Lawyer - News

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy acknowledged explicitly Thursday that President Bush was not involved in the firings of U.S. Attorneys last winter and ruled illegal the president's executive privilege claims protecting his chief of staff, John Bolten, and former adviser Karl Rove. Leahy directed Bolten, Rove, former political director Sara Taylor and her deputy, J. Scott Jennings, to comply "immediately" with their subpoenas for documents and information about the White House's role in the firings. No comments

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld announced Wednesday that it has formed a new global climate change practice. One of the group's Washington, D.C., leaders, Paul Gutermann, says the idea for the practice arose when firm members realized they were already doing a lot of work related to the issue, but not "in a cohesive, coordinated fashion." The new practice draws from Akin Gump's project finance, emerging markets, private equity and investment funds, public policy, and environmental and energy groups. No comments

The New York judge who ordered 46 defendants detained when no one would acknowledge owning a cell phone that rang in his courtroom intends to appeal his recommended removal to New York state's high court. Judge Robert M. Restaino continued to serve on the bench Wednesday. The Court of Appeals typically suspends judges with pay when they formally appeal removal recommendations to the court. No comments

Private client work has changed in both complexity and geography, said attendees of the fifth annual Private Client Forum. While there may still be a concentration of millionaires in the G8 economies, the rate of growth in the number of millionaires being created is significantly higher in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. "We need to know about tax and legal systems everywhere our clients are from -- and that means everywhere," says Macfarlanes partner Sebastian Prichard Jones. No comments

A concerted effort by the business community to have federal law preclude, or "pre-empt," state personal injury laws and other regulations has arrived en masse at the U.S. Supreme Court this term, with the justices to review at least five cases involving the issue. Pre-emption scholar Catherine Sharkey says the Court is "poised to begin to fashion a kind of framework for pre-emption jurisprudence. Almost every scholar and litigant calls it a muddle, a mess." No comments

Thacher Proffitt & Wood informed about 50 associates Tuesday that their futures at the firm were uncertain because of the collapse of the market for mortgage-backed securities, an area where the firm had had a leading practice. Among those impacted by the warning were 24 non-first-year associates who were told they were almost certain to be laid off in January unless the credit market substantially improved. Also, 29 first-years were offered the option of taking four months' severance and leaving the firm. No comments

A high-stakes dispute between New Jersey and Delaware with roots in the 1600s played out before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Justices seemed concerned that Delaware was asking too much by asserting the power to veto a $600 million liquefied natural gas plant planned for the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. Because the case falls under the Court's original jurisdiction, Justice Stephen Breyer's recusal could torpedo it completely if the other eight justices reach a 4-4 tie. No comments

The U.K.'s top companies are turning to a shrinking band of firms as the trend towards legal services consolidation accelerates, according to research. Almost 90 percent of FTSE 100 companies surveyed are now using formal panels, and corporations are continuing to aggressively cut the number of firms on their panels. Legal Week Intelligence's Client Satisfaction Survey also shows U.S.-based firms beginning to make more impact with clients. No comments

Legal blogs are putting a spotlight on bad behavior by judges in Florida. Supporters credit the blogs with providing valuable information and bringing change. Critics counter that the blogs can be venues for inaccurate information and unsubstantiated personal attacks. No comments

A two-hour fit of pique in which a judge ordered 46 defendants into custody because none would take responsibility for a cell phone that went off in court should cost him his judicial career, the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended Tuesday. According to the commission, Judge Robert M. Restaino announced that "every single person is going to jail ... unless I get that instrument now." The commmission concluded that Restaino became a "petty tyrant, abusing his judicial power." No comments