Thursday, May 26, 2005
NETWORK'S WILL CARROLL (MORGENSTEIN & JUBELIRER) ARGUES L'OREAL'S CASE TO CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT
Justices Question "Whistle Blower" Who Forgot to Whistle
Plaintiff is represented by a former Cal. Sup. Ct. Justice; L'Oreal is represented by Will Carroll of the Network's northern California member firm, Morgenstein & Jubelirer.
Does Retaliation Claim Against L'Oreal Lack Foundation?
Mike McKee
The Recorder
05-26-2005
During oral argument yesterday, three justices questioned why a "whistle blower" should be allowed to sue L'Oreal USA Inc. for retaliation when she never put the company on notice of any discrimination or hostile workplace condition.
"'How can you be a whistleblower without blowing the whistle?' Justice Ming Chin asked, after getting plaintiff's counsel, who was on the high court from 1982-87, to concede that his client hadn't complained to the company's human resources department.
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A ruling in Yanowitz v. L’Oreal USA, S115154, is expected within 90 days."
Thursday, May 19, 2005
ATLANTA SUPERLAWYER TERRY SULLIVAN JOINS WEINBERG WHEELER HUDGINS GUNN & DIAL
Firm Bolsters Already Dominant Litigation Presence
Fulton County Daily Report
Meredith Hobbs
May 19, 2005
"After seven years as a plaintiffs’ lawyer, Terrance C. Sullivan has switched back to the defense side.
"He’s left plaintiffs’ firm Bird, Mabrey & Sullivan for Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial, where he started as a partner on Monday.
"His views on tort reform haven’t changed, however. He’s still against it. 'People should have their shot, and a truly bogus case will not get through the judges,' he said.
"Sullivan surprised both the defense and plaintiffs’ bars in 1998 when he left the insurance defense firm he founded—Sullivan, Hall, Booth & Smith—for high-profile plaintiffs’ firm Butler, Wooten, Fryhofer, Daughtery & Crawford. He moved to Bird, Mabrey a year ago to focus on medical issues, his specialty.
"He said he became a plaintiffs’ lawyer because he was frustrated with how insurance companies micromanaged their outside counsel’s work—and their rates.
"One particular dispute with a client was the straw that broke the camel’s back, he said. It was a case where he thought two expert witnesses were needed and the insurance company was willing to pay for only one. He hired the other at his firm’s expense.
"'I couldn’t live under those restrictions,' Sullivan said.
"Seven years later, he’s returning to defense work, but from a different angle. His primary client at Weinberg, Wheeler will be Boston Scientific, a medical-device manufacturer, which has no insurance company. The Weinberg, Wheeler team works directly with Boston Scientific, which Sullivan called 'ideal.'
"Sullivan will join Jonathan T. Krawcheck, Ashley P. Nichols and Earl W. 'Billy' Gunn in doing work for the medical-device maker, which has been a Weinberg, Wheeler client for about five years, said Gunn.
"Gunn said that Sullivan also will do work for American International Group, an excess insurance carrier, and HCA, an operator of hospitals and health care systems. He brings a secretary and a paralegal to Weinberg, Wheeler but no clients.
"Sullivan is making the switch, he said, because family responsibilities mean he needs a more predictable schedule and income. And Weinberg, Wheeler’s offer to work with Boston Scientific on medical-device litigation appealed to him.
"He added that, during his hiatus from defense work, insurance companies’ red tape has diminished. 'A lot of the carriers have abated that type of behavior. … Over the years the insurance companies have wised up.'
"Gunn said he’d been trying to lure Sullivan to his firm for about five years. 'I’ve spent a lot of years trying to talk him into going back to doing what he started out doing. We have a practice that does not have the issues that he wanted to leave behind,' he said, referring to insurance companies’ micromanagement.
"'I am a persistent person,' Gunn added.
"Sullivan said he enjoyed doing plaintiffs’ work and that his years on the plaintiffs’ side would inform his work as a defense lawyer. 'I know after having represented so many plaintiffs that they need to be approached with decency and empathy. Something bad happened to them. There are issues of liability and causation, but I don’t want to minimize that they’ve had an event,' he said."
Terry Sullivan brings 30 years of trial experience in handling complex catastrophic injury and death cases to Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial.
Managing Partner, Skip Hudgins, sais “We have seen his significant skill in the courtroom and are pleased to have him join our national trial practice.”
Terry is a 1975 graduate of UVa law school and Captain, USAFR (ret.). He is also a fellow of the Am. Col. of Trial Lawyers, a member of the Int'l Soc. of Barristers, Am. Bd. of Trial Advocates, American Inns of Court, State Bar of Georgia, Lawyers Foundation of Georgia, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, National Health Lawyers Association, Old War Horse Lawyers Club, and the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society. He has recently been recognized as one of Atlanta’s “Superlawyers” by Atlanta Magazine.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Blake's Newsletter "Business with Canada"
America's Source for Cross-Border Business & Legal News
HAL MORLAN LANDS BIG TUNA
Veteran Trial Lawyer Needed Break After Marketing Binge
Following our Napa program, Hal Morlan of Florida member firm Akerman Senterfitt came to New York for the Akerman firm's reception. It was all too much for the cub scout so he hopped back to O-town (Florida-speak for Orlando), ditched his suit in his car, grabbed his fishing tackle and flew down to Harbour Island in the Bahamas for some fishing with long-time ski buddies. Hal reports that they are great friends, but lousy fishermen. Hal was the only one who caught anything despite spending most of his time rigging his friends' tackle and untangling their lines. Hal also reports having caught and cooked a 37 pound yellow fin tuna, and a couple of barracudas.
Note the hat.
Friday, May 13, 2005
Legal Media Group 's US Litigation Lawyers
Legal Media Group is part of Euromoney Institutional Investor. LMG publishes numerous magazines and "Expert Guides" for the international investment community, including a guide titled "US Litigation Lawyers". (See here for selection methodology.)
The March 2005 edition lists the following Network member firms and attorneys:
AL: Samuel H. Franklin
Warren B. Lightfoot
AZ: John Bouma
Douglan Seitz
CA: Marshall Grossman
IL: Michael Dockterman
MS: Allan Perry
NJ: David Harris
UT: Alan Sullivan
WA: Kelly Corr
Blogging and the Bottom Line
Why blogging and syndication are the hottest tools in legal marketing
Robert J. Ambrogi
Legal Tech Newsletter
05-05-2005
Pick an area of law -- trademark, employment, appellate, whatever -- tack "lawyer" onto it, and search the phrase on Google. Odds are, a legal blog will be among the top-ranking results -- often at the top of the list.
$60M Bankruptcy Bonanza
It's one of the biggest bankruptcies ever in Maryland, and the lawyers are walking away with millions
Tom Schoenberg
Legal Times
05-06-2005
The hourly tab for a tax lawyer: $825. A corporate litigator: $810. A pack of law clerks and summer associates: $240 an hour, each.
Law Firms Agree to Give Clients Diversity Data on Legal Teams
Thomas Adcock
New York Law Journal
05-13-2005
In a pact brokered by the New York County Lawyers' Association, more than 60 law firms have agreed to tell their corporate clients the composition of assigned legal teams by race, gender, ethnicity and sexual preference.
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Supporting the effort are some 65 bar organizations, including major groups such as the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the New York State Bar Association and small specialty bars such as the Nigerian Lawyers Association and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Law Association.
In-house counsels at more than 20 businesses were also signatories, including large corporations such as the Bank of New York, the Coca-Cola Co., Merrill Lynch & Co., Prudential Securities and TIAA-CREF.
