WARN Act
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 10.03.16
* The New York Times has obtained Donald Trump’s tax records from 1995, revealing a nearly $916 million loss that would have enabled him to cancel out an equivalent amount of taxable income over an 18-year period. Marc Kasowitz, name partner of Kasowitz Benson, represents Trump, and has threatened the paper with “prompt initiation of appropriate legal action” for its publication of his client’s tax records. [New York Times]
* George Mason University will host a grand opening ceremony this week for the twice renamed
Antonin Scalia School of LawAntonin Scalia Law School — a ceremony that five SCOTUS justices will reportedly attend — and some students and faculty are planning to protest the Koch brothers’ funding of scholarships by wearing red tape over their mouths to symbolize their voices being taken from them. [Big Law Business]* Katherine Magbanua, the woman who is suspected of connecting Florida State University law professor Dan Markel’s alleged killers, Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, with the family of Markel’s ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, has been arrested on murder charges. According to police, she has “received numerous benefits from the Adelsons since Markel’s murder.” We’ll have more on this later today. [Tallahassee Democrat]
* According to Judge Beth Bloom of the Southern District of Florida, Orlando-based firm Butler & Hosch violated the WARN Act when it closed suddenly in May 2015 and conducted mass layoffs of more than 700 employees without giving them 60 days of advance notice. The firm, which is bankruptcy, could be on the hook for millions of dollars in damages. We may have more on this later today. [Orlando Sentinel]
* Following the embarrassment that was former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner’s light sentence in the sexual assault of an unconscious woman at his school, California Gov. Jerry Brown has broadened the state’s legal definition of rape to include penetration with a foreign object, mandate prison time if the victim was unconscious at the time of the assault, and forbid judges from granting probation or parole in such cases. [Reuters]
* “Frankly, USD has been a bit behind in that, in part, up until 2014, we had no problem with the bar exam. When you’re hitting in the high 80s or 90s, you don’t worry about much.” Unofficial results from the South Dakota bar exam are out, and after years of declines in passage rates for graduates of South Dakota Law, administrators are ready to take action now that only about 50 percent of graduates passed the test. [Argus Leader]
* “I was empty and then this woman walked into my life. I didn’t think it would happen again and it did. She is it.” LGBT rights pioneer Edie Windsor, the plaintiff whose Supreme Court case rendered DOMA unconstitutional in 2013 and laid the groundwork for the high court to declare that marriage equality was a fundamental right just two years later, remarried in New York last week. Our very best wishes! [New York Times]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 09.08.16
* You want your crazy? She’s got your crazy! Britney Spears — or rather, her father, perhaps better known as the conservator of her estate — has settled a lawsuit over the “darkest days” of her career with her former manager, Sam Lutfi. The settlement is rumored to be in the low six figures. [Yahoo! […]
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Layoffs
Large Law Firm Faces Class-Action Suit After Laying Off Nearly 700 Legal Professionals
This law firm may be forced to pay for what it’s done after abruptly uprooting the lives of so many.
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Layoffs
Large Firm Unexpectedly Closes Its Doors, Leaves Nearly 700 Jobless
This is a complete catastrophe. Which firm just left hundreds of lawyers and clients in the lurch? -
2nd Circuit, 9th Circuit, Akin Gump, American Bar Association / ABA, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, David Boies, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Drinking, DUI / DWI, Education / Schools, Edwards Wildman, Fast Food, Food, Law Professors, Law School Deans, Minority Issues, Morning Docket, Nauseating Things, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Ted Olson
Morning Docket: 02.13.13
* Six Supreme Court justices attended last night’s State of the Union address, and although it was all hugs and kisses and handshakes to start off with, some looked as if they were due for naptime by its end (coughRBGcough). [Blog of Legal Times]
* It’s a clash of the Biglaw titans! In a face off between legal heavyweights, the Second Circuit has set aside time to hear arguments from Ted Olson and David Boies in the Argentine bondholder case. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* Dewey know if this document specialist’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act lawsuit has got any legs to it? It certainly must, because Judge Martin Glenn very recently denied the failed firm’s motion to dismiss it. [Am Law Daily]
* Congratulations to Paulette Brown of Edwards Wildman Palmer. This Jersey girl is the uncontested nominee for ABA president in 2015, making her the first minority woman to hold the title. [New Jersey Law Journal]
* Send in the clowns (or loads of O’Melveny and Akin lawyers): Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, has a low opinion of David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital lawsuit, referring to it as nothing more than a “silly sideshow.” [Reuters]
* “It is up to us in the academy to prepare our students for the future no matter what it holds.” Dean Frank Wu of UC Hastings seems to be on the right track when it comes to necessary law firm reforms. [Huffington Post]
* Poor, poor Teresa Wagner. She was allegedly denied a job because of her conservative views, and her case ended in a mistrial. That kind of a thing could drive a woman to drink… and drive. [Iowa City Press Citizen]
* Not only does Lehigh University ruin every college basketball bracket in the nation, but it also provides great “I’m suing you because of my crappy grades” fodder. Oh my God, I really miss you, Lehigh! [Morning Call]
* Thanks to the wisdom of the Ninth Circuit, we now know that, at least in Washington, a spit-laden hamburger from Burger King is grounds for emotional distress damages. Ugh, that’s nasty! [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
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Bankruptcy, Biglaw, California, Crime, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Dorsey & Whitney, Immigration, John Edwards, Law Schools, Layoffs, Money, Morning Docket, Religion, Staff Layoffs, Trials, Utah
Morning Docket: 05.17.12
* What information Dewey know about the ongoing criminal investigation that’s being conducted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office? From the sound of it, ex-chairman Steven Davis’s LeBoeuf may be cooked. [Am Law Daily (reg. req.)]
* Dewey know when to admit defeat? A spokesman for the failing firm has insisted that it’s “not formally closed.” Great, because that’ll certainly make it easier to prepare for the involuntary bankruptcy filing that’s in the works. [Reuters]
* Meanwhile, D&L amended its WARN notice with the New York State Department of Labor to raise its total employee count by 100, for a grand total of 533 — 433 of whom have been laid off thus far. [Bloomberg]
* “The defense wasn’t sexy, but the defense doesn’t want sexy. It wants an acquittal.” John Edwards’s legal team rested its case yesterday without calling any of the major players involved to testify. [Associated Press]
* Show me your papers: the California Supreme Court will be deciding whether a law license should be granted to an illegal immigrant who’s already been certified by the State Bar of California. [Los Angeles Times]
* Thank you, Jesus! Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law now has an additional $4M in its collection plate to put toward a new building thanks to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [National Law Journal]
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Arnold & Porter, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Dissolution, ERISA, Lateral Moves, Musical Chairs, Partner Issues
L'Affaire LeBoeuf: The Latest Links and News
Dewey & LeBoeuf is preparing itself for the afterlife: it's shedding overseas offices, sending partners packing, and finding new takers for its real estate (and its pension obligations). -
Dewey & LeBoeuf, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Perks / Fringe Benefits, Small Law Firms, Technology
Morning Docket: 05.16.12
* When Dewey tell the world that we’re dead, but not yet buried? The firm filed a notice with the New York State Department of Labor listing its closing date as yesterday. And what’s their reason for doing so? “Economic.” [Am Law Daily (sub. req.)]
* “The continuing loss of revenue-generating partners and Dewey’s debt load has culminated in the imminent demise of Dewey.” Damn, the PBGC certainly doesn’t mince words. Say hello to the flailing firm’s latest lawsuit of many. [Reuters]
* A judge reinstated Le-Nature’s $500M case against K&L Gates for failure to detect fraud. Hope the firm has a half-billion lying around — they haven’t been doing too well with the whole honesty thing lately. [Businessweek]
* You stay classy, DSK! Your aggravated pimp hand is strong! Dominique Strauss-Kahn filed a $1M countersuit against Nafissatou Diallo because she “ruined his life, personally and professionally.” [Wall Street Journal]
* Conspiring to price fix? There’s an app for that! A federal judge denied Apple’s and several book publisher’s motions to dismiss a consumer class-action lawsuit about e-book pricing. [Media Decoder / New York Times]
* Now this is some backwards ass Fern Gully sh*t. A judge refused to dismiss Chevron’s racketeering and fraud lawsuit against New York attorney Steven Donziger for his work done in Ecuador. [New York Law Journal]
* Thomas Jefferson Law will be the site of the next solo incubator. This is a great way to keep your grads from suing you (not to mention a great way to increase your employed-at-nine-months rate). [National Law Journal]
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Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Drinking, Paralegals, Pictures, Weirdness
Dewey Have Cause for Rejoicing? Some Strange and Humorous Reactions to a Law Firm's Fall
Emotional responses to the Dewey & LeBoeuf debacle have ranged from sadness to anger to... the just plain weird and funny. -
Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Bloomberg, Bracewell & Giuliani, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Dissolution, Lateral Moves, Media and Journalism, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Securities Law, Videos, YouTube
Dewey Have Anyone Left To Turn Out the Lights?(Plus an actual lawsuit, a possible lawsuit, and a partner's theory of blame.)
What is one prominent Dewey partner's theory for what caused the firm's collapse? -
Biglaw, Christopher Christie, Civil Rights, Department of Justice, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Health Care / Medicine, Insurance, Law Schools, Layoffs, Morning Docket, New Jersey, Politics, Staff Layoffs
Morning Docket: 05.11.12
* Dewey seriously have one chairman again? Good Lord, this law firm is literally falling apart! Martin Bienenstock had “no plans to file bankruptcy” because he knew he was taking the first life raft off this sinking ship. [WSJ Law Blog]
* When Dewey WARN people? When it’s already too late. In case you missed it last night, the firm was served with its first suit following its en-masse layoffs. The more the merrier, because it’s a class action. [Bloomberg; WSJ Law Blog]
* Elizabeth Warren can’t decide whether she’s white or Native American. Apparently it depends on her geographic location, because she was white at UT Law, but a minority while at Penn Law. [Boston Globe]
* Racial profiling still ain’t easy, but Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio “will fight this to the bitter end.” The Department of Justice has filed a civil rights suit against the no-nonsense Sheriff and his department. [Associated Press]
* New Jersey Governor Chris Christie must be gearing up for his inevitable 2016 presidential run, because yesterday he vetoed an online insurance marketplace required by the Affordable Care Act. [New York Times]
* Syracuse Law recently broke ground on a $90M building that will serve as its new home. May political plagiarizers continue to grace the law school’s halls for years and years to come. [National Law Journal]
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Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Dewey Ballantine, Dissolution, ERISA, Federal Government, LeBoeuf Lamb, Old People, Partner Issues
Dewey Have Underfunded Pension Plans? Feds Say Yes, Stepping In To Pay the Shortfall
Dewey have enough money to pay its pension liabilities? Apparently not.... -
Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Dissolution, Health Care / Medicine, Labor / Employment, Layoffs, Partner Issues, Perks / Fringe Benefits, Unemployment
Dewey Have Any WARN Act Liability? Let's Discuss
What is the WARN Act all about? How does a company violate it? What are the remedies for violation?
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Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Dissolution, Labor / Employment, Layoffs, Litigators
Dewey Know When LeBoeuf Is Cooked? When Associates Are Laid Off En Masse
Many of the associates who are still at Dewey & LeBoeuf received bad news today. -
Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Dissolution, Labor / Employment, Layoffs, Staff Layoffs
When Dewey WARN People?
Dewey warns people to prepare for the worst...