Corporate Law

It Pays to be Wary, as Bribe Cases Rise

Depending on where you are in the world, it might be thought of as payola. Or baksheesh. Or a backhander, among other terms. But for American companies, a bribe by any name is a bigger problem these days than it used to be. The increased focus on corporate compliance in…

Aug 6, 2007 4:13 PM CDT

Taser Talks Tough, Settles Quietly

Taser International Inc. talks a tough game concerning its litigation strategy in cases brought over its controversial stun guns. “The word has gotten out: Taser doesn’t settle,” said the company’s general counsel, Doug Klint, in an April interview with Bloomberg. “Anyone who sues us is in for a fight.” But…

Aug 2, 2007 8:02 PM CDT

DOJ Confession Didn’t Help Chiquita

Chiquita International Brands met with a top Justice Department official in April 2003 to disclose paying protection money to a Colombian paramilitary group on a U.S. list of terrorist organizations. Then the company waited for a response. And waited. The official was Michael Chertoff, sources told the Washington Post. At…

Aug 2, 2007 6:36 PM CDT

Backdating Class Action Tossed

A federal judge has dismissed a securities class action against Mercury Interactive, but legal troubles are not over for the company and some of its former executives. Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose gave the plaintiffs leave to amend the suit against the company, now owned by Hewlett-Packard, the Recorder…

Aug 2, 2007 11:33 AM CDT

Anonymous Poster Is CEO’s Wife

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey isn’t the only corporate insider using a screen name to post anonymously on a message board. In the case of Silicon Valley company Rambus Inc., the person who posted messages defending the CEO was his wife, the Recorder reports. Nancy Hughes, married to CEO Harold…

Aug 2, 2007 10:34 AM CDT

New Standard Lets Weil Sue Mayer

A private equity firm’s selection of New York City bankruptcy powerhouse Weil Gotshal & Manges to handle a $245 million claim against Chicago-based Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw probably wouldn’t have been possible in the not-so-distant past. That’s because Weil likely would have been conflicted out of representing Thomas H.…

Aug 1, 2007 4:53 PM CDT

Deputy AG Jumps to Baker

Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty is jumping to a big law firm: Baker & McKenzie. His new job should pay enough to help him finance college for his children, his stated reason for leaving the Justice Department. The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog reports that McNulty will work in the…

Jul 30, 2007 8:39 PM CDT

Atty Dad, Atty Daughter Fight for Viacom

Corrected: Recently, 84-year-old Sumner Redstone has won or settled lawsuits with several relatives concerning the $50 billion Viacom Inc. media empire he was instrumental in creating. But now he may well be facing his toughest opponent yet–his 53-year-old daughter, Shari Redstone. Until lately her father’s heir-apparent and a 20 percent…

Jul 30, 2007 8:28 PM CDT

Competing Shareholder Plans Advance

The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted to seek public comment on two competing proposals dealing with shareholder influence on corporate boards. At issue is whether shareholders may change corporate bylaws to allow them to advance their own director nominees. One proposal bars shareholder proposals for election bylaw changes, and…

Jul 26, 2007 3:11 PM CDT

Strong Support for Privilege Bill

Supporters predict that legislation to protect attorney-client privilege in corporate probes could pass by the end of a year. Bills introduced in the House and Senate have strong bipartisan backing, the National Law Journal reports. The measures would bar federal prosecutors from requiring waiver of attorney-client and work-product protections in…

Jul 26, 2007 2:29 PM CDT

Japan Changing Corporate Rules

A two-year sentence for a Japanese fund manager who traded on inside information shows Japan’s growing resolve to police its markets. Yoshiaki Murakami received a two-year prison sentence for buying shares in Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. based on knowledge a suitor planned to acquire the company, the Wall Street Journal…

Jul 19, 2007 4:40 PM CDT

Attorney-Client Privilege Bill Praised By ABA Prez

The president of the ABA is backing legislation that would bar prosecutors from pressuring companies to waive attorney-client privilege and cut off employees’ legal fees. U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., introduced the bill in the House last week, Corporate Counsel reports. It is co-sponsored by Randy Forbes, R-Va. The bill…

Jul 18, 2007 12:31 PM CDT

Judge Delays Private Buyouts

Two deals to sell public companies to private investors have hit a wall in the form of Delaware Judge Leo E. Strine Jr. In two recent opinions, the chancery court judge required companies to disclose more information to shareholders about provisions of buyout deals that favored company managers, the Wall…

Jul 12, 2007 5:51 PM CDT

Jury Deadlocked in Conrad Black Case

After nine days of deliberation and a three-month trial, a Chicago jury in the Conrad Black case told the judge today that it’s deadlocked. In a note sent to the judge in the federal case, and subsequently read in court, the jury said it can’t reach a unanimous verdict on…

Jul 10, 2007 10:42 PM CDT

First Banana Workers Get US Court Trial

It has been some 30 years since thousands of banana workers in Central America claim to have been exposed to carcinogenic pesticides on plantations there. Intended to kill worms infesting the roots of banana trees, the pesticides dripped from the leaves onto unprotected workers and leached into the water supply…

Jul 9, 2007 6:00 PM CDT