In The News

City Council’s Fee Request May Impede Settlement over Audit Power Dispute.      City of Los Angeles and the City Controller have been locked in a lawsuit battle over whether the controller’s office can audit the City’s workers’ compensation program. Early on in the lawsuit, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark V. Mooney issued a […]

  A Long, Lonely Summer for Attorneys at Weil Gotshal.      In an April 18, 2009 post, we reported that Weil Gotshal was seeking $55,000,000 in fees in the Lehman bankruptcy for work done from September 15, 2008, to January 31, 2009.  That was then, this is now.       Ashby Jones reports for the WSJ

  Obscure Wedge Issue in the Making?      Have we managed to identify a minor political wedge issue involving the very obscure issue of tax breaks for expenses in contingency cases?  Read on, and make up your own mind.      David Freddoso and Kevin Mooney have an opinion piece in the San Francisco Examiner under

2008 Fulbright Litigation Trends Survey Confirms the Reality of the Situation. Fulbright & Jaworski has come out with its 2008 Litigation Trends Survey.      This survey shows that companies having at least one lawsuit filed against them in 2008 fell to 79%, as compared to 83% in 2007. Likewise, companies bringing at least one legal

  But Federal Judge in Minnesota is Not a Happy Camper.      Half empty or half full?      “According to one very irate federal judge in Minnesota,” reports Dan Levine for The Recorder, “jailed plaintiffs lawyer William Lerach just helped his former colleagues lose about $45 million in fees.”  Still, Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman &

Bankruptcy Court Approves Request of Madoff Trustee and Law Firm for $15,000,000 in Attorney’s Fees.      The New York Law Journal reports that Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Judge Burton R. Lifland has approved a request of Irving H. Picard, the liquidating trustee of Bernard Madoff’s investment firm, and his team of lawyers, for

Judge Velasquez Honors “Capped” Agreement Between the Parties.      In past posts of December 1, 2008 and June 15 and June 27, 2009, we have been following the attorney’s fees hearing in the case where The Orange County Register settled with carriers in a wage-hour class suit.      On July 16, 2009, Orange County Superior

Bluetooth Settlement Approved, But More Information On Fees Requested From Plaintiffs’ Attorneys.      In our June 7 , 2009 post, we described the pending class action settlement of a case that alleged Motorola, Plantronics, and GN Netcom failed to adequately warn Bluetooth owners about potential hearing losses from use of the devices.      Earlier this