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Attorney general pick has had terrorism cases
Lawyer Blog News |
2007/10/15 13:53
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Early in the Bush administration, Michael Mukasey's position at the intersection of terrorism and the justice system may have cost him a promotion. Mukasey, then chief judge of the federal court in Manhattan, caught the eye of the White House in early 2002 for elevation to the U.S. Court of Appeals. A conservative intellectual whose admirers cut across party lines, he was running the nation's busiest courthouse just a mile from Ground Zero, one that had handled trials of Islamic radicals for nearly a decade.
But that June, President George W. Bush declared "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla an enemy combatant. When Padilla's lawyers filed a challenge, Mukasey drew the case. White House lawyers decided they could not offer him the appellate post without seeming to undermine his impartiality, those familiar with the issue said.
Now, Mukasey's experiences in the Padilla case and other terrorism prosecutions undergird his credentials for nomination to become attorney general.
Mukasey recently argued in an opinion article for The Wall Street Journal that Congress should find ways to relieve the strain on a legal system trying to stop terrorist plots while still guarding the rights of terrorist suspects. He has advocated national security courts, where classified information could be presented in secret.
"If there is anybody who has a handle on the debate on terrorism issues, it's him," said David Kelley, who served as New York's U.S. attorney from 2003 to 2005. "He is one of the only people who has sufficient practical experience together with the intellectual ability."
The 1995 trial of Omar Abdel Rahman, an Egyptian known as the blind sheik, in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center presented Mukasey with questions that have fueled public debate since 9/11: how to ensure lawful treatment for terror suspects without impeding government efforts to protect citizens from attack.
Three years of litigation, including a nine-month trial, served as a "deep primer" on radical Islam, said Mary Jo White, the former U.S. attorney who brought the case. Andrew McCarthy, who led the prosecution, recalled months of litigation over questions on the limits of free speech and religious practice and the difficulty of prosecuting terrorism without making classified information public. "The arguments we've been having the last six years are the arguments we were having then," McCarthy said.
The appeals court had high praise for Mukasey's handling of the case, saying he "presided with extraordinary skill." Prosecutors in other terrorism cases say they study his jury instructions on the use of speech and religious convictions as evidence.
Only one of several attorneys interviewed who had clients in Mukasey's court after 9/11 had complaints about the way his client was treated.
However, Alexander Eisemann, who represented Zacarias Moussaoui's driver, said Mukasey was responsive to complaints that Hussein al-Attas was being physically mistreated in detention.
Also, Mukasey was presented with what has proved to be an intractable issue in dealing with suspected terrorists - Bush's assertion that he has the authority to designate even people captured in the U.S. as "enemy combatants." In late 2002, the judge gave the White House a split decision in the case, upholding the president's authority to consider an American citizen detained on U.S. soil an enemy combatant but ruling that Padilla was entitled to a lawyer who could challenge that status. |
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Class Action against LDK Solar Co., Inc.
Class Action News |
2007/10/15 12:00
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| Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP has filed a class action in the Southern District of New York on behalf of shareholders who purchased or otherwise acquired the securities of LDK Solar Co., Inc. during the period June 1, 2007 through October 8, 2007, inclusive (the “Class Period”). The case has been given Civil Action # 07civ8766. The complaint charges LDK and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. More specifically, the Complaint alleges that the Company failed to disclose and misrepresented the following material adverse facts which were known to defendants or recklessly disregarded by them: (1) that the Company had significantly less polysilicon feedstock inventory than it was reporting; (2) that only a fraction of the feedstock inventory that the Company did have was of sufficient quality for use in the manufacture of silicone wafers; and (3) that, as a result of the foregoing, the Company's financial statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. If you are a member of the proposed Class, you may move the court no later than December 7, 2007 to serve as a lead plaintiff for the Class. A Lead Plaintiff is a representative chosen by the Court, who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP and its predecessor firms have devoted its practice to shareholder class actions and complex commercial litigation for more than fifteen years and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for shareholders in class actions throughout the United States. You may visit our website at www.murrayfrank.com. If you would like to discuss this action, this announcement, or your rights and interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel Brian D. Brooks of Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP.
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Charles Schwab 3rd-Quarter Profit Soars
Business Law Info |
2007/10/15 11:42
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| Brokerage firm Charles Schwab Corp. said Monday its third-quarter earnings soared, mainly due to a big gain on the sale of its U.S. Trust wealth management business. Schwab reported earnings of $1.53 billion, or $1.28 per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with $266 million, or 21 cents per share, a year ago. The latest earnings include a $1.2 billion after-tax gain from the sale of U.S. Trust, which was sold July 1 to Bank of America Corp. for $3.3 billion. Excluding the gain, Schwab's earnings from continuing operations were $323 million, or 27 cents per share. Schwab reported third-quarter revenue of $1.29 billion versus $1.07 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, forecast earnings of 25 cents per share on revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter. Analysts do not typically include one-time items in their forecasts. Operating earnings were boosted by $37.3 billion in net new assets brought by clients to Schwab during the third quarter, a 66 percent increase from the same quarter last year. The new assets helped Schwab reach a record $1.441 trillion in total client assets as of Sept. 30. |
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Law firm scolds school for trying to stop religious rap
Lawyer Blog News |
2007/10/15 10:57
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A religious civil liberties law firm is touting its intervention in a case that allowed a Monroe High School sophomore to perform a Christian rap song at a school talent show this week. A school administrator initially banned performance of the song. Officials with the Liberty Counsel, based in Florida, Virginia and Washington, said James Whipper, 16, performed the song "He's Calling" at a school talent show Wednesday and won first place.
According to Liberty Counsel officials, assistant principal Montyne Barbee told James on Tuesday to perform a non-religious song. School officials could not be reached Friday.Kenyetta Whipper, James' mother, contacted Liberty Counsel and met with Barbee. Liberty Counsel officials said they also sent a letter to the school's principal explaining that schools "cannot censor our religious speech" in events like a talent show for which students choose their own material to perform. |
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Law Firm, LPD Among Those Backing Career Academies
Headline News |
2007/10/15 10:56
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When the Polk County school system issued a request seeking partnerships from area businesses in creating career academies at high schools, several answered the call.
The result is a handful of strong partnerships that will provide relevant instruction to students interested in a variety of professions, ranging from automotive technology and construction to criminal justice and legal studies.
The career academies - all of which have at least two businesses represented on their boards of directors, though some have 10 or more - are in 11 Polk high schools and were created to address the Florida A++ education plan approved by the Legislature last year, said Serena Peeler, career academies coordinator for the Polk County school system. The plan is designed to get students thinking about careers before they graduate.
Most career academies started this year, but a handful have been up and running for a few years. Kathleen High School's Criminal Justice, Law and Career Academy is 3 years old and is supported by the Lakeland Police Department, which partners with the academy by providing board of directors representation and training assistance, said Lakeland Police Lt. John Thomason.
"We supply officers, equipment and give demonstrations," Thomason said. "We have a great deal of interaction with the students by teaching about police work and various services the department provides to the community."
Each year, LPD presents a static display involving area law enforcement agencies, where students in the academy get to view technology and equipment used in law enforcement.
LPD is working to also include fire and emergency services agencies in the static displays, because not every student enrolled wants to enter law enforcement. Some have interests in becoming firefighters, 911 dispatchers, crime scene technicians and even lawyers, Thomason said.
"I think these academies are a valuable asset to students because if they believe they want to be in this field, the academy gives them a better understanding of the work involved," Thomason said. "It also helps them decide how to further their education - whether through the police academy or college."
The Academy of Legal Studies at George Jenkins High School benefits from partnerships with the Lakeland Bar Association and the law firm of Peterson & Myers.
Jonn Hoppe, a lawyer with Peterson & Myers, said the firm partners with the academy by providing lawyers to be guest speakers, serving as host for student orientations and providing law books for research and instruction.
The partnership with the Lakeland Bar Association is a bit more formalized, said Hoppe, who serves as the president.
"Every month, a couple of students attend Bar meetings," he said. "We hope in February to have students put on a mock trial at the monthly luncheon."
Members of the Bar Association also serve on the academy's board and provide opportunities for student internships at area law firms.
"We were very excited about the academy when it began because students can choose from an attorney, paralegal or legal assistant track," Hoppe said.
The partnerships go beyond finding businesses and organizations to contribute to classroom instruction, Peeler said. Area colleges and universities are partnering in the form of articulation agreements, which enable students enrolled in the academies to earn college credit while still in high school. Agreements are in place with Polk and Hillsborough community colleges, and officials are in discussion with Florida Southern College, Southeastern University and University of South Florida, among other colleges. |
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Nomura to exit U.S. residential mortgage securities
Business Law Info |
2007/10/15 10:03
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Nomura Holdings, Japan's largest brokerage, said it would pull out of the U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities market and cut a quarter of its U.S. workforce, pushing it to a big quarterly loss. Nomura is the latest global investment bank forced to swallow bigger losses on products tied to to U.S. mortgage market, which was thrown into turmoil this year by rising defaults on subprime home loans.
It now expects to post a group pretax loss of 40-60 billion yen ($340-$511 million) for the July-September second quarter due to losses on residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) and charges to cut its U.S. workforce to 900 from 1,217 as of June.
Nomura, which has been buying residential mortgages and bundling them for resale as securities, said it would focus its efforts in the U.S. on expanding its asset management business and electronic brokerage unit Instinet. "This should all but clear up our problems in the United States, and we believe we can build a structure that will allow us to achieve a speedy recovery from the second half," Nomura Chief Financial Officer Masafumi Nakada told a news conference. Nomura had said earlier this year it may pull out of the RMBS business as part of a reorganisation of its U.S unit, which lost 74 billion yen on a pretax basis in the two quarters to June as it wrote down the value of its mortgage loan portfolio.
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