Blank Rome

1. Heartland Ends Payment Processing Antitrust Case

Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. has resolved a case alleging rival Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC and others engaged in an anti-competitive scheme to corner the payment processing market in the restaurant industry.

2. US Seeks Remand Of DOC Antiseptic Chemical Ruling

Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010

Echoing similar challenges levied by Chinese and domestic manufacturers, the U.S. government has requested that the byproduct offset calculations in the U.S. Department of Commerce's revised rate determination for chlorinated isocyanurates be remanded to the agency for reconsideration.

3. Chinese Co. Rebuts Rationale For Ironing Board Duty

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010

A China-wide anti-dumping duty on metal-top ironing table exports was improperly applied to Since Hardware (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd. because the company operated free from government control, the company has told a judge in its bid to escape a hefty 157.86 percent rate.

4. Lateral Market Stays Hot As Winter Wears On

Monday, Mar 01, 2010

Lateral movement in the legal industry continued to rise in February, with Allen & Overy LLP picking up more than a dozen partners from Clayton Utz, and Latham & Watkins LLP and Haynes and Boone LLP also showing significant gains.

5. New MediCor Ch. 11 Plan Factors In Settlements

Friday, Feb 26, 2010

Bankrupt breast implant maker MediCor Ltd. has filed an amended liquidation plan that includes millions of dollars in settlements with plaintiffs in a series of securities class actions against the company’s officers and directors and a separate deal with its receiver, as well as an agreement between MediCor’s unsecured creditors and senior lenders.

6. CNA Demands Docs From Attys In Commerce Suit

Friday, Feb 26, 2010

CNA Insurance Cos. has asked a judge to enforce subpoenas served on three law firms that represented shareholder class action and derivative plaintiffs in suits against Commerce Bancorp LLP, seeking evidence in a dispute over coverage for as much as $16 million in claims related to Toronto-Dominion Bank's purchase of Commerce.

7. Game Nearly Over As Midway Files Liquidation Plan

Wednesday, Feb 24, 2010

Bankrupt video game maker Midway Games Inc. has filed a Chapter 11 liquidation plan that would see two classes of unsecured creditors take home a fraction of their claims, while a third group likely would be shut out entirely.

8. Proxy Season Looks Busy As Activists Pick Up Steam

Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010

With a still-struggling economy and legal and regulatory changes making it easier to launch a shareholder crusade, experts expect the number of proxy battles to increase in a big way as activist shareholders pick up the pace and change their priorities.

9. Liberty Mutual, Aetna Put $20M E&O Fight On Hold

Friday, Feb 19, 2010

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. has agreed to stay its $20 million rescission suit against Aetna Inc., as the managed care provider seeks to recover some $200 million from several errors and omissions insurers for payments it made to settle racketeering and other claims in multidistrict litigation in Florida.

10. Judge Confirms Northeast Biofuels Ch. 11 Plan

Friday, Feb 12, 2010

A bankruptcy judge has confirmed Northeast Biofuels LP's Chapter 11 liquidation plan, granting the ethanol producer the green light to begin implementing a plan that provides little recovery to creditors.

11. Blank Rome Snags Corporate Litigation Partner

Wednesday, Feb 10, 2010

Blank Rome LLP has expanded its corporate litigation practice by snagging an insurance and environmental law specialist from Robertson Freilich Bruno & Cohen LLC.

12. 5 Surefire Ways To Annoy A Judge

Friday, Feb 05, 2010

Did you hear the one about the lawyer who asked the judge to postpone a trial so he could catch a football game? Or the one who read his brief, word for word, to the whole courtroom? How about the one where the lawyer dissed Cornell University Law School — only to discover it was the judge's alma mater?

13. Home Products Appeals Ironing Board Duties Ruling

Friday, Feb 05, 2010

Chicago-based ironing board maker Home Products International Inc. has appealed a December judgment that upheld anti-dumping duties on a Chinese competitor, claiming the court wrongly backed the use of outdated financial statements and failed to remand the case in light of alleged sham documentation from the respondent.

14. DOC Antiseptic Ruling Prompts Digs From Both Sides

Friday, Jan 22, 2010

Both the domestic and Chinese producers of chlorinated isocyanurates involved in a dispute over the federal government's dumping margin for the antiseptic chemicals generally used in swimming pools have taken issue with the U.S. Department of Commerce's revised rate determination.

15. US, Home Products Defend Ironing Table Duties

Friday, Jan 22, 2010

The U.S. and domestic ironing board maker Home Products International Inc. are fighting a Chinese exporter's bid for judgment in a case challenging anti-dumping duty calculations on metal-top ironing tables from China.

16. WR Grace Proposes New DIP Setup, Exit Package

Tuesday, Jan 19, 2010

Bankrupt chemical manufacturer W.R. Grace & Co. has asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to replace its current $165 million debtor-in-possession financing agreement, set to expire April 1, with a “more cost-effective” model allowing it to use “substantial cash reserves.”

17. Law Firms Open Their Wallets For Haiti

Friday, Jan 15, 2010

As the world scrambles to come to Haiti's aid in the wake of Tuesday's devastating earthquake, law firms are stepping up in both traditional and novel ways. Over 80 firms responded to a Law360 query into what they are doing financially and otherwise to respond to the Haitian crisis.

18. Blank Rome Adds Employment Team To LA Office

Tuesday, Jan 12, 2010

To beef up its Los Angeles office, Blank Rome LLP has scored five attorneys from employment boutique Knee Ross & Silverman LLP, including the firm's founder Howard M. Knee.

19. Dodd's Exit May Alter Future Of Finance Reform

Friday, Jan 08, 2010

With embattled U.S. Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., on his way out at the end of 2010, the financial reform legislation that bears Dodd's name will face new challenges as he pushes to complete his legacy and opponents prepare to push back, according to legal experts.

20. Heartland, Visa Settle Data Breach Issues For $60M

Friday, Jan 08, 2010

Credit card transaction vendor Heartland Payment Systems Inc. has agreed to pay about $60 million in an agreement with Visa USA Inc. to settle potential claims arising from a data security breach in 2008 where about 130 million debit and credit card numbers were stolen.