Taylor Lautner settles suit over RV for movie set

Court Watch 2010/09/04 09:31   Bookmark and Share
A lawyer for Taylor Lautner says the "Twilight" star has settled a lawsuit with an RV dealership he claims didn't deliver a $300,000 coach in time for a movie shoot.

Attorney Robert Barta said Friday that McMahon RV of Irvine, Calif. will pay $40,000 to Lautner, who will donate it to Lollipop Theater Network, a children's charity.

The 18-year-old Lautner sued the dealership Monday, saying it missed a June deadline to deliver the 2006 Affinity Country Coach for use on the set of the movie "Abduction."

Dealership owner Brent McMahon had offered to compete in a push-up contest to solve the dispute.

A phone message seeking comment on the settlement was not immediately returned.

Lautner will reprise his role as Jacob Black in the two-part "Twilight" finale.

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Jurisdiction to Enforce a Settlement

Lawyer Blog Post 2010/09/03 17:38   Bookmark and Share
When parties settle a case, there are good feelings all around and relief that the dispute is over. However, parties who have been disagreeable prior to settlement often remain that way after they have compromised their dispute. A recent Fifth Circuit case makes the point that it is important to think about how the settlement will be enforced should the parties go back to feuding.

In SmallBiz Pros, the parties settled a dispute which required turnover of documents among other things. They entered a Stipulation of Dismissal pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). This was a non-bankruptcy case. However, the same provision would apply under Bankruptcy Rule 7041. The Stipulation referenced a "Stipulated Settlement Order." The Court signed the Stipulated Settlement Order. However, the order did not contain "so ordered" language and did not provide for the Court to retain jurisdiction to enforce the order.

Disagreements arose and SmallBiz Pros returned to court to have MacDonald held in contempt. The District Court obliged and MacDonald appealed. The Fifth Circuit reversed, finding that the District Court lacked jurisdiction to enforce the settlement.

http://stevesathersbankruptcynews.blogspot.com/
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Follow the Leader, Distantly

Legal Insight 2010/09/02 21:32   Bookmark and Share
Driving home yesterday afternoon, I was inspired to analogize safe driving practices with prudent business development.  Specifically, I likened good business judgment to following vehicles at a safe distance.  Just as following the next car too closely can result in accidents, mimicking a perceived leader in business can produce calamitous business results.

My analogy is paradoxical.  Being “safe” in business by putting distance between yourself and another leading competitor doesn’t seem very smart.  Intuitively, shouldn’t we be a tailgater, if for no other reason than to prepare to pass our competitor?  Yes, tailgating is risky, but calculated risk is what successful business is all about.

In my view, tailgating is stupid, both on the road and off.  It’s inappropriate and unnecessary risk.  The better risk is trailing at a safe distance. Although beating your competitor at his (or her) own game becomes more difficult, differentiating yourself becomes easier.  In being different, a business can both avoid repeating competitors’ mistakes and, perhaps more importantly, gain the broader market perspective required for novel (or at least rare) insight about better paths to trod.  In street parlance, you can avoid the pile up if you’re not part of it, maybe even spotting a detour with the extra time you’ve afforded yourself.
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Divorce Lawyers' Role May be Changing

Legal Insight 2010/09/01 21:31   Bookmark and Share
Pro se representation in divorce cases is popular.  Probably half of everyone getting divorced today will choose to represent themselves.  Money may seem like the obvious reason, because attorneys are expensive.  Then again, cost is not as important if our help is indispensible, or even greatly needed.  So what value can attorneys offer the twenty-first century pro se crowd?

It may help to examine the several factors which explain the current trend toward self-representation.  As I said, money is obviously is motivating factor, but then there’s the Internet, instant communication between friends and colleagues, the sinking repute of lawyers, and the lower birth rate.  I submit that all these factors – and there are others no doubt – combine to explain why pro se representation is increasingly popular.

A recent empirical study by Judith G McMullen and Debra Oswald corroborates my suggestions.  Their study concludes that people prefer self-representation for a variety of reasons, both financial and physiological.  Not surprisingly, those with the most to lose are most likely to seek counsel.  The study also suggests that, in general, people are adept at knowing when they need counsel.  As for the value of counsel, the study was largely inconclusive.

The wisdom of self-representation is debatable – at least in some cases – as is the definition of a “successful” divorce.  More certain is that self-representation in divorce cases will remain popular, if only because some people will never be able to pay even modest fees for legal counsel.  From a business perspective, then, the pro se trend is not necessarily lost opportunity.

On the other hand, I wonder whether, among all cases of self-representation, serious business opportunities exist.  Certainly some people choosing self-representation could afford counsel.  To the extend such people view attorneys as just another (expensive) poker in the fire, those attorneys with adaptable styles of representation may be able to win additional business.

There is some suggestion that traditional legal services actually lengthen divorce contests, and that attorneys may, at best, contribute nothing of value to non-adversarial methods of dispute resolution.  To be known as an attorney who reduces conflict while preserving what is most important to most people – getting through the divorce quickly while minimizing collateral damage – may be the go-to divorce attorney of the new century.

http://www.marathonlegalblog.com/trackback/13
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Menzer & Hill, P.A. - Securities Attorneys

Legal Marketing 2010/09/01 11:48   Bookmark and Share
Menzer & Hill, P.A. represents investors in the recovery of losses at the result of brokerage firms' failure to supervise their financial advisors who engage in unsuitable investment recommendations, the excessive trading of investors' accounts, inappropriate allocation of portfolio assets, misrepresentations

and/or material omissions of fact resulting in fraud, negligence, breach of fiduciary duties, selling away, failure to advise their clients of risk management strategies and excessive use of margin.

In addition to their legal and arbitration experience, the attorneys and founding partners of Menzer & Hill, P.A. bring with them extensive securities industry experience which

include in-house and chief corporate brokerage counsel, chief compliance officer supervising and regulating the practice of stockbrokers and financial advisors, as well as sales experience with advising clients and recommending the sale of securities and insurance.  The attorneys and founding partners have essentially switched hats where they once represented the industry and broker-dealers, they now represent aggrieved investors.  This yields a unique experience giving the firm intimate knowledge of the misconduct of

brokers and the details and nuances of the securities and insurance products they recommend.

Attorneys
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DOJ's elite Public Integrity unit gets new leader

Legal Business 2010/08/30 09:02   Bookmark and Share

The Justice Department's Public Integrity Section has a storied 34-year history of pursuing corruption in government and safeguarding the public trust.

That trust was breached, however, when some of the unit's prosecutors failed to turn over evidence favorable to the defense in their high-profile criminal trial of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who died earlier this month in a plane crash.

Now Jack Smith, a 41-year-old prosecutor with a love for courtroom work and an impressive record, has been brought in to restore the elite unit's credibility.

Before Stevens, Public Integrity's renown was built on large successes — like the prosecution of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and convictions of federal and state judges, members of Congress and state legislators, military officers, federal lawmen and bureaucrats and their state counterparts over the years.

But its stumble — not disclosing exculpatory evidence as Supreme Court precedent requires — was equally large. It was so serious that Attorney General Eric Holder, one of Public Integrity's distinguished alums, stepped in and asked a federal judge to throw out Stevens' convictions.

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