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Oprah Winfrey’s company targets Boston law firm in suit
Court Watch |
2010/05/10 09:26
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pOprah Winfrey’s production company wants a federal judge to force a prominent Boston law firm to provide information about one of its former attorneys to bolster its case in a patent-infringement lawsuit against her book club./ppThe lawsuit poses serious threats to the entire publishing industry, according to Harpo Productions attorney Charles Babcock./ppWinfrey’s Harpo filed a motion last week to compel Fish amp; Richardson to hand over documents and give a deposition regarding Scott Harris, a former patent prosecution attorney in its San Diego office./ppHarpo is being sued by Illinois Computer Research, a Chicago holding company that bought Harris’ 2006 patent for Internet technology that allows readers to review digital excerpts from books prior to buying them. Harpo claims the patent is unenforceable. The case is set for a July trial in Illinois./ppHarpo wants Fish to comply with a subpoena, because it was party to a similar patent lawsuit that ICR filed against Google, then a Fish client, in 2007./ppICR, which is tied to Harris, added Fish as a defendant in that lawsuit after Fish forced Harris’ resignation several days following its filing./ppIn court documents, Fish claimed Harris used Fish resources to build a portfolio of patents and cash in on them by selling them to parties that he knew would file infringement cases against companies that included his own law firm’s clients. The suit was settled in 2008.
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DA opposes Polanski's request for sealed testimony
Law Center |
2010/05/10 09:26
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pRoman Polanski's request for access to sealed transcripts of testimony by a former prosecutor detailing alleged misconduct should be rejected because of the director's fugitive status, prosecutors argued Thursday in a court filing./ppPolanski's attorneys have asked a judge to unseal testimony taken earlier this year by the original prosecutor handling the case, Roger Gunson. They have said it will help their efforts to fight Polanksi's extradition from Switzerland, where he remains under house arrest./ppDeputy District Attorney David Walgren wrote in Thursday's filing that the request should be denied because Polanski has repeatedly refused to return to Los Angeles for sentencing./ppHe said allegations of misconduct in the case can and should be dealt with at Polanski's sentencing./ppA hearing on Polanski's motion is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
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Kagan Sided With Investors in Two Notable Securities Cases
Headline News |
2010/05/10 09:25
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pThe federal government has opposed business interests in two closely watched securities cases during Elena Kagan's time as solicitor general, although her brief tenure has overlapped with just a handful of notable business cases. /ppMs. Kagan has a light record on business issues outside of her 14 months of service as solicitor general, a role in which she represented the government at the high court. She hasn't served as a judge and her professional career has largely been devoted to government service and academia. /ppWith Ms. Kagan as solicitor general, the Obama administration has taken a friendlier approach to investor lawsuits. Ms. Kagan's office filed a legal brief supporting investors in a case that examined when shareholders could sue mutual-fund managers for allegedly charging excessive fees. Ms. Kagan argued that a lower-court ruling in the case did not provide enough of a check on potentially excessive fees. /ppIn another case, Ms. Kagan's office argued that shareholders of Merck amp; Co. Inc. didn't wait too long to file lawsuits alleging the drug maker misrepresented the safety of painkiller drug Vioxx. /ppThe Supreme Court, which decided both cases this spring, unanimously agreed with Ms. Kagan's position each time.
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US women due in court in Philly in terrorism case
Headline News |
2010/05/03 08:19
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pTwo American women charged in a global terrorism plot allegedly aimed at killing a Swedish artist are due in court in Philadelphia./ppCourt papers show the case is largely built on e-mails and online postings allegedly made by 46-year-old Colleen LaRose of Pennsburg and 31-year-old Jamie Paulin-Ramirez of Leadville, Colo./ppThe Colorado woman's defense lawyer, Jeremy Ibrahim, says he will ask Monday for copies of computer evidence. A judge may have to screen it first because prosecutors say some of it may be classified./ppLaRose is also expected to enter a plea to a superseding indictment. Both women have previously pleaded not guilty. They were arrested this year after returning from Europe.
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Brit on Texas death row loses high court appeal
Court Watch |
2010/05/03 06:20
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pThe Supreme Court has refused to review the case of a British woman on death row in Texas for killing a young mother./ppThe justices on Monday rejected an appeal from Linda Carty, who was convicted of kidnapping and killing a woman whose child she also snatched in Houston in 2001. Carty has complained that her trial lawyers were deficient./ppThe British government and human rights groups have aided Carty's cause./ppCarty is one of 10 condemned women in Texas. She is a former teacher from St. Kitts in the British Virgin Islands./ppIn September, a taped voice recording of Carty begging Britons to help save her life was broadcast into London's Trafalgar Square.
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Florida Probing Law Firm in Foreclosures
Headline News |
2010/05/02 09:24
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pThe Florida attorney general's office is investigating possible misconduct by a large law firm that files foreclosures for banks, according to a posting on its Web site./ppThe Web site said the office is looking at whether Florida Default Law Group, based in Tampa, was involved in fabricating and/or presenting false and misleading documents in foreclosure cases. Mortgage documents that are used to prove a bank has a right to foreclose have later been shown to be legally inadequate and/or insufficient, the Web site said./ppA spokeswoman for Florida Default declined to comment. Ryan Wiggins, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill McCollum, said the investigation began last fall./ppThe civil probe comes as some judges and federal prosecutors in Florida are paying close attention to how banks—and so-called foreclosure-mill law firms that work for banks—are attempting to take control of homes from borrowers in default. Judges across the country have chastised banks and their attorneys for attempting to seize properties they can't prove they own. /ppLast month, a Florida judge said that a mortgage document filed by a bank in a foreclosure case was part of an intentional effort to mislead the court.
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