The T.V. people are saying that there may be a plea deal in the works for Bernie Madoff:
Prosecutors have filed a motion indicating a Bernard Madoff plea deal is in the works, according to the Associated Press.
I hope the deal includes an opportunity for all the people he swindled to slap him in the face. If you charge people for it you could probably get enough for the next bank bailout.
* Legal experts write a letter to Congress suggesting term limits for Supreme Court justices. [The Washington Post]
* SCOTUS will discuss whether judges should excuse themselves from voting in cases involving big campaign contributors when they hear a case involving a West Virginia judge. [Detroit Free Press]
* 3 jurors who convicted Alfred Trenkler of a bombing that killed a Boston Police officer wrote letters begging the judge for a new trial, after a book about the case convinced them of his innocence. [The Boston Globe]
* Today in Houston, U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent will go on trial, facing accusations that he fondled two female court employees. [The Associated Press]
* Madoff‘s investors wont have an easy time in court; securities law is not on their side. [The Washington Post]
* Mississippi Circuit Judge Bobby Delaughter, known for prosecuting a white supremacist, pleaded not guilty. He was accused of ruling in favor of Tobacco attorney Dickie Scruggs (Trent Lott’s brother in law) in exchange for a seat on the federal bench. [The Associated Press]
* Damn, I miss the 90′s (and not just because I loved Pauly Shore movies). yesterday. [Bloomberg]
* Will there be more? Yes. $*%&$. [The National Law Journal]
* Meanwhile — two Pennsylvania judges were caught getting $2.6 million in kick backs for sending innocent teenagers to two private juvenile detention facilities. [Reuters]
* A special federal court of three judges or “special masters” (is this a video game?) decided that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine does not cause autism. [Los Angeles Times]
*Madoff’s defense attorney Ira Sorkin may have a conflict of interest because his parents invested with Madoff. [Bloomberg]
* Lawyers are winning in the long rivalry between lawyers and bankers. Endless financial fraud cases make lawyers look ethical. There is another fraud charge in Philadelphia against money manager Joseph Forte. [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
* The SEC is investigating Apple’s disclosures about CEO Steve Jobs’ health, to make sure the company did not mislead investors. [Bloomberg]
* The point man for Madoff’s investor Frank DiPascali will now be the go-to guy for prosecutors investigating the scheme. [The Wall Street Journal]
* Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Apeals to review his 19 convictions. [The Houston Chronicle]
* A Czech businessman settled a suit filed against him by hedge fund Omega advisors, after he alegedly bribed government officials in Azerbaijan, defrauding investors hundreds of millions. [The New York Times]
* In the aftermath of India’s Enron–the Satyam scandal, the Indian government will likely rescue Satyam’s workers from losing their jobs. [Time.com]
* SEC chairman Christopher Cox resigned in the wake of scrutiny of the SEC for failing to investigate allegations in the Madoff scandal. [The Associated Press]
* The Madoff case will garner lawyers lots of money in fees. “This is a financial 9/11 for our clients” said a Proskauer Rose litigation partner, licking his lips. [Bloomberg.com]
* Meanwhile, the U.S. is challenging the New York Judge’s decision to keep Madoff free on bail. [Bloomberg.com]
* Legislators in Maine are introducing a bill that would recognize same-sex marriage. [The Boston Globe]
* Obama and Biden will visit the Supreme Court this afternoon to meet with the Justices and get a tour. The elephant in the chambers: Obama and Biden voted against Roberts’ confirmation. [The Washington Post]
* Al Franken asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to let him get to the Senate without waiting for the resolution of opponent Norm Coleman’s legal challenge. His lawyers argue that Senator’s will need Franken for comic relief in the midst of our trying times (just kidding). [The Associated Press]
* Dozens of suspected terrorists released from Guantanamo have returned to terrorism says the Pentagon (gulp). [CNN]
* If you don’t have hooters you can’t work there. Hooters discriminates against men by refusing to hire them, a class action argues. Get over it sissies, and grow some boobs. [Courthouse News Service]
* In less pressing news…President-elect Barack Obama will issue an executive order to close Guantanamo within days of entering the White House according to senior advisors. [BBC News]
* Annoyed by your loud neighbors? At least you don’t live on 64th and Lexington next to Berny Madoff (well actually you probably do, I bet those apts. are sweet) His neighbors are incensed by yesterday’s decision to keep Madoff out on bail. Meanwhile, Fairfield Greenwhich has been sued three times by Madoff investors. [Bloomberg.com]
* I served my country, and all I got was special judicial help. An Illinois county is launching a special court to try veterans who commit non-violent crimes. [The Associated Press]
* Obama asked Congress for the second-half of the bailout money so he can stabilize the economy. [The International Herald Tribune]
Really, it brings a new definition to the phrase “gilded cage.” The judge today denied a prosecutor’s request to revoke Madoff’s bail.
It’s pretty hard to convince a judge that a 70 year old man whose apartment is guarded by a phalanx of news reporters that jail is the only way to “protect the community.”
For more coverage on Madoff’s “genius” ponzi shenanigans, check Dealbreaker.
Madoff: Bail, No Jail [Dealbreaker]
We currently have a number of active openings for associate roles at US and UK firms in HK / China, Singapore and two new in-house openings. As always, please feel free to reach out to us at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com in order to get details of current openings in Asia, as well as to discuss the Asia markets in general and what we expect for openings later this year. Our Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney will be in Beijing the week of March 25 and Evan Jowers will be in Hong Kong the week of April 1, if you would like to meet them in person.
The US associate openings we have in law firms are in the usual areas of M&A, cap markets, FCPA / white collar litigation, finance, and project finance. The most urgent of our top tier (top 15 US or magic circle) law firm openings in Asia (among many other firm openings that we have in Asia) are as follows:
• 2nd to 5th year mandarin fluent M&A associates needed in Beijing and Hong Kong at several firms;
• Korean fluent 2nd to 4th year cap markets associate needed in Hong Kong;
• 2nd to 5th year Japanese fluent M&A associates needed in Tokyo;
• 4th to 6th year mandarin fluent cap markets associate needed in Hong Kong;
• 2nd to 4th year M&A / cap markets mix associate needed in Singapore.
Also, we have the two below in-house openings:
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In a land that is right here and in a time that is right now, a technology has arisen so powerful that it can replace basic human document review. Is it time to bow down before our new robot overlords?
First, here’s a little story about me: my life in the legal world began as a paralegal. My first case was a GIANT patent infringement case that was already six years old and had involved as many as five companies, multiple US courts, the ITC and an international standards committee. I knew nothing about any of this.
On my first day, my supervisor (a paralegal with at least eight other cases driving her crazy) sat me down in front of a Concordance database with a 100,000+ patents and patent file histories. “Code these,” she said. I learned that “coding”, for the purposes of this exercise, meant manually typing the inventor’s name, the title of the patent, the assignee, the file date, and other objective data for each document. I worked on that project – and only that project – for at least the first six months of my job. After a week or so, time began to blur.
What I know, in retrospect and with absolutely certainty, is that as time began to blur, so did my judgment. So did my attention to detail. If you could tell me that I did not make at least one mistake a day – one inconsistent spelling, one reversed day and month, one incorrectly spaced title – I frankly would need to see your evidence. I would not believe it. The human mind is trainable but it is not a machine.
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