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Qantas May Face Big US Fines
Breaking Legal News |
2007/08/13 11:32
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QANTAS has admitted it may have to shell out far more than the $47 million set aside to pay potential fines and damages that could arise from a United States price-fixing investigation.
Managing director Geoff Dixon said yesterday that Qantas was not able to estimate the likelihood of fines in jurisdictions outside the US or what the outcome might be of third party class actions launched elsewhere.
Maurice Blackburn Cashman, a Melbourne legal firm of class action specialists, is suing Qantas, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa over allegations that fuel surcharges introduced in 2000 were artificially inflated.
The law firm alleges the airlines followed an index originally set up by Lufthansa and used it as a mechanism to inform each other how and when surcharges would be imposed.
Kim Parker, a principal of the law firm's major projects division, yesterday appealed to businesses that have shipped air freight over the past seven years to lodge a claim via her firm if they were unduly affected.
Earlier this month British Airways and Korean Airlines agreed to plead guilty in the US courts and pay separate fines of $US300 million ($355.6 million) after admitting their involvement in fixing fares and cargo charges.
At the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic, the UK Office of Fair Trading imposed an additional fine of pound stg. 121.5 million ($289.4 million).
Two other airlines, Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic, escaped prosecution by admitting their involvement and giving evidence against other carriers to the US prosecutors.
In his official statement yesterday, Mr Dixon said Qantas had thoroughly investigated the matter and was co-operating with regulators in the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand other jurisdictions.
"These investigations revealed the practice adopted by Qantas Freight and the cargo industry generally to fix and impose fuel surcharges was likely to have breached relevant competition laws," he admitted.
"To date, it has not been possible to quantify any direct or indirect liability associated with these matters.
"We are confident that the unacceptable conduct was limited to a small number of people," said Mr Dixon, adding that it was not appropriate to offer further comment.
Qantas yesterday continued to dismiss speculation it was selling its Frequent Flyer program to the Canadian company Aeroplan which also runs Air Canada's loyalty business.
The Australian carrier's corporate affairs department recycled late yesterday a statement issued on Friday denying that it was about to list the $3 billion-plus business and bring in Aeroplan as a partner.
Qantas fell 4 yesterday to $5.35. |
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Arent Fox Announces New Healthcare Lawyers
Law Firm News |
2007/08/13 11:15
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Arent Fox LLP is pleased to announce that Lowell C. Brown and Jonathon E. Cohn will join its Los Angeles, CA office as partners on August 7, 2007. The two lawyers, who were previously with the Los Angeles office of Foley & Lardner LLP, are two of the preeminent health care lawyers in California. The firm expects that it will add at least three associates to the health care group as well.
Robert O’Brien, the partner-in-charge of Arent Fox’s LA office, said, “The addition of Lowell and Jon strengthens the firm’s leading national health care and life sciences practices.” He said the incoming group “will serve as the core of a dynamic health care practice in California.”
Brown advises hospitals, health systems, long-term care facilities, medical groups, and other health care provider organizations in business, regulatory, and medico-legal matters; he has significant experience with laws relating to operational issues, including the design and implementation of compliance programs, practitioner credentialing, peer review, disciplinary hearings, Medicare certification, licensing and accreditation issues, and related policies and procedures. He is nationally recognized for his work involving the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), the federal law prohibiting improper emergency patient transfers by hospitals. Brown has extensive experience defending clients against actions by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to terminate Medicare provider agreements. His practice also encompasses operational issues, such as bioethics, medical records, and consent and confidentiality.
Cohn’s practice focuses on litigation and trial work with an emphasis on health care issues, such as long-term care, Medicare and Medicaid, fraud and abuse, and reimbursement disputes. He represents various long-term care providers in many areas, including licensing, certification, civil and criminal enforcement, reimbursement and collections, and other regulatory and administrative proceedings. Cohn also represents health care professionals in licensure and workers' compensation proceedings.
Arent Fox’s LA office has doubled in size to 20 lawyers since it opened on January 1, 2007. The firm expects to see continued growth in the office through strategic hiring to expand its core practice areas in California.
About Arent Fox
Arent Fox – a full-service law firm with offices in Washington, New York and Los Angeles – is a recognized leader in areas including intellectual property, real estate, health care, life sciences, and litigation. With more than 300 lawyers, Arent Fox has a wide range of expertise in corporate securities and transactions, financial restructuring and bankruptcy, government relations and regulation, labor and employment, finance, tax, corporate compliance and the global business market. The firm provides services to Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, trade associations, foreign governments, long-term care facilities, start-up companies, and other entities.
www.arentfox.com |
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Andrew Bleiman Joins Cheng Cohen LLC in Chicago
Law Firm News |
2007/08/13 11:09
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Cheng Cohen LLC, a Chicago-based firm focusing in corporate, franchise, technology and business litigation today announced that Andrew Bleiman will join the firm as counsel.
"Andrew is a smart, tough and experienced litigator," said Fredric "Ric" Cohen, partner of Cheng Cohen LLC. "His addition to the Cheng Cohen firm is an important step toward our goal of building the finest full service boutique law firm around."
With nearly a decade of commercial and civil litigation experience, Bleiman was most recently an associate attorney with DLA Piper US in Chicago where his practice concentrated on commercial and civil litigation.
Bleiman attended Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology where he received his J.D. with Honors. He received his Bachelor of Arts in English from The University of Texas at Austin.
Founded in 2007, Cheng Cohen LLC provides experience in a wide range of
legal matters including corporate, litigation and franchising. The firm innovatively tailors legal services to meet each of their clients' specific needs effectively and efficiently.
Cheng Cohen LLC is located l101 West Fulton Market, Suite 200 Chicago,
IL 60607. The Firm's phone number is (312) 243-1701.
For more information,
please visit the corporate Web site at http://www.chengcohen.com. |
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Reyes Verdict Impacts Valley Executives
Court Watch |
2007/08/13 10:55
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In the cubicles and offices of Silicon Valley, some executives and company officials are quietly worrying about the impact of a jury's decision convicting former Brocade Communications Chief Executive Greg Reyes of securities fraud, according to several attorneys involved in other backdating cases.
Tuesday, Reyes was found guilty of 10 criminal charges, including conspiracy and securities fraud, in the first criminal case associated with stock-option backdating. Many local attorneys following the case had predicted the prosecution would have a tough time proving that Reyes intended to defraud investors in part because he did not personally benefit.
"Before, people were waiting and holding their breath," said Darren Robbins, an attorney at Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins in San Diego who is involved in several cases against companies still under investigation by regulators and the Department of Justice. "Many defendants are, at least what we are hearing, is they are trying to pick themselves back up from the surprise."
Since the first disclosures of stock-option backdating in early 2005, more than 200 investigations have been launched nationwide. In the valley, where the biggest number of internal and outside probes are being conducted, there have been two indictments. In addition to Reyes, who plans to appeal, prosecutors earlier this year filed a criminal case against Kent Roberts, the former general counsel at McAfee.
Backdating refers to the practice of going back in time, typically to when a stock's price was lower, to pick the date for option grants, increasing the odds that the recipient could sell the stock at a profit. While the practice is not illegal, prosecutors said failing to disclose the change and the impact on a company's financial statements is fraudulent.
Some executives who already have participated in a company's internal investigation may be especially nervous, said Christopher Cooke, a partner with Cooke, Kobrick & Wu in San Mateo and a former enforcement attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
That's because one of the key pieces of testimony in the Reyes case came from Craig Martin, an attorney who conducted Brocade's internal investigation. Martin testified that Reyes told him the company did not engage in backdating, contradicting a key part of the defense argument.
During the trial, Reyes' attorneys acknowledged that Brocade had engaged in periodic backdating to hire the best talent. But they said the company's finance department believed it had properly accounted for the option grants, that Reyes relied on their expertise and that he had no intent to deceive or defraud investors and regulators.
"It would make CEOs who were asked to provide information to their audit committee pretty nervous about doing that," Cooke said. "If the clients say anything that can be shown to be inconsistent," he said, that could later come back to haunt them as evidence of intent.
Matt Jacobs, an attorney with McDermott Will & Emery in Palo Alto and a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District, said, "Certainly, everyone involved in these cases has taken note of the jury's verdict, and the government will probably be emboldened to bring more criminal cases."
He noted that there are still many cases in which the Justice Department hasn't made a decision about whether to pursue criminal charges.
But many other attorneys say every case is different and that Reyes' conviction may not spawn more criminal charges. Prosecutors in Reyes' case, in an interview with the Mercury News on Wednesday, gave no indication that they plan to unleash new criminal charges anytime soon.
"It does depend on the facts of a particular case," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Crudo. "I don't know if it's helpful to lump them all together." |
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Former Corrections Officer Sentenced to 21 Months
Breaking Legal News |
2007/08/13 10:44
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Ricky Bernard, a former Bureau of Prisons corrections officer at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, was sentenced today to 21 months in prison for engaging in sexual misconduct with three inmates. Bernard previously pleaded guilty in federal court in Houston to federal civil rights charges.
At his guilty plea on Oct. 20, 2006, Bernard admitted that on numerous occasions he had sexual contact with inmates under his supervision while on duty as a Bureau of Prisons officer in 2003 and 2004. Bernard also admitted that he subsequently lied about the sexual misconduct with inmates to federal law enforcement officers, including by sworn affidavit.
“Sexual misconduct by an officer is very disturbing,” said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice. “When law enforcement officials violate the law and the public trust, we will not hesitate to prosecute them.”
The Civil Rights Division is committed to the vigorous enforcement of every federal criminal civil rights statute, such as those laws that prohibit the willful use of excessive force or other acts of misconduct by law enforcement officials. The Division has compiled a significant record on criminal civil rights prosecutions. In the past six fiscal years, as compared to the previous six years, the Criminal Section filed 25 percent more color of law cases, charged 15 percent more defendants, and obtained convictions of 50 percent more defendants.
The investigation was spearheaded by Special Agent Monte Carson of the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General. Civil Rights Division Trial Attorneys Karima Maloney and Jennifer Dominguez prosecuted this case. |
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The Brauldi Law Firm Announces Class Action Suit
Class Action |
2007/08/13 10:22
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| The Brualdi Law Firm announces that a securities class actionlawsuit has been commenced in the United States District Court for theNorthern District of Illinois on behalf of purchasers of Motorola, Inc.("Motorola") (NYSE:MOT) publicly traded securities during the periodbetween July 19, 2006 and January 4, 2007 (the "Class Period"). No class has yet been certified in the above action. Until aclass is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless youretain one. If you purchased Motorola common stock during the perioddescribed above, you have certain rights, and have until no later than60 days, in which to move for Lead Plaintiff status. Any member of thepurported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff throughcounsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain anabsent class member. To be a member of the class you need not take any action atthis time, and you may retain counsel of your choice. If you wish todiscuss this action or have any questions concerning this Notice oryour rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contactTali Leger, Director of Shareholder Relations at The Brualdi Law Firm,29 Broadway, Suite 2400, New York, New York 10006, by telephone tollfree at (877) 495-1877 or (212) 952-0602, by email totleger@brualdilawfirm.com or visit our website athttp://www.brualdilawfirm.com/ The complaint charges Motorola and certain of its officers anddirectors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.Motorola builds, markets and sells products, services and applicationsthat make connections to people, information and entertainment throughbroadband, embedded systems and wireless networks. The complaint alleges that in the summer of 2006, Motorola'spoor financial performance had depressed its stock price to below $19per share. In order to artificially inflate the price of Motorolastock, defendants began a series of false and misleading statementsregarding the Company's business and prospects. Specifically,defendants repeatedly told investors to expect strong growth in salesand revenues. On October 17, 2006, defendants announced that Motorolahad failed to meet its revenue and sales projections. As a result ofthis announcement, Motorola's stock price declined over 7% in twotrading days. Then on January 4, 2007, defendants announced thatMotorola's fourth quarter 2006 results also failed to meetexpectations. This time, the Company's stock price declined almost 8%. CONTACT: The Brualdi Law Firm
Tali Leger, Director of Shareholder Relations
(877) 495-1877
(212) 952-0602
tleger@brualdilawfirm.com
http://www.brualdilawfirm.com/
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U.S. court upholds ban on some DirecTV ads
Breaking Legal News |
2007/08/10 09:24
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| A U.S. appeals court on Thursday upheld a lower court's decision that prohibits satellite television operator DirecTV Group Inc from airing TV advertisements that claimed superior service in markets where Time Warner Cable Inc operates. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the lower court erred in preliminarily blocking DirecTV's Internet advertisements, saying the ads were "not even remotely realistic." The appeals court also set aside a part of the lower court's order, saying the way it was worded "could be construed to prohibit the unfavorable comparison of even Time Warner Cable's analog programming." Analog programming refers to basic cable packages, as opposed to digital packages that allow expanded programming and additional features such as high definition (HD) or video on demand. The television ads, which featured ex-Star Trek actor William Shatner and pop star Jessica Simpson, aired last December and in January. They ended with the tag line: "For an HD picture that can't be beat, get DirecTV." Time Warner Cable filed the lawsuit in December, accusing DirecTV of false advertising and deceptive business practices. In February, Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York granted a preliminary injunction against DirecTV preventing it from running ads in Time Warner Cable's markets that disparaged the quality of Time Warner's high-definition programming. DirecTV was also ordered then to take down any similar advertisements on its Web site, or other sites. The Internet ads include one in which the picture quality of DirecTV is compared with that of "other TV," which the ad later identifies as representing basic cable, according to the appellate court ruling. The DirecTV side of the screen shows a clear image of football player Kevin Dyson making a touchdown at the Super Bowl, while the image on the "other TV" side is blurry, according to the ruling. "It is difficult to imagine that any consumer, whatever the level of sophistication, would actually be fooled by the Internet advertisements into thinking that cable's picture quality is so poor that the image is 'nearly entirely obscured,'" the court ruled. |
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Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
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