http://www.law.com/newswire/ The day's top legal stories accompanied with summaries. en-us 07/03/2009 Copyright 2009. Incisive Media US Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.law.com/service/terms_conditions.shtml http://www.law.com/img/newswire/newswire_rss.gif http://www.law.com/newswire/ Holding his first hearing Thursday on Proposition 8, the controversial state ballot measure that outlawed same-sex marriage in California, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker repeatedly stressed the importance of establishing a record that will stand the test of time. Telling a packed courtroom that the challenge launched by high-profile litigators Theodore Olson and David Boies is presumably a "prelude" for things to come, Walker said: "How we do things here is more important than what we do." http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431994601&rss=newswire The Department of Justice, under pressure to mete out blame for the credit crisis, has wrapped up a deferred prosecution agreement with Beazer Homes USA. The Atlanta-based company has been under scrutiny for reportedly issuing questionable mortgages to local homeowners. As part of the agreement, the company agreed to pay $53 million in restitution and penalties and said it "accepts and acknowledges" that it was responsible for criminal actions taken by employees at its now-defunct mortgage arm. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431985104&rss=newswire Lawyers who work in the White House don't talk much, but they can't avoid having their salaries reported. The Obama administration, complying with an annual congressional requirement, has released salary figures for all White House lawyers, including more than 40 in the Counsel's Office. White House Counsel Gregory Craig tops the list, at $172,200. By comparison, the former partner at Williams & Connolly made $1.7 million last year, according to a disclosure report released in April. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431985042&rss=newswire Lawyers incur tremendous administrative costs in servicing clients who are resistant if not hostile to the idea of these costs being billed back to them. Mattern & Associates CEO and founder Robert Mattern brings to light trends in law firm cost recovery in an increasingly digital world. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431985044&rss=newswire In between the rush and flow of working as general counsel of global computer company Lenovo, Mike O'Neill realized that there are some basic principles that guide his work. He calls these tenets -- some of them he's learned along the way, and some he is still learning every day. He shares those at the top of his list, including the single most important rule for a successful in-house role: We don't get paid for what we do -- we get paid for what we get done. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431988087&rss=newswire Blank Rome has become the latest law firm to put the squeeze on associate salaries, with much of the focus on more junior associates. Effective July 17, first-year associates face a $15,000 pay cut. Other associate classes will see a 2 percent to 10 percent pay reduction, the firm said in a statement, adding that the cuts are a market adjustment. One recruiter predicts that first-year associate salaries will ultimately fall to a "natural level" of between $110,000 and $120,000. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431986525&rss=newswire The judicial misconduct complaint against 9th Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski over sexually explicit material on his family Web site has been resolved with a public admonishment but no discipline imposed on the judge. An 11-judge council from the 3rd Circuit issued a unanimous opinion that said Kozinski had cured the problem himself by removing and destroying the explicit material. The opinion also revealed new details about the incident, including the identity of the disgruntled litigant who tipped off the press. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431991121&rss=newswire Florida-based Ruden McClosky has laid off eight attorneys as part of a cost-reduction effort that includes 18 percent pay cuts for most of its lawyers, according to sources. The laid-off attorneys worked in the firm's litigation, corporate and land-use practice areas. The latest layoffs follow three rounds of dismissals conducted since late last year. An attorney at the firm who asked not to be named said morale has declined because of the cuts in jobs and pay and that many of the firm's lawyers are seeking other jobs. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431985047&rss=newswire The 2nd Circuit has rejected a challenge from out-of-state wine retailers to New York state's prohibition on direct sales and delivery of wine to New Yorkers. Deciding a closely watched case that drew three intervenors and a number of amici, the federal appeals court said New York's Alcoholic Beverage Control Law does not violate the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution because it does not favor in-state sellers at the expense of out-of-state sellers. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431989579&rss=newswire The court-appointed trustee responsible for liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities has announced that $231 million in Securities Investor Protection Corp. funds has been set aside to satisfy 543 claims by victims of Bernard Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme. The figure reflects "major progress" since May 14, when $61.4 million in SIPC funds had been committed to 125 Madoff claimants, SIPC said in a statement. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431988128&rss=newswire A lengthy battle to lead the securities class actions facing Bank of America over its merger with Merrill Lynch now has a winner: three firms representing Texas and Ohio teacher pension funds. In a ruling last week, a federal district court judge in Manhattan decreed the pension funds would be lead plaintiffs and that Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann; Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer; and Barroway Topaz Kessler Meltzer & Check would be co-lead counsel in the now-consolidated securities actions. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431987864&rss=newswire A New Jersey federal judge, finding insufficient common issues, has denied class certification to magazine subscribers who claim a Time Warner subsidiary charged for renewals without their authorization. Connecticut-based Synapse offers trial subscriptions to more than 1,000 publications, which are typically billed to subscribers' credit cards and subject to automatic renewal. The suit sought certification on behalf of Synapse subscribers in New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C., who were charged after trying to cancel. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431987439&rss=newswire The New Jersey Supreme Court has designated mounting litigation over the Johnson & Johnson antibiotic Levaquin as a mass tort and has assigned it to an Atlantic County, N.J., judge. The suits charge that the drug, which is prescribed for bacterial infections of the lungs, urinary tract and skin, has caused Achilles' tendon ruptures and other damage. Johnson & Johnson had supported mass-tort designation but asked for venue in Middlesex County, N.J., where its headquarters is located. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202431984309&rss=newswire Jason Murtagh says that the most nerve-wracking moment during his work on Haywood v. Drown was when the U.S. Supreme Court granted writ of certiorari in June 2008. That's because he was the one set to argue the case. But it turned out well for the 34-year-old attorney and his client in the prisoner rights case -- the Court ruled in their favor in May. Murtagh took the pro bono case while an associate at Dechert, but he's moved on to 40-attorney Rubin Fortunato to pursue a greater amount of casework. http://www.law.com/jsp/law/sfb/lawArticleSFB.jsp?id=1202431945120&rss=newswire In a what may be a first-of-its-kind swearing-in ceremony for a lawyer, a soldier in Iraq became an attorney last week via a live video conference, taking his oath before a Michigan judge who was over 6,300 miles away. The long-distance ceremony for Army Major Miles Gengler was a promise made good by an associate dean at Thomas M. Cooley Law School, John Nussbaumer. "I promised Miles that if he passed the bar exam, I would find a way to get him sworn in even though he would still be in Iraq," said Nussbaumer. http://www.law.com/jsp/law/careercenter/lawArticleCareerCenter.jsp?id=1202431988726&rss=newswire Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer dominated European M&A activity during the first half of 2009. Research from Mergermarket shows that Freshfields has moved to the top of the European rankings by value, working on 63 deals worth 94.29 billion euros ($132.25 billion). Linklaters sits in second place by value in Europe, working on 72 deals worth 81.66 billion euros ($114.54 billion). The tallies mean the firms switch places in the European rankings by volume, with Linklaters in first place. http://www.law.com/jsp/law/international/LawArticleIntl.jsp?id=1202431973542&rss=newswire