After Delays, KLA Backdating Suit Settles
Former KLA-Tencor Corp. executives have agreed to settle a lawsuit over stock option backdating after four years of torturous litigation, according to a court filing Monday. About $33 million in cash will be paid by the executives and the California company's insurer to KLA, according to lawyers briefed on the settlement, who requested anonymity because details of the deal haven't been made public. The deal has been a long time coming.
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N.Y. Appellate Panel Affirms Suit Over Alleged Promise to Pay Client's Fee
An attorney who conveys an alleged agreement to cover the legal costs of another lawyer's client can be held liable for unpaid fees, a unanimous New York appellate court panel ruled Tuesday. The decision allows the firm of DePetris & Bachrach to pursue claims against the Shiboleth law firm and one of its lawyers, Charles B. Manuel, that they had promised that their clients would make good on DePetris & Bachrach's fees.
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Panel: Senate Filibuster of Judicial Nominees Not Going Away Soon
Lawmakers have decried the use of the filibuster to block judicial nominations, but anyone frustrated with the process shouldn't expect a quick change, a panel of Senate experts said Tuesday. Makan Delrahim, now a Brownstein Hyatt partner, saw how "brutal" the process can be for nominees while he was a Republican lawyer for the Senate Judiciary Committee during George W. Bush's administration. Said Delrahim, "I have a real problem with the filibuster. I think it eats away at the Senate and the decorum the Senate is known for."
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20 Ways to Link Dispersed Legal Departments
With technology, a legal department can speak with a single voice, think with a single mind, and act like a partnership even with lawyers dispersed around the world. Consultant Rees W. Morrison discusses 20 techniques that increase coherence and effectiveness in a spread-out department.
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Lehman to Judge: Make the Examiner's Report Public
Lehman Brothers and its lawyers at Weil, Gotshal & Manges sent a clear message this week to the judge hearing Lehman's bankruptcy case: Make public the full report about Lehman's demise. In a motion filed Monday by Weil's Harvey Miller, Lehman says it has cooperated fully with the special examiner investigating the bank's failure and has turned over more than 20 million pages of e-mail.
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6th Circuit Finds Limits on Religious School's Freedom to Fire
Religious schools don't have a free pass to ignore a key federal employment law based on a "ministerial exception." At least not in the 6th Circuit, according to a ruling Tuesday in a case of first impression. Kindergarten teacher Cheryl Perich says she was unlawfully fired by Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran School in Redford, Mich., after she suddenly became ill -- she was later diagnosed with narcolepsy -- and went on disability leave. She sued her former employer for disability discrimination.
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Author of Accusatory E-Mails Can Stay Masked, Judge Rules in Libel Suit
Failure to make a prima facie case that an anonymous e-mail was defamatory is grounds to quash a subpoena seeking the writer's identity, a New Jersey appellate court says. No plaintiff "is entitled to an order unmasking an anonymous author when the statements in question cannot support a cause of action for defamation," the court found Monday. It upheld a trial judge's denial of a subpoena request by a high school student who sued over a message sent to a high school counselor about underage drinking.
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Sharp-Tongued Judges Get a Scolding
Two New Jersey trial judges have been reprimanded for making derogatory comments touching on the alienage, ethnicity, race and honesty of physical ailments of litigants and lawyers appearing before them. Among a litany of incidents laid out in court papers, James Citta compared a criminal defendant to O.J. Simpson and ridiculed another for being an immigrant, and James Convery asked a Hispanic lawyer if she was an illegal alien. Both judges were found to have crossed the line.
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Charges in Dallas Office Shooting Depend on Suspect's Recovery
Dallas police say charges against a former city attorney accused of shooting a father and son inside their financial business are on hold because the accused gunman isn't expected to survive. Police say Robert Mustard shot himself in the head after shooting the others Monday. The 60-year-old was in intensive care Tuesday. Police Sr. Cpl. Kevin Janse says aggravated assault charges won't be filed if Mustard dies.
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N.J. High Court Weighs Title Insurer's Liability for Attorney's Theft of Client Funds
The New Jersey Supreme Court is deciding if a title insurer can be held liable for a lawyer's theft of a home buyer's funds if it fails to tell the buyer directly it is not responsible for the lawyer's misdeeds. The case, Lawyers Funds for Client Protection v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co., argued Monday, is being closely watched by the title industry, which could become a deep pocket for fleeced clients if the appeals court ruling below is allowed to stand.
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