Lawyer - News

The arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts ignited a wide range of legal and social debate as well as a media firestorm worldwide. Attorneys Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams welcome famed attorney, Jack Greenberg, the former director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund who, together with Thurgood Marshall, argued Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court in 1954. Now the Alphonse Fletcher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, Greenberg shares his perspective on racial profiling, civil rights and what we still need to learn about race relations. No comments

U.S. Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan issued an order Monday dropping all charges alleging that Carlos Loumiet helped conceal fraud at Miami-based Hamilton Bank before it collapsed seven years ago. Dugan cited an insufficient case record and the exclusion of a key witness before concluding there was insufficient evidence that "Loumiet's conduct caused the requisite harm to establish the 'effect' element necessary to hold him responsible." No comments

A federal judge has declined to dismiss an indictment against former New York Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo for allegedly trying to extort $10,000 from a lawyer practicing before him to help pay for the ex-judge's defense against misconduct charges brought by a judicial conduct commission. Judge Gary L. Sharpe set Aug. 24 as the tentative start date for Spargo's trial. No comments

Andrew Berry, the chairman of McCarter English who spearheaded its transformation from a local firm to a regional power, died Friday at age 69. Berry was known as an adept defense litigator, representing clients in the financial, life sciences, pharmaceutical, consumer and industrial-products industries. He was equally well regarded as a law firm leader, having led the firm in the past 12 years through an unprecedented era of expansion while encouraging its lawyers' devotion to pro bono and charitable activities. No comments

So much for a Hollywood ending. The economic recession has hit the most escapist of industries as deals for actors, musicians, directors and other talent in the entertainment sector have plummeted, according to attorneys who structure transactions. The downturn in deals -- affecting both their number and value -- could hit the proliferation of entertainment law boutiques especially hard because the lawyers at those firms feed off a single revenue stream: They get a percentage of the deals they draft. No comments

These are tough times, and lawyers are receiving lots of advice on how to cope. It may all make sense and even sound easy, yet many careers are still floundering. Business development may be the sticking point, says consultant Nadine Slavitt, due to something lawyers don't like to talk about -- lack of self-confidence. Slavitt says two of the usual reasons why lawyers may feel insecure about networking include a negative internal dialogue and a lack of experience, which are both manageable issues. No comments

New York federal Judge Richard Sullivan on Monday dismissed a $186 billion class action that was filed against Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Charles Schwab and Wachovia. Plaintiffs claimed that the brokerages' disclosures about their cash sweep programs were inaccurate and that the brokerages owed customers a fiduciary duty to place their extra cash in highest interest-bearing accounts. The judge rejected all of the plaintiffs' claims, citing 2nd Circuit precedent on brokers' duties to customers. No comments

At least four law firms have been left hanging for millions of dollars in legal fees from a home restoration company whose former chairman pleaded guilty to fraud involving another corporation. The latest firm left waiting for payment by Home Solutions of America is Riker Danzig. Ironically, the firm was defending the company in a suit brought by Morgan, Lewis Bockius over $2.5 million in unpaid fees. Unpaid fees have also driven two Texas-based firms to try to withdraw from defending the company in a class action. No comments

The Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi has filed a federal suit against Moody's, Standard Poor's and Fitch, claiming the agencies misled investors by giving high ratings to subprime mortgage-backed investment entities. Unlike a California Public Employees' Retirement System case, which was filed in state court and focuses on only the pension fund's losses, the Mississippi action purports to represent "all persons or entities who purchased mortgage pass-through certificates" sold by J.P. Morgan Acceptance. No comments

The Obama administration and a group of law professors and former federal judges are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Mohawk Industries' plea for a change in the way many appellate courts deal with questions of attorney-client privilege. The group, which includes U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan, former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr and legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, argues that a Mohawk win would undermine district court judges' ability to control the discovery process. No comments