* No bad deed goes unrewarded. [Overlawyered]
* Pay per view internet porn is a lot like bottled water — the industry has somehow convinced the collective masses that because it’s not free, it’s a better product with no funny aftertaste. [Yahoo! Finance]
* I believe these are important developments for criminal lawyers, crack whores and Lindsay Lohan. [Sentencing Law and Policy]
* And in other drug enforcement news… [New York Daily News]
* The best case scenario is that this 88-year-old man is senile and/or cataracts-ridden; the worse case scenario is that he’s been doing this for nearly 70 years. [CBS5]
Latest Stories
We’re having one of those days — computer problems, email troubles, etc. We never should have returned from vacation.
It’s a bad time for us to be so distracted, because there’s breaking news in the Aaron Charney and Sullivan & Cromwell litigation — two decisions from Justice Bernard Fried. A tipster sums them up:
FYI – Two written decisions were posted to the NY State Supreme Court Reporter website today. One is Charney v. S&C; the other is S&C v. Charney.
The first dismisses Charney’s suit, but with leave to replead. The second grants S&C a preliminary injunction, dismisses the first cause of action by S&C against Charney (breach of fiduciary duty), and directs Charney to answer the remaining causes of action.
Even though these opinions are hot off the presses, our fellow Charneybloggers are all over it. They score the rulings as, on balance, a win for Aaron Charney — and we are inclined to agree.
The indefatigable Professor Art Leonard has already produced a thorough and thoughtful analysis. He nicely summarizes the opinions and analyzes the implications for both sides. You can access his post by clicking here.
And Lavi Soloway — who, by the way, is now a father of two baby girls (congrats, Lavi!) — has also written up an impressive and detailed post. Check it out over here.
Charney Case Passes Hurdle; Sullivan Case Limping [Leonard Link]
Decisions Come Down in Charney Case [Soloway]
Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell [New York Supreme Court]
Sullivan & Cromwell v. Charney [New York Supreme Court]
False arrests: they’re not just an American phenomenon. From ABC News (via Drudge, of course):
An Afghan tribesman with an uncanny resemblance to Osama bin Laden has now been arrested twice, both times following reported sightings and massive manhunts for the al Qaeda leader, Pakistani intelligence officials tell ABC News.
Over six feet tall and with the same angular nose as bin Laden, Sher Akbar comes from an Afghan village, Bagh e Metal, in an area where U.S. officials believe bin Laden has been hiding.
Best part of the article:
[A Pakistani intelligence] official said an extensive investigation involving Pakistani and U.S. intelligence officers found that the look-alike has no connection to bin Laden, but that local residents had tried to collect rewards based on Akhbar’s resemblance to bin Laden.
(And in case you’re wondering, no, this item did not come from The Onion.)
Look-alike Arrested Twice; Close But No Bin Laden [ABC News]
Back in August, we named Judge Deborah Tyner our ATL Judge of the Day. The Honorable Debbie ditched her judicial duties to go shopping, which struck us as absolutely fabulous.
Now Judge Tyner has a kindred spirit. Meet Cynthia Garris, a Virginia defense lawyer. From the Virginian Pilot:
A local lawyer has been disciplined by the Virginia State Bar for telling a judge she had to postpone a case because of a commitment in another court when in fact she went shopping instead.
Defense attorney Cynthia D. Garris received a public reprimand from the State Bar, according to an announcement Friday. The reprimand does not affect her law license.
Garris, whose office is at 132 W. Olney Road, told a Norfolk Circuit Court judge last summer that she had to postpone a case because of a court commitment in Williamsburg.
The judge later found out she had gone on a shopping excursion instead. The judge found Garris in contempt and fined her $250.
The judge may have acted hastily. What was Garris shopping for? If shoes were involved, the contempt finding was unwarranted.
Garris should get her $250 back. That money could buy a decent (but not fabulous) pair of shoes.
P.S. Cynthia, if you’re looking to join a big firm, take a look at Bryan Cave…
Norfolk lawyer rebuked for delaying case to go shopping [Virginian Pilot]
Earlier: Above the Law Judge of the Day: Deborah Tyner
An astute observation about today’s opinion in Scott v. Harris, from Howard Bashman:
Here’s a first — A U.S. Supreme Court decision issued today has its own accompanying video: Talk about multimedia rulings! The Court’s opinion today in Scott v. Harris, No. 05-1631 — a dispute about the lawfulness of a high-speed police chase captured on video — appears online at the Supreme Court’s web site with this 91.7 MB RealPlayer video file. No word yet from the Court on whether the volume of U.S. Reports in which this decision will appear will include its own embedded video player.
The dueling opinions — Justice Scalia’s majority opinion, and Justice Stevens’s dissent — discuss the video extensively.
Some brief discussion, of the video and of the opinions, after the jump.
Continue reading “Online Video Clips: Not Just for Porn Anymore”
Skaddenfreude: Wiley Rein Dethrones Wachtell Lipton as America’s Most Profitable Biglaw
By David LatLet the wailing and gnashing of teeth begin. The AmLaw 100 rankings — The American Lawyer’s closely watched, annual listing of the hundred largest law firms in the United States, ranked by revenue — are now available.
We’ll have more to say on the rankings later. Their release is a big story, deserving of multiple posts. They’re like the U.S. News and World Report law school rankings, but for the world of Biglaw, and they can be viewed from many different angles. Although the firms are ranked by revenue, the rankings are accompanied by other juicy data — including information about profits per partner.
For the time being, here’s the “money quote,” quite literally, from the WSJ Law Blog:
Wiley Rein broke the record for the highest profits per partner ever recorded by the magazine — $4.4 million. Why? The Washington, D.C., law firm represented patent-holding company NTP in its nearly five-year legal battle with RIM, and earned more than $200 million in fees from the case. It received approximately one-third of the $612.5 million settlement that RIM agreed to pay NTP to avert a potential court-ordered BlackBerry shutdown. The firm also shortened its name from Wiley Rein & Fielding after Fred Fielding left the firm to become White House counsel.
So New York’s Wachtell Lipton, which has sat atop the profits-per-partner rankings for many years, has been displaced. Interestingly enough, though, Wiley Rein didn’t beat Wachtell by THAT much, considering the massive contingency fee it received from the RIM-BlackBerry settlement. Wiley Rein had PPP of $4,435,000; Wachtell Lipton had PPP of $3,975,000.
(And if you look at the chart for Compensation — All Partners (subscription), WLRK still comes out on top, with $3.975 million per partner. Wiley Rein has a two-tier partnership, so its Compensation Per Partner figure, which reflects compensation paid to non-equity as well as equity partners, is only — only! — $2.7 million.)
The Wiley Rein windfall reminds of when Robins Kaplan got that huge, one-time payout for its tobacco-related work. In the AmLaw 100 rankings for 2000, based on 1999 revenue and profit figures, the Minneapolis-based firm boasted profits per partner of over $3 million — beating Cravath and all the other New York shops that year, except for Wachtell.
Do you have any juicy, AmLaw 100-related gossip? Tales of shameless attempts to manipulate the rankings? Stories about unhappy partners ranting over their firm’s placement over this morning’s coffee? Please send ‘em our way.
A table and links, after the jump.
This morning brings ive new rulings from the Supreme Court. Check out SCOTUSblog for the details.
There are some important ones among the bunch, including a decision in KSR v. Teleflex, a big-ticket IP case. But with one exception, the cases weren’t close. Two were decided by a unanimous Court, and two were almost unanimous (with one dissenter apiece).
The case that split the Court the most was the scintillatingly-captioned United Haulers Association v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management. Here’s Lyle Denniston’s squib:
[T]he Court divided 6-3 in deciding that a local government does not violate the Constitution when it requries all solid waste generated in the community to be processed at a publicly owned facility, so long as the ordinance treats private businesses the same whether they are local or out-of-state.
Because the Supreme Court divides over the stupidest crap.
Court rules on two patent cases, and on high-speed chase [SCOTUSblog via How Appealing]
Earlier: Dispatch from One First Street: KSR v. Teleflex
Here’s an interesting rumor that’s making the rounds:
I have heard through the grapevine that some large law firm(s) [possibly Hogan Hartson] in Washington are desparately in need of corporate associates — from junior associates on up. Apparently the idea is to offer around $30,000 as a bonus to lateral. This shows the real need for corporate lawyers in the capital, especially since the latest wave of raises makes DC associates $15,000 poorer than their New York-based colleagues (or DC-based associates who work for New York-based firms). Lots of work in the corporate departments right now.
Can anyone confirm?
Poor Alberto Gonzales. Even Romy and Michele had a better time at their reunion. From the AP:
A small group of student protesters, including one wearing a black hood and an orange jumpsuit, heckled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as he posed with old classmates Saturday during their 25-year Harvard Law School reunion.
“When the photographer was getting everybody set up and having people say ‘cheese,’ the protesters yelled: ‘say torture, instead,”resign’ and ‘I don’t recall,’” said Nate Ela, a protester and third-year student.
Law school spokesman Mike Armini said the impromptu protest was so small that some of those attending the photo shoot did not notice it.
We hate to quibble, but saying “torture” doesn’t make you smile. Your lips end up in a peculiar, puckered position (try it yourself). C’mon, HLSers — couldn’t you have come up with something more clever?
Students Heckle Gonzales at Harvard [Associated Press]
Did you miss us? We hope so. But we also know, from reader emails and comments, that you greatly enjoyed the efforts of Laurie Lin and Billy Merck, who held down the fort in our absence. We thank them for their fantastic work.
We’re still in the process of catching up on legal news, blog reading, and email. It’s a Monday morning, so we need all the help we can get. If you have any suggested blog fodder, please send it to us by email. Thanks!
* Architect of Brown v. Board nears 100. [Richmond Times-Dispatch via How Appealing]
* Companies seek $1 billion from JP Morgan for throwing copper. [AP via FindLaw]
* Lawyers trying to gin up charges against Rummy take their case to Spain. [Jurist]
* You think it’s hard seeing the puck on tv; try following all those pucks during pre-game warmups. [New Jersey Law Journal via Law.com]
* Meet the Phil Spector jury, courtesty of CourtTV. [CourtTV]
It didn’t take long for the $50k club to gain another member!
Multiple sources tell us that Weil, Gotshal & Manges decided last night to match the $50,000 clerkship bonus being offered by Sullivan & Cromwell, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Paul Weiss.
Who’ll be the next to join this exalted group?
Programming Note: With that exciting news, LEWW is signing off for the week. We’re heading up to New York for some things we can’t get in Alabama: Major League Baseball and Mario Batali.
It’s been an honor and a delight to fill in for David. He’ll be back soon with more on this and other stories. (And of course, LEWW will return with a new wedding column next week.)
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