The American Bar Association came one step closer today to halting an attempt by the Federal Trade Commission to regulate the practice of law when the U.S. Senate unanimously voted that the commission's "red flags rule" doesn't apply to lawyers. The legislation at issue, which seeks to curb identity theft among credit and financial regulatory agencies through prevention and detection programs, "makes clear" that lawyers, doctors, dentists, accountants and other heath care and service providers “will no longer be classified as 'creditors' for the purposes of the red flags rule just because they do not receive payment in full from…

The American Bar Association came one step closer today to halting an attempt by the Federal Trade Commission to regulate the practice of law when the U.S. Senate unanimously voted that the commission's "red flags rule" doesn't apply to lawyers. The legislation at issue, which seeks to curb identity theft among credit and financial regulatory agencies through prevention and detection programs, "makes clear" that lawyers, doctors, dentists, accountants and other heath care and service providers “will no longer be classified as 'creditors' for the purposes of the red flags rule just because they do not receive payment in full from…

A new law that forbids protesters in Washington, D.C. from wearing masks while protesting outside residences came under fire this week from a law professor for its potential to infringe on free speech and for how it gives police additional grounds to arrest protesters. The law was passed by the D.C. Council in response to animal rights activists who wear masks and fake-blood-covered trench coats outside the homes of individuals they believe are connected to a company that provides animals for corporate science experiments, says George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley in a blog post. However, under the…

Multimillion-dollar criminal fines won’t deter corporate officials from bribing foreign officials to maintain or gain new business, says Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.). The senator’s statements stem from a critique on Tuesday of the Justice Department’s prosecution of about 50 individuals under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act since 2009, in which some of the most significant cases resulted in large fines but no individual prosecutions, reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). Specter referenced the department’s 2008 $1.6 billion settlement between Siemens and U.S. and German authorities over widespread bribery charges. "$1.6 billion is a lot of money, but not…

Military service members see little risk posed by the repeal of its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, according to a long-awaited Pentagon report. Seventy percent of 400,000 service members surveyed believe repeal of the policy would have little or no effect on their units, according to the Washington Post column the Federal Eye. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” allowed gays to serve in the military as long as their sexual orientation remained secret. Sources told the Federal Eye about the report, set to be released later today. The newspaper covered details of a draft copy earlier this month. Sixty-nine percent of…

The lawyers will have to mind their manners as a breach-of-contract trial gets under way this week that pits the trial lawyers group American Association for Justice against its would-be lender, Wachovia Bank. A pretrial motion in the Washington, D.C., federal case sets out the parameters, Bloomberg News reports. “Wachovia’s counsel shall not make any derogatory remarks generally about trial lawyers, and AAJ’s counsel shall not make any derogatory remarks generally about banks or Wall Street,” the document says. The AAJ claims it lost a bid to become sole owner of a building in Washington, D.C., after Wachovia refused to…

A California couple who remained on a state list of child abusers even after they were cleared of the charges have lost an attorney fee case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled in the case of Craig and Wendy Humphries, who were found innocent of abuse despite accusations by their daughter, Fox News reports. At issue was their right as prevailing parties to collect $60,000 in attorney fees from Los Angeles County, out of a total of $600,000. The Supreme Court opinion (PDF) held that plaintiffs seeking an injunction or other declaratory relief in Section 1983 cases against…

A defendant accused of illegal downloading along with more than 4,500 other defendants claims in a class action lawsuit that the law firm pursing the cases is guilty of “settlement fraud and extortion.” The suit targets the U.S. Copyright Group, the entity formed by the law firm Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver, according to stories by THR Esq., the Forbes blog Full Disclosure and Ars Technica's Law & Disorder blog. The plaintiff, Dmitriy Shirokov, is among 4,577 accused by the firm of illegally downloading the action-adventure movie Far Cry, released in Canada in 2007 and the United States in 2008. Shirokov’s…

A Manhattan lawyer who sought a trial delay for his grandson’s circumcision ceremony is getting the time off, thanks to a decision by U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood. Lawyer Bennett Epstein requested time off for the bris in an unusual letter (PDF) filed with the court, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reported earlier this month. “Should the child be a girl, not much will happen in the way of public celebration. Some may even be disappointed, but will do their best to conceal this by saying, ‘as long as it’s a healthy baby.’ ” Epstein wrote. “However, should the…

There’s bad news for both partners and would-be associates in a new survey of leaders from the nation’s 200 largest law firms. Nearly 70 percent of the 124 respondents said their firms plan to ask partners to leave in 2011, and 31 percent told of plans to de-equitize partners, the American Lawyer reports. Associate classes are shrinking too. More than 87 percent said the number of first-year associates hired next year will be the same or fewer than 2010's small associate classes. New associates may have a later starting date as well. According to the story, the idea of a…