Christmas in Montana
12/24/12
By Casey Sullivan
Just in time for Christmas, a small law clinic in Great
Falls, Montana, that helps people who can't afford legal
services has had a financial reprieve, according to a report on
Monday in the Great Falls Tribune.
The two-person Cascade County Law Clinic was in danger of
having to close its doors because of lack of funding. Thanks to
a $10,000 donation from the Great Falls law firm Lewis Slovak Kovacich & Marr and a $22,000 grant from United Way of Cascade
County, overheads should be covered for another six months.
David Slovak, a partner at Lewis Slovak, told the Tribune:
"I don't think people realize the extent of the problem (of
access) and how in many ways in the legal system, people are
deprived from full access to the legal system of economics."
The clinic provides legal services in family law matters,
such as parenting plans, dissolutions and adoptions, and
landlord and tenant disputes, according to the Tribune. The
matters are brought to the clinic and then referred to private
practice attorneys throughout Great Falls, who take the cases
pro bono. This year, those attorneys have helped 145 families,
including 258 children.
Called out
12/24/12
By Dan Brillman
The family of a South Carolina woman who died soon after
receiving an allegedly harassing phone call was awarded $1.75
million in punitive damages and suffering last week by a
Masters-in-Equity judge in Charleston. In September 2006,
Maxine Nesbit answered a call from a property manager
threatening eviction the following day if her daughter did not
pay two months in back rent. A few hours later Nesbit was dead,
having suffered a heart attack.
Nesbit's daughter, Omega, sued the realty company, alleging
the "egregious and inconsiderate" call led to her mother's
death, according to the Charleston Post and Courier.
Omega Nesbit claimed she asked the management company not to
talk to her mother due to her poor health, and that she hadn't
paid the rent due to an ongoing dispute about broken windows,
backed up plumbing and an electrical fire.
The Dean-Kelby management company responded to the lawsuit
that eviction was to be expected for failure to pay rent, and
that it was Omega Nesbit's responsibility to keep her mother
away from the phone if an upsetting call could damage her
health.
Dean-Kelby has since gone out of business, so it is unclear
if the payment will ever be made, the Post and Courier says.
The Dewey dealer
12/24/12
By Casey Sullivan
A four-page piece in the American Lawyer last week shows that Al
Togut isn't like the rest of insolvency lawyers in Manhattan.
The lead bankruptcy counsel in the wind-down of Dewey & LeBoeuf
claims credit for crafting a novel, speedy resolution between
Dewey's estate and partners: He asked them to fork over varying
amounts of money based on their compensation, even though they
didn't know exactly when the firm went insolvent and what the
value of each partner's claim was.
A $71.5 million settlement was reached within four months of
the firm's May bankruptcy, a quick resolution for a law firm
bankruptcy, although lawyers still have to settle other claims
left out of the deal. How'd Togut do it? He and a team of
restructuring leaders made a variety of adjustments to the
settlement to appease many partners' concerns over the
four-month period, including reducing the amount low earners at
the firm had to pay and increasing it for those on top.
Considering that there were more than 700 former Dewey
lawyers to deal with, it probably didn't hurt that Togut has
loads of self-confidence, as illustrated by statements in the
American Lawyer profile. At one point, for example, he says,
""Nobody doesn't know who I am." Using the famous Apple
advertising slogan "Think different," at one point, he follows
it up with two simple words: "I did."
Togut, who charges $935 an hour, also showed his empathetic
side in the interview. Referring to the Dewey bankruptcy, he
said: "This has been hard. Emotionally difficult. Taxing.
Exhausting. I like to save businesses. As a lawyer, this is
very sad for me."
A majority rule
12/24/12
By Suhrith Parthasarathy
A Washington federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit
challenging the filibuster rule of the U.S. Senate as
unconstitutional, reports The Blog of Legal Times. (Hat tip: TheVolokh Conspiracy.) Adopted in 1917, Rule XXII of the Standing
Rules of the U.S. Senate, known as the filibuster, empowers the
minority in the Senate to prevent the majority from speaking,
debating, deliberating and voting on a measure unless the
majority can acquire 60 votes. In May 2012, Common Cause, a
political reform group, challenged this rule in the U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia, claiming that it
violated the Constitution, which, according to its brief,
provides only a limited list of exceptions to the principle of
majority rule.
Judge Emmet Sullivan disagreed with Common Cause, however,
ruling that the court is powerless to address the issue, as
internal procedures of the Senate are beyond judicial review. He
held that Common Cause did not have the legal standing to
challenge the rule and that the court must not intrude into the
area, since it would "offend the separation of powers on which
the Constitution rests." Jonathan Adler, writing in Volokh,
notes that Common Cause may appeal the ruling, but that it is
unlikely to fare any better. "This lawsuit may generate good
press for filibuster opponents, but it's a legal nonstarter," he
writes.
Summary Judgments for December 21
Summary Judgments for December 20
Summary Judgments for December 19
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