Lawyer - News

The online numerical ranking system of lawyers, Avvo, launched last week with mixed reviews. Many attorneys complained about Avvo's information and some even called it a popularity contest. Two Seattle attorneys have filed a class action lawsuit against Avvo. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, we discuss thoughts about the product, the class action suit, competition among lawyers and the future of Avvo. Law.com bloggers and co-hosts, J. Craig Williams and Robert Ambrogi welcome our guests: Attorney John Henry Browne, criminal defense attorney at the Law offices of John Henry Browne out of Seattle and one of the attorneys filing the class action lawsuit, Carolyn Elefant, founder and principal attorney in the Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant and blogger for MyShingle.com and Law.com's Legal Blog Watch and Denise Howell, appellate, intellectual property, and technology lawyer and blogger for Bag and Baggage. Don't miss it! No comments

A federal magistrate's order that stops a Web site from routinely tossing relevant data could, if replicated, carry broad e-discovery implications. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian's order requires TorrentSpy to turn over customer data only ephemerally kept in its computers' random access memory, or RAM. It could result in floods of similar requests in other civil cases, according to Ira Rothken, the Novato, Calif.-based attorney for the TorrentSpy site. The order also has privacy watchdogs concerned. No comments

A biannual survey of international arbitration shows one of the most marked trends to be a surge in energy disputes, with oil, gas and utility sectors accounting for more than a third of this year's survey. Another trend: an increase in Latin American cases, which now represent 34 percent of the survey, including 48 percent of treaty-based disputes between states and foreign investors. Thanks to their energy roots and southern exposure, law firms with Texas ties are riding especially high. 2 comments

Groups ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are urging the Supreme Court to withdraw a proposed rule that would require groups filing friend-of-the-court briefs with the Court to reveal whether parties in the case -- or their lawyers -- are members. The groups objecting to the rule say it will have "a serious chilling effect" on membership, in the words of a joint letter filed by the National Chamber Litigation Center and the National Association of Manufacturers. No comments

As the United States begins high-stakes World Trade Organization talks with China about intellectual property and trade barrier disputes, private attorneys representing an alliance of hundreds of companies have logged nearly two years helping the government build its case. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy's loss of billions of dollars a year in revenue from piracy has spawned private sector interest and created demand for law firms with intellectual property and trade policy expertise. No comments

When Los Angeles-based Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner partner David Aronoff wants to oppose a class action, he routinely hires private investigators to probe pre-existing relationships between plaintiffs and their lawyers, or the possibility that plaintiffs had been improperly solicited. His line of attack often works -- as recently when a federal judge issued a scathing ruling refusing to certify a consumer class in California. Even so, Aronoff's approach hasn't been widely adopted by the defense bar. No comments

New York Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye told a group of high-level business leaders Tuesday that the court system "is preparing for full-scale litigation" in the event that the Legislature fails to enact a pay raise for judges. A close observer of the court system has said three law firms are preparing a possible suit against the governor and the Legislature. A spokesman for the court system confirmed that two of the three firms working as volunteers are Proskauer Rose and Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler. No comments

Steptoe & Johnson is boosting its newly created Century City office with the addition of partner Robbin Itkin, who joined the firm from Kirkland & Ellis Monday. Itkin, who was a Kirkland partner, will launch the West Coast restructuring and insolvency practices for 450-lawyer Steptoe. Itkin is bringing "most" of her clients, and one associate. Her work includes representing debtors, creditors and purchasers and trustees in corporate restructuring and bankruptcy. No comments

Philadelphia's Marks & Sokolov is making plans to add attorneys to its offices in Kiev and Moscow, where the 21-attorney firm has established a niche in real estate and representation of U.S. and foreign clients in international transactions, commercial litigation and arbitration. Managing director Bruce Marks says the local emphasis on attorneys' quality, rather than their firm size, allows Marks & Sokolov to compete with large international firms that have a presence in Eastern Europe. No comments

A judge had to leave the courtroom with tears running down his face Tuesday after recalling the lost pair of trousers that led to his $54 million lawsuit against a dry cleaner. Administrative law judge Roy L. Pearson originally sued Custom Cleaners for about $65 million under the District of Columbia consumer protection act and almost $2 million in common law claims. He is no longer seeking damages related to the pants, instead focusing his claims on two signs in the shop that have since been removed. No comments