I recently wrote about the Bear Stearns v. Sharon case. (See here and here). Here is a link to a Business Week article, “Bailing out of Bear,” that tells the gruesome story behind the Bear Stearns financial debacle and Bears’ suit against Doug Sharon, the star broker at Bear Stearns who left for Morgan Stanley.
We have followed the Rambus saga for some time. My last post linked to the Federal Trade Commission’s decision holding that Rambus had engaged in illegal monopolization and linking to an extended discussion by my partner, Andy Updegrove.
Today, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the FTC, holding that Rambus was not guilty of monopolization. Decision here. More to follow, as we have a chance to review this decision.
Until the recent passage of a new state law (effective July 13, 2008), the Massachusetts Wage Statute contained a provision that provided for trebled damages at the discretion of the judge. An “innocent” violator had a chance of avoiding treble damages; a repeat offender was likely to get whacked.
No more. As of July 13th, treble damages are mandatory. My partner Joe Laferrera has written a Client Advisory explaining in more detail this change in the law. Click here to read the Advisory.
Humor is just another defense against the universe.
Mel Brooks
Legal humor is almost always an oxymoron, but Evan Schaeffer, author of The Legal Underground blog, had me in silent hysterics (I was in the office) with his list of 17 types of lawyers. The descriptions are so cleverly written, and so on point, that … well, enough, here they are, with links :
Types of Lawyers #1: The Big Firm Summer Associate
Types of Lawyers #2: The Partner Who Talks Too Fast
Types of Lawyers #3: The Lawyer Who Advertises on TV
Types of Lawyers #4: The Lawyer Who Carries Another Lawyer’s Briefcase
Types of Lawyers #5: The Lawyer Who Brings Her Breast Pump to the Office
Types of Lawyers #6: The Mafia Lawyer
Types of Lawyers #7: The Modest Lawyer
Types of Lawyers #8: The Partner Who Golfs
Types of Lawyers #9: The Lawyer on the Run
Types of Lawyers #10: The Lawyer Who’s in the Wrong Profession
Types of Lawyers #11: The Lawyer from the Planet Og
Types of Lawyers #12: The Lawyer Who’s Writing a Legal Thriller
Types of Lawyers #13: The Stereotypical Lawyer
Types of Lawyers #14: The Lawyer Who’s on The Apprentice
Types of Lawyers #15: The Associate Who Knew Where the Bodies Were Buried
Types of Lawyers #16: The Lawyer with the Shiny New Gadget
Types of Lawyers #17: The Associate Who Finally Gets a Chance to Meet the Senior Partner
I think there are probably a few more kinds — the “ultra-high testosterone” lawyer, the “how did he pass the bar exam?” lawyer, the “lawyer who seeks to intimidate,” the “name dropping lawyer (judges, of course),” the “lawyer with absolutely no sense of humor,” the “lawyer who doesn’t own a TV and is inordinately proud of it” — and so forth, but to go much further is tiresome. Seventeen is probably about right.
If we can’t laugh at ourselves, we’re missing the easiest targets. The full blog entry is here.
Nancy Gertner is no shrinking violet. Her reputation as a lawyer and then as a judge who is willing to make hard decisions and challenge the status quo is well known.
Last week she did just this when she quashed the RIAA‘s subpoena against Boston University, which was targeted at learning the identities of some Boston University students who had posted copyrighted songs. Her rationale was that there was no clear evidence the students had violated the Copyright Act, and therefore their identies should be protected. Specifically, she found that “publication” (that is, posting the tunes online) was not the same as “distribution” (that is, the tune was downloaded). No evidence of download, no violation. However, whether this ruling will become the prevalent rule under copyright law remains to be seen.
The 52 page decision in Sire Records, Inv. v. Does 1-21 is available here.
The estimable and erudite copyright scholar William Paltry discusses this case, and two others that raise similar issues, in more detail on his blog here.
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