Corporate Law

Stanford Receiver Asks Judge for Hunton & Williams Legal Files

A receiver for Stanford Group Co. has asked a federal judge in Dallas to order a law firm that represented an Antigua-based bank at the center of a claimed $8 billion Ponzi scheme allegedly run by Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford to turn over related legal files. The court-appointed receiver,…

Mar 25, 2009 5:47 PM CDT

Chicago-Based Arnstein & Lehr Acquires 7-Lawyer Fla. Firm

Following up on a previously announced plan of Florida expansion, Chicago-based Arnstein & Lehr is acquiring a seven-lawyer Coral Gables firm. All of the attorneys at Fieldstone Shear & Denberg will be joining Arnstein, and Ronald Fieldstone, David Shear and Michael Denberg will be joining as equity partners, according to…

Mar 24, 2009 8:46 PM CDT

BigLaw Firms Converge on Dubai: Jones Day Launches, CC Amps Up

Adding to an ongoing trend of looking to the Middle East for new legal business, two major international law firms are establishing a bigger foothold in Dubai. Jones Day has just announced that it will be opening an office there with six lawyers, reports Legal Week. They are: project finance…

Mar 24, 2009 1:00 AM CDT

Lawyer Layoff Surge is Hitting In-House Counsel Hard, Too

It isn’t just BigLaw private practitioners who are getting the ax as corporations struggling to cope with the dismal economy cut legal expenses. Many in-house corporate lawyers are being laid off, too, reports the National Law Journal. “Name an industry where you’ve seen a significant problem, and attorneys are experiencing…

Mar 23, 2009 11:41 PM CDT

Skadden’s Still Thinking Big

Although Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has taken other cost-cutting measures, the mega-firm hasn’t laid off any associates. And, as the firm’s new executive partner plans to take over the megafirm’s helm next month, Eric Friedman, like his soon-to-be predecessor Robert Sheehan, is still thinking big, reports the Lawyer.…

Mar 23, 2009 5:22 PM CDT

Investor Points Finger at Holland & Knight Over Nadel Disclosure Forms

An investor who says he lost $1.85 million in a claimed $397 million fraud allegedly orchestrated by Arthur Nadel is accusing an international law firm of having helped prepare documents for funds Nadel controlled that failed to disclose critical information about his background. In a federal lawsuit filed today, Holland…

Mar 21, 2009 12:59 AM CDT

Detainees Can Sue U.S. Contractor Over Alleged War Crimes at Abu Ghraib Prison

Four individuals who say they were tortured while held prisoner at the Abu Ghraib detention facility in Iraq can sue a U.S. defense contractor whose employees allegedly participated in the claimed war crimes, a federal judge has ruled. In an opinion released today, U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee rejected…

Mar 19, 2009 9:19 PM CDT

Jenner & Block Lays Off 34 Staff

Jenner & Block announced today that it has laid off 34 staff members in its Chicago headquarters and Washington, D.C., offices. In a written statement, managing partner Susan Levy notes that corporate work is down and corporate clients are pressuring law firms generally to hold the line on legal fees,…

Mar 19, 2009 6:55 PM CDT

New FDIC-Like Entity to Oversee Corporate Bailouts, Post-AIG?

In the wake of widespread anger over news of big bonuses paid to executives at American International Group in the midst of a taxpayer-funded bailout that could hit $185 billion, the Obama administration is now proposing a new regulatory entity to oversee the operation of struggling corporations. Akin to the…

Mar 19, 2009 1:53 AM CDT

Mayer Brown Escapes a Refco Case; No Private Right of Action, Judge Rules

Plaintiffs in a securities fraud case filed over the collapse of Refco Inc. can’t hold an international law firm defendant liable for alleged aiding and abetting, a federal judge in New York City has ruled. Because there is no private right of action under the applicable federal statutory law, Mayer…

Mar 18, 2009 8:35 PM CDT

Outraged Congress Mulls Special AIG Bonus Law: Tax Could Be 100%

There’s growing public outrage over news that some $165 million of a taxpayer-funded $180 billion bailout of American International Group is being paid out in bonuses to those who helped drive the insurer into its near-demise. But as some federal officials suggest litigation as a possible taxpayer recovery option, others…

Mar 17, 2009 9:35 PM CDT

5 L.A. Lawyers Leave Sonnenschein for Seyfarth Shaw

A second group has left the Los Angeles office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal to practice at Seyfarth Shaw. Headed by Alan Yoshitake, who joins Seyfarth as a partner, the trusts and estates team also includes Mark Hansen and Edward McCaffery, who will be counsel there, and two associates, the…

Mar 16, 2009 9:48 PM CDT

Big Bank Files Mortgage Racketeering Suit Against Individual Borrowers

A major international bank has filed an unusual federal civil racketeering lawsuit in Seattle against a mortgage broker, an escrow agent–and 10 couples. It contends that they conspired to defraud ING Bank of $6 million by falsifying mortgage applications, reports the Seattle Times. However, the couples say that they, too,…

Mar 16, 2009 7:11 PM CDT

Former Client Seeks Punitives, Claims Hogan & Hartson Aided Competitor

A former client of Hogan & Hartson has sued the law firm for malpractice, claiming that it aided a competitor. At issue in the dispute is two competing brands of over-the-counter mouthguards used by buyers to prevent their teeth from grinding while they sleep. Prestige Brands Inc. hired Hogan partner…

Mar 14, 2009 1:23 AM CDT

Jailed Madoff Seeks Bail; He and Wife Held $823M in Assets in 2008

Jailed immediately as a flight risk after he pleaded guilty yesterday in a record-breaking $65 billion Ponzi scheme, Bernard Madoff already wants out. His lawyers filed a federal court appeal today in New York seeking his release on bond prior to his scheduled June 16 sentencing, and a three-judge panel…

Mar 13, 2009 11:07 PM CDT