Law Firms

Did Arthur Andersen take a bad rap for tossing documents, or is it Exhibit A for corporate corruption?

It began with an e-mail that any in-house counsel could have written: a reminder to colleagues about the company’s document retention policy. “It will be helpful to make sure that we have complied with the policy,” wrote Nancy Temple, a Chicago-based in-house lawyer for the Arthur Andersen accounting firm, in October 2001. The policy called […]

Did Arthur Andersen take a bad rap for tossing documents, or is it Exhibit A for corporate corruption? Read More »

The increase of big corporations filing bankruptcy reorganization cases in either Delaware or New York, no matter where the headquarters are, has rekindled allegations that a forum-shopping war between the states includes bankruptcy judges engaging in unseemly competition for cases.

“There is a legitimate question, if it is corrupt competition,” says UCLA law professor Lynn LoPucki. His recently released book makes the same controversial assertion, and that has the bankruptcy bar steamed. It has become so common for big corporations to file bankruptcy reorganization cases in either Delaware or New York, no matter where the

The increase of big corporations filing bankruptcy reorganization cases in either Delaware or New York, no matter where the headquarters are, has rekindled allegations that a forum-shopping war between the states includes bankruptcy judges engaging in unseemly competition for cases. Read More »

The courtroom’s just full of stars in the Michael Jackson case. The judge in the Michael Jackson trial Thursday ordered celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos to testify Friday as subpoenaed by his former client’s defense team.

The judge in the Michael Jackson trial Thursday ordered celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos to testify Friday as subpoenaed by his former client’s defense team. Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville flatly rejected a request to delay the lawyer’s appearance because of a scheduling conflict. Geragos represented Jackson after his arrest on child molestation

The courtroom’s just full of stars in the Michael Jackson case. The judge in the Michael Jackson trial Thursday ordered celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos to testify Friday as subpoenaed by his former client’s defense team. Read More »

The EU Competition Commission has given Microsoft one week to resolve antitrust violations that could otherwise lead to fines of $5 million a day.

The European Union’s Competition Commission chief said Monday that Microsoft must resolve antitrust violations by the end of May. “We made a deal that, before the end of the month, we would reach an agreement. We are waiting for the Microsoft people to do their homework,” European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said. Microsoft acknowledged that

The EU Competition Commission has given Microsoft one week to resolve antitrust violations that could otherwise lead to fines of $5 million a day. Read More »

The Supreme Court has squashed the Justice Depts case against the all-but-defunct accounting firm. In the real world, that might not mean much

Big Business is certainly touting it as a big win. On May 31, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected a Justice Dept. claim that accounting firm Arthur Andersen knowingly impeded a federal probe when its execs instructed employees to destroy documents that might have proven key to a government case against Enron. Arthur Andersen is vindicated,

The Supreme Court has squashed the Justice Depts case against the all-but-defunct accounting firm. In the real world, that might not mean much Read More »

It wasn’t a great year for European firms last year. Average profits slipped across the board. The Lawyer Euro 100 shows that the UK is still the biggest and most profitable legal economy. Fifty-four per cent of the firms in The Euro 100 are headquartered in the UK.

The UK magic circle had a truly ropey year in 2004. Indeed, anyone espousing the cause of the European independent firmmight have felt vindicated. Average profits at the UK/European big four slipped across the board. Clifford Chance’s average profit per equity partner (PEP) dropped from €913,000 (£644,000) to £562,000; Linklaters’ from €1m (£734,000) to £674,000;

It wasn’t a great year for European firms last year. Average profits slipped across the board. The Lawyer Euro 100 shows that the UK is still the biggest and most profitable legal economy. Fifty-four per cent of the firms in The Euro 100 are headquartered in the UK. Read More »

John J. Rigas, who built the Adelphia Communications Corporation into the country’s sixth-largest cable company, was sentenced to 15 years of prison today for looting hundreds of millions of dollars from the company’s coffers and concealing its true debt load from investors.

John J. Rigas, who built the Adelphia Communications Corporation into the country’s sixth-largest cable company, was sentenced to 15 years of prison today for looting hundreds of millions of dollars from the company’s coffers and concealing its true debt load from investors. John Rigas, the founder of Adelphia Communications, entering court today. “Even to this

John J. Rigas, who built the Adelphia Communications Corporation into the country’s sixth-largest cable company, was sentenced to 15 years of prison today for looting hundreds of millions of dollars from the company’s coffers and concealing its true debt load from investors. Read More »

America’s Supreme Court has ruled that makers of peer-to-peer file-swapping technology can be held responsible for the copyright infringement that their products allow. This may stop much of the free downloading of music and film over the internet, but it will not cure the entertainment business’s ills. Nor will it do much for innovation

Last weekend over 110,000 music fans paid £125 ($228) each to attend the Glastonbury festival in Britain’s West Country and hear their favourite bands perform. In years gone by, many thousands more attended than paid, as less scrupulous festival-goers jumped the fence to watch the bands for free. The organisers stamped out the practice by

America’s Supreme Court has ruled that makers of peer-to-peer file-swapping technology can be held responsible for the copyright infringement that their products allow. This may stop much of the free downloading of music and film over the internet, but it will not cure the entertainment business’s ills. Nor will it do much for innovation Read More »

A federal judge found a former attorney for Aaron Patterson in civil contempt Wednesday for staging two tearful walkouts during the former death row inmate’s trial on drug and firearms charges.

A federal judge found a former attorney for Aaron Patterson in civil contempt Wednesday for staging two tearful walkouts during the former death row inmate’s trial on drug and firearms charges. Defense attorney Demitrus Evans, 37, first stormed out of the courtroom after one of Patterson’s many emotional outbursts in June during his pretrial hearings.

A federal judge found a former attorney for Aaron Patterson in civil contempt Wednesday for staging two tearful walkouts during the former death row inmate’s trial on drug and firearms charges. Read More »

She’s 33. She’s a Stanford Law Professor who has already stood before the US Supreme Court. And now she’s defending “dirty bomber” Jose Padilla. She’s also – she says – doing it for all of us.

Stanford Law Professor Jenny Martinez is just 33, yet she’s already stood before the Supreme Court to argue a case she is very passionate and very knowledgeable about, the case of “dirty bomber” Jose Padilla. Padilla, an American citizen, was picked up on May 8, 2002, as a material witness, while flying into O’Hare International

She’s 33. She’s a Stanford Law Professor who has already stood before the US Supreme Court. And now she’s defending “dirty bomber” Jose Padilla. She’s also – she says – doing it for all of us. Read More »