Options Backdating

We run ATL on a shoestring budget, so we can’t exactly afford to send reporters across the country. Taking the train up to New York, to cover a hearing in L’Affaire Charney, is already a big deal for us. So we’re delighted when tipsters give us eyewitness reports on breaking news. Today we had a […]

Truth be told, we find the stock options backdating story a little boring. But every now and then, it results in mildly interesting news. From the Recorder: A fourth-year associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe inadvertently disclosed a sensitive document about stock option backdating that the firm has spent the last five months fighting to […]

* “[P]rosecutors will be investigating the backdating of stock options by companies for ‘years to come.’” [WSJ Law Blog] * “A state appeals court on Thursday rejected a lawsuit by a boy who wanted to compete on his high school’s girls’ gymnastics team.” [Sports Illustrated] * Anna Nicole gets booted from another ex-boyfriend’s mansion. [CNN] […]

We’ve fallen a bit behind in telling you who is going where, and why. So here’s a short recap of notable recent moves within the legal profession: From Law to Finance: * It’s rare for partners to leave Wachtell Lipton, but it does happen. Earlier this month, former WLRK corporate partner Mitchell Presser left the […]

Law Firm Mergers: Actually, they’re really acquisitions: * Washington-based Crowell & Moring is building up its New York office by acquiring King Pagano Harrison, the health care/labor-and-employment boutique, and by picking up partners from IP boutique Morgan & Finnegan. * Philadelphia-based Drinker Biddle & Reath is “merging” with Chicago-based Gardner Carton & Douglas. The new […]

* German citizen files state action to block sale of Picasso painting after federal action was dismissed earlier this week. [CNN] * Talk about court tv: Cablevision is involved in a little bit of litigation. [WSJ Law Blog] * Prosecutors file 12 murder counts in Reno Halloween hotel fire. [Reno Gazette-Journal] * Must not have […]

A number of big-ticket moves to report today. The most notable involve government lawyers: Government to Private Sector: * Debra Wong Yang, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California (Los Angeles), has resigned from the USAO. She’s headed to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, as a partner (duh). Ka-ching! Yang will work out of […]

Out the Door: * CNET’s former general counsel, Sharon Le Duy — resigns — another casualty of the stock options backdating scandals. Lateral Moves: * ERISA lawyer Dana Scott Fried, to Loeb & Loeb, from Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner. Is Dana Fried an ERISA hottie? Perhaps. You be the judge; here’s his bio […]

* “If Mark Foley had sex with a page in the District of Columbia, it wouldn’t be a crime. In the capital, the age of consent is 16, as it is in many states. That, coincidentally, is the minimum age to be a page.” [Los Angeles Times] * The Sixth Circuit has placed Judge Anna […]

* An investigation by the Justice Department Inspector General reveals that the Bureau of Prisons doesn’t have enough staff to monitor communications of imprisoned terrorists with the outside world, including mail and phone calls. [Washington Post] (And what about Instant Messenger? “What ya wearing?” “A burka.” “Love to slip it off you…”) * The Supreme […]

Hey, it’s not yet noon — so we can still call this “Morning Docket.” (Sorry for the delay. But if you care about actual legal news, as opposed to our crude musings on them, you really should go here or here instead.) * BREAKING: Ann Baskins just resigned as general counsel of HP. And her […]

* Judge Manuel Real (C.D. Cal.) defends himself against impeachment charges before the Senate. The accusation that he made rulings “to benefit an attractive female” is one that the 82-year-old jurist “find[s] repugnant, particularly at my age.” [Los Angeles Times] (But who says old guys can’t be horndogs? See, e.g., J. Howard Marshall, the late […]

* In the legal and regulatory crackdown on business corruption and white-collar crime, “lawyers serving fraud-ridden companies have emerged relatively unscathed,” reports the Washington Post. Chalk it up to professional courtesy. [Washington Post] * Lord Conrad Black (at right), former media mogul, has had his worldwide assets frozen by a Canadian court. But don’t feel […]

Sometimes a dying person twitches and convulses violently before finally biting the big one. Such is the case with Milberg Weiss, which is showing a few final signs of life. The New York Law Journal passes along this good news for our favorite class-action complaint assembly line: A New York judge has given a boost […]