Theodore Boutrous Jr. of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher finds himself in the middle of a nationally watched punitive damages case after a closely divided Tennessee Supreme Court reversed a lower court and upheld a $13.4 million award to a mother whose infant son died in a 2001 car crash. “I think this is the largest yo-yo effect I’ve ever seen on any case,” says Boutrous. He plans to appeal the punitive damages verdict to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A new report by the Justice Department’s watchdog offices concludes former White House liaison Monica Goodling and former Chief of Staff D. Kyle Sampson violated federal law and DOJ policy by politicizing the hiring of career lawyers and immigration judges. In one such instance, Goodling blocked an expert candiate for a counterterrorism post, apparently due to his wife’s Democratic ties. The post instead went to someone with no experience in that area. Former AG Alberto Gonzales says the report vindicates him.
The plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that struck down Washington, D.C.’s 32-year-old handgun ban has filed a new federal suit, alleging the city’s new gun regulations violate an individual’s right to own a gun for self-defense. The suit claims D.C. is violating the intent of the high court’s June 26 decision by prohibiting the ownership of most semiautomatic weapons, requiring an “arbitrary” registration fee, and making it all but impossible for residents to keep a gun at home for immediate self-defense.
Kirkland & Ellis has recruited a bankruptcy partner from Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Christopher J. Marcus joins Kirkland’s New York office as a partner in its restructuring group. The defection is a blow to Weil’s bankruptcy practice, which has lost ground to Chicago-based Kirkland in both talent and high-profile matters in recent years.
During a cruise aboard Celebrity Cruise Lines, real estate agent David Bouverat bought a print and a painting from Michigan-based Park West Gallery that he says he learned were almost worthless once he was back on land. Now, Bouverat hopes to spark a class action against the business, which calls itself “America’s premier art dealer.” Bouverat also claims that Celebrity allowed him to become prey aboard the ship to aggressive Park West salesmen who he says greatly exaggerated the value of his art purchases.
State judicial officials across the U.S. and attorneys who specialize in suing people behind in their bills are joining with debtor advocates to change how cash-strapped courts handle a rising tide of debt-collection lawsuits. Creditors’ attorneys are seeking to streamline processing of the cases. Consumer advocates want to make sure the court systems remain fair for debtors, who often don’t have legal representation. And the courts hope to more efficiently process a bigger caseload using shrinking budgets.
The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed a trial court’s decision to award a couple $13 million in punitive damages in a wrongful death suit against DaimlerChrysler. The lawsuit said the couple’s 8-month-old was riding in the backseat of a 1998 Dodge Caravan when the vehicle was rear-ended, causing the front passenger seat to collapse and the passenger to strike him. However, the justices reversed a lower court’s decision to award the victim’s mother over $6 million in punitive damages for emotional distress.
Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer was not charged with violating state law because he was not involved in the misuse of State Police to discredit the ex-governor’s keenest political enemy, said the executive director of the Commission on Public Integrity. Herbert Teitelbaum reiterated Friday that the commission could renew its inquiry into Spitzer’s activities if new evidence surfaces against him.
A lawyer for MGA Entertainment, which makes Bratz dolls, sought a mistrial Friday in a copyright infringement case brought by Mattel after a juror was dismissed for allegedly making racial slurs about MGA’s chief executive. The federal judge in the closely watched intellectual property dispute halted the presentation of evidence for the day while he questioned jurors about the comments, said the attorney for MGA Entertainment.
A common provision found in many law firm partnership agreements can have calamitous results, particularly when combined with the competing fiduciary duties partners owe to their partners and clients. Such provisions often place the departing partner in a state of limbo because during this interim period the rights and obligations of the departing partner and the partnership are unclear. Attorney Arthur Ciampi discusses notice provisions and analyzes the practical and ethical dilemmas they often raise.