refco Fraud

Former Mayer Brown partner Joseph Collins is back in court fighting charges that he helped executives at commodities broker Refco hide losses from lenders and investors. Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry Chernoff argued that Collins helped Refco create “a massive fraud” that cost victims $2 billion when the brokerage collapsed, Reuters…

Oct 11, 2012 2:12 PM CDT

Self-Help Guru Who Authored ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ Hit with $24M Judgment, But Still Worth a Bundle

A self-help guru who became well known as the author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and went on to make a mint from his numerous books and speaking engagements, is about $24 million lighter in the wallet after a jury verdict earlier this year in federal court in Manhattan against…

Oct 10, 2012 7:15 PM CDT