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Citing a fraud of "extraordinary dimensions" perpetrated by Bernard Madoff, the government Friday requested either the U.S. Sentencing Guideline of 150 years in prison or "alternatively, a term of years that both would assure that Madoff will remain in prison for life, and forcefully would promote general deterrence." The 24-page sentencing memorandum characterizes Madoff's crimes as "serious and long-running, complex and highly orchestrated and devastating to generations of investors around the country and abroad." No comments

When pop legend Michael Jackson died Thursday, he left behind multiple lawsuits pending against, and some brought on behalf of, himself and his production company, MJJ Productions. Lawyers handling those cases are spread across the U.S., managing everything from breach-of-contract disputes to employee claims to copyright infringement. It's unclear who would represent Jackson's estate. "I imagine this is going to be a very complicated engagement," said one lawyer in litigation with Jackson's company. No comments

Sen. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., worked behind the scenes on Supreme Court nominations for much of the last three decades, as an adviser and chief of staff to then-Sen. Joe Biden. Now, as Biden's successor and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kaufman will have the chance to question and vote on a nominee when the Senate weighs in on Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Kaufman sat down with The National Law Journal to reflect on his experiences, discuss how the process has changed -- and offer some predictions. No comments

From afar, Legal Technology Editor Sean Doherty monitored developments at LegalTech in Los Angeles. Among other highlights, Doherty notes that technology vendors focused on mobility while EDD providers touted early case assessment and advanced search and collection techniques. No comments

Your company has just been served with a 30(b)(6) deposition notice under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and it is your job to respond to the notice and determine who will testify on behalf of the corporation. Is there anything you can do to ensure that your company puts its best foot forward at the deposition? The answer is yes, say attorneys Lori L. Pines and Ardith Bronson, who offer strategies for selecting and preparing witnesses to participate in these depositions. No comments

To describe international arbitration as three-dimensional chess is something of an understatement. The nearly 250 cases in the 2009 Arbitration Scorecard -- all either commercial disputes with stakes of at least $500 million or treaty disputes with stakes of at least $100 million -- overspill the bounds of their charts in every direction. Multifront wars, whether waged over cell towers or oil derricks, have become the norm for the largest cases. No comments

The D.C. Circuit on Friday unanimously upheld the dismissal of a $50 million malpractice suit against Pillsbury, ruling that Capitol Hill Group's claims -- stemming from the work two partners performed in representing CHG in a zoning proceeding in D.C. -- are barred by res judicata. Finding that a lower court judge didn't make a mistake in granting summary judgment, the D.C. Circuit noted that post-representation relations between Pillsbury and CHG were "rocky" and at one point included a "cycle of acrimony." No comments

The 9th Circuit has granted California Attorney General Jerry Brown's motion to voluntarily dismiss the state's global warming lawsuit against six of the nation's largest automobile manufacturers. The order put an end to the lawsuit, which was the first of its kind when filed in 2006 against Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. The suit claimed that the companies created a public nuisance under federal common law by contributing to global warming through the emissions from their automobiles. No comments

Voting largely along party lines, the Senate on Thursday confirmed Harold Koh to be legal adviser to the State Department. Koh, the outgoing dean of Yale Law School, will head up the department's legal staff, advising Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He returns to the department after having served as an assistant secretary of state during the Clinton administration. No comments

Retiree Jacob Richard Froess thought it was safe to invest his savings through the brokerage arm of his bank, but lost $14,000 before he could get his money out. Last month, he scored a difficult victory before an arbitrator with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, with help from attorney Mark Tepper. "To me, the greatest sound in the world is the sound of Goliath falling to his knees," says Tepper, a former New York prosecutor who moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and now focuses on representing investors. No comments