May a federal judge force a lawyer to keep representing an hourly client that refuses to pay?
The Sixth Circuit answered no — so long as the client gets "reasonable warning" and the lawyer's withdrawal won't cause the client "severe prejudice". Proskauer Rose met those requirements, the court held, because it notified the client, Richard Jonathan Blech, three weeks
An empty jury box.
A couple years ago, Blawgletter reported a Disturbing Trend in the number of jury trials that Lone Star State civil district courts conducted during 2006 versus a decade earlier. We said:
Skeptical of growing complaints about the vanishing jury trial, Blawgletter did a little research. It found that, in 1996, according
May manufacturers, consistently with section 1 of the Sherman Act, instruct distributors that they must charge their customers no less than $X for the manufacturers' products?
You seldom see a federal judge grant a motion for recusal. And an appellate court that reverses denial of such a motion shares much with a unicorn.
Today an Eighth Circuit panel split 2-1 in overturning a district judge's refusal to step aside. The judge's errors in imposing a death penalty sanction for discovery abuse, together with intemperate comments
Globalization exploits what economist call the "comparative advantage" of one country over another in the production of particular goods or services. We may suppose, for example, that the snooty French produce superior fashion designers and more pleasing perfumers and that the grim Germans engineer the finest sports cars. We may also posit that nations with an abundance
The hubbub over bonuses for masters of the financial universe (examples here and here) reminds Blawgletter of something a partner once said about "Money River". The partner alluded to the hazards of drinking from that stream. It sounded mysterious.
We've since learned that the partner had reference to a Kurt Vonnegut novel, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater — or Pearls
These are the times that will define us all.
Vikram Pandit, Citigroup CEO, March 9, 2009, in letter to employees.
Yesterday the U.S. Senate voted 61-31 to approve the nomination of Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan as Solicitor General.
Dahlia Lithwick at Slate opines on the confirmation process that SG Kagan survived.
HLS does a victory dance for the now-former Dean.
Blawgletter favored Kagan for Harvard University President and congratulates her on the
Snarky reference to The Office helps earn reversal.
Company A wrote manuals to train employees. The works included "Positive Power & Influence", "Positive Negotiation Program", and "Promoting and Implementing Innovation". Big companies paid actual money to get the workbooks — and presumably to inflict them on their workers.
Several Company A veterans formed Company B. Company
Blawgletter shares the Public Anger over the use of the Public Fisc to enable American International Group to pay questionable debts to (1) buyers of credit default swaps and (2) the AIG people who sold them.
Category (2) — involving several hundred millions — summons especial perplexity. The bonuses, we suspect, conjure images of fat cat brokers laughing at hapless