The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

Multi-Million Dollar Judgment Upheld for Litigation Outsourcing Company

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals handed a win to a litigation outsourcing company late last week, affirming a $6.9 million judgment in a fee dispute with a former client.

In an August 30 opinion (PDF), a three-judge appellate panel found that the contract between litigation outsourcing company eLawForum Corp., now called Drystone Capital Corp., and Unocal Corp., which is now a subsidiary of Chevron Corp., was "unambiguous" about what Unocal owed eLawForum for its services. Unocal had argued that the contract wasn't clear.

A lead attorney for eLawForum, L. Palmer Foret of Ashcraft & Gerel in Rockville, Md., said today that he hoped the court's decision would bring a "long-awaited" end to the dispute. Washington solo practitioner Alfred Belcuore served as co-lead counsel for eLawForum. A Chevron spokesman, Kent Robertson, said in an email that, "[w]hile we respectfully disagree with the Court's decision, Unocal is considering its options." Chevron was represented by DLA Piper.

Retired D.C. Superior Court Judge Loses Lawsuit Over Benefits

A retired District of Columbia Superior Court judge has lost her lawsuit against the city and the federal government over their handling of her retirement benefits.

In an opinion (PDF) published on Friday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon found that Judge Odessa Vincent, who retired in April 2010, failed to exhaust administrative remedies before filing a lawsuit in November 2011. Her benefits were sorted out in the months after she filed suit, and Leon criticized her for taking a "litigate first" approach.

In a phone interview today, Vincent's lawyer, Micah Salb of Lippman, Semsker & Salb in Bethesda, Md., disputed Leon's version of events and said Vincent did go through administrative channels for two years. "Before we filed suit, we worked very hard to get the government's attention to get them to find a solution to their problem, which is [that] they were not paying Judge Vincent the pension benefits that she had earned during her service," Salb said.

Magistrate Judge Positions Open at D.C. Superior Court

The District of Columbia Superior Court is accepting applications for two magistrate judge positions, in light of one judge's confirmation as an associate judge and another judge's retirement.

Superior Court Judge Kimberley Knowles, a former magistrate judge, was confirmed to the bench as an associate judge just before Congress left for the summer recess in early August. She was appointed in 2010 as a magistrate judge and had most recently handled criminal division calendars.

Magistrate Judge Joan Goldfrank is preparing to retire, according to court spokeswoman Leah Gurowitz. Goldfrank was appointed as a magistrate judge in 2002 and has served as chair of the court's Commission on Mental Health.

In Tenure Fight, Judge Denies Injunction to Ex-Law Professor in D.C.

A Washington federal district judge today denied (PDF) a preliminary injunction request by a former professor at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law who sued the school after she was denied tenure and fired.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon didn't rule on the merits of Stephanie Brown's lawsuit, but found that she had waited too long to file her complaint to argue now that she would suffer immediate and irreparable harm without a court order.

Brown worked at the law school for 25 years as an administrator and law professor, according to her complaint. In 2009, she applied for tenure and promotion. The law school's Faculty Evaluation and Retention Committee voted in favor of her application and it was endorsed by law school Dean Katherine Broderick, but the application was ultimately denied in 2011.

D.C. Settles Hundreds of Attorney Fee Suits with Special Education Law Firm

The District of Columbia has agreed to settle several hundred lawsuits over attorney fees with a Washington firm that represents families of students with special needs. The settlement ends the litigation, but lawyers involved say it doesn't resolve ongoing concerns about how the city handles attorney fees in special education cases.

The D.C. Office of the Attorney General and public school system reached the settlement with James E. Brown & Associates on Friday. The agreement (PDF) covers upwards of 600 claims that the Brown firm had already filed or was preparing to file for unpaid fees in District of Columbia Superior Court.

According to the settlement, the school system agreed to pay the firm $1.18 million, less than approximately $3 million the firm had claimed in unpaid fees. "I don’t think we're all that happy about it. I'm not sure the city is super happy about it. At the end of the day, we decided this was the best for our firm and our clients," said Nicholas Ostrem, an attorney with the Brown firm.

The Morning Wrap

Abandoned: The Justice Department will not pursue criminal charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. or any employees for financial fraud. DOJ said in a statement Thursday night that "there is not a viable basis" for a criminal prosecution related to the mortgage crisis. The burden of proof, the government said, could not be met. More coverage here and here.

Departed: Annette Clark, dean of the Saint Louis University School of Law, resigned from her post this month amid a dispute over money, The National Law Journal reports. Clark had been on the job for a year. Clark accused the university of raiding law school funds. University officials said Clark resigned hours before she was to be fired.

Sands Scrutinized: Prosecutors and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating possible violations of antibribery laws involving Las Vegas Sands Corp, The Wall Street Journal reports. Investigators are looking at a real-estate payment and team sponsorship, the report said. The probe is separate from another investigation of Sands for possible moneylaundering violations.

The Morning Wrap

Liking Free Speech: Facebook Inc. and the American Civil Liberties Union are supporting a Virginia deputy sheriff in a First Amendment dispute in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, The Washington Post reports. The question: Is "liking" something on Facebook free speech? A trial judge ruled against the sheriff's deputy, saying that "liking" a page on Facebook isn't protected because it doesn't involve an actual statement. Facebook's amicus brief is here.

Obscured: The New York Times reports on the laundering case against Standard Chartered, saying the bank, like others, exploited a law that allowed financial institutions to disguise client identities and move money offshore. The New York Department of Financial Services brought the claims against Standard Chartered in an action the report calls particularly embarrassing for the U.S. Treasury Department.

Covered: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled in favor of a whistleblower who is pursuing allegations that Lockheed Martin Corp., his former employer, underbid on a $900 million contract, The National Law Journal reports. The case marks the first time an appeals court has considered whether underbidding can comprise a possible violation under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.

Former Deloitte & Touche Partner Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading

A former Deloitte & Touche partner in Chicago has pleaded guilty to insider trading, according to a release by the Department of Justice.

Thomas Flanagan, a certified public accountant, obtained non-public information about publicly traded clients and shared it with a relative who made illegal trading profits. The clients Flanagan obtained information on were Best Buy Co. Inc., Walgreen Co., Motorola Inc. and Sears Holding Corp. The illegal activities occurred between December 2006 and May 2008.

As part of the deal, Flanagan pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and admitted that he received profits of $420,000 stemming from the illegal trades, according to the release. The relative, who was not charged, received $58,000 in illegal profits.

DOJ Report Criticizes Hiring Practices in Management Division

A group of employees in the U.S. Justice Department's management and operations office are under fire for their roles in improper hiring practices that included seeking employment for relatives, according to an internal report published today.

The DOJ Inspector General Office report found eight current or former employees in the department's Justice Management Division violated statutes and regulations that cover the hiring of relatives and conflicts of interest and employee ethics.

The investigation marked the third probe of hiring practices at the management division office in the past eight years. Two earlier reports criticized officials in the office for the alleged manipulation of the competitive hiring process to favor certain candidates.

"The report clearly established that inappropriate hiring occurred regarding relatives of JMD employees," Lee Lofthus, assistant attorney general for administration, said in a letter to Michael Horowitz, the DOJ inspector general. "While it was a small number of JMD staff and individuals implicated in the investigation, the report was particularly troubling as it identified hiring improprieties for the third time in eight years."

Amid Dismal Job Market, Public Defender Career Conference Comes to D.C.

Hoping to attract law students and young lawyers facing an increasingly dismal job market, representatives from public defender offices across the country are converging in Washington this weekend to make their pitch.

Since 2008, the D.C. Public Defender Service has organized a biennial conference dedicated to raising the profile of indigent criminal defense work. Public defender offices are often represented at general public interest job fairs, but PDS director of legal recruiting and conference organizer Jennifer Thomas said they saw a need for an event focusing on topics unique to public defender recruitment and jobs.

"In the civil legal services…everybody assumes you're on the side of the angels. In criminal defense, the public perception is very different," she said.