North America/US - Page 187
Supreme Court releases opinion on patents
The US Supreme court ruled that substance must determine patentability for an invention, not an abstract idea on a computer.
Wachtell Lipton is voted the most prestigious US firm
Watchell Lipton Rosen & Katz topped the list again for the 100 most prestigious law firms, a Vault survey found.
Legal ninja required
A Silicon Valley software company uses the term 'legal ninja' to describe its corporate counsel.
DOJ says state bars cannot review mental health status
Assessing the ability of a lawyer to practice law based on mental health is discriminating against people with disabilities.
Judges with daughters more likely to rule in feminist direction
A new study found that judges with daughters are more likely to vote in favour of women's rights.
Lawyers fail to protect client confidentiality
Lawyers are not taking robust measures to protect their clients' confidentiality through practices like email.
Heller Ehrman not entitled to recover profits, federal judge rules
A US federal judge ruled that bankrupt law firm Heller Ehrman cannot recover profits from unfinished hourly fee cases taken to new firms.
Analysis shows lawyers rank black judges less favourably
A new psychological analysis has shown that lawyers in the state of Massachusetts rate black judges more negatively than their white counterparts on questionnaires that lawyers answer to evaluate a judge's performance.
Microsoft challenges US prosecutors request for data in Ireland
After US prosecutors requested a customer's email stored in Microsoft's data center in Ireland, the technology company objected and said if upheld, would violate international laws and treaties.
Reed Smiths elects new global head
Alexander 'Sandy' Thomas has been elected as global managing parter for a three-year term.
Bingham sanctions on the cards over discovery dispute
US law firm Bingham McCutchen could face sanctions over a discovery-related issue following a decision by the Massachusetts Appeals court in a case relating to document production.
Judge sacked in death-row 'emotional' attachment
A judge and prosecutor sent 1400 texts and phone calls to each other during a death-row case.
GM legal department under further scrutiny
Two product litigation lawyers are among the 15 employees fired by GM as Congress looks set to question GM lawyers.
Large law firms move to back same-sex marriage
At least 30 of the top 200 US law firms have been involved in proceedings to challenge state bans on same-sex marriage - while none has been involved in defending such a ban, according to research from Reuters.
Law firm pricing officers improve profitability
Three in four US law firms have a pricing professional in place. Furthermore, although the role is vaguely defined, pricing efforts increase profitabliity.
Supreme Court delivers setback to BP on oil leak
The Supreme Court has supported a decision of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals by ruling that interim compensation payments will be made over the 2010 oil leak while a BP appeal goes ahead.
Texas law firms restricted on employee job titles
Texan law firms are prohibited from using titles such as CEO, according to a court opinion.
Lawyer convictions soar in Nevada
A total of 23 Nevada lawyers were convicted in federal courts in the three years to 2013, nearly six times the number of lawyers who were similarly convicted in the previous three years.
Lawyer numbers rise at US top 350
Mergers with foreign law firms have pushed up the total numbers of working in the top 350 US firms by nearly four per cent, according to the the NLJ 350 survey report for 2013.
Truckers protests leads to Texas law firm apology
The law firm has apologised to lorry drivers for a full-page advertisement it ran which included the description 'serial killer' under the picture of a truck cabin.