Thursday, July 24, 2008 |
SEC aims at fuel, wireless firms 
by Janet L. Conley, Associate Editor
The Atlanta Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud actions against two Southeastern companies, alleging that they engaged in “pump-and-dump” schemes in which companies di.... |
Deal Watch: In-house lawyer takes outside firm to new job
by Andy Peters, Staff Reporter
Sometimes an M&A lawyer's book of business can take a hit if his client is acquired by a company that relies on a different lawyer for future transactional work. But relationships matter, and if an in-ho.... |
Article calls foul on rumor about race, Blackmun
by Tony Mauro, Legal Times
The late Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun will always be remembered first and foremost for writing Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision declaring a woman's right to an abortion.But especially now, when the.... |
Rising debt cases reveal erratic system
by Lynne Marek, National Law Journal
State judicial officials across the United States and attorneys who specialize in suing people behind in their bills are coming together with debtor advocates to change how cash-strapped courts handle a ri.... |
Panel rejects most of Fla. pledge challenge
by Other, Alyson M. Palmer and Jonathan Ringel
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a First Amendment challenge to a Florida law that says students must get a parent's permission to get out of a daily classroom recitation of the Pledge .... |
Business Matters
Fannie's unsold homes worth $5B bring peril to investors
by Bob Ivry and Sharon L. Lynch, Bloomberg News
Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. mortgage finance company, couldn't find a buyer who would pay $6,900 for the three-bedroom house at 1916 Prospect St. in Flint, Mich. So broker Raymond Megie, who is handling t.... |
Autogrill SpA wins concessions at airports in Atlanta and San Jose
by Bloomberg News
Autogrill SpA, the world's biggest manager of airport restaurants, won food, beverage and retail concessions at airports in Atlanta and San Jose, Calif., that may generate more than $600 million in sales. .... |
In Recess
'The Frontlines of Humanity'
by Karl Maier, Bloomberg News
When Jan Egeland arrived in Zimbabwe as the United Nations' emergency-relief coordinator in December 2005, he offered tents to shelter thousands of slum dwellers whose homes President Robert Mugabe had ord.... |
Viewpoint
Gas prices spur consumer buying change
by Rachel Beck, Associated Press writer
Americans' struggle with $4 gas doesn't just mean we are turning in our gas-guzzling SUVs for more fuel-efficient cars, forgoing vacations or socializing more at home.People are moving to be closer to th.... |
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 |
State argues for end to education suit
by Alyson M. Palmer, Staff Reporter
School finance litigation has been likened to a Russian novel—very long, complex stories that end in the (political) deaths of all the main characters. Depending on how the judge rules, a three-hour hear.... |
In The Trenches: Two big firm IP lawyers establish female-owned shop
by Meredith Hobbs, Staff Reporter
Intellectual property lawyers Andrea E. Bates and E. Michelle Tyde have launched their own firm, Bates & Tyde, to go after Fortune 500 companies that value diversity—and clients of all sizes looking for bi.... |
Mukasey: Lawmakers should make rules in Gitmo detainee cases
by Joe Palazzolo, Legal Times
Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Monday called on Congress to craft legislation that would dictate the form of Guantánamo Bay cases in federal court, setting ground rules for evidence, the extent to whi.... |
McAfee sues WilmerHale over legal fees
by Niraj Chokshi, The Recorder
Anti-virus software maker McAfee Inc. has set its sights on a new kind of bug: alleged overbilling. The Santa Clara, Calif., company is embroiled with Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr over $12 mi.... |
Appellate bench blasts immigration judges
by Pamela A. MacLean, National Law Journal
Federal appellate judges continue to express their displeasure with immigration judges and Department of Homeland Security litigation tactics—the latest coming in three recent cases.Criticism of immigrat.... |
Business Matters
Lehman fault-finding points to CEO as shares languish
by Yalman Onaran, Bloomberg News
“Everything is over!” So wrote Emanuel Lehman, one of three brothers who founded the cotton-trading company that bore his name. The year was 1862. The cause of alarm: the Civil War, which had cut off com.... |
Analyst: Mortgage giant rescue could cost $25B
by Associated Press writer
A federal rescue of troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost taxpayers as much as $25 billion, Congress' top budget analyst said Tuesday.But Peter R. Orszag, director of the Congres.... |
More airlines report losses because of fuel costs
by Associated Press writer
The losses keep piling up for airlines, as three of the nation's biggest carriers said Tuesday high fuel costs overwhelmed higher revenue in the quarter that ended June 30.UAL Corp.'s United Airlines pos.... |
Viewpoint
Senator throws strike at Treasury's latest move
by Caroline Baum, Bloomberg News
“When I picked up my newspaper yesterday, I thought I woke up in France,'' said Sen. Jim Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky who in a former life threw curve balls from the mound as a professional baseball.... |
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 |
Ethanol plant lawyer: don't give up on FUEL
by Andy Peters, Staff Reporter
Public opinion on ethanol producer First United Ethanol LLC of Pelham has been on a roller coaster ride, according to the company's outside general counsel, Patrick N. Millsaps. First, said Millsaps, fol.... |
Rape case yields third $9 million win for attorney
by Greg Land, Staff Reporter
For the third time in less than three years, Peter A. “Pete” Law has won a $9 million judgment for a rape victim suing the owner of an apartment building. The third verdict came against the owners of a St.... |
Appeals court panel tosses FCC 'wardrobe malfunction' fine
by Legal Intelligencer
A federal appeals court has ruled that CBS should not have been hit with fines by the FCC for the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” at the 2004 Super Bowl in which singer Janet Jackson's breast was exposed t.... |
Lawsuits roll in over recalled drugs
by Amanda Bronstad, National Law Journal
Plaintiffs' attorneys have filed dozens of lawsuits in recent months involving two recalled drugs, generic blood thinner heparin and prescription medication Digitek, that could signal a clean break from pa.... |
Fannie, Freddie looked inward for help
by Marisa McQuilken, Legal Times
Lawyers at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae got word of the plan on July 11, a Friday, after they and company executives had spent a week watching their stock tank. To restore public confidence in the mortgage g.... |
Once hot Phoenix cools down
by Leigh Jones, National Law Journal
Lauded just a year ago as one of the hottest legal markets in the country, Phoenix has quickly cooled into an economic downturn, leaving many law firms that muscled up during the boom with some time on the.... |
Business Matters
Yahoo gives investor Icahn three board seats
by Associated Press writer
Yahoo Inc. averted a showdown with rabble-rousing investor Carl Icahn on Monday by giving him three seats on its board of directors in a truce that still leaves the door open for a possible sale to Microso.... |
Consumers make changes, but will they keep it up?
by ANNE D'INNOCENZIO, Associated Press writer
Adrienne Radtke plans to keep riding her bike to work even if gas prices drop. Steve Pizzini got rid of his Cadillac Escalade in favor of a 16-year-old Acura and doesn't expect to have another gas guzzler..... |
In Recess
Golf's Great White resurfaces
by John Carroll, Special to the Daily Report
It had been 12 years since I bit on Shark bait. A dozen golf seasons since I fed on the frenzy of Greg Norman possibly winning a major championship again. Yet, there I was over the weekend, enraptured b.... |
Viewpoint
No bailout in sight for the ailing dollar
by Rachel Beck, Associated Press writer
Federal rescue plans are all the rage in Washington right now, for what seems to be everything but the dollar. The U.S. currency is not going to get a bailout, even though its steep decline is feeding infl.... |
Monday, July 21, 2008 |
Pryor Street court entrances to close temporarily
by Staff Reports
The Fulton County Superior Court has announced that starting Tuesday, one of two Pryor Street entrances to the court complex will be closed as crews install additional security devices to speed the entranc.... |
State names road sections for Joel Katz, Clarence Thomas
by Staff Reports
Greenberg Traurig is holding a ceremony today to recognize that a quarter-mile stretch of Northside Drive in front of the firm's office at The Forum has been renamed Joel Katz Parkway. The change was ap.... |
Settlement? Barnes' lawyer calls matter confidential
by Greg Land, Staff Reporter
An attorney for Claudia Barnes, the widow of the judge killed in the March 2005 Fulton County Courthouse shootings, said he was mystified as to why the county publicly announced that it had agreed to pay $.... |
Feds make it official, indict Blitch, 4 others
by Alyson M. Palmer, and Andy Peters, Staff Reporters
Before he had a chance to review the 78-page indictment alleging that his client was at the center of a corrupt court system in South Georgia, Harry D. “Donnie” Dixon Jr. on Friday laid out a familiar ar.... |
Firm bets business model will sell
by Amanda Bronstad, National Law Journal
Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear is betting its business model has broader appeal.The Irvine, Calif.-based intellectual property boutique has opened offices in Seattle and Washington—its first outside Calif.... |
Georgia's new laws are among many being challenged
by Vesna Jaksic, National Law Journal
Don't sell marijuana-flavored candy to children in Georgia, be careful if you plan on scalping tickets in Tennessee, and watch out for guns inside Florida's cars. July 1 marked the start of a new fiscal .... |
Business Matters
Blackstone risks hedge funds' returns as LBO loans dry up
by Jason Kelly and Pierre Paulden, Bloomberg News
When Blackstone Group LP, the world's biggest buyout firm, was pursuing the takeover of the Weather Channel cable network earlier this month with General Electric Co. and Bain Capital LLC, Wall Street balk.... |
Teva Pharma to buy rival Barr for more than $7B
by Associated Press writer
Teva Pharmaceutical said Friday it will buy rival generic drug company Barr Pharmaceuticals for more than $7 billion in a move that will boost Teva's dominance as the world's biggest generic drugmaker.Is.... |
Pity the poor people who have to fly coach class
by Michael Lewis, Bloomberg News
Memo to: the Non-Rich From: A Concerned Hedge Fund Manager Re: Your Air Travel Being a private person, I can't imagine flying any way but privately. It's true that I airdrop into Bloomberg every now an.... |
In Recess
Smart size me
by Jason H. Harper, Bloomberg News
Forget the Lamborghinis and Bentleys. The hot car of the moment? The one that has people shouting at you on street, asking about price and top speed? The 9-foot-long Smart. The answer to those shouted qu.... |
The Snark
Lunch: An evolutionary tale
by Special to the Daily Report
The Snark still is busy generating more billable hours. Our favorite Cog will return soon. In the meantime, we offer one of the Snark's Greatest Hits. Recentlyl, while enjoying a five-minute lunch b.... |
Friday, July 18, 2008 |
Migrant justice group sets up shop
by Meredith Hobbs, Staff Reporter
The Immigrant Justice Project, an offshoot of the Southern Poverty Law Center that represents exploited migrant workers, has relocated from SPLC's headquarters in Montgomery, Ala., to Atlanta. Local legal .... |
Magistrate's acquittal raises questions about possible Blitch indictment
by Alyson M. Palmer, Staff Reporter
A verdict this week in the federal criminal trial of a former South Georgia magistrate judge raises questions about a tack federal prosecutors could take in any pursuit of Brooks E. Blitch III, the embattl.... |
Lie detectors earn respect
by Tresa Baldas, National Law Journal
It's the truth: It may be getting tougher to lie in court.A wide range of tests designed to catch liars is starting to gain some respect in court, including the much abused polygraph, voice stress analyz.... |
In California, judges fear nasty campaigns
by Pamela A. MacLean, National Law Journal
The rise of nasty political campaigns targeting elected state judges nationally, coupled with the cost of judicial elections and a potential backlash over the gay marriage decision, has prompted California.... |
Copyright law debated in Canada
by Vesna Jaksic, National Law Journal
Intellectual property lawyers on both sides of the border are waiting to see whether Canada will reform its copyright laws by bringing changes many say are similar to existing U.S. laws.Geoff Gerber in t.... |
Business Matters
Fans to come up to bat in bid for Yankees' memorabilia
by Danielle Sessa and Laura Marcine, Bloomberg News
The New York Yankees may score a hit with their fans even if they don't win the World Series. The team will sell pieces of Yankee Stadium before the 85-year-old ballpark is torn down. The blue plastic se.... |
In Recess
Bad 'Mamma'
by Eleanor Ringel Cater, Film Critic
There are those of us old enough to remember a certain commercial from the late '60s and early '70s.To wit: “Mamma Mia! That's a spicy meatball!”Well, the new movie, “Mamma Mia!,” (based on the ABBA-ob.... |
Viewpoint
Here's why Jefferson County, Ala., has to go bust
by Joe Mysak, Bloomberg News
Jefferson County, Ala., has to declare bankruptcy. Here's why. The county needs protection. It needs protection from creditors, from bankers, from politicians—and from itself. You may have heard of J.... |
Thursday, July 17, 2008 |
Court officials look to runoff
by Other, R. Robin McDonald and Greg Land
The holders of two key posts in the Fulton County court system face runoff elections scheduled for Aug. 5. Fulton Sheriff Myron E. Freeman, whose first term has been marked by questions about his handlin.... |
Deal Watch: McKenna guides government contractor in deal
by Andy Peters, Staff Reporter
The U.S. economy may be in the doldrums, but the federal government keeps plugging away, signing contracts and purchasing assets and services from private companies.While McKenna Long & Aldridge partner .... |
Wal-Mart keeps eye on firm diversity
by Daily Business Review
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is deploying new software to keep a watchful eye on its law firms and make sure the attorneys working on its matters are diverse.The retailer has developed new software to monitor th.... |
Congress aims to expand the ADA
by Marcia Coyle, National Law Journal
For Karen Sutton, her twin sister Kimberly Hinton, and Ella Williams, the U.S. Supreme Court was a hostile environment from 1999 to 2002 because of a series of employment decisions during those years that .... |
Judges, lawyers work to stanch foreclosures
by Julie Kay, National Law Journal
Alarmed by the dramatic rise in housing foreclosures across the nation, judges have taken a variety of actions to slow the pace, ranging from outright dismissals for incomplete work to mandated mediation t.... |
Business Matters
Atlantic Southeast's tardies draw ire of Atlanta fliers
by Mary Jane Credeur and Steve Matthews, Bloomberg News
Business fliers at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world's busiest airport, are plenty annoyed by jammed parking lots, hour-long security lines and surging fares. Topping them all.... |
Delta posts $1.04 billion loss on goodwill, jobs
by Bloomberg News
Delta posted a second-quarter loss of $1.04 billion on costs to cut jobs and reduce the value of assets, reflecting the impact of a slowing economy and fuel prices that almost doubled in the past year. T.... |
EU suspends review of Delta-Northwest deal
by Bloomberg News
The European Union suspended its review of Delta Air Lines' proposed purchase of Northwest Airlines. The European Commission halted its merger-approval process pending further information from Delta, the.... |
In Recess
Sitting in limbo
by The American Lawyer, Douglas McCollam
In the almost seven years since the attacks of Sept. 11, the American government has rounded up thousands of prisoners in its “war on terror.” For the most part, this effort has remained secret, with those.... |
Special Section
Close to 'the best of everything,' with a kid in every other house to boot
by Melanie Lasoff Levs, Special to the Daily Report
On a steamy, early summer weekend afternoon, the Spring Lake neighborhood is quiet but active. Balloons hang from several mailboxes announcing either the arrival of a new baby or marking the location of a .... |
Kirkwood's renaissance delights intown dwellers
by Karl W. Ritzler, Special to the Daily Report
When Steven A. Suna was looking for a house in Atlanta back in 1991, he found what he was looking for in Kirkwood—just as house hunters did more than 100 years earlier.Suna—a civil litigator at Davis, Zi.... |
Ashford Park's proximity to upscale ammenities without the higher taxes is a plus
by Melanie Lasoff Levs, Special to the Daily Report
Off busy Peachtree Road, just on the edge of Brookhaven past Oglethorpe University, is a sprawling newly constructed children's paradise, J. Kilpatrick Park in the Ashford Park neighborhood. Several “stati.... |
Garden Hills—a tight-knit community with 'Leave it to Beaver' charm
by Seth Coleman, Special to the Daily Report
You can never go home again, or so the old cliché goes. But don't tell that to Angie Johnson and Julie Reif. Both loved the Garden Hills community so much that they moved there—twice.Johnson and her husb.... |
Big lots and mature trees mark Sagamore Hills
by Seth Coleman, Special to the Daily Report
Eddy Rhinehart admits that he doesn't win many battles with his wife, Kathy. But he did win a big one: where the couple would call home.When they married in 1999, Kathy wanted to live in East Cobb or Vin.... |
Viewpoint
Taxpayers are on the hook for mortgage rescue
by Rachel Beck, Associated Press writer
We knew it could happen, even though they said it wouldn't. The government is using our money again to haul private companies' hindquarters out of the fire—this time it's troubled mortgage giants Fannie Ma.... |
