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May 15, 2012
Ex-Partner Says Troutman Shafted Him Over $20M MetCap Fee
A former Troutman Sanders LLP partner accused the firm Monday of improperly releasing his signature to allow a merger agreement amendment depriving boutique investment bank MetCap Securities LLC of a $20 million fee for advising on a $2 billion acquisition of a nursing home operator.
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May 15, 2012
Senate Breathes New Life Into Ex-Im Bank
The U.S. Senate agreed Tuesday to extend the authority of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S., lengthening its lending authority through September 2014 and increasing its financing cap from $100 billion to $140 billion, one week after the U.S. House of Representatives did the same.
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May 15, 2012
Clemens Trainer Tells Jury He Saved Steroid Evidence
Although strength coach Brian McNamee had a close relationship with his premier client, Roger Clemens, he saved evidence of the pitcher's performance-enhancing drug use to ensure his credibility if their illegal actions ever came to light, the trainer told the jury in Clemens' perjury trial Tuesday.
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May 15, 2012
$3B Texas Coal Plant In Jeopardy Over Air Pollution Claims
A Texas state judge on Monday indicated that he would reverse the approval of a $3 billion, 1,300-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Corpus Christi, which environmental groups have claimed would create more air pollution than the state had evaluated.
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May 15, 2012
Apple, Publishers Can't Close Book On Price-Fixing MDL
Apple Inc. and a group of book publishers lost a bid Tuesday to dismiss consumer class actions alleging they conspired to inflate the price of e-books, after a New York federal judge deemed the allegations plausible enough to proceed.
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May 15, 2012
Rivals Grab Stragglers As Dewey's Italian Office Spins Off
Partners continued to break away from Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP on Tuesday, with partners heading to Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, Holland & Knight LLP and other rivals and a portion of the crumbling firm's Italian offices planning to form a new firm.
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May 15, 2012
After JPMorgan Loss, GOP Delays Bills Weakening Dodd-Frank
House Republicans on Tuesday postponed a vote on bills that would loosen some of the Dodd-Frank Act's rules for over-the-counter derivatives, a sign that JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $2 billion trading loss has at least temporarily given financial reform advocates some traction.
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May 15, 2012
SEC, Citi Rip Rakoff In Bid To Restore $285M MBS Settlement
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup Inc. on Monday ripped U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff for rejecting their $285 million mortgage-backed securities settlement, calling his decision unprecedented and unwise as the unlikely bedfellows asked the Second Circuit to restore the deal.
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May 15, 2012
Shut Up And Drill, Interior Tells Oil And Gas Cos.
The Obama administration released a special report Tuesday showing that most federal oil and natural gas leases remain idle, pushing back against Republican and industry claims that the president's energy policies have stymied production on federal lands.
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May 15, 2012
Samsung Gets Some Apple Claims Tossed In Patent Fight
A California federal judge on Monday trimmed claims from Apple Inc.'s patent and trade dress suit accusing Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. of copying the iPhone and iPad, as the suit continues to be pared down in advance of the planned July trial.
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May 15, 2012
K&L Gates Malpractice Suit Over Le-Nature's Scam Revived
A Pennsylvania appeals court on Monday revived the Le-Nature's Inc. liquidating trustee's $500 million malpractice suit against law firm K&L Gates LLP for failing to uncover during its internal investigation the massive fraud that brought the company down and landed its CEO in prison.
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May 15, 2012
Vatican, Benetton Kiss And Make Up Over Pope Ad
The Vatican has resolved its dispute with Italian fashion label Benetton Group SpA over the company's unauthorized advertising image of the pope kissing an Egyptian imam on the lips, the Vatican said Tuesday.
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May 15, 2012
MBIA's $5B Breakup Based On False Figures, Banks Say
New York state regulators' approval of bond insurer MBIA Inc.'s $5 billion restructuring must be reversed because it was based on inaccurate financial information, an attorney for Bank of America Corp. and Societe Generale SA told a New York state judge Tuesday.
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May 15, 2012
PBGC Sues Dewey For Control Of 'Underfunded' Pension Plans
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. sued Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP in New York federal court Monday in an attempt to gain control of the ailing law firm's three pension funds, claiming the plans are underfunded by more than $80 million.
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May 15, 2012
DOJ Launches Probe Into JPMorgan's $2B Trading Loss
The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $2 billion trading loss, as shareholders refused calls Tuesday to strip CEO Jamie Dimon of his title as chairman of the board.
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May 15, 2012
Kelley Drye Grabs SEC Veteran For NY Corporate Practice
A veteran corporate mergers and acquisitions attorney who most recently spent two years working for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has joined Kelley Drye & Warren LLP as a partner in the firm's New York office, Kelley Drye said Tuesday.
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May 15, 2012
Steptoe Snags Ex-IDB Investigations Chief With FCPA Chops
Steptoe & Johnson LLP has snagged a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act pro and former chief of the Inter-American Development Bank's Office of Institutional Integrity, to expand its international regulation and compliance and commercial litigation practices and Latin American presence, the firm said Tuesday.
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May 15, 2012
High Court Won't Review Ponzi Schemer's 50-Year Sentence
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied convicted Ponzi schemer Thomas J. Petters’ request for a rehearing of his appeal after he was sentenced in April 2010 to 50 years in prison for his alleged $3.7 billion fraud.
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May 15, 2012
Gupta Got $4M JV Boost For Tipping Rajaratnam, Feds Say
Rajat Gupta, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director facing insider trading-related charges, received a $4 million increase to his stake in a joint investment with hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam shortly after giving Rajaratnam an illicit tip, prosecutors said Monday.
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May 15, 2012
News Corp. Hacking Probe Yields Charges For Rebekah Brooks
British prosecutors on Tuesday brought criminal charges against former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, her husband and four others in connection with a phone hacking scandal that has threatened to topple Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. empire.
Expert Analysis
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No More Redevelopment Agencies In Calif.
The most immediate consequence of the California Supreme Court’s ruling on redevelopment agencies is that each of the more than 400 RDAs will cease to exist as of Feb. 1, 2012, as will their special powers to receive property taxes, subsidize economic development projects, assemble land for redevelopment, address environmental liabilities and adopt land use regulations, say attorneys with Paul Hastings LLP.
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Volcker Rule In Flux
The Volcker Rule has already elicited substantial comment and concern from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, certain Democratic members of the House of Representatives, and industry groups like the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which has called for an extended comment period. Delayed implementation of the rule certainly seems possible, says Benjamin Coulter of Burr & Forman LLP.
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Case Study: GPX International Tire V. US
Barring intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court or Congress, the Federal Circuit's landmark decision in GPX International Tire Corp. v. U.S. will halt or overturn scores of countervailing duty proceedings involving China, profoundly impacting the administration of trade remedies in the U.S., say Jill Caiazzo and Brenda Jacobs of Sidley Austin LLP.
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Top 10 Trademark Events Of 2011
As we enter 2012, we wanted to look back on the top 10 trademark events of 2011 — some decisions that drew considerable news coverage but were not all that influential, some impressive judgments, a massive shakedown of trademark owners and one high-stakes litigation that is likely to be one of the biggest decisions of 2012, say Scott Johnston and Gregory Golla of Merchant & Gould.
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Enhancing Economic Espionage And Trade Secret Sentences
The U.S. Senate will soon consider the enhancement of sentences in economic espionage and trade secret cases. While leaving the merits of the proposed amendments to policymakers, we seek to provide a fuller understanding of the sentencing process in both types of cases, including a discussion of the unique challenges presented and a review of some of the sentences imposed, say Mark Krotoski and Richard Scott of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Assessing The Recess Appointment Of CFPB Director
President Obama's recess appointment of Richard Cordray as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will test whether a three-day gap between pro forma sessions constitutes a "recess" that allows the president to exercise his recess appointments power, say Reginald Brown, Russell Bruemmer and Eric Mogilnicki of WilmerHale LLP.
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Patchak V. Salazar — An Important Fee-To-Trust Opinion
The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to review Patchak v. Salazar, in which the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the negative effects of a proposed casino gave the plaintiff standing to assert limitations on the authority of the Secretary of Interior under the Indian Reorganization Act. If the D.C. Circuit's decision is left intact, attacks on land trust acquisitions could multiply, says Brian Pierson of Godfrey & Kahn SC.
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Top 10 Securities Enforcement Developments Of 2011
While the year may be remembered more for the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus decision, other noteworthy developments at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2011 included a focus on alleged negligent and fraudulent conduct, and getting the cooperation and whistleblower initiatives off the ground, says James Meyers, a partner with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and former assistant chief litigation counsel at the SEC Division of Enforcement.
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For Now, Durban Platform Is Just A Stepping Stone
While the recent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as the "Durban platform," takes significant strides toward developing a global agreement on climate change — and led to the extension of the Kyoto Protocol — it will have no impact unless a legally binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is ultimately reached, say attorneys with Vinson & Elkins LLP.
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Overhauling The Federal Jurisdictional Statutes
In an important development for litigants and litigators, President Obama recently signed into law the Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011, which becomes effective Jan. 6, 2012. The act significantly amends the federal jurisdictional statutes, including the provisions governing diversity jurisdiction, venue and removal, say Laurence Shiekman, Stephen Harvey and Matthew Janssen of Pepper Hamilton LLP.