Jenner & Block

1. Michael Best Ex-Partner To Help IP Owners Cash In

Friday, Mar 12, 2010

A former partner at Michael Best & Friedrich LLP has launched MioTek LLC, a law firm devoted to helping clients assess and capitalize on their intellectual property in the ever-expanding marketplace for patents and other intangible assets.

2. Ex-Boston Provident CFO Pleads Guilty To $3M Fraud

Thursday, Mar 11, 2010

The former chief financial officer of New York-based hedge fund Boston Provident LP has pled guilty to securities and wire fraud for allegedly having the fund secretly buy his securities at inflated prices.

3. Lehman Manipulated Balance Sheet, Examiner Finds

Thursday, Mar 11, 2010

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s senior officers may be liable for manipulating financial reports in an attempt to hide the effects a crisis of confidence was having on the firm as it neared collapse in 2008, a bankruptcy examiner has found.

4. Texas Railway Tie Co. Cancer Case Gains New Life

Monday, Mar 08, 2010

A federal appeals court has revived a suit brought by current and former residents of Somerville, Texas, who claim a railway tie plant owned by Koppers Industries Inc. polluted their community with toxic chemicals that caused high levels of cancer.

5. Olin Not Liable For Paper Mill Cleanup: 4th Circ.

Monday, Mar 08, 2010

A federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court ruling freeing specialty chemical company Olin Corp. from liability for environmental contamination at a former paper mill it sold to P.H. Glatfelter Co.

6. Examiner Backed In Bid To Unseal Lehman Report

Friday, Mar 05, 2010

The lead plaintiffs in a proposed securities class action against Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. have backed an examiner's bid to unseal a 2,200-page report about the bank's collapse.

7. CSX Wins $1.3M In Contract Spat Over Crane Collapse

Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010

A federal judge has ruled that transportation company CSX Corp. Inc. should get about $1.3 million in damages in a long-running contract and insurance spat with Pacific Rail Services LLC stemming from a crane accident that killed a Pacific Rail employee.

8. $61.5M In Settlements Reached In Lawn Mower MDL

Thursday, Feb 25, 2010

Plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation alleging a conspiracy to overstate the horsepower of lawn mower engines have agreed to four settlements that will net them $61.5 million in cash and over $1.75 billion in in-kind benefits, resolving their dispute with nine out of 10 defendants.

9. Tracking Scottish Lion

Friday, Feb 19, 2010

U.S. policyholders should monitor closely the case of Scottish Lion Insurance Company Limited. Regardless of whether there is an appeal or a sanction hearing on the merits, the case demonstrates that U.S. policyholders can forcefully object to solvent schemes in U.K. courts on a number of grounds in order to protect valuable insurance policy assets, says Brian S. Scarbrough of Jenner & Block LLP.

10. Consumer Seeks Class Cert. In Kellogg's Krispies Spat

Friday, Feb 19, 2010

A Californian has asked a federal judge to certify two classes of purchasers in a case accusing Kellogg Co. of adding misleading statements to the packaging for its Rice Krispies products that suggest they boost children's immune systems.

11. ATI Patent Suit Against Ford, Others Heads To Mich.

Wednesday, Feb 17, 2010

Automotive Technologies International Inc. and defendant automakers including Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. have agreed to transfer the auto safety product research company's patent infringement suit to a federal court in Michigan, where a related suit against Delphi Corp. is pending.

12. Do You Have The Right D&O Coverage?

Wednesday, Feb 17, 2010

Recently, the Southern District of New York gave D&O policyholders ammunition against insurers when it upheld coverage for MBIA Inc., under policies sold by Federal Insurance Company and ACE American Insurance Company for the costs MBIA incurred in responding to inquiries and subpoenas by the State of New York Attorney General and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, say attorneys at Jenner & Block LLP.

13. Akamai Hits Deutsche Bank With $217M ARS Suit

Tuesday, Feb 16, 2010

Akamai Technologies Inc. has slapped Deutsche Bank AG with a lawsuit seeking to recover $217 million Akamai says was "wrongfully" invested in auction rate securities by a Deutsche Bank subsidiary.

14. EEOC Hit With $4.5M Atty Fees In Sex Harassment Suit

Thursday, Feb 11, 2010

A judge has told the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to cough up more than $4.5 million in attorneys' fees and expenses, saying its actions in pursuing a sexual harassment suit against CRST Van Expedited Inc. were unreasonable and imposed an unnecessary burden on the company and the court.

15. CalPERS Loses $17M Lehman Debt Swap Bid

Wednesday, Feb 10, 2010

The court overseeing the bankruptcy case of Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. has nixed a bid by the California Public Employees' Retirement System to deduct the $17 million CalPERS owes Lehman from the $433 million Lehman owes the pension fund.

16. Lehman Examiner Report Done, But Sealed For Now

Monday, Feb 08, 2010

The bankruptcy judge overseeing the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy proceedings has agreed to let the examiner file his 2,200-page report under seal in order to address “legitimate concerns about confidentiality and privilege.”

17. NY Town Objects To Old GM’s Mediation Plan

Wednesday, Feb 03, 2010

The town of Salina, N.Y., is opposing a move by the bankrupt remnant of General Motors Corp. to resolve unliquidated claims filed against it in mediation, arguing that the alternative dispute forum is not the right place for the town’s claims for more than $41 million in environmental cleanup costs.

18. Fannie Mae Plaintiffs Want KPMG Wells Notice Info

Wednesday, Feb 03, 2010

The plaintiffs in the sprawling Fannie Mae securities litigation have asked a federal judge to force KPMG LLP to produce details on Wells notices issued against its employees and any replies from the accounting firm.

19. Judge Urges $6.6M In Usenet File-Sharing Damages

Tuesday, Feb 02, 2010

A magistrate judge has recommended that bankrupt Internet message board operator Usenet.com Inc. pay $6.6 million in damages to several major record labels — including Capitol Records LLC, Arista Records LLC and others — for alleged copyright infringement through music file-sharing.

20. Solomon Can't Switch Claims In Toyota Case: Court

Wednesday, Jan 27, 2010

A federal court has dealt a blow to Solomon Technologies Inc.’s case alleging Toyota Motor Corp.’s hybrid vehicles infringe its patent, finding that the plaintiff could not abandon the claim construction basis that it had adopted during previous litigation.