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Schering-Plough Defends Suits Over Marketing of ‘Off-Label’ Drug Uses
Schering-Plough Corp. faces a spate of federal court litigation over promotion of its drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Eight putative class action suits are pending with U.S. District Judge Stanley Chesler in Newark, N.J., consolidated by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Schering’s lawyer, Joan McPhee of Ropes & Gray, said the company will defend what it considers a free-speech right to discuss off-label uses with doctors.
Midlevel Associates: The Paycheck Report
By collecting salary and bonus information from Am Law 200 associates for its annual associate satisfaction survey, has calculated median salaries and bonuses for third-, fourth- and fifth-years in major markets. Three years as a big-firm lawyer, and it’s a pretty sure bet that the annual paycheck is going to be at least $200,000, the report concludes. Find out which firms in the survey pay the most and which hand out the heftiest checks come bonus time.
Segregation in schools is increasing: report (Reuters)
Reuters - Public schools in the United States are
becoming more racially segregated and the trend is likely to
accelerate because of a Supreme Court decision in June,
according to report published on Wednesday.
Texas executes murderer after last-ditch appeal fails (AFP)
AFP - A man convicted of killing a woman during a bar robbery in Texas in 1994 was executed late Tuesday after the US Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch appeal.
Lerach Retires Under Investigation Cloud
Renowned plaintiffs attorney William Lerach, lead partner at Lerach Coughlin, announced Tuesday he’s stepping down from the firm he started when he split off the West Coast offices of what is now Milberg Weiss. Lerach said he’s planning to take some time off. That could include going to prison, or at least the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Lerach is said to be nearing a deal with federal prosecutors related to legally questionable payments Milberg Weiss made to its lead plaintiffs and a former expert witness.
After Gonzales, What’s Next for the Justice Department?
In the wake of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ resignation announcement Monday — which ended a months-long standoff with Congress — some observers used the departure news as an opening to urge changes for the Department of Justice. Others defended Gonzales and his tenure. And one retired senior Justice official weighed in on Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, often mentioned as a successor to Gonzales, saying Chertoff has “a lot of baggage” and is “not well-liked” within the department.
Washington Kept Outside the Magic Circle
Like their colonialist ancestors, the U.K.’s Magic Circle firms have spread around the world, jointly employing more than 10,000 lawyers and grossing more than $5 billion last year. But the London giants are struggling to figure out the U.S. market. Emblematic of the struggle is that, while most of the big London firms have New York offices, only Freshfields and Clifford Chance have ventured into Washington, despite the District’s reputation as a lawyer’s paradise. One has to wonder: What’s wrong with D.C.?
Full court access urged for detainees (AP)
AP - Two dozen retired diplomats, two rear admirals and a Marine general joined 383 current or former members of the European and British parliaments on Friday in urging the Supreme Court to grant detainees at Guantanamo Bay full access to the U.S. court system.
Shareholders Sue Over Alleged Backdating by Citrix Systems Execs
A recent flurry of lawsuits by shareholders of Citrix Systems in federal court in Florida alleges that 17 current and former Citrix executives, directors and members of the compensation committee unjustly enriched themselves at the expense of shareholders by receiving stock options at backdated prices. The lawsuits follow the company’s disclosures earlier this year to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was looking into its stock options granting practices for its executives.
3rd Circuit Rules Prison Time ‘Reasonable’ for Tax Cheat
White-collar criminals will find it much more difficult to avoid prison now that the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has declared that a sentence of probation and house arrest for a confessed tax cheat was not “reasonable” despite his extensive charity work. The appellate judges’ disagreement illustrates the difficulties lower courts are facing in sorting out how to apply the federal sentencing guidelines now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled they are merely advisory.