Feds paid billions in settlements last year
Lawyers for Uncle Sam shelled out more than $3 billion in taxpayer funds last year to resolve lawsuits against the federal government — more than twice as much as in 2010, and the most in at least five years, an analysis of government records shows.
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Part-time law school losing allure
According to a panel of legal educators who gathered during the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) annual meeting in early January, lagging employer support, workers' fears about losing their jobs, the growing popularity of Master of Business Administration programs, rising tuition and the tough legal job market all are contributing to declining enrollment in part-time programs.
Much ado about discovery
In the wake of the new patent reform law, discovery will be a significant addition to administrative proceedings that review the validity of issued patents. A medical device company's lawsuit against the patent office foreshadows likely fights about the scope of discovery in these proceedings, which are expected to spike under the new law.
An affidavit to remember
In August 2009, boutique international law firm ShawnCoulson settled a $2.2 million fee dispute in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with former client PowerTrain Inc. Late last year, the Mississippi-based engine parts importer moved to reopen the case, seeking sanctions for an allegedly false affidavit filed in the case.
Will alien tort case be next Citizens United?
The next Citizens United, in the view of some of that decision's most vigorous critics, may have nothing to do with campaign finance or the First Amendment. Instead, corporations in a case the justices will hear this month seek not to spend their money but to avoid doing so by arguing that they have no liability under a 1789 statute for torts committed abroad in violation of international law or U.S. treaties.
7th Circuit revives claims of former associate against Kanoski firm
Two of a lawyer's claims against his former firm for a cut of case settlements after he was fired can move forward, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has ruled.
