A federal judge has sanctioned New York based Cleary Gottlieb for discovery abuse. You can read the opinion here. Cleary’s bad day should serve as a reminder to all litigators – advising a witness to not testify when he or she has information relevant to a pending lawsuit can land you in a bad place.
What Do You Get For $1,000 An Hour?
That was my question as I read an article in this morning’s Wall Street Journal on the move by certain large law firm lawyers in Manhattan to boost their hourly rates beyond the $1,000 an hour mark. Superstar litigator David Boies, who was quoted in the article, pretty well summed up what I expect is…
Going Neuk(om)lear
http://abajournal.com/images/blawgs/covers/Neukom.jpgFormer Microsoft general counsel Bill Neukom has assumed the presidency of the American Bar Association. Might we hope that, under Mr. Neukom’s leadership, the ABA might perhaps be more attuned to the interests and needs of enterprise?
Another View on Lord Black
In an earlier post I criticized the government’s case against Lord Conrad Black and labeled its prosecution a “jihad” against business. In the interest of being fair and balanced, I commend to you this post by Professor Bainbridge, which makes a cogent argument that Lord Black plundered his company and its shareholders.
Vick Co-Defendant Flips
One of Michael Vick’s co-defendants in the dog fighting fiasco pleaded guilty today and is cooperating with the federales, the Associated Press reports. While it is critical not to pre-judge and assume Vick’s guilt – if the Duke case taught us anything it was about the dangers in rushing to jkudgment – this is nonetheless…
Administrative Note
You may have noticed that the blog is undergoing some changes. I have been in the process of melding a couple of litigation related blogs together, so as to do all of my trial related blogging in one place. Over the next week or so I will be trying to clean up the mess that…
Let’s Kill the Billable Hour Once and For All
It has long been my belief that the billable hour system, bu which many attorneys charge their clients and earn their livings ( and as I do, too for some matters, by way of disclosure) creates an inherent tension between the attorney’s interests and those of the client. If the attorney is being paid by…