Legal Ethics News

May 22, 2013

National Law Journal | May 22, 2013
Lawyers under sanction for fraudulently filing dozens of copyright infringement lawsuits against people accused of downloading pornographic films have filed an appeal, as the attorneys who represented them before the sanctioning judge have disappeared from the case. 
Tags: Legal Ethics

May 20, 2013

ThomsonReuters | May 20, 2013
Several lawyers involved in bitter U.S. litigation that grew out of pollution claims brought by Ecuadorean villagers against oil company Chevron Corp can withdraw from the case, a federal judge ruled on Friday.

May 16, 2013

ThomsonReuters | May 16, 2013
A divided federal appeals court on Wednesday voided a class action settlement between Hewlett-Packard Co and millions of consumers who bought its inkjet printers over nearly a decade, saying the fees awarded to the consumers' lawyers must be recalculated.

May 15, 2013

State Journal | May 15, 2013
Did West Virginia's previous attorney general have the authority to hire special outside counsel under the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, and could he appoint such private counsel to prosecute government civil penalty actions on a contingent fee basis?

May 13, 2013

Fortune | May 13, 2013
Since late 2010, Washington, D.C. law firm Patton Boggs has been poking a sleeping tiger. It has filed three peculiar federal lawsuits—in its own name, not on behalf of any client—against Chevron, the third largest corporation in the United States. These cases have fared poorly; two were quickly dismissed, and a federal magistrate judge recommended tossing the third in March. On Friday, the tiger awoke. 
Courthouse News Service | May 13, 2013
Diamond Foods failed to show that two law firms made secret political donations to become class counsel in a securities fraud class action, a federal judge ruled.

May 9, 2013

Legal Intelligencer | Subscription Required | May 9, 2013
Consider the following scenario - your business is one of many sued in a class action lawsuit for allegedly conspiring to overcharge consumers of baby products. After five years of costly litigation, all of the defendants decide to settle. They collectively agree to pay $35.5 million into a settlement fund.
Tags: Legal Ethics

May 2, 2013

Wall Street Journal | Subscription Required | May 2, 2013
An Ontario court rejected an attempt by Ecuadorean plaintiffs to collect a multibillion-dollar environmental award from Chevron Corp. in Canada, giving the oil company a fresh victory in a legal battle that has sprawled far beyond the Amazonian jungles where it began.
ThomsonReuters | May 2, 2013
A federal judge has ruled that lawyers for individuals who sued Merck & Co Inc over the painkiller Vioxx may be entitled to some of the legal fees Pennsylvania's outside counsel received in a settlement with Merck in January.
The Recorder | Subscription Required | May 2, 2013
The suit didn't get far. But that didn't stop both sides from claiming victory in a disability rights class action against Netflix Inc. over closed captioning for the deaf. In dueling briefs, lawyers for plaintiff Donald Cullen and for Los Gatos-based Netflix argued they technically prevailed in the discrimination case and should recover attorney fees.