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EU court lawyer cautions against short-sales rule
Law Firm News |
2013/09/18 15:03
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A top lawyer at the European Court of Justice says continent-wide rules on short-selling are overreaching and should be thrown out.
In an opinion Thursday, the court's independent Advocate General, Niilo Jaaskinen, said the rules threatened to replace national decision-making on short-selling, where investors profit by betting that a stock or bond will lose value.
During the eurozone debt crisis, many blamed such speculation for instability in the financial markets and several countries imposed temporary restrictions on short-selling — most of which were not renewed after markets stabilized.
Britain brought the case against the EU-wide regulations, which went into effect in November 2012, and Thursday's opinion — though not binding — holds sway when judges issue a decision. |
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Court asked to uphold BP settlement approval
Press Release |
2013/09/09 12:04
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Plaintiffs' attorneys who brokered a multibillion-dollar settlement with BP following the company's 2010 Gulf oil spill have asked a federal appeals court to uphold a judge's approval of the deal.
Only a "paltry few objectors" have raised the "narrowest of concerns" about the settlement that U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier approved in December 2012, private lawyers said in a filing Tuesday with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"None of them complain of their compensation calculations, identify what compensation they are entitled to under the Settlement, or define what other or greater compensation they believe they should receive," the attorneys wrote.
On Friday, BP attorneys argued that a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit should overturn Barbier's approval order if the company's separate appeal of more recent rulings on settlement terms is unsuccessful. BP argues that Barbier misinterpreted the settlement and has allowed businesses to receive hundreds of millions of dollars for inflated or fictitious claims.
A different 5th Circuit panel heard the company's appeal in July but hasn't ruled yet. BP said it would still support Barbier's approval of the settlement if its appeal is successful.
Although Tuesday's brief doesn't explicitly address that dispute, plaintiffs' lawyers said BP initially was "thrilled" with how claims were being processed. They previously have argued that BP undervalued the settlement and underestimated how many claimants would qualify for payments.
Court-supervised claims administrator Patrick Juneau's office has made more than $4.5 billion in settlement offers to more than 55,000 Gulf Coast businesses and residents who claim the spill cost them money. |
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Teen guilty of murdering Georgia baby in stroller
Headline Legal News |
2013/09/03 20:24
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An 18-year-old man was convicted of murder in the shooting of a baby who was riding in a stroller alongside his mom in a town in coastal Georgia.
Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding De'Marquise Elkins guilty in the March 21 killing of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick. The man's mother, Karimah Elkins, was on trial alongside him and was found guilty of tampering with evidence but acquitted of lying to police.
De'Marquise Elkins' attorney asked for bond for his client while they appealed, which a judge denied.
Prosecutors said Elkins killed Antonio in an attempted robbery. The baby's mother, Sherry West, also was shot.
Another teen, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, is also charged with murder in the case and is set to be tried later.
Sherry West testified during the two-week trial that she was walking home from the post office with 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in a stroller on the morning of March 21. She said a gunman demanding her purse shot her baby in the face after she told him she had no money. |
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Italian court insists Berlusconi devised tax fraud
Legal Business |
2013/08/29 09:33
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Italy's supreme court is defending its decision earlier this month to uphold the tax fraud conviction of Silvio Berlusconi, saying the evidence was clear that the former premier devised a tax fraud scheme for the acquisition of film rights for his media empire.
The Court of Cassation released on Thursday a written document explaining its Aug. 1 decision, which upheld a Milan appellate court ruling that Berlusconi was guilty. The Cassation judges also upheld a four-year prison term and a ban on public office, although it ordered another court to establish the length of the ban.
The center-right leader says he's the victim of magistrates he contends sympathize with the left. His lawyers will be scrutinizing the 208-page document to try to bolster their claims that Berlusconi's rights were violated.
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Calif. tax lawyer convicted of taking client money
Headline Legal News |
2013/08/26 11:14
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Federal prosecutors say a 73-year-old Northern California tax attorney has been convicted of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients for his own expenses including personal trainers and travel.
A U.S. attorney's statement says Stanford Law School graduate Orion Douglas Memmott of Willows was found guilty Wednesday of tax evasion and subscribing to a false tax document after a five-day bench trial in October.
The statement says Memmott took money from investors and law firm clients including one woman who was left destitute and homeless after he depleted her medical trust.
Prosecutors say Memmott concealed the embezzled money through nominee accounts and false statements to investors, clients, and the Internal Revenue Service. |
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