Articles Posted in General Legal News

This is off topic, but very interesting. The United States Supreme Court has just overturned Arthur Anderson’s criminal conviction. The Court held that a key jury instruction was in error.

Read the opinion here.

Investor Ron Perlman won big in his case against Morgan Stanley. Compensatory damages were $604.3 million. Punitive damages – limited under Florida law to three times the compensatory award – were pegged by the jury at $850 million.

Regular readers will recall the the trial judge eliminated liability as an issue after Morgan Stanley was caught playing games with discovery. The sole issues before the jury were reliance and damages.

The Company fired its law firm shortly before trial, and was given only a short continuance to allow new counsel to get up to speed. Morgan Stanley has less than $500 million reserved for this case; with interest running at $250,000 per day look for a settlement soon.

I know this is off topic – but I don’t care. Nancy Grace disgusts me. I know she lost her future husband to a murderer; that is horrible. I know she is profoundly pro-prosecution; no problem.

But she is also a lawyer. Her outrageous comments about the legal system offend me. She makes no attempt to be objective. She makes no attempt to analyze. She is not a talking head – she is a screaming skull. She is an embarrassment to the profession.

To read about the way she conducted herself as a prosecutor – a public office that represents the people – read this article. Given the way she conducts herself on TV you will not be surprised to learn how she used to conduct herself in a courtroom.

The passage of IRS Code Section 409A cast doubt on the ability of lawyers to structure attorney’s fees in personal injury cases. The IRS has issued new guidelines that make it clear that, if certain conditions are met, attorney’s fees can be deferred in contingent fee cases.

Read about the new guidelines here. To learn more talk to a qualified structured settlement broker.