Lawblog - VerdictOne.com:

A former chief financial officer of Broadcom Corp. says he expected his 2006 conversations with Irell & Manella about stock options grants to be confidential, because the law firm was representing his employer as outside counsel. And a federal district court judge found that Irell & Manella also represented former CFO William Ruehle--who was then a named defendant in civil litigation over alleged options backdating--on an individual basis. But the 2006 talks weren't protected by attorney-client privilege, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says in a written opinion (PDF) today, because Ruehle knew the information he revealed would be…more...

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Today, the American Constitution Society's blog, ACSblog, was gracious enough to let EFF's Kevin Bankston guest blog about the current debate over renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act. Kevin took the opportunity to highlight the need for Congress to revisit the broad surveillance authority granted by last year's FISA Amendments Act (FAA) when it considers reforming the PATRIOT Act. Kevin argues that "from a civil liberties perspective, focusing on reforming the PATRIOT Act without also considering FAA reform is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic." The entire blog post is here.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is planning to consider PATRIOT renewal and reform Thursday. It's important to let your Senators know that you support both PATRIOT reform and FAA reform, including repeal of the immunity for telcos like AT&T that assisted in the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program. If you haven't already, please visit our action center and contact your Senators now!

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Tags: Uncategorized by tim
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Penumbra is initiating a voluntary Field Removal of the original version of Neuron 6F 070 Delivery Catheter. For these catheters, Penumbra has received feedback from some users that the catheter could kink or ovalize in certain anatomical situations.more...

Tags: FDA Recalls by Food and Drug Administration--Recalls/Safety Alerts
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In a settlement that may encourage other academics to push for their right to make fair use of excerpts of published material in their scholarly writing, the estate of famed author James Joyce has agreed to pay a $240,000 legal bill racked up by an English professor at Stanford University during a decade-long battle over her book on James' daughter. However, Greg Castanias, a Jones Day partner who represented the estate in an appeal of a $326,000 federal district court attorney fee award, characterized the settlement as something of a victory for the estate. It is, he points out, for…more...

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As Congress prepares to update a 33-year-old law that governs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regulation of toxic chemicals, the executive branch is seeking more authority over what officials describe as a risky situation. "The American people are looking to government for assurance that chemicals have been assessed using the best available science and that unacceptable risks haven't been ignored—and unfortunately the current law doesn't allow us to grant them that assurance," said Lisa Jackson, who serves as EPA administrator, in a briefing for reporters that sparked coverage in the Miami Herald and USA Today, among other media. Two key…more...

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A payroll worker at a small Washington, D.C., law firm has been accused of stealing $1.2 million by transferring the money from her employer to her own bank accounts. A criminal information alleges Tamika Beasley stole the money from James E. Brown & Associates, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. She listed the transfers as loans that were later repaid, according to prosecutors. James Brown gave The BLT a statement he had provided to the Secret Service. It said Beasley’s alleged wrongdoing had jeopardized the law firm, forcing him to fire 10 employees, including Beasley’s uncle. Brown’s…more...

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Tags: Bankruptcy Law by Nicholas Ortiz, Boston Bankruptcy Attorney
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A Florida lawyer has accused the local sheriff's office of an unethical and potentially criminal practice of secretly recording—and forwarding to its own legal counsel for review—jailhouse phone calls made to him by his clients. A spokesman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office calls the accusations by attorney John Trevena "just ridiculous." However, Larry McKinnon also says that all jail phone calls are automatically recorded, except for those placed to the public defender's office—as signs near the phones and a recorded message warn inmates, reports the St. Petersburg Times. Trevena says he received in routine discovery from the state a…more...

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University of Chicago researcher Neil Shubin’s has won the prize for best book in the National Academies’ annual awards that recognize excellence in reporting and communicating science, engineering, and medicine to the general public. Reporter Mark Johnson of the was honored for his series of articles on reprogramming human cells. -- a documentary about racial and economic disparities in health -- won best film. National Public Radio’s took the prize for best online Internet site.more...

Tags: National Acadamies News by News from the National Academies
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Ten claims from the Acacia Research Streaming Media Patent have been invalidated by the U.S.District Court for the Northern District of California. The Court invalidated the remaining claims that had been asserted in the litigation, after several others had been dropped from the suit by Acacia. EFF was not involved in the case, which was brought by Acacia against leading satellite and cable companies, Echostar, DirectTV, Time Warner Cable and CSC Holdings, Inc. Similar claims in related patents will also be invalid under the Court's analysis.

Invalidation by litigation is a different process for busting a patent than the reexamination procedure that EFF uses, but the end result is the same: the patent is ended and harassment of others using the patented technology must cease.

EFF thanks the cable and satellite companies for fighting off this bad patent, which also had been used by Acacia Research to threaten colleges and universities. This marks the seventh patent targeted by EFF that has either been busted, invalidated, narrowed or had a reexam granted.

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