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Baker Donelson law firm acquires Houston practice
Legal Business |
2011/10/23 10:33
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A Memphis-based law firm with a large presence in Louisiana will expand into Texas through an acquisition announced today. Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC will retain its name as it merges with Houston-based Spain Chambers.
Ranked the 73rd-largest law firm in the country before the merger, the expanded Baker Donelson will include 620 attorneys and advisors working in 17 offices in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and the District of Columbia.
The merger will help to retain and attract new clients, as large companies doing business across mutliple states look to consolidate their legal service providers, said Roy Cheatwood, managing shareholder of Baker Donelson's Louisiana offices.
"Many of our clients would ask us if we had a Texas presence, because if so, they would be interested in having us as their law firm there," said Cheatwood. "It's no surprise that many New Orleans firms, the firms we consider to be our major competition, have Houston offices."
While the Spain Chambers practice focuses primarily on litigation, energy, construction and the financial sector, Baker Donelson provides legal services to a broader range of industries, including banking, real estate, and health care. The merger will allow Baker Donelson to further expand its offerings, Cheatwood said.
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High court to decide double jeopardy question
Legal Business |
2011/10/12 09:42
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The Supreme Court will decide whether a jury forewoman's offhand comment that the jury was unable to make a decision on a murder charge means the suspect can't be retried on that charge.
The high court on Tuesday agreed to hear an appeal from Alex Blueford, whose murder trial in Arkansas ended in a hung jury.
The jury forewoman told the judge before he declared a mistrial that the jury had voted unanimously against capital murder and first-degree murder. The jury had deadlocked on a lesser charge, manslaughter, which caused the judge to declare a mistrial.
Blueford argued the forewoman's statement, said in open court, meant that he has been acquitted of capital murder and first-degree murder.
Prosecutors decided to retry Blueford on all three charges. He contended he could not be retried on capital murder and first-degree murder because of Fifth Amendment double jeopardy protections.
Arkansas courts have disagreed. The high court will now review that decision.
Blueford was on trial for killing his girlfriend's 20-month-old son. |
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US Stocks Push Higher In Early Trading
Legal Business |
2011/09/07 07:55
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Management changes at Bank of America and Yahoo helped lead U.S. stocks higher after a three-day losing streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 154 points, or 1.4%, at 11293 in morning trading. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index advanced 21 points, or 1.8%, to 1186, while the Nasdaq Composite ran up 45 points, or 1.8%, to 2519.
Leading the gainers were financial stocks, with shares of Bank of America rallying 4.4% after the nation's biggest bank shook up its management team. The Charlotte, N.C. bank ousted the heads of its wealth-management and consumer-banking units, Sallie Krawcheck and Joe Price, and installed David Darnell and Thomas Montag as co-chief operating officers.
Other banks pushed higher, with Morgan Stanley gaining 3.6% and Citigroup adding 2.9%.
Also strong were energy stocks, as oil surged to above $88 a barrel. Chevron added 2.8% and Exxon Mobil advanced 1.8%.
Technology stocks also fared well, with Yahoo getting a 5.1% lift after the company said Carol Bartz had been removed as chief executive. It named Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse as the interim CEO.
The Dow is looking to snap a three-day decline that has sent the major indexes down by 4% or more. On Tuesday, the Dow fell more than 300 points in early trading before paring losses to end down 101 points.
On Wednesday, stocks also got a boost from overseas, with European markets broadly higher. The German DAX index surged 3.7% and the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 2.6% after a German court upheld the legality of the first Greek bailout package and the creation of the European Financial Stability Facility. Also helping was a boost in German industrial production, which registered month-on-month gains of 4% in July, well above estimates for a slight gain.
Also helping lift sentiment were reports that President Obama's jobs plan, to be announced Thursday, could amount to stimulus of between $300 billion to $400 billion over the coming year and include payroll-tax holidays, spending on infrastructure and aid to state and local governments.
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When is a Person an Employee of Another?
Legal Business |
2011/07/18 09:36
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On July 19, 2011, the Indiana Court of Appeals issued a decision which I found surprising in McCann v. City of Anderson, ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind. Ct. App. 2011), Cause No. 48A02-1009-PL-1060. At issue was whether a trial court had properly granted summary judgment on the question of whether a warrant officer was an employee of the Anderson City Court. Despite the procedural posture of the case and factors that weighed in favor of finding an employer-employee relationship, the Court affirmed a decision granting summary judgment to the defendants.
In this case, McCann was a police officer, who eventually became warrant officer for the Anderson City Court in 1998. He held that post until 2005, when the judge asked that McCann be reassigned. As a result of this dismissal, McCann filed suit based on the Indiana Wage Statute, arguing that he had been an employee of the Court and was entitled to funds that had been allocated to the position of warrant officer by that court. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment and the trial court granted the defendants' motion.
On appeal, the Court quoted GKN Co. v. Magness, 744 N.E.2d 397, 402 (Ind. 2001), for the seven factors that a court should consider when determining whether an employer-employee relationship exists. The Court then analyzed each of these factors and determined that three weighed in favor of the existence an employer-employee relationship and four against, with the "most important" factor weighing against.
Thus, over all, four of the seven factors, including the most important, "Control over the Means Used," indicate McCann was not an employee of the City Court. Because the City Court was not McCann's employer, he cannot be due any "unpaid wages" from the City Court. Therefore, he cannot assert a claim against the City Court under the Indiana Wage Statute.
The aspect of this decision that is most surprising is that the Court reached this conclusion despite the procedural posture of the case. It could have easily held that, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to McCann, the seven factors weighed both for and against a finding of an employer-employee relationship between McCann and the City Court created a genuine issue of material fact. This indicates that the factor the Court identified as being "most important", whether the purported employer exercised control over the means used by the purported employee to perform work, is very important indeed.
Lesson:
1.It will be exceedingly difficult to prove the existence of an employer-employee relationship if the purported employer did not exercise control over the means that the purported employee used to perform his work.
Brad A. Catlin
Price Waicukauski & Riley, LLC
http://www.indianalawupdate.com/entry/When-is-a-Person-an-Employee-of-Another |
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RI lawyer confirmed as US judge; GOP block fails
Legal Business |
2011/05/06 03:33
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A trial lawyer nominated by President Barack Obama to be a federal judge in Rhode Island was confirmed on a party-line vote Wednesday just hours after a Senate GOP filibuster attempt failed.
The Senate voted 50-44 to confirm lawyer John McConnell to the bench after a more significant 63-33 tally to advance the nomination past a filibuster orchestrated by GOP leaders.
Eleven Republicans joined with Democrats in the earlier vote to break the filibuster. GOP leaders opposed McConnell, citing his record as a trial lawyer in cases against businesses. Republicans also said McConnell was less than truthful in his testimony to the Senate.
Wednesday's vote comes six years after the Republicans then in control of the Senate considered a change in procedures to make it impossible to filibuster judicial nominations, citing numerous Democratic efforts to stall former President George W. Bush's nominees. Democrats said Republicans were being hypocritical in now trying to filibuster a Democratic nominee. |
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Nevada Supreme Court hosting Law Day Live program
Legal Business |
2011/05/05 09:32
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The Nevada Supreme Court is hosting an interactive Law Day Live forum linking courtrooms in Las Vegas, Carson City, and Winnemucca around an American Bar Association theme honoring the legacy of the nation's second president, John Adams.
Court spokesman Bill Gang said a Thursday videoconference hook-up will be streamed live as an educational tool for middle and high school students across the state.
Panels at each location will include judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and law enforcers — moderated by Supreme Court Justice Nancy Saitta.
Adams was the first U.S. lawyer-president, and was a staunch advocate of the rule of law — including the principle that accused persons are entitled to a legal defense.
Adams defended British soldiers in court on charges after the Boston Massacre of 1770.
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Class Action Recovery Business Expands Staff
Legal Business |
2011/01/25 11:36
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Financial Recovery Technologies (FRT) announced today that they have added staff in response to unprecedented growth. FRT, a technology-based services firm and member of the Cross Country Group, focuses on helping institutional investors identify and file claims in order to collect funds made available in securities class action filings. Over 1,300 such cases have been settled, resulting in over $60 billion in funds since 1995. However, the complex process of filing claims has led to less than 35% of settlement funds being recovered. FRT creates value by working on behalf of institutional investors to ensure all such recoveries are realized. Founded in 2008, FRT is a unique group characterized by individuals with years of experience servicing large institutional investors. Through their proprietary technology and comprehensive service processes, they have grown into a respected industry leader and continue to seek out individuals that bring exceptional skills. "Our new hires bring distinctive capabilities that will enable us to further accelerate our growth and enhance our delivery capabilities," said David Bedard, President of FRT. "In 2011, I expect our expanded team will continue our tradition of outperforming all industry benchmarks and achieving the highest possible levels of customer satisfaction." Christopher Doggett recently joined the firm as Executive Vice President to lead FRT's business development efforts and advance the company's growth strategy. Chris joins FRT from Sophos, a global software firm, where he was a Vice President, and worldwide leader for the firm's partner sales and marketing programs, infrastructure and strategy. Since the beginning of the third quarter of 2010, the firm has added new employees in all functional areas, including three senior sales professionals, a senior software engineer and a management associate. These additions were made to ensure leadership in a rapidly evolving industry. About Financial Recovery Technologies Financial Recovery Technologies is a technology-based services firm that helps institutional investors identify, file claims and collect funds made available in securities class action filings. Offering the most comprehensive range of securities class action filing services available, the firm excels by providing best-in-class eligibility analysis, disbursement auditing and client reporting, and by delivering the highest level of accuracy, accountability and transparency available. For more information, please visit www.frtservices.com. About The Cross Country Group Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and privately held, The Cross Country Group (CCG) and its member companies provide best-in-class technology-enabled service programs across a broad spectrum of industries, including automotive, insurance, financial services. CCG's companies serve hundreds of corporate clients and their 75 million customers each year. For more information, visit www.crosscountrygroup.com.
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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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