|
Fed Regulators in Hot Seat over JP Morgan Losses
Thomson Reuters, May 14, 2012
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - JPMorgan's $2 billion-plus trading loss raises serious questions about whether the New York Federal Reserve and other regulators were asleep at the wheel or whether it is asking too much of them to keep up with the financial engineering conducted by complex institutions with diverse, global operations.
The discussion may have migrated from too big to fail to too big to manage and too big to regulate.
Though the Fed - JPMorgan's primary regulator - is not supposed to prevent banks from losing money, and JPMorgan remains stable, the shock loss rattled confidence in the financial sector.
Read More>>
The Dewey Chronicles: The Rise and Fall of a Legal Titan
Thomson Reuters, May 11, 2012
NEW YORK, May 11 (Reuters) - It was a tale of doom foretold in a pie chart.
On Jan. 27, Dewey &LeBoeuf's partners were summoned to a meeting on the 22nd
floor of the law firm's New York City headquarters to discuss the firm's finances. While most of them knew Dewey LeBoeuf faced challenging times, few were prepared for what they were soon to hear from their chairman, Steven Davis.
Using a PowerPoint slide show, Davis presented a grim picture: Of Dewey's approximately $250 million in net income for 2011, about half was committed to pension obligations to retired partners and compensation that was owed to certain partners for the two prior years. Just half the pie remained to distribute to disappointed partners.
Read More>>
Deadliest Danger Isn't on the Rig, but on the Road
New York Times, May 14, 2012
After working 17 hours straight at a natural gas well in Ohio, Timothy Roth and three other crew members climbed into their company truck around 10 o’clock one night last July and began their four-hour drive back to their drilling service company’s shop in West Virginia.
When they were just 10 minutes from home, the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The truck veered off the highway and slammed into a sign that sheared off part of the vehicle’s side, killing Mr. Roth.
About two months before the fatal crash, Mr. Roth nearly died in a similar accident when another co-worker with the same company fell asleep at the wheel after a long shift and ran the company’s truck into a pole. In 2009, Mr. Roth’s employer was penalized in New York, Pennsylvania and Utah for violations like “requiring or permitting” its oil field truckers to drive after working for 14 hours, the legal limit.
Read More>>
Alabama Da Vinci Surgical Robot Lawsuit Seeks $270 Million for Botched Hysterectomy
News Inferno, May 14, 2012
Another lawsuit has been filed by a victim of an allegedly botched surgery using the da Vinci Surgical Robot. This time, an Alabama woman is claiming that Intuitive Surgical, the maker of the da Vinci Robot, suppressed complaints and concealed rates of complications associated with the robot from the public and federal health regulators. She is seeking $270 million in damages.
The Alabama complaint is just the most recent of several lawsuits have been filed around the country alleging that da Vinci Surgical Robot design flaws, coupled with a lack of adequate training on the part of surgeons who use the device, have caused serious injuries to patients...
Read More>>
Woman Sued for Sending Text to Driver Involved in Accident
Huffington Post, May 8, 2012
Texting while driving is illegal in 38 states, but a pending court case in New Jersey may determine whether there are legal ramifications to texting someone when they're behind the wheel.
In 2009, Kyle Best got into a car accident while replying to a text sent by Shannon Colonna.
Best, who was 19 at the time, was behind the wheel of his pick-up truck and, as he texted, drifted into opposing traffic and slammed into David and Linda Kubert's motorcycle.
The Kuberts both lost their left legs as a result from the collision and have brought a suit against Best for his role in the injury.
Now, in what could be a precedent-setting case, lawyer Stephen "Skippy" Weinstein has expanded the complaint to also include Colonna.
Read More>>
|
