Legal IndustryRSS

  • October 16, 2012

    Pa. House OKs Bill Establishing Foreign Subpoena Procedure

    The Pennsylvania House of Representatives gave final approval Monday to a bill giving state courts the power to subpoena state residents and other entities when discovery is sought in cases being litigated outside Pennsylvania.

  • October 15, 2012

    Specter's Footprint On Supreme Court Felt By Both Parties

    After a Senate career that spanned three decades and ended two years before his death Sunday, Arlen Specter was remembered Monday as a complex politician whose willingness to support judicial appointees from both sides of the aisle left an outsized mark on the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • October 12, 2012

    Rep.'s Cozen Debt Is Campaign Expense, Pa. Judge Affirms

    A Pennsylvania judge on Wednesday affirmed his ruling that $500,000 in fees U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, D-Pa., owes Cozen O'Connor for his failed 2007 Philadelphia mayoral bid qualifies as a campaign expense under city election law, as the firm pursues an appeal in a higher court.

  • October 5, 2012

    Congress Can't Bar Judicial Pay Changes, Fed. Circ. Says

    The Federal Circuit found Friday that the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, which allows for cost of living adjustments to federal judges' pay, cannot be modified by Congress to withhold such adjustments, overruling precedent it set in 2001.

  • October 4, 2012

    Cuomo Signs Bill To Let NY Lawyers Attach Arbitration Liens

    New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Wednesday that allows Empire State lawyers to attach a lien to awards and settlement proceeds their clients receive in arbitration or other alternative dispute resolutions, reducing their risk of nonpayment in ADR work.

  • September 28, 2012

    NYC Bar Pushes High Court To Detail Recusal Decisions

    U.S. Supreme Court justices should explain their decisions to withdraw from a case or to hear a case despite a motion to disqualify, the New York City Bar Association said Friday, weighing in on an issue thrust anew into the public eye as the high court debated President Barack Obama's health law.

  • September 27, 2012

    Consumer Class Actions Yanked From Philly Commerce Court

    As part of ongoing reforms in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, a state administrative judge on Tuesday announced that consumer class actions would no longer be included in the court’s nearly 13-year-old commerce program.

  • September 21, 2012

    Not All Attys Thrilled With NY's New Pro Bono Requirement

    New York's decision to force aspiring legal eagles to complete 50 pro bono hours before they can apply for admission to the state bar has won high-profile praise from many quarters, but it has also triggered grumbling among lawyers who see philosophical and practical issues with the new rules.

  • September 19, 2012

    NY Court Adopts Pro Bono Requirement For Prospective Attys

    Law students in New York will soon be the first in the nation to be required to perform 50 hours of pro bono service before being licensed to practice law, following the Court of Appeals' adoption of a new rule announced Tuesday.

  • September 18, 2012

    Calif. Deposition Limit May Force Attys To Pick Up The Pace

    A California bill signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday that limits depositions in many state civil cases to seven hours of total testimony may lead to more wrangling over the length of depositions, but eventually should force attorneys to get to the point more quickly when interviewing witnesses, experts say.

  • September 17, 2012

    9 New Members Join Calif.'s Judicial Council

    California's chief justice announced that nine new members of the Judicial Council, the administrative rulemaking body of the state's trial courts, took office Saturday.

  • September 13, 2012

    DLA Piper Under Fire For ZTE Work Due To Trade Concerns

    DLA Piper took flak Thursday from two Republican House members who asked the law firm to think twice about its work with ZTE Corp., saying the Chinese telecommunications equipment company's efforts to snag a larger chunk of the U.S. market pose a threat to cybersecurity.

  • August 31, 2012

    4 Firms Feared Most By In-House Counsel

    When dealing with high-stakes litigation, there are four top-notch firms that in-house counsel dread seeing on the other side of the courtroom, according to a new survey of corporate counsel.

  • August 30, 2012

    Calif. Passes Bill To Limit Depositions To 7 Hours

    The California Legislature on Wednesday approved a bill that limits depositions in civil cases to seven hours in order to spare litigants from marathon questioning sessions.

  • August 29, 2012

    Pillsbury Sues San Francisco Over Partnership Profits Tax

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP sued the city and county of San Francisco in California state court on Friday, challenging a tax imposed on partnership profit distributions that voters approved in November 2008.

  • August 24, 2012

    Calif. Senate Backs Illegal Immigrant's Bid For Bar Admission

    The California Senate on Wednesday waved through a bill that declares the State Bar of California should not consider applicants’ immigration status in deciding whether to license them to practice law in the state, endorsing an illegal immigrant’s bid to become an attorney, now pending before the state high court.

  • August 24, 2012

    Stay Off Social Media, Federal Courts Warn Jurors

    The federal Judicial Conference Committee on Tuesday released revised model jury instructions that warn jurors not to use the Internet or social media to research or discuss a case until after a verdict is rendered.

  • August 16, 2012

    Calif. Panel Backs Illegal Immigrant's Effort To Join Bar

    Showing support for an illegal immigrant's bid before the California Supreme Court to be admitted to the state bar as a licensed attorney, a state Assembly panel on Thursday passed a bill that aims to bar immigration status from being a factor in determining whether to approve a license to practice law.

  • August 14, 2012

    Hyde Ruling Sparks Battle Over Prosecutorial Misconduct

    With a group of former judges and prosecutors urging the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to define the scope of the Hyde Amendment, a battle is looming over whether defendants like the late Sen. Ted Stevens should be compensated for defending themselves against malicious, frivolous or otherwise mishandled prosecutions.

  • August 13, 2012

    Pa. Rep. To Join Stevens & Lee As Consulting Practice Head

    Pennsylvania Rep. John Bear, R-Lancaster, will join Stevens & Lee as managing director of its state and local government consulting practice and will not be running for re-election, according to an announcement he issued Friday.