Lawyer Blog

“Hanging” paragraph applied where Chapter 13 debtor chose to surrender secured automobile to lender, and thus lender’s claim was properly treated as fully secured for confirmation purposes; result was to equate vehicle’s surrender to full payment of claim, even when vehicle’s liquidation resulted in unsecured deficiency.

Popularity: 5% [?]

In a move that could bring relief to the plaintiffs bar, a Los Angeles jury last week hit DaimlerChrysler with a $50 million punitive damages verdict. The verdict, which followed an earlier $5.2 million compensatory verdict, came despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that seemed to put yet another hurdle in the way of large punitive damage awards. Assuming the DaimlerChrysler verdict stands on appeal, it would be a boon for plaintiffs counsel Lieff Cabraser, which has had a rough time of it recently.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Three hackers from India have been indicted in the U.S. on charges of conspiracy and fraud for accessing dozens of online brokerage accounts to jack up stock prices and reap more than $120,000 in illegal profits. The alleged “hack, pump and dump” scheme cost one brokerage firm at least $2 million in losses, the Justice Department announced Monday. An estimated 60 customers and nine U.S. brokerage firms, including Ameritrade and E-Trade, were duped in the case.

Popularity: 2% [?]

A New Jersey jury awarded $18 million in compensatory damages Monday to a former user of the painkiller Vioxx, and $2 million to his wife, finding Merck & Co.’s failure to warn of the drug’s cardiovascular risks substantially contributed to his heart attack. The damages verdict came 10 days after the jury made a general finding that Merck misrepresented Vioxx’s heart risks while marketing it to doctors and suppressed information about the risks. The jury is deliberating whether to award punitive damages.

Popularity: 2% [?]

To mitigate the harmful effects of TV industry consolidation — and perhaps soften opposition to future attempts to relax limits on media mergers — FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is pushing to let television stations lease their excess digital channel capacity to independent broadcasters. By leasing a digital channel from an established broadcaster, an independent programmer could have access to the airwaves without needing to launch a stand-alone TV station or find a scarce available channel.

Popularity: 2% [?]

New York hedge fund specialist Sadis & Goldberg opened a San Francisco office March 1. Sadis partner Dennis Hirsch says the move was to better tap the California market, which according to Hirsch is the second-largest in the country for hedge funds and private equity funds. But Sadis’ arrival elicits barely a yawn from the region’s more-established hedge fund practitioners, many of which are busy looking for new hires to feed growing practices. That talent appears to be very specialized — and very scarce.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Columbia Law School professor John C. Coffee Jr. describes the major showdown looming before the U.S. Supreme Court over what must be pleaded to demonstrate scienter under Rule 10b-5. On March 28, the Court is scheduled to hear a case addressing the 7th Circuit’s unusually permissive view of the “strong inference” standard in §21D(b)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The SEC and the solicitor general sparked controversy with an amicus brief asking that the Court impose a higher pleading standard.

Popularity: 2% [?]

As counsel in a hotly contested case, you suspect that the presiding federal judge has engaged in judicial misconduct. What are your options? Is there a formal procedure for filing a complaint of judicial misconduct? Many attorneys are unfamiliar with the applicable provisions, and the general process, concerning claims of federal judicial misconduct. Attorney Justin A. Thornton provides an overview to help when you find a judge sleeping on the job … or worse.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Nvidia’s past is coming back to haunt it. The Santa Clara, Calif., graphics chip company — already dealing with probes into backdating and possible antitrust activities, as well as a former in-house counsel alleging age discrimination — is gearing up for a trial in a dispute over the value of a former rival’s assets, which the company bought in 2001. This bankruptcy case has an open-courts twist: U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Roger Efremsky has proposed having the public sign nondisclosure agreements.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Shareholder stated claim alleging accounting firm’s professional negligence by asserting that firm, designated to appraise closely-held business in event of unbreakable shareholder deadlock, appraised business for less than half actual value; contrary to district court’s determination, such valuation plainly could have caused shareholder’s loss at time of buyout.

Popularity: 2% [?]