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Judged Weekly - 13th July

In a June 21 post on legal sanity, Arnie Hertz says law firms risk losing business by unilaterally raising associate salaries without considering other relevant industry factors such as clients and clients’ general counsel.  In fact, some reports suggest that most general counsel in the market are not happy with the current state of affairs.  Hertz points out, “Most observers would agree that it makes sound business sense for law firms to establish strong and enduring relationships with the lawyers they hire and the clients they serve.”  He goes on to ask, “But what happens when one of these relationships is forged at the other’s expense?”  This post is a good read, and Hertz’s series of posts on optimizing lawyer-law firm relationships is something you won’t want to miss.

At the W SJ Law Blog, Peter Lattman raises an issue that has always haunted me in his June 27 post “Taking Cases for Publicity: Does it Pay?”  Then, just below, he asks “Are Lawyers Emotional Wrecks?”  Count on Lattman to come up with the best topics in this blog.

There’s a detailed June 27 post at Overlawyered entitled “The Significance of Roy Pearson.”  Don’t know who that is?  Pearson is the judge of the-$67-million-lawsuit-for-a-pair-of-pants fame.  And he’s lost his suit over his pants.  David Nieporant raises significant questions about a system that would allow such a frivolous lawsuit to be filed and left hanging over the heads of the defendants for more than two years.  Pearson could have guessed well enough the eventual outcome of the lawsuit, but he apparently wanted to take revenge on the dry cleaners.  He did so by using the legal system to cripple the ability of the defendants to make any major business decisions and compelling them to incur $100,000 in legal costs fighting the case, which should never have been entertained in the first place (except perhaps in a small-claims court).  Whether they’ve won or lost is immaterial to people like Pearson as long as they succeed in causing the suffering that is their actual objective.

07-13-2007

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Weekly Judged

More than half of the U.S. Presidents have been lawyers.  On July 3, Peter Lattman on the Wall Street Journal Law Blog provided that interesting nugget of information.  I’ve always suspected I’ve had the makings of a president except for … well, I like giving others a chance.  I hope that didn’t give you a heart attack, but if the July 3 post on Eric Turkewitz’s New York Personal Injury Law Blog is to be taken seriously, the painkiller Vioxx produced by Merck, may have increased heart risks immediately after people started using the product.  More interesting is Eric’s post on July 2 that claims Apple’s iPhone posing an ethical problem for attorneys!

The July 4 post in Balkinization devotes itself to the dissection of Justice Kennedy’s opinion in the Supreme Court’s school integration cases.  And of course, on the same July 4, the post on Minor Wisdom asks, “So you think you’re smart?”  I’m not sure who’s that meant for but you need to read the post to find out.
 

The July 3 post on Deliberatio ns is on a press release, which concludes that in one out of eight cases, juries come up with the wrong decision!  The 4th July post on IntLawGrrls is on Abigail Adams, a remarkable Revolutionary woman, and the post says “Remember the Ladies” while celebrating the Declaration of Independence.

07-06-2007

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Strolling through blogs

Hi again folks, the post on June 07 in Overlawyered (http://www.overlawyered. com/) this week shows why it is a good thing to be on fee-deciding committees.  The post titled “Update: Judge unseals shell case fee carve-up” points out how out of 32 law firms and 79 lawyers in a class action suit, those five on the committee for deciding lawyer’s fees managed to divert almost half of the 6.6 million at stake to their own five firms.  Dane Ciolino, Loyola Law School ethics professor who filed a petition to have the committee records unsealed, unearthed the matter. 

To read about juror disqualifications and the principles followed in such disqualifications, read the series of posts at Deliberations (http://jury law.typepad.com/deliberations/) which is rapidly becoming one of my favorites.  A more formal analysis of the subject can be found at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP’s, Scotusblog (http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype /archives/2007/06/analysis_barrin.html) where the June 04 post gives the “Analysis: Barring jurors in death penalty cases.”

Now, to come to a critical issue, it seems that Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter may have negative implications for women plaintiffs trying to admit pay discrimination claims under Title VII.  The June 6 post titled “One Management-Side Response to Ledbetter” at the Workplace Prof Blog (http ://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/) presents a good summing-up of the situation.
 
The Workplace Prof has a point there, and Ledbetter leans too much toward employers.

06-08-2007

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This paralegal took on one of the largest law firms in the world

Though employers fail continually to learn, the courts once again pointed out that where an employer-employee contract violated the labor laws of the state, then the relevant part of the contract has no effect.

It all started in the international law firm of O'Melveny & Meyers, LLP. In August 2002, the firm created a new Dispute Resolution Program that aimed to prohibit all employees from going to court in case of any internal dispute, and the management, in a unilateral move, made it binding upon all employees.

Then Jacqueline Davis joined the firm as a paralegal in 1999 and worked there until 2003. And she did not stand up to the firm's oppressive culture.  After leaving her job, Jacqueline filed a lawsuit against the firm under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the California Unfair Business Practices Act, and the California Labor Code. Her allegations against the firm were only too common:

       &nbs p;   ·    Failure to pay overtime for work done during lunch time and rest periods

         &nbs p; ·    Failure to pay for work exceeding eight hours a day and forty hours a week

         &nbs p; ·    Damages for denial of rest and meal periods


She also went for damages on behalf of not only herself, but also "all others similarly harmed."

The firm, started in 1885, is considered one of the largest law firms in the world.  Headquartered in Los Angeles, it employs more than one thousand lawyers and has 13 offices around the world. Predictably, it also possessed a sufficient amount of influence.

It immediately went for dismissal of the action and forced Jacqueline to submit to arbitration. The district court readily agreed with the firm.  Jacqueline appealed to the Ninth Circuit. On May 15, after a legal battle lasting almost three years, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled the firm's arbitration agreement as unconscionable under California law. The Appeals court remitted the case back to the district court to be dealt in a manner applicable to all other citizens and considering the arbitration agreement void ab initio.

The employees in that firm would be saved tomorrow by the courage of this lone paralegal that refused to accept what others did. She refused to give up the rights granted to her under law.  And her faith in our system stands rewarded.

06-07-2007

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James Henderson: Legal Skills, Values, and 50 Years of Dedication

In the death of James F. Henderson, the legal profession has lost an attorney having rich experience of about 50 years and 100 trials.
 
Henderson, nicknamed as "The Silver Fox" for being handsome and "Gentleman Jim" for his good behavior, will also be remembered for his wry humor in the courtrooms.

Before he died in the last week of May, Henderson dedicated his life for libel actions and First Amendment cases. He exhibited his legal brilliance while representing "The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette.

"Commenting on Henderson's legal knowledge and oratory and writing skills, Pat Murphy, a former publisher of the gazette said, "Jim Henderson could have been a prolific author of law books or a renowned law school professor, instead, he remained true to his first love - the courtroom and trial work on behalf of the First Amendment and protecting the press."

For 42 years of his legal profession, Henderson remained associated with law firm Gust, Rosenfeld and Henderson in Phoenix.
 
Simple and modest as he was, Henderson was never in favor  of dramatics in the court; though he himself was an adroit orator.

06-06-2007

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