Among the nightmares lurking around the corner for the already battered housing and credit markets would be a meltdown at mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Although few are predicting an imminent need for a bailout just yet, credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s recently placed an estimated price tag on this worst […]
Several Supreme Court justices on Tuesday expressed concern that a U.S. campaign finance law placed unfair burdens on wealthy, self-funded congressional candidates. The court considered a challenge to a provision, known as the “millionaire’s amendment,” that Congress adopted as part of the 2002 campaign finance law to level the playing field for candidates with rich
It has been done in the health service, the media and the City. Professionals — lawyers included — are increasingly victims of league tables. So braving the ire of that most litigious of groups, today The Times Law section offers its own list. Our Law 100 aims to be different: it is not a list
Allen & Overy (A&O) has been slammed by the High Court for racking up almost £5.2m in costs and spending the equivalent of nine man years for a five-day trial. Mr Justice Floyd, in handing down his cost judgment yesterday (17 April), on patent infringement case Research In Motion UK (RIM) v Visto, held there
The law that forces the daughter of a monarch to make way for her younger brother in the succession could be abolished under new equality legislation. Ministers want to give women equal rights to succeed the throne, ending the rule of primogeniture set down under the provisions of the 1701 Act of Settlement. The change
Thomas Capano, the once prominent Delaware lawyer, has lost his bid for a new trial on charges of murdering his mistress in 1996 now that a federal judge has rejected his argument that the jury should have had the option of convicting him on a lesser charge such as manslaughter or second-degree murder. Capano’s lawyer,
Former Fannie Mae Chief Executive Officer Franklin Raines agreed to pay $24.7 million as part of a settlement with regulators for his role in overstating earnings at the largest U.S. mortgage-finance company. Former Chief Financial Officer Timothy Howard will surrender $6.4 million in compensation and other money, and Leanne Spencer, who was the Washington-based company’s
What is 66 years of attorney time worth? On April 8 Philadelphia federal district court judge Harvey Bartle III came up with an answer in the gargantuan fen-phen class action: a little more than $567.67 million. That’s the total he awarded to plaintiffs’ lawyers in the case, which has been dragging on since 1999. Judge
A moratorium on the death penalty that began when the Supreme Court agreed to review the lethal injection method has turned out not to be a pivotal moment in the justices’ ongoing struggle with capital punishment. The halt in executions that started in late September is likely to end by late spring as states restart
William D. Henderson is an associate professor at Indiana University School of Law — Bloomington. Andrew P. Morriss is the H. Ross and Helen Workman Professor of Law and Business at University of Illinois College of Law – Deciding where to go to law school is a difficult decision for many applicants. Law school is
