Corporate Law

Recover Executive Perks, or Else, NY’s AG Tells Insurance Giant AIG

In an effort that could serve as a blueprint to others seeking to hold executives of failed corporations financially responsible, the attorney general of New York has sent a letter to insurance giant AIG. In it, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says the company must recover millions of dollars in “unreasonable”…

Oct 15, 2008 7:22 PM CDT

Did Signing Lease for Pa. Law Firm Make 2 Partners Personally Liable?

Although other partners of a dissolved Pittsburgh law firm were held personally liable for the balance due on the remainder of the five-year office lease, two former Titus & McConomy partners say they aren’t. That’s because they signed the lease on behalf of the law firm, not as individual partners,…

Oct 14, 2008 4:38 PM CDT

Latham Stuns Magic Circle’s A&O With 7-Partner Hong Kong Raid

Latham & Watkins has raided one of London’s biggest and best-known law firms, luring seven partners away from the Hong Kong office of Allen & Overy. Their move to the Los Angeles-based international firm “represents one of the most significant departures ever seen from the foreign network of a magic…

Oct 13, 2008 10:19 PM CDT

Law Students Pursue Securities Cases for Small Investors

With an expected surge in civil and criminal fraud cases on the horizon over questions about the conduct of those involved in making mortgage loans blamed for a worldwide credit crisis, several law schools will soon be graduating a new crop of students who already have trial experience in the…

Oct 13, 2008 7:04 PM CDT

Wall Street Crisis Creates Too Much Work for Weary Bank Lawyers

Amidst what one consultant describes as a horrible year for major corporate law firms, one practice area is red-hot: advising struggling financial institutions, for those considered expert in the practice area. One unnamed lawyer billed 450 hours last month—that’s 15 per day, every day, according to Bloomberg. Others, according to…

Oct 9, 2008 9:00 PM CDT

Newly Unemployed: Thousands of Texas Fish Used in Banned Pedicure Practice

Worried about the potential risks of fish nibbling at customers’ tootsies, the state of Texas banned the pedicure practice yesterday. “Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation spokeswoman Susan Stanford said the agency was concerned about salons using the same fish to clean the skin of multiple customers, leaving them open…

Oct 9, 2008 7:09 PM CDT

Does Kentucky Have Power to Regulate Internet Gambling?

A court order that requires domain names for 141 websites that offer online gambling to be turned over to government officials should be reversed, counsel for the defendants and trade associations argued yesterday in an unusual Kentucky case. The domain names have been treated by the court as though they’re…

Oct 8, 2008 11:20 PM CDT

Justice Breyer Sells Stocks to Participate in More Cases

Justice Stephen G. Breyer will be able to participate in more business cases before the Supreme Court because he and his wife are selling many of their stocks. Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg confirmed the stock sales, Bloomberg News reports. The Breyers owned 38 stocks, more than any other justice, and…

Oct 7, 2008 12:13 PM CDT

U.S. Lawmaker Suggests Special Counsel Probe of Wall Street Operations

At least one congressional lawmaker is calling for the appointment of a special counsel to probe Wall Street’s operations, as a global financial crisis apparently sparked by the U.S. mortgage meltdown continued today. As stock prices plummeted again worldwide today and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee began hearings…

Oct 6, 2008 7:25 PM CDT

9 LA Lawyers Move from Sonnenschein to Seyfarth Shaw

A group of nine real estate and corporate attorneys are moving from Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal to the Los Angeles office of Seyfarth Shaw. The five partners in the group are expected to be joined today by four associates, according to a Seyfarth press release. “Seyfarth Shaw has long planned…

Oct 6, 2008 3:14 PM CDT

Growing as Planned, Sonnenschein Opens New Office in Switzerland

Taking another step towards its previously announced plan for a bigger global footprint, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal has opened a new office in Switzerland. To do so, Sonnenschein has acquired a Zurich boutique run by partners Heinz Bloch and Robert Schlup that is known for its hotel-related practice, the firm…

Oct 6, 2008 3:00 PM CDT

Make CEOs Apologize, Law Profs Say

CEOs of Wall Street firms that take advantage of a federal bailout should be forced by Congress to publicly apologize, or to provide pro bono services to homeowners facing foreclosure, two Northwestern University School of Law professors say in an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune. Kenworthey Bilz and Janice Nadler…

Oct 3, 2008 4:16 PM CDT

SEC Extends Temporary Short-Selling Ban Until Oct. 17

The Securities and Exchange Commission has extended until Oct. 17 a temporary ban on short-selling the stock of some 800 financial companies. However, the ban could terminate sooner if Congress enacts planned bailout legislation at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $700 billion or more in the meantime. If so,…

Oct 2, 2008 5:23 PM CDT

Sullivan & Cromwell Chair Gets Top Billing Among Wall Street Legal Stars

When Hollywood makes a movie about the record-breaking wild ride on Wall Street in recent weeks, there’s one lawyer who’s sure to be among the main men played by the likes of Michael Douglas and Harrison Ford. H. Rodgin Cohen, the chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell, has been ubiquitous amidst…

Oct 1, 2008 3:36 PM CDT

Revealed: Terms of AIG Bailout; US to Vote New Shares to OK Deal

Unusual circumstances call for unusual transactions, as documents newly filed with the SEC concerning the government’s planned $85 billion bailout of insurance giant American International Group demonstrate. Among the terms they reveal are that the U.S. government—which is to purchase not quite 80 percent of AIG via 100,000 shares of…

Sep 30, 2008 9:07 PM CDT