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Week Of Monday February 22, 2010
Explosion Sets Off Litigation 
Six hours after the Kleen Energy power plant blew up in Middletown on Feb. 7, New Haven plaintiffs’ lawyer Michael Stratton and his private investigator were surveying the wreckage. “We knew we were going to be involved,” Stratton said. “I was just looking at the site, the emergency crews at work, talking to the people there, just getting a sense of what happened. Because after that first day, everything’s shut down. You can’t get information from the [government] investigators.”
Paying Victims Of Child PornFREE
Last February, Alan Hesketh, a former Pfizer Inc. executive from Stonington, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison on child pornography charges. But the more groundbreaking news was that he agreed to pay $130,000 in an out-of-court settlement to one of the children depicted in the lurid images. It was the first criminal case in the country where someone paid restitution in their criminal case for simply possessing child pornography. Now, one year later, similar claims have popped up across the country.
Verdicts & Settlements
Infant Shoulder Injury Suit Doesn’t Pay Off
Jason Bacco et al v. Obgyn Consultants: Stamford obstetrician Irene Komarynsky won a defense verdict this month in Stamford Superior Court in a case that, according to medical malpractice defense lawyers, illustrates a trend toward fewer jury awards for children who sustain shoulder nerve damage during birth.
Preparing For More Supreme Court Exits
Stories raising the possibility that U.S. Supreme Court Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg may leave at roughly the same time have suddenly become part of the Washington conversation, fueling scenarios of dragged-out battles between President Barack Obama and a fiercely contentious Senate over possible replacements.
Toyota Litigation At Full ThrottleFREE
After a major car manufacturer admits to defects in its line of automobiles, it’s only a matter of time before the products liability lawyers shift into gear. As such, class action lawsuits are seemingly being filed daily across the country against Toyota after reports of sudden acceleration in many of its popular vehicle models, including the Camry and Lexus.
Legal Tech
Smart Phone Users Call Sales Tax Dumb IdeaFREE
The Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998 seems to clearly state that customers aren’t to be taxed on their Internet service. But are you similarly tax exempt when you check e-mails or surf the Web on your iPhone or Blackberry?
Q & A
An Informal Approach To Solving Problems
Grains of sand can foul up great machines – and bring down great organizations. Problems that don’t rise to the level of a crime or tort can afflict organizations to their serious detriment. Charles Howard, a partner in Hartford-based Shipman & Goodwin, knows a thing or two about the importance of solving small problems before they have big consequences.
Despite Pain In Big Toe, Lawyer Keeps Kicking
Everyone has days when they’re feeling aches and pains and not operating at 100 percent. Others work through chronic pain by adjusting their working conditions— placing a pillow on their seat or an ankle on a footrest, or taking breaks to stretch muscles. Usually, the pain doesn’t threaten one’s job. But a diabetic Hamden lawyer with a foot ulcer nearly had his practice taken away this month because he is unable to spend a full day in court.
For Outside Counsel, It’s Judgment Day
Law firm leaders that may have felt their ears burning since October can now get some relief by finding out what in-house counsel have been saying about them. A new ratings system launched last year by the Association of Corporate Counsel aims to collect evaluations of law firms from corporate legal departments around the world. It’s called the ACC Value Index and is part of the association’s aggressive push to help in-house lawyers get more value for their money from outside counsel.
Judges Ready To Run Reappointment Gantlet
The first wave of judges coming up for reappointment will be questioned by members of the legislative Judiciary Committee this week, and for most it will be a walk on the beach. For others, it will be more like a shark attack. Once every eight years, Connecticut’s appointed judges are most vulnerable to the checks and balances of popularly elected lawmakers. On that day, civility, decorum and mutual admiration normally carries the day.
Feeding Frenzy Targets Profitable Partners
This year is shaping up to be the year of the aggressor. Law firms that got through 2009 without hemorrhaging money and lawyers find themselves in a position to add significant talent to their rosters. Lateral hiring is up in markets across the country—stretching from Silicon Valley to Chicago and from Philadelphia to New York and Boston, according to The American Lawyer’s recent lateral report.
Despite Pain In Big Toe, Lawyer Keeps KickingFREE
Everyone has days when they’re feeling aches and pains and not operating at 100 percent. Others work through chronic pain by adjusting their working conditions— placing a pillow on their seat or an ankle on a footrest, or taking breaks to stretch muscles.
Usually, the pain doesn’t threaten one’s job.
But a diabetic Hamden lawyer with a foot ulcer nearly had his practice taken away this month because he is unable to spend a full day in court.
Verdicts & Settlements
Trial-Settlement Hybrid Satisfies All Four Parties
John McGrath v. Bantam Sheet Metal LLC, et al.: Three contracting companies ended up paying nearly a quarter-million dollars to settle a lawsuit filed after a drywall finisher fell off a scaffold at a work site. John McGrath was working in Litchfield on May 31, 2005 in a room being renovated.
Antique Car Touring A Real Blast—Of Steam FREE
With all of the talk about automobiles running on alternative fuels, Hartford attorney John Linderman wonders what has taken everyone so long to catch on. For several years, Linderman has been driving around in a ’10 model car that runs on steam—a 1910 model, that is. Linderman, a partner at intellectual property firm McCormick, Paulding & Huber, has owned his Stanley Steamer since 1997, shortly after he visited the Big E fair in Massachusetts and learned about the technology associated with some of the earliest cars.
Sex Offender Confinement Poses Tough QuestionsFREE
In December, an anonymous veteran corrections officer in Connecticut wrote a letter to state officials voicing his concern over the then imminent release of Brian Wright, who has been in prison the past 25 years for sexual assault. The officer claims Wright committed six “male-on-male sexual assaults” while in prison and expressed fear he would be a threat to both men and women when released from prison. “He is notorious in the prison system,” wrote the officer. “I fear that he will offend again, this time with more serious consequences.”
Court Again Wrestles With Kidnapping LawFREE
In past years, prosecutors often added kidnapping charges to increase the possible punishment for defendants who were also charged with sexual assault or robbery. The theory was that during the commission of the other crime, the victim was detained against his or her will, even if only briefly. Defense attorneys objected to the practice, and in 2008 the state Supreme Court ruled that juries may no longer find someone guilty of kidnapping when the restraint is incidental to the commission of another crime.
Legal Tech
Shaking Up Attitudes About Technology
There probably aren’t many people in their mid-60s who have LinkedIn as the homepage on their computer at work. And certainly not many lawyers that age who are active on the lawyer-rating site Avvo.com or the free legal content site JDSupra.com.
But trust and estate solo attorney Jeffrey L. Crown, 65, sees no reason not to embrace social media.
Solo’s Addicted Sister Allegedly Stole From Clients
The old saying is never mix family and business.
Stamford solo attorney Daniel Barber thought he was helping out his sister, Stacey Williams, when he hired her in August 2005 to help run his practice, which focuses on criminal defense work and real estate. Now Barber’s decision has jeopardized his practice.
The Sudden Death Of A ‘Remarkable Young Man’ FREE
Michael V. Sage was preparing for an exciting February. He had a skiing trip to New Hampshire planned with a colleague at the New London firm of Suisman Shapiro, and last week was going to mark the first time he handled a personal injury trial on his own. But on Feb. 5, everything changed. Sage, 29, was found unresponsive on the floor of the law firm’s bathroom after apparently collapsing around 10:30 a.m., shortly after he had walked across the street for his usual cup of morning coffee with some fellow lawyers.
Q&A
The Year That The Estate Tax Vanished
It’s a complex time to die. Congress surprised most lawyers when it simply allowed the federal estate tax to disappear at the end of last year. How did this happen? A tax-cutting plan endorsed by then-President George W. Bush was phased in beginning in 2001. That year, the value of an estate had to top $1 million before any federal taxes kicked in. By last year, the threshold rose to $3.5 million.
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