Law Firm News Spotlight

Feature

Lifetime Achievers 2009

In a year when Wall Street was reviled and government was considered part of the problem -- and part of the solution -- we were reminded of the need for lawyers with both brilliant legal skills and a higher calling. The American Lawyer's seven Lifetime Achievers fit that ideal. These six men and one woman combined careers in the private sector with longtime commitments to public service.

9th Circuit Stands Firm on Prosecutors' Misconduct in Reyes Backdating Case

The Recorder

Federal prosecutors got a second punch in the gut over the Greg Reyes backdating case: The 9th Circuit has explicitly refused to back away from a finding that the government committed deliberate misconduct during trial. After a panel threw out the verdicts against the former Brocade CEO, finding that prosecutors misled the jury, the government asked that it eliminate any judgment that the prosecutors acted deliberately -- a finding that triggers an investigation by the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility.

Deposition Misconduct Draws Rare Sanction for Witness Coaching

The Connecticut Law Tribune

In four medical malpractice cases between 1997 and 2007, Connecticut judges sanctioned top defense lawyer Madonna Sacco for behavior that violated the Practice Book rules for discovery. Now there's a fifth case, and this time the judge has taken the rare step of finding that Sacco violated the Rules of Professional Conduct. He issued a $11,484 sanction against Sacco, noting that a previous $2,368 penalty in the same case for coaching witnesses who were being deposed "evidently" lacked enough "deterrent effect."

SJ Berwin Reacts to Tough Market Conditions With Partner Exits

Legal Week

Top 20 U.K. firm SJ Berwin is asking a number of partners to leave, with both equity and non-equity partners understood to have been affected. The firm would not clarify the precise number of partners impacted by the cull, beyond saying that "less than six" of its 170-strong partnership had been asked to go. At least three of the departing partners are understood to be in the firm's London real estate practice, but other practice areas have also been affected.

Day Pitney Makes New Round of Cuts

The Connecticut Law Tribune

Day Pitney has laid off 29 staff members across eight of the firm's nine offices stretching from Boston to Washington, D.C. In February, Day Pitney let go of 66 staff members firmwide, and in May, the firm dropped 20 lawyers.

Law School Professor Withdraws Suit Against Legal Blog

The National Law Journal

A law school professor has withdrawn a suit accusing legal blog Above the Law of publishing a "viciously racist series of rants" after reporting his arrest for suspicion of soliciting prostitution. David Lat, the blog's managing editor, declined comment Thursday, but on Wednesday he wrote that there had been no settlement and that the posts Donald Marvin Jones complained about will remain on the site. Lat offered to let Jones make his case on Above the Law, but there was no word from Jones on that front as of Thursday.

Personal Injury Veterans to Merge N.J. Firms

New Jersey Law Journal

Kenneth Javerbaum and Gerald Baker are among New Jersey's leading personal injury litigators and teachers, and now they're going to practice together in a 22-lawyer operation. As of next month, Baker and his two partners will be of counsel to 19-lawyer Javerbaum Wurgaft Hicks Kahn Wikstrom & Sinins. Baker says PI firms of one, two or three lawyers often are hard-pressed to find time for law, the business of law and coping with best practices. Joining a larger operation is the right solution for his firm, he says.

Thompson & Knight Lawyer Fashions 'Project Runway' Video Game Deal

Texas Lawyer

Thompson & Knight partner J. Holt Foster has handled video game transactions for many years, but the high-profile deal he just negotiated for Tornado Studios stands out from the pack because it features a photo shoot instead of a shoot-'em-up. Foster helped the company ink a video game development and publishing license agreement for a game based on "Project Runway," a reality television show starring Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn. The game will be released in the spring of 2010 in the Nintendo Wii format.

Expanding Insider Trading Probe Nets Lawyers

New York Law Journal

Two lawyers were among several people arrested Thursday in a rapidly expanding hedge fund insider trading scandal. Arthur J. Cutillo allegedly gave information about mergers and acquisitions he gleaned as an associate at Ropes & Gray to Jason Goldfarb, an associate with the personal injury firm Brecher Fishman Pasternack Walsh Tilker & Ziegler. Prosecutors said that Goldfarb then passed the tips to the head of a ring who based trades on the information.

N.J. Supreme Court Eases Restrictions on 'Super Lawyer' Advertising

New Jersey Law Journal

New Jersey's Supreme Court put the state back in step with the rest of the nation Wednesday and changed the ethics rules to allow lawyers to mention their inclusion in Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America or Martindale-Hubbell AV rankings. The amendment requires lawyers to include in ads the name of the rating service and a disclaimer saying, "No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court."

Greenberg Traurig Gets 5 Environmental Lawyers From Ballard Spahr

The Legal Intelligencer

Greenberg Traurig, which has been deliberate in its growth in Philadelphia, has added a five-attorney environmental group from Ballard Spahr, including David Mandelbaum, who served as partner-in-charge of Ballard Spahr's environmental practice. Mandelbaum said there was nothing negative about Ballard Spahr that spurred his move, but the opportunity to join a firm triple the size in attorney headcount, as well as join a practice that is complementary both locally and nationally, was just too good to pass up.