The Legal Intelligencer Blog

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Wednesday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

The top story this morning is a federal judge in Philadelphia ruling that the Department of Labor has the authority to set the rules governing the amount that foreign guest workers will be paid. As reporter Saranac Hale Spencer writes, the ruling comes in a case that could cost employers $847 million.

Also above the fold on Page 1, reporter Gina Passarella writes that Littler Mendelson has named Philadelphia lawyer Thomas Bender as its co-president, along with San Diego shareholder Jeremy Roth.

Below the fold on Page 1, Gina Passarella writes that, in upholding the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s award of a Category 3 gaming license to Woodlands Fayette, some justices of the state Supreme Court addressed the board’s practices and an investigating grand jury’s report questioning the board’s operations.

In more Regional News on Page 3, reporter Zack Needles writes that Swartz Campbell has sued Chartwell Law Offices in part over a recent lateral move that resulted in the closing of Swartz Campbell’s Fort Myers, Fla., office and the opening of an office in the same city for Chartwell.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In this week’s GC Mid-Atlantic column on Page 5, Andrew J. DeFalco writes about the application of attorney-client privilege to email strings.

In a White-Collar Law column on Page 7, Peter D. Hardy and Abraham Rein write about the protocol for discovery of electronic data in criminal cases.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Monday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

Today’s top story is a look at Philadelphia jury verdicts in 2011, which dropped 31 percent on average. As reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel writes, the average civil jury verdict in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court fell from $1.49 million in 2010 to $1.02 million last year, according to First Judicial District statistics.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Saranac Hale Spencer writes that antitrust and monopoly claims have been narrowed in a suit filed nearly 10 years ago against Comcast, allowing the allegations to proceed, according to a federal judge’s ruling last week.

Also below the fold on Page 1, Amaris Elliott-Engel writes that Dow Chemical Co. was denied in its effort to block a plaintiff’s subpoena in a brain cancer case. The state Supreme Court ruled to allow the subpoena, which would allow plaintiffs counsel to explore whether Dow and its predecessor, Union Carbide, failed to report the existence of employees with brain cancer who worked in their plants producing the toxic chemical vinyl chloride.

In more Regional News on Page 3, Saranac Hale Spencer writes that a federal statute trumps state jurisdiction in a bank fees case, according to a federal judge’s ruling last week.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In a White-Collar Law column on Page 5, Peter D. Hardy and Abraham Rein write that changes may be coming to corporations’ federal sentencing.

In a Litigation column on Page 7, Abraham J. Gafni writes about pretrial discovery from non-parties in arbitration under state law.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Tuesday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer, which also includes this week’s edition of Pennsylvania Law Weekly. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

The Top Laterals supplement is also inside today's paper, so be sure to give it a read.

Today’s top story is the second in a series on revenue growth in a no-growth market. As reporter Gina Passarella writes, there are five basic options to get more revenue, but none of them is easy.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Ben Present writes that Penn State University has sued its insurance company after the insurer took its own legal action to limit its coverage in a lawsuit against the university stemming from the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal. Penn State has also asked for a jury on the matter.

Also below the fold on Page 1, reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel writes that the state Supreme Court entered an order Friday rejecting a King’s Bench petition made by the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia church official charged with endangering youths allegedly abused by priests. The order gives the green light to what is believed to be the first prosecution in the county of an official of the Catholic Church for harm done to youths because of alleged sexual abuse by priests.

In more Regional News on Page 3, Amaris Elliott-Engel writes that the legacy of two Luzerne County Common Pleas Court judges who were sentenced to serve federal prison terms in the wake of a judicial scandal is tied to a decision last week in a case in which a Superior Court panel ruled against the return of property to Luzerne plaintiffs on grounds that it was not used as a bank as required under the property deed.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

On Page 5 is today’s Litigation column, as Abraham J. Gafni writes about pretrial discovery of documents from non-parties in arbitration.

In a White-Collar Law column on Page 7, Peter D. Hardy and Matthew T. Newcomer write that the government is continuing its hunt for offshore account holders.

As it is Tuesday, it’s also your chance to read this week’s Pennsylvania Law Weekly. The lead story for PLW comes from Ben Present, who writes that a Northumberland County judge has ruled that footage from an auto-accident plaintiff’s videotaped interview, left on the cutting room floor by his lawyer, is privileged. The ruling denied a tortfeasor’s discovery request for the unedited video.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Zack Needles writes about two divergent rulings by Monroe County trial judges in separate cases involving allegations of fraudulent mortgage assignments.

On Page 3, Ben Present writes that, in a case of first impression, a Philadelphia judge has ruled that later discovery does not bar a medical malpractice claim under MCARE.

There’s much more inside this week’s PLW, including Samuel C. Stretton’s Ethics Forum, in which he discusses a lawyer’s need to report to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel upon being convicted of a crime; Peter J. Bietz’s commentary on trusts and estates, in which he writes that portability of the applicable exclusion isn’t as beneficial as one may think; a medical malpractice article detailing a Lackawanna County decision that ruled against a hospital’s dismissal from the case after an agreement limited the doctor’s exposure; and an Allegheny County alcohol tax ordinance withstanding appellate scrutiny.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal (and PLW!)

By Jaime Bochet
Of the Legal Staff

Welcome to your daily round-up of stories in today's edition of The Legal Intelligencer. Click the links below to access stories directly, or head to The Legal homepage.  (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

As is the case every Tuesday, today's paper is especially full, because it includes our Pennsylvania Law Weekly section, which includes analysis pieces, our Verdicts & Settlements section, and contributed columns by Samuel Stretton (Ethics), Robert M. Bovarnick (Politics), Jim Malone (Taxation) and Cliff Rieders (Civil Practice).

But let's begin with The Legal.

Topping today's front page, U.S. Courthouse Correspondent Shannon P. Duffy has an analysis of last week’s decision from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that ordered a new sentencing for former state Sen. Vincent J. Fumo. The decision is sure to be mined by prosecutors and defense lawyers for the guidance it provides on how to conduct sentencings in complicated white-collar crime cases.

Below the fold, senior staff reporter Gina Passarella has the fourth in her weekly series examining the impact of e-discovery on the practice and business of law. This week, she writes that the list of judges who are at the forefront of e-discovery case law roll off the tongues of e-discovery lawyers like Con-law professors can spout the intricacies of the Bill of Rights. To read all the previous parts in this series, as well as related content, click here.

Inside, in our Page 3 Regional News section, Gina adds yet another chapter in the Wolf Block saga. The defunct law firm has filed an appeal with the state's Superior Court related to a discovery dispute in the legal malpractice case filed against the firm by car dealership owner Alan Potamkin.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, along with a Letter to the Editor today from Astor Weiss attorney Jerrold Moss regarding one of Sam Stretton's recent Ethics columns. The top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

The Legal's contributed columns today include an "Asset Management" column by David B. Bruckman of Citrin Cooperman Wealth Management, who wonders if purchasing life insurance on adult children is prudent.

Our second contributed article is a Commentary by Richard Q. Hark of Hark & Hark, who writes that amendments to Pennsylvania's law change the self-defense landscape.

Today's Pennsylvania Law Weekly section begins with an analysis piece by reporter Ben Present, who writes that after hearing that Lackawanna County Common Pleas Court Judge Terrence R. Nealon sent a private e-mail in 2004 advising his fellow Democrats how to oppose a county voting redistricting plan -- a case over which he was presiding — "shocked" courtwatchers statewide reacted to a practice they said was "a thing of the past" -- ex parte communications.

Also on the PLW front page, we have another analysis piece by reporter Zack Needles. Now that former Luzerne County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark A. Ciavarella is serving a nearly three-decade term in federal prison for his part in the county's judicial scandal, all eyes have turned to his alleged co-conspirator and fellow former Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Conahan, whose sentencing hearing is set for Sept. 23. 

The PLW has much more, so head to the main website of that section to check out even more.

Have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole? E-mail me or any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal and PLW!

Jaime Bochet is the Magazines & Supplements Editor for The Legal. Follow her on Twitter at @JaimeBochetTLI or e-mail [email protected].

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

By Jaime Bochet
Of the Legal Staff

Happy Friday! Welcome to your daily round-up of stories in today's edition of The Legal Intelligencer. Click the links below to access stories directly, or head to The Legal homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

Senior reporter Gina Passarella has today's top story: The tech lure of the West Coast has proven too strong to resist for some Philadelphia attorneys, and the Silicon Valley has exerted its magnetism yet again with Hewlett Packard's hire of Drinker Biddle & Reath marketing partner Gregg Melinson.

Below the fold, reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel has an interesting case out of the Commonwealth Court, which will consider a case of first impression in which The Philadelphia Inquirer was denied access to the calendars of Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter and the 17 members of the Philadelphia City Council. A judga has ruled such calendars are not public records.

Amaris also has our Page 3 Regional News story, in which Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Bradley K. Moss has identified a conflict between a state law and a local court procedural rule on how much time Philadelphia litigants challenging money judgments in landlord-tenant cases have to appeal to the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. 

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

Our Friday contributed articles begin in Page 5 with our "Bankruptcy Update" by Francis J. Lawall of Pepper Hamilton. The 2nd Circuit's decision to broadly interpret the safe harbor provisions under the Bankruptcy Code follows a trend developing across the country. As a result, numerous transactions, including those involving leveraged buyouts of closely held companies, may be protected from subsequent reversal by the bankruptcy courts.

And finally, on Page 7, check out the "White-Collar Law" column by Steve G. Bazil and William Brady of Bazil McNulty, who write of the newly complicated world of client entertainment, thanks for the recently passed U.K. Bribery Act: "Let's say you are taking potential clients visiting from the United Kingdom to a 'baseball match' in Philadelphia. In order to impress, you hire a limo, book a fancy steak dinner and purchase seats in a luxury suite, and as long as it happened on or before June 30, you should not have much to worry about. However, if the game was postponed until July 1, you can potentially face prosecution for bribery by running afoul of a new U.K. law aimed at combating corruption."

Have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole? E-mail me or any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal!

Jaime Bochet is the Magazines & Supplements Editor for The Legal. Follow her on Twitter at @JaimeBochetTLI or e-mail [email protected].