A suit filed by the former chief operating officer of Marc Jacobs International claims a company lawyer showed little interest in complaints of a sexually charged workplace that included a worker pole dance. Patrice Lataillade says he was fired from his $1-million-a-year job when he complained, according to the Daily Mail Online, the New York Daily News and the Associated Press. The suit claims CEO Robert Duffy created a hostile work environment by requiring employees to look at gay pornography, producing a book of employees posing in the nude or in sexual positions, and requiring an employee to perform a…

A journalist covering a lawsuit by copyright enforcement company Righthaven briefly became a defendant himself when he published a Denver Post photo taken from court records. Righthaven quickly dropped the lawsuit against freelance reporter Eriq Gardner, citing a “clerical mistake,” Ars Technica's Law & Disorder blog reports. Righthaven buys rights to news content and sues alleged infringers. Gardner was targeted for his December coverage of Righthaven’s lawsuit claiming the Drudge Report improperly used a Denver Post photo of TSA agents, according to Ars Technica and the Las Vegas Sun. Gardner reproduced the photo for his Ars Technica story, taking it…

The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 is expanding the scope of its look into possible changes in rules governing cross-border practice by lawyers. Today, the commission released an issues paper (PDF) that seeks comment on two more approaches to dealing with cross-border practice. One option, according to the discussion draft, would be to amend Rule 5.5 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct to authorize more domestic cross-border legal practice than the rule currently allows. The second option would be to consider whether multijurisdictional practice issues should be addressed through the larger structure for regulating lawyers rather than under…

As the Federal Trade Commission today announced that a privacy case over last year's rollout of Google Buzz had been settled by the Internet titan's promise to implement an agreed privacy policy, Google simultaneously debuted a new search tool. It is designed to encourage users to share their search results online with social network contacts at the touch of a button. A Official Google Blog post provides details of the new +1 function. As a press release by the FTC and the New York Times (reg. req.) detail, the proposed settlement in the privacy case requires Google to implement a…

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing may be required to achieve a "decent burial" for the dissolving law firm once known as Adorno & Yoss, an observer tells the Daily Business Review. And partners of the firm, known as Yoss after founding partner Henry "Hank" Adorno was suspended from practice last year, are unlikely ever to see their capital contributions of $30,000 to $100,000 returned, at least one admits. But the dissolution process is expected to be straightforward, even in a potential bankruptcy, because Yoss partners reportedly are not personally liable to the bank that extended a line of credit of…

Found guilty by a church tribunal in 2006 of sexually abusing a minor decades ago and subsequently defrocked, a high-ranking former New York priest has now turned the tables on his accuser. Onetime monsignor Charles Kavanagh, 73, has filed a defamation suit against the former seminary student in federal court in Manhattan, contending that the defendant lied to reporters about the sexual abuse in order to extract a monetary settlement from the New York archdiocese, reports the New York Post. The complaint points to newspaper headlines, such as one in the Post calling Kavanagh a "Pervert Priest," to substantiate its…

It isn't just legal skills that get the job done with a minimum of chaos. Especially in a crisis situation—i.e., routinely, for those who practice law in many settings—staying calm can be the key to a successful resolution, writes a former BigLaw associate who now works as a therapist. And the individuals who are critical to creating tranquility aren't necessarily the most experienced practitioners or even lawyers, says Will Meyerhofer in a People's Therapist column. At one point, with only two weeks' experience as an associate, Meyerhofer served in this role for a BigLaw partner who was having a meltdown…

The lawyer who advanced Second Amendment gun rights in his U.S. Supreme Court debut is now focusing his attention on beer and the First Amendment. A federal lawsuit filed by lawyer Alan Gura claims Michigan liquor regulators violated the First Amendment when they refused a license for Raging Bitch beer, made by the Flying Dog Brewery, the Washington Business Journal reports. Courthouse News Service has a copy of the complaint (PDF). “Beer bottles should be regulated not by the expression of their labels, but by the character of their content,” the suit says. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Gura…

Updated: A press release issued by Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis only hints at the troubles he is facing in a Florida courtroom as he defends himself in a lawsuit filed by four women who say their underage cameos have caused lasting emotional harm. U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak of Panama City warned Francis on Tuesday that he could be found in contempt of court for his outbursts and unconventional legal tactics, the Walton Sun reports. Smoak was particularly troubled by Francis’ questioning of a woman identified by the pseudonym “Plaintiff B,” who testified of strained family relationships, homelessness…

Thirty years after John Hinckley Jr. shot Ronald Reagan, the would-be assassin is allowed to visit his mother 12 times a year in 10-day visits. On the grounds of a psychiatric hospital in Washington, D.C., he plays guitar, works at the library, and sits in the sun. He is allowed trips to the bowling alley and the beach. He has had several girlfriends. Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis contrasts Hinckley’s life with that of his still-living victims: former White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and police officer Thomas Delahanty. She writes about their difficulties in an…