Litigation: January 2008 Archives
The first executive to be charged and convicted over backdating stock options was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay $15 million in fines. The executive, Gregory L. Reyes Jr., was the former CEO of Brocade Communications Systems. The heavy sentence, according to Judge Charles R. Breyer, was warranted because Reyes had obstructed justice in preparing for trial. What probably didn't help were his comments to the Judge before sentencing: “I’m sorry. There is much that I regret, and if I could turn back the clock I would."
The New Jersey Assembly has passed an amendment to the state's Wrongful Death Statute allowing claims for pain and suffering as well as for mental anguish and loss of companionship. Previously, only pecuniary damages were permitted. Here is a copy of the Amendment.
Our friend and colleague Michael McCann has some interesting thoughts on the appearance of Clemens on 60 Minutes last night.
Here is my post on the subject on Sports Law Blog and the post of Howard Wasserman.
Now Clemens has filed a defamation suit against his former trainer. This is high stakes poker the two former friends are playing. Only one of them can be telling the truth and the other has subjected himself to serious consequences. If McNamee is lying, he clearly has not only defamed Clemens but broken his plea deal with federal prosecutors. If Clemens is lying, he can forget the Hall of Fame and will probably face perjury charges if he testifies falsely before Congress.
Proof will be the issue for both men. One doubts there is any documentary evidence like emails. It will be one man’s word against another. How a fact finder makes the determination of who to believe will be fascinating to watch, as it is in every jury trial. Anyone who watched 60 Minutes went through the same process a jury will be selected to undergo, although the cross examiner should be more probing than Clemens’ friend Mike Wallace. Did he look us in the eye? What was his body language telling us? Did he have a motive to lie? Did he look like he was telling a truth?
Here is a copy of the Complaint.
Alan Milstein
It might normally be hard to root for someone like Jose Padilla. He is a former Chicago gang member who converted to Islam and allegedly attended terrorist training camps in Central Asia, then was arrested coming through Chicago’s O’Hare Airport with $10,000 in cash and a list of suspected Al Queda agents. Last year, he was convicted in
Padilla’s attorneys filed suit in federal court in
Now, incredibly, the former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, teaches law at UC Berkely. The suit was filed by Jonathan Freiman of
Here is a copy of the lawsuit.
Alan Milstein
“When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him, he calls it ferocity. The distinction between crime and justice is no greater.” George Bernard Shaw
The great tiger litigation is heating up. Criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos has signed on to represent the two brothers mauled by Tatiana at the
Zoo director Manuel Mollinedo responded, saying: "All I know is that something prompted our tiger to jump out of her enclosure." Sam Singer, the zoo’s public relations director, added that the word of a criminal defense attorney should be taken "not just with a grain of salt but with a ton."
Geragos appears to have a pretty good case, to say the least. The zoo’s enclosure was undersized, the “moat” was dry, the staff seemed to doubt the initial reports that the tiger was on the loose and apparently kept the police at bay outside the gate. Even if Geragos' clients taunted the tiger, zoos should expect such unmanly behavior on occasion and make sure their animals, though justifiably peeved, should not be able to retaliate.
Alan Milstein
