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Former partner suing Dorsey Whitney law firm
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2008/02/25 13:56
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| pA former partner in the New York office of Dorsey amp; Whitney is suing the Minneapolis-based law firm, claiming gender discrimination and violations of the whistleblower act, among other things./ppHennepin County District Court Judge Gary Larson heard an hour of arguments Tuesday on the Dorsey firm's motion to dismiss Kristan Peters' suit./ppPeters began working as a Dorsey partner in January 2007 and left on June 23. At the core of the case is her handling of a trade secrets dispute on behalf of Wolters Kluwer Financial Services in New York. The matter drew media attention in trade publications, largely because of U.S. District Court Judge Harold Baer Jr.'s 129-page opinion criticizing Peters' behavior./ppAccording to R. Scott Davies of Briggs and Morgan, who is representing Dorsey, Baier scolded Peters 22 times for her handling of the case. Davies said Peters played fast and loose with the litigation, lied to the court and misrepresented circumstances to the firm's partners./ppPeters' lawyer James Kaster countered that the judge's behavior, not Peters', was unusual. The behavior Baer disliked -- such as scheduling a 7-hour deposition over two days and refusing to give bathroom breaks -- is not unusual, Kaster said. /p |
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Supreme Court to hear car search, tribal land cases
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2008/02/25 11:22
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The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear three cases, including Arizona v. Gant (07-542) where the Court will consider whether the Fourth Amendment requires law enforcement officers to demonstrate a threat to their safety or a need to preserve evidence related to the crime of arrest in order to justify a warrantless vehicular search incident to arrest conducted after the vehicle's recent occupants have been arrested and secured? Arizona is appealing an Arizona Supreme Court ruling that Rodney Joseph Gant's constitutional rights were violated when police searched his car after he was handcuffed and seated in a police car.
http://www.supremecourtus.gov |
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Four law firms dominate school district services
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2008/02/23 13:59
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On Long Island, where public education is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, four law firms control more than 60 percent of the estimated cost for legal services.
In 106 of the 124 school districts, $56.9 million was spent for legal fees from 2000 through 2004 -- $16.4 million alone during the 2003-2004 school year. Experts say legal costs have grown since then, with lawyers handling a wide range of issues from personnel and union issues to special education lawsuits.
The four law firms -- Guercio amp; Guercio in Farmingdale; Ingerman Smith in Hauppauge; Ehrlich, Frazer amp; Feldman, and Jaspan Schlesinger Hoffman, both of Garden City -- earned the majority of that total amount during that period, the most recent data available to Newsday.
Some experts say that consolidation of legal services is expected because educational law is highly specialized and few lawyers are experts at it.
In an unprecedented series of moves that have unfolded in rapid-fire fashion in the past week, three of these firms -- Guercio amp; Guercio being the exception -- that have attorneys whose arrangements with school districts allowed them to receive lucrative public benefits while working as private legal counsel are now under state and federal investigation. |
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