Corporate Law

Corp Clients Trim US/Foreign Firm Rosters to Save $$

Major medical insurers have been leveraging their purchasing power for decades, negotiating fee discounts from medical providers by promising a large volume of business from insured individuals. Now in-house counsel at major corporations are routinely applying similar tactics to legal providers, sending work to a smaller number of law firms…

Jul 6, 2007 6:06 PM CDT

London Firms Earn #1 Billing in World

Record profits for the biggest London law firms reportedly make them the dominant players in the world legal market. Three London firms, headed by Clifford Chance, are at the top of the earnings list, with annual billings close to or exceeding $2 billion. For each, that represents an increase of…

Jul 5, 2007 7:25 PM CDT

Sullivan & Cromwell is Top Dealmeister

Edging out London’s Clifford Chance for top honors, New York City’s Sullivan & Cromwell was once again the number one law firm overseeing the world’s biggest corporate deals in the first half of 2007. Although Clifford Chance took the lead in the first quarter of the year, Sullivan & Cromwell…

Jul 3, 2007 7:46 PM CDT

Recall Stalls Despite Tire Defect Suits

A tire distributor has sued a Chinese tire maker alleging it eliminated a safety feature without notification. But the tires are still on vehicles, even after a fatal accident allegedly caused by the missing feature. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) says the case highlights problems with the effectiveness of…

Jun 26, 2007 7:52 PM CDT

‘Phenomenal Year’ for Florida Lawyers

Defying predictions of a law practice slowdown, attorneys in South Florida report their business is booming. “It was a phenomenal year to be a lawyer,” John C. Sumberg, managing partner of Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod, an 85-attorney firm in Miami, tells the Daily Business Review. “We had many…

Jun 18, 2007 9:16 PM CDT

Critic: Ruling Spurs ‘Mercenary Attorneys’

Four men may sue a California nightclub for denying them ladies’ night discounts without first asking the club to stop discriminating. The California Supreme Court ruled yesterday (PDF) that the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act does not require victims of bias to press businesses for equal treatment before suing. Writing…

Jun 1, 2007 6:03 PM CDT

Bomb Image in Business Fax a Bad Idea

Among the new causes of action and subjects of potential claims constantly developing in the ever-changing American legal arena, add one to the list that some might consider a no-brainer – faxing an image of a bomb in an internal business communication. A faulty fax containing such an image, from…

May 31, 2007 6:37 PM CDT

Splenda Agrees to Settlement

How sweet is the settlement reached Friday between the makers of Splenda and Equal? Lawyers won’t say. They agreed to the deal after jurors announced they had reached a verdict, according to Bloomberg news. A juror told the Legal Intelligencer the award would have been “substantial,” although it was less…

May 14, 2007 12:33 PM CDT

Heller Seeks Growth, Loses Lawyers

Has Heller Ehrman’s growth strategy backfired? That’s the question posed by the Recorder, which reports that the firm’s corporate group in San Diego lost nearly half its lawyers in the last six weeks. Lawyers acquired in 2003 now dominate the corporate group. “What I understand is that there was an…

May 11, 2007 1:14 PM CDT

Jury Gets Splenda Ad Case

Splenda’s slogan that it’s “made from sugar so it tastes like sugar” is the subject of a civil suit that goes to a jury today. Equal argues that consumers are confused by the slogan and it amounts to false advertising, according to the Legal Intelligencer. Splenda claims it’s true because…

May 11, 2007 12:22 PM CDT

Options Plea Deal: Lawyer to be Jailed, Pay $52M

The former top lawyer at software maker Comverse Technology Inc. was sentenced today to a year and a day in jail and ordered to pay $52 million for his role in a stock options backdating scheme. A federal district court judge in Brooklyn imposed this sentence on William Sorin in…

May 10, 2007 6:58 PM CDT

Ex-Hollinger Exec Tells of Plan to Divert Cash

A senior executive at Hollinger International testified in Chicago yesterday that he and media magnate Conrad Black plotted to divert noncompete payments to top company executives, including themselves. Star witness F. David Radler, the ex-president and COO of Hollinger, said the plan to funnel money through a Canadian company was…

May 9, 2007 3:33 PM CDT

A Legal Victory for Ex-NYSE Chairman

The former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange has won a significant legal ruling in his fight to keep a $190 million pay package. The suit, filed by then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in 2004, had claimed that Richard Grasso’s accumulated compensation was unreasonable and that he did not disclose…

May 9, 2007 2:53 PM CDT

Lawsuits Trade Accusations in Dow Firings

Two officials fired by Dow Chemical sued the company yesterday, claiming they were defamed by claims they were improperly involved in third-party discussions about a company takeover. Dow has in turn sued the men, executive vice president Romeo Kreinberg and senior adviser J. Pedro Reinhard, for alleged breach of fiduciary…

May 9, 2007 2:31 PM CDT

Trial Lawyers Decry Judge’s $65M Pants Suit

Often a target itself of claims by big business that it promotes frivolous litigation, a well-known American trial lawyer group is now pointing the finger at someone else. A Washington, D.C., judge who reportedly filed a $65 million lawsuit against his local dry cleaner for temporarily misplacing his suit pants…

May 8, 2007 7:43 PM CDT