Remember Abramoff?, Nonprofit, Please, Secret Briefs: The Morning Minute
Here's the news you need to start your day.
February 06, 2019 at 06:00 AM
3 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
WE'RE ALL INDIVIDUALS - We told you last week that an impressive group of law firms, companies and legal pros called the Standards Advancement for the Legal Industry (SALI) Alliance had released its first set of billing codes, as part of a broader project to build industrywide standards for identifying and tracking legal matters. Reporter Roy Strom takes a closer look at the legal heavy hitters pushing the initiative and examines whether other law firms and clients will be onboard—or just bored—with the idea.
PERSISTENCE - Here's a name that should ring a bell: Jack Abramoff. Ellis Kim reports that nearly a decade after getting caught in the dragnet surrounding the infamous K Street lobbyist, an ex-congressional staffer is still battling his corruption conviction in Washington's federal courts. Lawyers for Fraser Verrusio, a former policy director on the House Transportation Committee, will appear before the D.C. Circuit today as part of a legal crusade to overturn his convictions. Verrusio was among nearly 20 individuals who pleaded guilty or were convicted in connection with Abramoff's work.
NEW DIRECTION - For-profit Florida Coastal School of Law wants to separate from its much maligned owner InfiLaw Corp. and obtain nonprofit status. Karen Sloan reports that the 23-year-old school has filed an application with the ABA to make the change, which would enable it to affiliate with a yet-to-be-identified university. If the plan moves forward, InfiLaw could be out of the law school business. Its Charlotte School of Law closed in 2017 and its Arizona Summit Law School is winding down.
EDITOR'S PICKS
SEC Names Elizabeth McFadden as Deputy General Counsel for Law and Management
The Unicorn Watch: New Black Partners
Judge Restarts Emissions Class Action Against Mercedes-Benz
Sheldon Whitehouse Confronts 'Anonymously Funded' SCOTUS Amicus Briefs
FINRA Report on Best Cybersecurity Practices Is Must-Read, Alston & Bird Lawyer Says
George Washington Law Dean to Step Down After Five Years
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
TRAGIC - Barclays lawyers Matt Ziegler and Katherine Clarke were among those killed in an avalanche in the Italian Alps earlier this week. Rose Walker reports that the pair was among a group of four skiers whose bodies were reported to have been found Feb. 4 in the northern Italian region of Valle d'Aosta.
WHAT YOU SAID
“I fear that we're playing musical chairs with a lot of limited lawyers and limited partners.”
— SARRETTA MCDONOUGH, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN LAWYERS, ON THE DECLINE OF PROMOTIONS TO PARTNER IN BIG LAW AND THE RELIANCE ON LATERAL HIRES INSTEAD.
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Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
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