A decline in legal spending by large companies is about to be reversed, according to a new survey of Fortune 1000 companies.

The study by market research firm BTI Consulting says large companies will increase legal spending on outside counsel nearly 5 percent over the next six months, according to a press release. The top areas for growth in legal spending will be in the areas of regulatory compliance (up 5.8 percent), bankruptcy (up 2.6 percent), securities and finance (up 2.1 percent), and employment (up .7 percent), an executive summary says (PDF).

The projected increase in spending follows a significant drop in legal spending last year and in the first six months of 2009. When the expected increase is taken into account, overall legal spending is expected to decline just 1.4 percent for the year.

In a press release, Michael Rynowecer, president of BTI Consulting, calls the findings “a big ray of sunshine in what has been a very stormy environment.” He cautions, however, that some law firms won’t benefit from the increase in spending.

“Rather than a wholesale recovery, we are seeing a shift of resources to specific firms and practices that are well-positioned,” he said in the press release. “Large companies are sharing this renewed spending with a smaller group of law firms than just six months ago. Those firms caught unaware or unprepared for this shift will continue to face significant challenges and not reap the benefits of this increased spending.”

The study is based on 370 interviews with corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 companies that average $19.4 million in outside counsel spending.

The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that police need a warrant to search the vehicle of someone they have arrested if the person is locked up in a patrol cruiser and poses no safety threat to officers.

The court's 5-4 decision puts new limits on the ability of police to search a vehicle immediately after the arrest of a suspect.

Justice John Paul Stevens said in the majority opinion that warrantless searches still may be conducted if a car's passenger compartment is within reach of a suspect who has been removed from the vehicle or there is reason to believe evidence of a crime will be found.

"When these justifications are absent, a search of an arrestee's vehicle will be unreasonable unless police obtain a warrant," Stevens said.

Justice Samuel Alito, in dissent, complained that the decision upsets police practice that has developed since the court first authorized warrantless searches immediately following an arrest.

"There are cases in which it is unclear whether an arrestee could retrieve a weapon or evidence," Alito said.

Clearwell Systems, Inc., a leader in intelligent e-discovery, today announced that Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP (MTO), a California-based 2008 AMLAW 200 Law Firm, has deployed the Clearwell E-Discovery Platform to help lower e-discovery costs and more rapidly respond to litigation and governmental document requests.

The current financial downturn has spurred a flood of new investigations, surpassing the total number of cases filed from the savings and loan crisis over the last two decades. Affected enterprises and executives face lawsuits and inquiries from investors, financial regulators and the government that require extremely fast responses that drain resources and drive up the cost of e-discovery. Clearwell's rapid processing and analysis of case documents can help clients and law firms respond more cost-effectively to e-discovery requests under extremely tight deadlines. Furthermore, Clearwell's Transparent Search and advanced cull-down features help ensure that only the relevant data is produced and the process is defensible, thus mitigating legal risks.

"Responding successfully to time-sensitive litigation and governmental document requests requires efficient and cost-effective e-discovery processes that maintain accuracy and defensibility, even under tight timelines," said Ron Best, director of legal information systems at MTO. "The Clearwell E-Discovery Platform allows us to more quickly index, search, analyze, and cull-down case data in a product with very robust and transparent tracking and audit capabilities."

"As enterprises navigate through the current financial crisis, many are being hit two-fold with the burden of e-discovery requests from increased litigation and investigations," said Aaref Hilaly, president and CEO at Clearwell Systems. "In order to defensibly respond to these e-discovery requests, enterprises and law firms are seeking products that provide a level of transparency not available with traditional 'black-box' technologies."

About Clearwell Systems

Clearwell Systems is transforming the way enterprises perform electronic discovery in response to litigation, regulatory inquiries, and corporate investigations. By automating the processing, analysis and review of electronically stored information, Clearwell enables enterprises to accelerate early case assessments, lower processing costs, reduce review workload, and gain control of electronic discovery. Clearwell received the highest ranking of 'Strong Positive' in Gartner, Inc.'s, 2008 MarketScope for E-Discovery Software Product Vendors, and was ranked a Top 5 E-Discovery Software Provider Overall in the 2008 Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey. For more information, visit www.clearwellsystems.com or read the E-discovery 2.0 blog at: http://www.clearwellsystems.com/e-discovery-blog/.

Sidley Austin LLP is a proud recipient of a 2009 Commitment to Justice Award given by inMotion, Inc., a leading non-profit legal service provider that helps indigent and working poor women who need divorces, orders of protection and assistance with other family law matters, including spousal/child support, custody and visitation. The ceremony, on February 3, 2009, honored the lawyers of the Sidley Austin LLP Externship Program 2004-2009 with a special Legal Team Award.
"We are deeply honored to receive this award from inMotion," said Joseph Armbrust, co-managing partner of Sidley's New York office. "Sidley prides itself on its strong commitment to pro bono representation and involvement in the community and our partnership with inMotion has been extremely important to the firm."
Since 2004, the firm's New York office has sponsored an innovative full-time externship program with inMotion. The program is open to all Sidley associates who have an interest in family justice. Each Sidley extern works at inMotion's offices in New York City for a three- to four-month period on a rotating basis and receives extensive training from inMotion. The externs litigate family law and contested divorce cases for women throughout New York City in need of legal assistance, especially those with complicated and demanding cases.
Sidley has a long-standing relationship with inMotion and has taken many of its pro bono referrals, as well as serving as one of its corporate partners. In 2003, Sidley received a Commitment to Justice Award for the firm's commitment to the ideal of access to justice for all individuals.
Sidley has a long tradition of providing pro bono services to individuals and organizations in the U.S. and around the world. Sidley's Pro Bono Policy encourages all lawyers to devote time to pro bono legal matters, including assistance to the poor and to charitable, community and other organizations that serve people who are indigent and unable to afford legal representation. In 2007, over 1,000 Sidley lawyers devoted more than 110,000 hours to pro bono matters. In 2008, Sidley was named as one of four recipients of The National Law Journal's Pro Bono Awards, given in recognition of its Veterans Benefits Project. The firm was recognized by NLJ in 2007 for its firmwide Capital Litigation Project and political asylum program. Sidley was also one of five recipients of the American Bar Association's 2007 Pro Bono Publico Awards.
For more information regarding inMotion's Commitment to Justice Awards, please visit: http://www.inmotiononline.org/content/view/211/261/lang,en/
Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world's largest full-service law firms, with more than 1800 lawyers practicing in 16 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Every year since 2003, Sidley has been named to Legal Business' Global Elite, its designation for the 18 firms "that define the pinnacle of the legal profession." BTI, a Boston-based consulting and research firm, has named Sidley to their Client Service Hall of Fame as one of only two law firms to rank in the Client Service Top 10 for seven years in a row, and to the BTI Power Elite as one of only seven law firms demonstrating the best client relationships for the fourth consecutive year.
For purposes of the New York State Bar rules, this press release may be considered Attorney Advertising and the headquarters of the firm are Sidley Austin LLP 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, 212.839.5300 and Sidley Austin LLP One South Dearborn, Chicago, IL 60603, 312.853.7000. Prior results described herein do not guarantee a similar outcome.

A pharmaceutical company does not have to provide an experimental drug to a Minnesota teen who is terminally ill with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in reversing a lower court decision.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia was a blow to 17-year-old Jacob Gunvalson, who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The court ruled that U.S. District Judge William J. Martini in Newark erred in his August ruling that PTC Therapeutics of South Plainfield, N.J., must provide the drug to Gunvalson. That decision had been stayed pending the company's appeal.

"I just think it's really unfair that these drug companies get all these benefits from the federal government," said Jacob's mother, Cheri Gunvalson. "And then they're allowing boys to fall through the cracks and die." She said she would not give up her fight but didn't know what the next step would be.

In its ruling, the appeals court said it was "sympathetic to the plight of Jacob and his family," but that the lower court "abused its discretion" in ordering PTC to supply the drug to Gunvalson.

The Gunvalsons, who live in Gonvick, Minn., maintained that the company led them to believe that Jacob could participate in a clinical trial of the drug, which is being investigated as a possible treatment — and that the company then went back on its word.

New Jersey U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg is on the growing list of potential victims of what prosecutors are calling a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme run by New York money manager Bernard Madoff.

Lautenberg spokesman Scott Mulhauser says the senator was an investor in Madoff's investment fund — primarily in the form of the Lautenberg family's charitable foundation.

The 70-year-old Madoff was arrested Thursday in what prosecutors say was a $50 billion scheme by the Wall Street veteran to defraud investors.

Lautenberg is among a growing roster of potential victims. Those who have acknowledged potential losses so far include former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman, New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon and J. Ezra Merkin, the chairman of GMAC Financial Services, among others.