Jewel v. Boxer’s Continued Viability Is Squarely Under Consideration. In our June 14, 2014 post, we discussed U.S. District Judge Breyer’s decision in In the Matter of Heller Ehrman LLP, in which he determined that a dissolved law firm did not have a property interest in its pending hourly matters at a dissolution […]
Much Publicized Case Involved “Stairway To Heaven.” May 6, 1937. The burning LZ 129 Hindenburg. Library of Congress. Warner/Chappell Music defeated a copyright infringement case by the trustee for the late writer of a song called “Taurus,” with the suit claiming that Led Zeppelin copied a small part of the song in
Case Involved Shakira’s Song “Loca Con Su Tiguere”; Sony Had Asked For $688,000 In Fees. This case involved some real twists. After provisionally finding copyright infringement liability in plaintiff’s favor with respect to Shakira’s song “Loca Con Su Tiguere,” U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein (S.D.N.Y.) held an evidentiary hearing and found that
Zillow Reported Mounting Legal Fees For 2016, Expected To Exceed $50 Million For The Year And Totaling Over $77 Million For The Last Two Years. Just to show you how legal costs can be for well-known companies, take Zillow for example. It legal fees for the 2015 and 2016 years are projected to
L.A. Superior Court Judge Berle Awards Almost $660,000 In California Judges’ Dispute. On June 1, 2016, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Elihu M. Berle granted plaintiff $659,759 in fees for prevailing in a case alleging that California’s controller at the time illegally withheld automatic raises from 3,000 active and retired California judges.
This Was Biggest Jump Since 2008. There are some positive signs that the Great Recession is easing for U.S. law firms according to a recent survey of 176 firms (79 AmLaw 100, 45 Second Hundred Firms, and 52 niche/boutique firms) by Citi Private Bank. For the first quarter of 2016, the surveyed firms
AFAs Accounted For 35.6% Of Outside Counsel Spending For Top U.S. Corporations in 2015. Law360 reports that BTI Consulting Group has published a recent survey that shows out of $21.3 billion spent by chief legal officers inside top U.S. corporations, alternative fee arrangements to hourly rate arrangements accounted for 35.6% of total spending
However, They Were Ordered To Pay 65% Of Certain Litigation Expenses. On March 19, 2016, we posted on U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt’s tentative decision to deny fees to Marvin Gaye’s estate in a copyright infringement case in which Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were found to have infringed on one of
Requested Amount By Plaintiff’s Attorney Was $2.9 Million. On April 8, 2016, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Mooney determined that Bikram Choudhury, a well known yoga pioneer, owed $1.1 million in attorney’s fees after a jury found that he was liable for $7.4 million on claims he wrongfully terminated and sexually
Securities Class Action Trends. In a January 26, 2016 paper on a 2015 full-year review of securities class actions, NERA Economic Consulting’s consultants Svetlana Starykh and Stefan Boettrich have some interesting findings on fees/costs awards to class counsel. Fees were stable at about 30% as a percentage of recovery in securities class action
