Awhile back, Blawgletter posted Open Letter: U.S. Should Support Pakistani Lawyers and Rule of Law. Yesterday, a commenter alerted us to Black Flag Week in Pakistan and an international effort to make common cause with lawyers there. The commenter referred to Achieving Our Country blog, which includes this information:
Who? We are a group
On February 27, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to add Rule 502 to the Federal Rules of Evidence. The text follows:
Rule 502. Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product; Limitations on Waiver
The following provisions apply, in the circumstances set out, to disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work-product
The Ninth Circuit today affirmed dismissal of an antitrust case for failure to allege an actionable conspiracy under the pleading requirements of Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 127 S. Ct. 1955 (2007). Parallel conduct, without more, doesn’t cut the Twombly mustard. Kendall v. Visa U.S.A., Inc., No. 05-16549 (9th Cir. Mar. 7, 2008).
Blawgletter just spotted a thoughtful anti post on the wisdom of using contingent fee arrangements to hire private counsel to prosecute public claims. The post, in Bogartyag’s Weblog, summarizes the recent spate of attention to the issue. Then it gives four arguments against contingent fee deals with public entities:
We don’t have much
A different Draco.
The Seventh Circuit upheld dismissal of a complaint as a sanction for failing to abide by an order compelling plaintiffs to present knowledgeable witnesses to testify at a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition. After noting the "draconian" nature of the sanction and its status as a "last resort", the court said:
That doesn’t mean
There is no basis in fact or law for this award or for the earlier compensatory-damage award. We are confident in our position of appeal.
Doug Petkus, spokesperson for Wyeth, after a federal jury awarded $19.4 million in punitive damages for causing Donna Scroggin to develop breast cancer from her use of Wyeth’s hormone-replacement
The Ninth Circuit today upheld summary judgment against Law Firm A for shortchanging Law Firm B on the latter’s share of a $10.1 million contingent fee. Brown & Bain, P.A. v. John M. O’Quinn, No. 06-15931 (9th Cir. Mar. 6, 2008).
The losing outfit (Firm A) engaged Firm B to help handle an environmental
Say you go to a meeting. You think the other company infringes your company’s trademark. To gain the other side’s confidence, you concede a weakness or two in your position. You go so far as to say that a particular design doesn’t "offend" you. The negotiations end without a settlement.
Four years pass. In the
There really are no new accounting debates, only new investors.
Jonathan Weil, "AIG, MBIA Show Whining Back in Vogue", Bloomberg, Mar. 5, 2008 (explaining that corporate "executives don’t know any better than you do if the values of their holdings will rebound").
The Restatement-producing American Law Institute has churned out a Tentative Draft of two key chapters in a path-breaking document — Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation. ALI members will consider whether to approve the Tentative Draft at the annual meeting in May of this year. Blawgletter has the honor of serving on
