Paul Elias

September 07, 1999 | Law.com

A federal judge has turned down a New York firm's novel bid to knock California plaintiffs giant Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach as co-lead counsel from a lucrative securities class action. In June, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann filed a motion to disqualify Milberg Weiss serving as co-lead counsel in In re 3Com Securities Litigation, for allegedly having a conflict of interest. But on Aug. 25, U.S. District Judge James Ware dismissed Bernstein's motion without much ado.

By Paul Elias

2 minute read

July 19, 1999 | Law.com

Five judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were called to Washington, D.C. on Friday to testify before a Senate subcommittee considering the fate of the appellate court. Four of them argued for a major overhaul of the court; only Chief Judge Procter Hug Jr. called for the status quo.

By Paul Elias

3 minute read

July 01, 2008 | Law.com

California's 30-year-old death penalty system that costs more than $100 million annually to administer is "close to collapse," according to a new report issued Monday. The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, appointed by the state Legislature to propose criminal justice reforms, issued a 117-page report detailing a deeply flawed system with the biggest backlog of cases in the nation.

By Paul Elias

3 minute read

August 16, 1999 | Law.com

As far as Guam Superior Court Judge Michael Bordallo is concerned, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is "irie, mon." This, at least for the moment, is good news for Rastafarians who want to practice their religion on U.S. soil. The U.S. Supreme Court two years ago ruled the act unconstitutional, saying it violated the commerce clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. But that doesn't mean the law isn't still a good one in Guam, according to Bordallo.

By Paul Elias

3 minute read

August 26, 2010 | Law.com

A federal appeals court has reinstated a televangelist's defamation suit claiming ABC used out-of-context footage portraying him as a wealthy braggart. The film of the Rev. Frederick Price was actually from a sermon on greed in which the preacher slips into the role of a fictional character who is wealthy but unhappy. A trial court judge had earlier tossed out the lawsuit, ruling that the video didn't leave the audience with the wrong impression of Price, who is wealthy and calls himself a "prophet of prosperity."

By Paul Elias

3 minute read

June 25, 1999 | Law.com

A New York plaintiffs' firm is attempting to knock the 1,000-pound gorilla known as Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach from atop an extremely lucrative Silicon Valley class action. On Wednesday, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann made a motion to disqualify Milberg Weiss from its spot as co-lead plaintiffs counsel in a massive securities class action against 3Com Corp, alleging a conflict of interest which chilled settlement talks.

By Paul Elias

4 minute read

July 02, 1999 | Law.com

Thanong Siriprechapong, the man known as Thai Tony, is in Thailand, free at last. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Lyons' future, however, is not as clear cut. That's because U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker insists on conducting an evidentiary hearing to examine Lyons' conduct in Siriprechapong's drug smuggling case. The insistence comes even though the controversial case officially ended Tuesday with a Pyrrhic victory for the government.

By Paul Elias

3 minute read

May 28, 1999 | Law.com

Shooting down a novel defense theory from a Silicon Valley computer company, the Cal. Supreme Court on Thursday for a second time voted to keep courthouse doors open to aggrieved, out-of-state shareholders who sue Cal. corporations. By the same 5-2 margin that ruled in January that defrauded out-of-state investors had a right to sue under Cal. law, the court ruled against a Santa Clara hardware manufacturer that argued it could not be held liable for stock fraud.

By Paul Elias

2 minute read

February 29, 2000 | Law.com

Talk about judicial economy. Someone in the California Administrative Office of the Courts in San Francisco sent somebody in the First District Court of Appeal a three-pound package via "2nd Day Air." The cost: $6.90. While UPS is good at what it does, the package could have been delivered quicker and cheaper. Both sender and receiver are located in the same building.

By Paul Elias

3 minute read

April 20, 1999 | Law.com

The legal fight between members of the punk band Dead Kennedys is sad, ironic, cynical and even hypocritical. But it's not a federal issue. So ruled Judge D. Lowell Jensen who remanded Dead Kennedys v. Jello Biafra back to San Francisco Superior Court and also ordered Biafra to pay plaintiffs attorneys $12,160.50 in fees and costs for wasting their time trying to get a federal court to resolve a fight over band royalties that, according to Jensen, is a simple contract dispute covered by state law.

By Paul Elias

2 minute read