brThe plaintiffs lawyers in a shareholder derivative lawsuit involving allegations of stock-options backdating against Cirrus Logic have agreed, in a revised deal filed this month, to drop all attorney fees, which the judge in the case had described as almost entirely unmerited. The revised deal, which was approved last week, comes as judges in derivative [...]

brTwo major publishers of health care data filed a petition Friday at the Supreme Court, raising cutting-edge questions about whether increasingly widespread data mining that is used for commercial purposes is protected by the First Amendment. The petition is an appeal of a controversial ruling last November by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. [...]

brAge discrimination, the fastest-growing category of job bias complaints, is the backdrop for a key employment case to be argued next week at the U.S. Supreme Court. Given the economic recession, increasing layoffs and company restructurings, lawyers on both sides agree that the high court’s decision will be important not only to litigation of the [...]

brAs the world of technology continues to impact the legal profession, paralegals are turning to social and professional networking sites to investigate claims. These sites can provide a deluge of data, including specific communications and entries concerning parties to the action. a target=_blank rel=nofollow href=’http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202429251838rss=newswire’Full Story…/abr

brA Pennsylvania lawyer already under indictment for allegedly faking his brother’s will is now facing charges of dodging taxes on more than $5 million in income and concocting a scheme to get a $500,000 tax deduction for charity by laundering money through a church. The new charges against John P. Karoly Jr. came two days [...]

brIn a case of first impression, a New Jersey appeals court on Wednesday denied a defense request for an autopsy of an asbestos-exposure plaintiff who died two days before trial. The panel, in a target=_blank rel=nofollow href=’http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202429181114rss=newswire’Continue…/abr

brThe Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday that Massachusetts smokers can use a consumer protection law to sue Philip Morris Inc. for the way it marketed Marlboro Lights. The ruling — which closely mirrors a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in December that smokers may use state consumer protection laws to sue cigarette makers [...]

brThe Federal Circuit on Friday upheld sanctions and $4.5 million worth of attorney fees against a medical company and its lawyers for pursuing frivolous claims. A California federal judge had sanctioned ICU Medical and its lawyers at Paul Hastings in 2007 for their behavior in a patent case. The company is on the hook for [...]

brA former Biopure Corp. executive has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for pretending he had terminal cancer to dodge a lawsuit by federal securities regulators. Howard Richman admitted in federal court Wednesday he had instructed his lawyers to tell a judge that he was gravely ill with colon cancer. Richman also admitted to posing [...]

brThe Supreme Court announced Friday that it has agreed to the request by the solicitor general’s office to vacate and remand the 4th Circuit’s judgment in the case of one-time enemy combatant Ali al-Marri. The justices instructed the 4th Circuit to dismiss the case as moot, and also agreed to the Obama administration’s request to [...]

brFirst-year associates laid off from dissolving firm Thacher Proffitt Wood aren’t just out of jobs — they owe the firm money. In an unusual move, the firm’s dissolution committee and bank are pursuing the former associates for repayment of salary advances issued last year to cover their bar and startup expenses. Says the dissolution [...]

brFinding abuse to be an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the 9th Circuit ruled on Tuesday that victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests can sue the Vatican even though it is considered a sovereign nation. a target=_blank rel=nofollow href=’http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202428769121rss=newswire’Click for more…/abr

More than a dozen new DOJ lawyers come from private firms representing Guantanamo Bay detainees, creating potential conflicts of interest as the agency begins its review of about 245 detainees. Conflict-of-interest issues are common in new administrations, but Guantanamo poses a singular challenge due to the sheer scope of legal work. About 150 separate law [...]