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May 21st, 2009UncategorizedThese days, associates across the country are anxiously reading about almost-daily law firm layoffs. Even though attorney layoffs have become common and very public, "stealth" layoffs remain a concern. Here are some steps that associates can take, if they have started to notice a significant slowdown at work, to avoid finding their name on the cut list -- whether the cuts are stealthy or not. Consultants Stacy Humphries and Elaine Makris also provide some tips for those who do find themselves on that list.
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May 20th, 2009Uncategorized
A King County sheriff's deputy kicks a 15-year-old girl, slams her to the floor of a jail cell, strikes her and pulls her hair in violence captured on videotape.
Prosecutors released the surveillance video in Friday in the assault case against Deputy Paul Schene, who is accused of using excessive force on the girl.
The footage shows the attack beginning after the girl enters the cell at suburban SeaTac City Hall and kicks off one of her shoes toward the deputy.
Schene, 31, pleaded not guilty to fourth-degree assault in Superior Court on Thursday.
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May 19th, 2009UncategorizedA pair of pleadings in a personal injury case have taken on a life of their own as lawyers have e-mailed them to friends for their sheer entertainment value. In a motion, plaintiffs lawyers begged a judge to forbid their opponent, Steven G. Leventhal of Reger Rizzo & Darnall, from performing magic tricks or even mentioning that he is a professional magician. Leventhal's response asked the judge to use his or her own sleight of hand to make the plaintiff's motion disappear -- with prejudice.
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May 18th, 2009Uncategorized
The Obama administration is pledging to support more of this. The White House made its first major statement on ethanol on Tuesday, mustering three Cabinet members to outline a plan to shield corn ethanol producers from the credit crisis, work with them to cut their use of natural gas and coal in ethanol production, and nudge the auto industry ...
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May 18th, 2009UncategorizedLess than two years after Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal announced the opening of its office in Charlotte, N.C., partners voted Friday afternoon to close up shop in the battered banking center. In a statement, Sonnenschein Chairman Elliott Portnoy cited "local marketplace realities, the declining demand for legal services in the Charlotte legal and financial markets, and the needs of our financial institution clients" as reasons for the move.
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May 17th, 2009UncategorizedThe U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this week involving judicial recusal precedents, some nearly a century old, in the modern context of campaign contributions in judicial elections, one of today's hottest ethics controversies. At issue in the case is whether the Constitution required West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Justice Brent Benjamin to recuse himself from an appeal in which the president of a company seeking reversal of a $50 million jury verdict was the biggest contributor to Benjamin's campaign.
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May 17th, 2009Uncategorized
Yesterday afternoon in San Bernardino California, two men carrying handguns broke into a home and tied up Briant Rodriguez, his mother Maria Malana. and 4 other siblings. After ransacking the home, and stealing some money they fled the scene with 3 year old Briant.
The youngest of the siblings, an 8 year old, managed to free himself and then free the other family members and they were able to call the police.
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May 16th, 2009UncategorizedAs most IT professionals know, audio files are fully discoverable. They can paint a complete picture of an information exchange where, for example, a person is having a phone dialogue with a client and, at the same time, sending e-mails to another based on the telephone conversation.
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May 16th, 2009Uncategorized
Lawmakers didn't agree to a budget on time and scrambled to deal with other remaining issues Friday before going home until next week, when they will return only to finalize a state spending plan.
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May 15th, 2009UncategorizedDespite reassuring statements by Attorney General Eric Holder on attorney-client privilege waivers in corporate probes, Sen. Arlen Specter is moving forward with legislation to put protection for the privilege and the work-product doctrine into law and throughout government. The bill would prohibit the government from conditioning charging decisions or any adverse treatment on the payment of employee legal fees, invocation of the attorney-client privilege or agreement to a joint defense agreement.