Rambo, Rambo, Rambo.
Two dairy farmers, husband and wife, filed a chapter 12 bankruptcy case after their efforts to expand their milking operations — with a new bank loan — proved unsuccessful. They worked out a reorganization plan, which the bankruptcy court confirmed, but later decided to dismiss, which they had an unwaivable right
John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946). He favored government intervention in the economy.
Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many days to come, can only be taken as the result of animal spirits—a spontaneous urge to action rather than inaction, and not as
The Fifth Circuit today upheld a Houston jury's conviction of former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling on multiple criminal fraud charges. But the court also vacated Skilling's sentence because, it determined, the trial judge made a (minor) error in enhancing the severity of Skilling's crimes under the Sentencing Guidelines. Skilling v. United States, No. 06-20885 (5th Cir.
Bankruptcy proceedings involve a high degree of uncertainty. The process, to Blawgletter's eye, resembles an all-out wrestling match — but one with potentially dozens of grapplers grunting and struggling to pin each other. These combatants, moreover, align, disalign, appear, and disappear as the bankruptcy moves towards completion. And deal-making (plus the occasional betrayal) seems a pre-eminent skill.
Nathan Koppel at the WSJ reports today, under the headline "Securities Lawsuits Leapt in '08":
Securities-fraud lawsuits rose in 2008 due largely to a rash of filings against financial firms by investors who sustained losses from the mortgage meltdown.
A total of 210 prospective securities class actions were filed last year, a 19% increase over the
Blawgletter's senior partner in Dallas, Terry Oxford, enjoys reading The Onion, which styles itself America's Finest News Source. He doesn't browse it for the news. Or for journalistic virtuosity. Not even for the editorials. No.
A couple of 2008 story headlines will give you a sense for what arouses Mr. Oxford's interest:
Factual Error
Dairy product as metaphor.
The First Circuit, diligently working on New Year's Eve, issued an opinion that allowed an arbitrator to change his award. It held that the doctrine of functus officio — Latin for "having performed his office" — didn't bar the arbitrator from revisiting and altering his on-its-face complete award. Eastern Seaboard Construction Co.,
My, what a year we had in 2008!
Lawyers in the news included:
Inmate no. 8675309-elect Rod Blagoyevich.
The weather in New York turned so cold, per David Letterman, that Ponzi-master Bernie Madoff "is looking forward to burning in hell."
And Blawgletter celebrates the start of our
The Federal Circuit yesterday affirmed a district court's permanent injunction against manufacture and sale of a proximal humeral nail, which fixes breaks in the upper arm bone (the one connecting elbow to shoulder). The district court originally granted the permanent injunction under the easy-breezy standard that prevailed in patent infringement cases before the Supreme Court abolished the presumption
The Fifth Circuit's en banc mandamus order in an Eastern District of Texas personal injury case, In re Volkswagen of Am., Inc., 545 F.3d 304 (2008) (Volkswagen II), bled over today into the patent realm. The Volkswagen II court held that the district court's error in refusing to move the case to the Northern