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Sotomayor nominated to high court
Lawyer Media News |
2009/05/26 09:23
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President Barack Obama chose federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice on Tuesday, praising her as an inspiring woman with both the intellect and compassion to interpret the Constitution wisely.
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Obama said Sotomayor has more experience as a judge than any current member of the high court had when nominated, adding she has earned the respect of colleagues on the bench, the admiration of many lawyers who argue cases in her court and the adoration of her clerks, who look to her as a mentor./ppStanding next to Obama at the White House, Sotomayor recalled a childhood spent in a housing project in the Bronx as well as her upper-echelon legal career: I strive never to forget the real world consequences of my decisions on individuals, businesses and government./ppBarring the unexpected, Senate confirmation seems likely, given the large Democratic majority. If approved, she would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the current court, the third in history. She would succeed retiring Justice David Souter./ppSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying he looked forward to working with both Democrats and Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to confirm Judge Sotomayor as the first Hispanic and the third woman to sit on the court./p |
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Recession cuts law firm growth
Lawyer Media News |
2009/05/26 04:23
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| pThe growth in Israeli law firms' activity came to a halt in 2008, due to the recession and reduction in companies' business, which reduced demand for legal services, reports BDICoface in the BDICode 2009. /ppBDI says that the number of attorneys employed in Israel's 20 largest law firms was unchanged in 2008, compared with 2007, at 1,203. The number of law firms employing more than 100 attorneys was also unchanged, at five. /ppHowever, the number of partners at law firms rose by 8% in 2008, which BDI attributes to the firms' wish to keep employees by promoting them. /ppBDI says that 3,167 new attorneys entered the profession in 2008, 14% more than in 2007. BDI points to the steady growth in recent years in law graduates from colleges compared with universities: in 2008, 72% of all law graduates came from colleges. On the other hand, 95% of university law school graduates passed the bar, compared with 85% of college university graduates. /ppIn the 2008 BDI rankings, Herzog Fox amp; Neeman Law Office kept its first place ranking, and Goldfarb, Levy, Eran, Meiri amp; Co. kept its second place ranking. Meitar Liquornik Geva amp; Leshem Brandwein rose to third place from fifth place in 2007, and Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Nalevy, Greenberg amp; Co. fell to fifth place from third in 2007. Yigal Arnon amp; Co. stayed in fourth place. /p |
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Students who paid to attend inauguration sue
Lawyer Media News |
2009/05/14 10:04
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A lawsuit was filed in federal court Wednesday on behalf of more than 15,000 students who paid thousands to attend President Barack Obama's inauguration but reportedly were left out in the cold.
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The lawsuit filed in Washington says Vienna, Va.-based Envision EMI promised middle, high school and college students across the country special access to the inauguration, parade and a black tie inaugural ball on Jan. 20./ppBut the lawsuit, filed by attorneys of two students, says once the students got to Washington, they had no tickets for the inauguration or parade. And the balls they attended were not official events connected to the inauguration./ppEnvision, a for-profit company that reportedly brought in $40 million from the inaugural sales, has said it would refund students $1 million. But the lawsuit says that would only reimburse each attendee about $65. The students were charged $2,380 to $2,620 and also had to pay for travel to Washington, formal wear for the ball and in some cases extra meals not included in the base cost./ppThese kids took odd jobs and raised funds from family, friends and strangers in order to participate in the defendants' inaugural youth conference to eyewitness a truly historical event, said Bernard DiMuro of DiMuroGinsberg PC, which filed the lawsuit jointly with another law firm, Hausfeld LLP. Instead all they saw was the inside of a bus or were dropped off near the Washington Monument to fend for themselves./p |
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Study Predicts 5 Percent Growth in Legal Spending
Lawyer Media News |
2009/05/07 10:48
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pA decline in legal spending by large companies is about to be reversed, according to a new survey of Fortune 1000 companies.
/ppThe study by market research firm BTI Consulting says large companies will increase legal spending on outside counsel nearly 5 percent over the next six months, according to a press release. The top areas for growth in legal spending will be in the areas of regulatory compliance (up 5.8 percent), bankruptcy (up 2.6 percent), securities and finance (up 2.1 percent), and employment (up .7 percent), an executive summary says (PDF)./ppThe projected increase in spending follows a significant drop in legal spending last year and in the first six months of 2009. When the expected increase is taken into account, overall legal spending is expected to decline just 1.4 percent for the year./ppIn a press release, Michael Rynowecer, president of BTI Consulting, calls the findings “a big ray of sunshine in what has been a very stormy environment.” He cautions, however, that some law firms won’t benefit from the increase in spending./pp“Rather than a wholesale recovery, we are seeing a shift of resources to specific firms and practices that are well-positioned,” he said in the press release. “Large companies are sharing this renewed spending with a smaller group of law firms than just six months ago. Those firms caught unaware or unprepared for this shift will continue to face significant challenges and not reap the benefits of this increased spending.”/ppThe study is based on 370 interviews with corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 companies that average $19.4 million in outside counsel spending./p |
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Supreme Court limits warrantless vehicle searches
Lawyer Media News |
2009/04/22 09:33
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The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that police need a warrant to search the vehicle of someone they have arrested if the person is locked up in a patrol cruiser and poses no safety threat to officers.
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The court's 5-4 decision puts new limits on the ability of police to search a vehicle immediately after the arrest of a suspect./ppJustice John Paul Stevens said in the majority opinion that warrantless searches still may be conducted if a car's passenger compartment is within reach of a suspect who has been removed from the vehicle or there is reason to believe evidence of a crime will be found./ppWhen these justifications are absent, a search of an arrestee's vehicle will be unreasonable unless police obtain a warrant, Stevens said./ppJustice Samuel Alito, in dissent, complained that the decision upsets police practice that has developed since the court first authorized warrantless searches immediately following an arrest./ppThere are cases in which it is unclear whether an arrestee could retrieve a weapon or evidence, Alito said./p |
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Munger, Tolles Olson Retains Clearwell to lower costs
Lawyer Media News |
2009/02/23 09:59
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Clearwell Systems, Inc., a leader in intelligent e-discovery, today announced that Munger, Tolles amp; Olson, LLP (MTO), a California-based 2008 AMLAW 200 Law Firm, has deployed the Clearwell E-Discovery Platform to help lower e-discovery costs and more rapidly respond to litigation and governmental document requests.
The current financial downturn has spurred a flood of new investigations, surpassing the total number of cases filed from the savings and loan crisis over the last two decades. Affected enterprises and executives face lawsuits and inquiries from investors, financial regulators and the government that require extremely fast responses that drain resources and drive up the cost of e-discovery. Clearwell's rapid processing and analysis of case documents can help clients and law firms respond more cost-effectively to e-discovery requests under extremely tight deadlines. Furthermore, Clearwell's Transparent Search and advanced cull-down features help ensure that only the relevant data is produced and the process is defensible, thus mitigating legal risks.
Responding successfully to time-sensitive litigation and governmental document requests requires efficient and cost-effective e-discovery processes that maintain accuracy and defensibility, even under tight timelines, said Ron Best, director of legal information systems at MTO. The Clearwell E-Discovery Platform allows us to more quickly index, search, analyze, and cull-down case data in a product with very robust and transparent tracking and audit capabilities.
As enterprises navigate through the current financial crisis, many are being hit two-fold with the burden of e-discovery requests from increased litigation and investigations, said Aaref Hilaly, president and CEO at Clearwell Systems. In order to defensibly respond to these e-discovery requests, enterprises and law firms are seeking products that provide a level of transparency not available with traditional 'black-box' technologies.
About Clearwell Systems
Clearwell Systems is transforming the way enterprises perform electronic discovery in response to litigation, regulatory inquiries, and corporate investigations. By automating the processing, analysis and review of electronically stored information, Clearwell enables enterprises to accelerate early case assessments, lower processing costs, reduce review workload, and gain control of electronic discovery. Clearwell received the highest ranking of 'Strong Positive' in Gartner, Inc.'s, 2008 MarketScope for E-Discovery Software Product Vendors, and was ranked a Top 5 E-Discovery Software Provider Overall in the 2008 Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey. For more information, visit www.clearwellsystems.com or read the E-discovery 2.0 blog at: http://www.clearwellsystems.com/e-discovery-blog/. |
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