Free Republic

Disgraced lawyer Melvyn Weiss violated his parole by drinking and driving but a federal judge isn't sending the sad sack back to jail as reported by Dana Feldman and Nate Raymond for Reuters: "Weiss, 77, reached a deal with federal prosecutors on the eve of a Friday hearing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on whether to revoke his release following an arrest in December for driving under the influence in Boynton Beach, Florida. The agreement came after Weiss pleaded guilty to the DUI charge on April 18 in Florida and was sentenced to 12 months probation and 50...

The Association of Corporate Counsel is challenging the apparent practice by at least some plaintiffs' firms of using temporary attorneys as profit centers in class actions as reported by Daniel Fisher for Forbes. The 30,000-member trade group has filed a letter with a Manhattan federal court which must approve a $100 million fee request by trial lawyers who negotiated a $590 million settlement in a securities action against Citigroup, and contends that the high rates sought for the temporary lawyers are "beyond what a reasonable, paying client would be willing to pay." In class action lawsuits a substantial portion of...

The following is an exchange between Yra Harris and I on the securitized debt obligations of home mortgages. Yra Harris: The Kentucky court issue is just another case. Two years ago a federal court ruled against a Deutshe Bank foreclosure claim on the same grounds. To blow my own horn, in the book "Inside the House of Money" I was interviewed and warned that this securitization was going to be a major issue. Greed blinds those who only see short term green. Jim Sinclair: Agreed, but Kentucky is a Rico action and class action suit. That is why it is...

Lane v. Facebook, Case No. 08-3845 RS (N.D. Cal.) (Order re Attorney Fees) The lawsuit over Facebook's ill-fated Beacon program generated three lawsuits, a lot of wrangling by class action lawyers, and more than a few blog posts (e.g., "Beacon Class Action Settlement Approved;" "Stop Saying 'We Can Amend This Agreement Whenever We Want'!;" "Texas Class Action Aims to Derail Facebook Beacon Settlement"). Judge Seeborg recently approved the settlement, which included the formation of a privacy foundation funded by Facebook. (Here's an earlier post of mine summarizing the then-proposed terms of the settlement.)The one item pending was the amount of...

...If a recent federal indictment that refers to Milberg Weiss is anything to go by, the trial bar has its Enron.... Sham "screenings" to round up asbestos plaintiffs, forum shopping for friendly juries, "coupon" settlements that enrich only lawyers and frivolous lawsuits have all become staples of today's tort system. Yet they have received almost no media, much less legal, scrutiny. ...The focus of the charges is retired Palm Springs lawyer Seymour Lazar, who seems to have had a second career as a plaintiff in Milberg Weiss lawsuits. From 1976 to 2004, Mr. Lazar and family members... served as named...

...Justice O'Connor sounded the alarm against what she's termed "the increasing, and on many levels frightening, overlegalization of everyday life in our country today." The Supreme Court's first female justice is best known in tort circles for her long crusade to bring punitive damage awards under constitutional due-process scrutiny, a position for which she eventually assembled a majority that includes several of her liberal colleagues (though not conservatives Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas). Quoting a Ninth Circuit opinion, Justice O'Connor has expressed concern at the way demands for punitive damages can be "limited only by the ability of lawyers to...