JD Journal » Superior Court

Massachusetts Superior Court Fires Clerks Before They Begin

Erik Even — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:30:00 +0000

The Massachusetts Superior Court has informed 25 3Ls they will not be hired after all as court clerks.

It appears that the decision to rescind the job offers was made last Fall, when the courts instituted a hiring freeze; but those affected are only being informed now.

The court says the hirings were always contingent on funding, and that the wording on the original offers was conditional.

Lewis & Daggett Expands with Third Office

Erik Even — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:22:34 +0000

Lewis & Daggett is opening a third office in Statesville, North Carolina, to be run by retiring Superior Court judge Kim Taylor.

She will handle personal injury cases. Taylor is an area native, and received her law degree from the University of North Carolina. She was a judge for over 20 years.

She was voted Judge of the Year by the Judicial Section of the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys.

Lewis & Daggett is a law firm with offices in Winston-Salem and Greensboro, North Carolina.

Judge: Defunct Firm Can Sue Lowenstein Sandler Over Defections

Erik Even — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:43:38 +0000

Essex County, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Donald Goldman has ruled that defunct law firm Ravin Sarasohn may sue Lowenstein Sandler over partner defections that killed the firm.

The judge rejected Lowenstein Sandler’s argument that a ruling in a related arbitration mandated dismissal of the claim.

Ravin Sarasohn, a Roseland, New Jersey firm that had more than 40 lawyers at its height in the 1990s, went out of business in 2000 after lawyer Kenneth Rosen led a group of partners and associates to Lowenstein Sandler.

Ravin Sarasohn says Lowenstein Sandler used confidential information to lure the group away and put the smaller firm out of business. Lowenstein Sandler says it didn’t ask for some of the financial information it received, and had nothing to do with theft of secrets.

Lowenstein Sandler, formerly Lowenstein, Sandler, Kohl, Fisher & Boylan, is a corporate law firm ranked 161st largest in the US in terms of attorney headcount by the National Law Journal, and 84th in profit per attorney by the AmLaw 200 survey.

Former Associate Accuses Nixon Peabody of Homophobia, Racism

Erik Even — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:38:04 +0000

Henry Har, formerly a public finance attorney with the Los Angeles office of Nixon Peabody, has sued his former firm for sexual and racial discrimination.

Har, now an associate with Holland & Knight in San Francisco, alleges he was wrongly terminated from Nixon Peabody in 2008 because of his gender, and because he is Asian-American.

The 18-page complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court charges that Har was subjected to a partner’s comments about oral sex, as well as homophobic statements from workers at Nixon Peabody.

Har seeks damages for discrimination, breach of an implied covenant, wrongful discharge, misrepresentation and intentional infliction of emotion distress.

From Nixon Peabody’s written statement:

The firm is committed to providing an open and inclusive workplace. It does not comment on pending litigation, but resolutely denies Mr. Har’s charge of discrimination and will vigorously respond to it in court.

The law firm also provided a link to its diversity page on its website. Because if you have a diversity page on your website, discrimination becomes impossible.

Nixon Peabody terminated Har in February 2008, over an alleged assault against another employee at a company function. Har denies the assault took place.

Har, a graduate of the New York University School of Law, worked for Nixon Peabody in the San Francisco and Los Angeles offices. He alleges that the Los Angeles office had a “drastically different working environment” from San Francisco, and that attorneys in the office “demonstrated inappropriate and offense behavior towards ethnic minorities, women and homosexuals.”

Har contends that male Asian-American attorneys at the firm have lower retention and employment rates, and that the firm treats those attorneys unfairly.

Via NLJ.

Deaf Dog, All-Judge Band, to Play Kennedy Center

Erik Even — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:23:26 +0000

Deaf Dog & The Indictments is the world’s only (almost) all-judge band (the one non-judge is a PhD, so it’s okay). They play the Kennedy Center in NYC on Sunday.

Deaf Dog and the Indictments, the world’s only almost-all-judge band, began in 2005 as part of a talent show at a court training conference. …the band now draws large crowds who enjoy their mix of rock’n'roll, Motown, and the blues. The band has appeared at New York City’s The Bitter End; the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage; Grog & Tankard in Georgetown; and several judicial and legal conferences in Washington, D.C.

The Indictments consist of four D.C. Superior Court associate judges, three magistrate judges, and a psychologist on drums. They see the band as a way for the group to reach out to the community in a manner that is vastly different from a judges’ professional role hearing criminal, family, and probate cases in D.C. Superior Court. They also see the band as a way to show their kids that they are cool…or at least once were!

Via Kennedy Center via ATL.

Heller Ehrman Buried in Lawsuits; May Be Forced Into Bankruptcy

Erik Even — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 23:30:15 +0000

A San Francisco landlord for Heller Ehrman won a court ruling earlier this month, that means bankruptcy is now likely for the defunct law firm.

The San Francisco Superior Court granted the landlord, 333 Bush Associates, a writ of attachment for $48 million. The move makes the landlord a secured creditor, freezes a portion of Heller’s assets for the landlord, and leaves other unsecured creditors at a disadvantage, essentially waiting in line behind the landlord for dibs on leftover assets.

If within 90 days Heller files for bankruptcy, or if three of its creditors force it into bankruptcy, then the writ is automatically stayed. That would make the landlord an unsecured creditor once more, and put all unsecured creditors on an equal footing.

Peter Benvenutti, a member of Heller’s dissolution committee and now a partner at Jones Day, said negotiations are continuing with the landlord.

Bush Associates sued Heller for $85 million on December 4th. It’s one of several suits filed against the defunct firm.

The firm’s Washington, DC landlord sued for $31 million in late October. Document management service Williams Lea sued last week for $3 million, which includes the cost of severance pay to employees. At least two lawsuits have been filed by former employees seeking lost wages, severance and vacation pay under state and federal WARN Act violations.

Three creditors can force a debtor into bankruptcy if the debtor has at least 12 creditors, and the three are owed more than $13,475. Heller has dozens of such creditors.

Via The Recorder.

Tech Company Wins Trial, Refuses to Pay Lawyer

Erik Even — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:34:09 +0000

After defeating a lawsuit backed by powerful Hollywood studios, Sunnyvale’s Kaleidescape has fired its lead trial lawyer and is refusing to pay $400,000 in fees.

Kaleidescape, which designs home entertainment systems that allow users to copy and store DVDs, won at trial against the DVD Copy Control Association in California Superior Court in 2007. The Hollywood-backed DVD-CCA claimed that its licensing agreement was violated by the copying. The win was heralded as a victory for Internet companies and tech companies at war with copyright owners in Hollywood.

Palo Alto-based IP lawyer Thomas Moore, who tried the case along with San Francisco attorney Richard Wiebe, said that getting fired and not paid isn’t fair because he helped the company win at trial.

“Among all the losses, Pyrrhic victories and mostly settlements, a clear company-saving victory like this is such a rare thing,” Moore said. “I really thought I was going to get paid.”

But the company’s CEO, Michael Malcolm, said that Moore was terminated because of his performance as a lawyer. ”We were not comfortable having him represent the company anymore,” Malcolm said. “It was over the performance, not the fee dispute.”

Opposing counsel William Coats, the White & Case lawyer representing DVD-CCA, said he didn’t know the details of the dispute, but was “surprised” to hear about the problems. “I thought [Moore] did a very good and professional job,” he said.

Moore’s lawsuit claims that Kaleidescape hasn’t paid his two-person Palo Alto law firm, The Moore Law Group, since before the trial in March 2007. Kaleidescape owes $400,000 for the work at trial and on the appeal briefing.

Exactly why Moore was terminated isn’t clear. One factor may be that [Kaleidescape's] Denise Malcolm insisted on putting opposing counsel Coats on the stand during trial, which Moore thought was ill-advised and refused to do.

“It is part of the lore of trying cases that you don’t do that,” Moore said. “So why would you want to? If you learned your trial practice from watching ‘Law and Order,’ you get odd ideas.”

Moore said the Malcolms were hard to represent because they liked to “micromanage” him, but he credited their performance on the witness stand as helping Kaleidescape to victory.

Via Law.com.

Client Sues Quinn Emanuel for Malpractice

Erik Even — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:52:08 +0000

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges is being sued over an allegedly botched $48.8 million settlement that netted the Los Angeles-based firm $12 million in contingency fees.

Former client Todd Kurtin filed the claim earlier this month in Los Angeles Superior Court. Kurtin accuses Quinn Emanuel of negligence for failing to advise him of “the meaning and ramifications of all terms of the settlement agreement” he reached with a former business partner, Bruce Elieff.

Under the 2005 settlement, Kurtin was to receive his payout in four installments, but, according to the complaint, wound up getting only two payments and is still owed nearly $23 million.

Kurtin is pursuing claims against Elieff for reneging on the settlement agreement.

Quinn Emanuel has received $12 million in fees for representing Kurtin over a four month period. A contingency agreement guaranteed to Quinn Emanuel half of any amount recovered, up to $20 million and 20 percent thereafter. That amount is equal to what Kurtin himself has gotten to date from the settlement.

Paul Kennerson, an attorney at San Diego’s Kennerson & Grant, is representing Kurtin in the malpractice claim.

Earlier this year, firm cofounder and managing partner John Quinn won a jury decision establishing Mattel’s rights to the Bratz line of skanky dolls for young girls, which was brought to market by another toy company.

Heller Ehrman Sued By DC Office Landlord

Erik Even — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:05:46 +0000

On Heller Highwater blog, a “a support site for the professional support staff of a global law firm in turmoil”:

I’m not sure whether this [one] just slipped by us and the rest of the media or what. But back on October 29, 2008, MEPT St. Matthews LLC – the landlord of Heller’s DC office – filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court.

…according to MEPT, which is being represented by Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Heller has not paid rent since August 1, 2008 with the monthy rate being $406,888.13. The complaint asks for at least $31M in compensation for early termination of the lease.

LawCrossing.com story on the Heller Ehrman dissolution.