Malpractice
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.31.15
* In the wake of fired CEO Martin Shkreli’s arrest for securities fraud, KaloBios Pharmaceuticals has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company will be repped by Hogan Lovells (and likely won’t be charged 4,000 percent more than it should be). [Reuters]
* “Not all of it is law at its grandest but all of it is the practice of law.” Yet another contract attorney’s suit for overtime pay has bitten the dust with a recent dismissal. This time, Quinn Emanuel was the Biglaw firm victorious in keeping doc reviewers downtrodden. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Since Dechert decided to up the ante on first-year associate salaries, other Philadelphia Biglaw firms have responded in kind. Drinker Biddle has matched, while Pepper Hamilton and Cozen O’Connor are following close behind. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
* Facebook needs a “dislike” button: The social media titan’s suit against DLA Piper and Milberg for their defense of alleged con man Paul Ceglia in a fraudulent breach of contract case versus Zuckerberg’s first baby was dismissed. [Buffalo Business First]
* From “weird to wildly costly,” check out some of the craziest malpractice cases that were filed against Biglaw firms during the course of 2015. The McDermott Will & Emery elder abuse case here is particularly creative. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.15.15
* Bill Cosby files suit against 7 women who accused him of sexual assault, because accusers say the darnedest things. [BBC News]
* NY to 193!!! If you’re a state judge. Maybe. [NY Daily News]
* Bowe Bergdahl faces court-martial for desertion. It’s like Saving Private Ryan meets Earnest Goes To Fort Leavenworth. [NY Times]
* Jury convicts the Bryan Cave attorney accused of fraud in an effort to take over Maxim magazine. [NY Post]
* A Missouri lawmaker proposes a bill to strip athletes of scholarships if they refuse to play because one possible scrap of power for black people hasn’t been regulated yet. [Huffington Post]
* Rather than accept the $200 million judgment against Andrews Kurth, a Texas judge orders the parties back to mediation. [Law360]
* Putin signs law allowing Russia to overturn international human rights decisions in a move that, frankly, I’m surprised wasn’t taken years ago. [Reuters]
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Biglaw, Malpractice, Trials
Which Biglaw Firm Just Got Hit With A $200 Million Malpractice Verdict?
Everything's bigger in Texas -- including the malpractice verdicts.
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 11.16.15
* Is Andrews Kurth facing a possible mega-malpractice judgment? If you know more, please drop us a line. [MahanyLaw]
* Elsewhere in Texas, a UT law student stands accused of leading an intimidation campaign against a professor of Israel studies. [Legal Insurrection]
* Advice from our columnist Keith Lee on how to write an excellent legal memo. [Associate’s Mind]
* Did Michigan prosecutors pressure the state’s crime lab to falsely classify the origins of THC the lab was testing? [The Intercept]
* An interview about interviews: Richard Hsu interviews Bryan A. Garner about Professor Garner’s famous series of interviews with Supreme Court justices. [Hsu Untied]
* Does your employer offer assistance with student loan repayment as an employee benefit — and should it? [Tuition.io]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 10.23.15
* Any day Cadwalader can avoid damages in a huge, multimillion-dollar malpractice case is a great day. Yesterday, the New York Court of Appeals dismissed a never-ending suit filed against the firm by a former client over a failed commercial mortgage-backed securitization. Phew! [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
* Say hello to Northwestern Pritzker Law: In case you missed it, Northwestern Law recently received a $100 million donation, the largest single gift ever made to a law school. For that much money, you’re damn right the school has a new name. [Chicago Tribune]
* This must’ve been a huge blow to his ego… U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara had to dismiss insider trading charges against seven defendants thanks to a Second Circuit decision that made it harder to prosecute certain financial crimes. [DealBook / New York Times]
* Charleston Law fired back against professors who sued the school by saying in its answer it wouldn’t be in such dire straits if they hadn’t “sabotaged the transfer of the school to InfiLaw.” Take that back, they did a good deed. [Charleston Regional Business Journal]
* “Sorry, not sorry, narcs,” says Judge Breyer. Earlier this week, a California judge informed the DEA that it needed to stop harshing medical marijuana patients’ mellows by shutting down medical pot dispensaries that were operating within state laws. [TIME]
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Biglaw, Malpractice
Ex-Biglaw Attorney Files Lawsuit Claiming His Former Firm Hung Him Out To Dry
If you get into legal trouble as a result of work you perform at a law firm, shouldn't that firm cover the cost of defending you? -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 08.04.15
* Her dad’s the ringleader, he calls the shots; she’s like a firecracker, she makes it hot: Since “everything is working perfectly” under pop star Britney Spears’s conservatorship — which has been in effect for the past seven years — it’ll likely stay that way indefinitely. [Us Weekly]
* Well, that was fun while it lasted. The ABA did away with its year-old LSAT exemption rule in record time. Law schools will only have until 2017 to lard up classes with students who haven’t taken the exam. Good luck and Godspeed. [National Law Journal via TaxProf Blog]
* Simpson Thacher isn’t the only Biglaw firm that allegedly blew it when it came to turning hundreds of General Motors’ secured creditors into unsecured creditors. Mayer Brown is also facing twin class-action suits for this $1.5 billion boo-boo. [Crain’s Chicago Business]
* Good news, everyone! The ABA approved a merger between Rutgers Law-Camden and Rutgers Law-Newark, and we’re going to look at this in a positive light because theoretically speaking, there’s now one less law school out there. [MyCentralJersey.com]
* “Are Law Schools Skewing Job Placement Numbers?” In a word, yes. Not to be a complete
pessimistrealist, but come on, you know most school-funded positions exist solely to prop up any given law school’s less-than-pleasing job statistics. [Bloomberg]* When you’ve taken the lives of so many, no one cares about your sad life story. A Colorado jury inched closer to inflicting the death penalty upon convicted movie theater shooter James Holmes in the second phase of his trial’s penalty portion. [New York Times]
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Biglaw
Biglaw Firm Sued By A Fortune 500 (Former) Client
High-stakes deals have high-stakes consequences when things go pear-shaped. - Sponsored
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 06.03.15
* C. Michael Kamps, the man who filed a pro se suit against Baylor Law with claims that he was denied admission because his GPA predated grade inflation, recently lost his bid to get SCOTUS to review his case. It’s too bad — he seems like a total gunner. [ABA Journal]
* If you thought that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the biggest celebutante justice on the Supreme Court, then you’d be dead wrong. According to Professor Rick Hasen’s research, it’s Sonia Sotomayor who’s stealing the spotlight at the high court. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Senator Elizabeth Warren, the queen of taking Wall Street to task, now has her sights set on SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White. In a 13-page letter, the politician called the former Debevoise partner’s tenure “extremely disappointing.” [DealBook / New York Times]
* Ex-House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s arraignment was rescheduled from this Thursday to next Tuesday. No reason was given for the change, but maybe it has something to do with the fact that there’s still “no attorney of record” on the case. [National Law Journal]
* Many doctors are hoping that tort reform will save them from litigating their malpractice cases, but there’s an easy alternative. In order to be sued less often, doctors should try to talk more to their patients. What a novel concept. [The Upshot / New York Times]
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Biglaw, Malpractice, Old People
Biglaw Firm Gets Sued For Malpractice -- And Elder Abuse?
A prominent law firm gets dragged into a rich family's feud. -
Bankruptcy, Reality TV
Teresa Giudice Seeks Revenge Against Attorney In $5M Malpractice Suit
Will Teresa Giudice have to flip a table to get justice? -
1st Circuit, American Bar Association / ABA, Asians, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, California, Judicial Nominations, Jury Duty, Law Professors, Malpractice, Morning Docket, Politics, S.D.N.Y., Technology, Trials
Morning Docket: 05.06.14
* U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara wants to know more about why Governor Andrew Cuomo shut down an anticorruption commission. [New York Times]
* The ABA weighs in on the “unfinished business” controversy affecting bankrupt law firms, their lawyers, and their clients. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Better late than never: students and professors at UC Davis Law are pushing for the posthumous admission to the California bar of Hong Yeng Chang, who was denied a law license in 1890 solely because of his Chinese heritage. [Associated Press; South China Morning Post]
* Speaking of late, a robber sent to prison 13 years late because of a clerical error just got released. [ABA Journal]
* Drones could claim another victim: the First Circuit nomination of Harvard law professor David Barron. [How Appealing]
* Who still wants a landline phone? The jury foreman in the latest Apple-Samsung battle, who is sick and tired of cellphones after the month-long trial. [The Recorder (sub. req.)]
* Not such a Great Adventure: “Cadwalader To Pay $17M In Six Flags Malpractice Fight.” [Law360 (sub. req.)]
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Cheapness, Insurance, Legal Ethics, Malpractice, Richard Posner, Screw-Ups, Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners
3 Things That Solos Do That Make Me Embarrassed To Be A Solo
Solo and small-firm lawyers: are you guilty of any of these sins?
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Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
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Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
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Biglaw, Canada, Crime, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Law Schools, LeBoeuf Lamb, Morning Docket, Patton Boggs, Severance, Violence
Morning Docket: 02.26.14
* Two Biglaw firms and their even bigger revenue meltdowns: Patton Boggs and Bingham McCutcheon have posted the most dramatic revenue declines revealed thus far by Am Law. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]
* Dewey know why this malpractice case is being brought against an ex-LeBoeuf Lamb partner? You know your case is screwed if one of the questions the judge asks you is “[W]hy are you here?” [Am Law Daily]
* Those who remain at Heenan Blaikie, the imploding Canadian Biglaw firm, are pretty “pissed off” they haven’t received word on their severance packages. So much for that “orderly wind down,” eh. [Law Times]
* Career alternatives for former Biglaw attorneys now allegedly include breaking and entering and assaulting state delegate’s wives. We’ll probably have more information on this juicy story later today. [NBC29 WVIR]
* If you’re in the process of applying to law school and you’re taking all of your advice from online forums, then you’ll probably get in everywhere you apply. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]
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Insurance, Malpractice, Real Estate, Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners, Technology
5 Things I Wish They’d Told Me When I Started My Law Firm
One of our small-firm columnists, Carolyn Elefant, looks back on the launch of her practice. -
Biglaw, Blank Rome, Divorce Train Wrecks, Malpractice, Partner Issues, Wall Street
Muppets Accused of Malpractice?
A Wall Street wife sues her former divorce lawyers for malpractice, accusing them of being puppets of her ex-husband. -
Insurance, Small Law Firms
The Practice: Answers About Malpractice Insurance
Got questions on malpractice insurance for your firm? Brian Tannebaum is here to help you answer them. -
Health Care / Medicine, Malpractice, Sex
If You've Had an Erection for More Than Twelve Hours, Seek Medical Attention (You Can Always Sue Later)
A medical malpractice lawsuit raises this question: Is 26 hours too long to wait before you seek medical attention for your erection? -
Malpractice, Ridiculousness, Tort Reform
Infographic of the Day: American Litigiousness Statistics That Will Make You Angry
Exactly how over-litigious is the United States? THIS much. -
Malpractice, Small Law Firms
The Practice: Do You or Your Client Understand the Scope of Representation? (Part I)
Be forewarned: Brian Tannebaum is citing case law here, so if that scares you, stop reading now. There are two things lawyers are doing wrong when it comes to scope of representation, as in, “What is your obligation to this client?” The failure to comprehend this critical concept begins when you are retained, and rears its head again when the representation is over. So let’s talk about the dumbass things you are doing to complicate your life, and how to fix them....