Legal Pad

Russoniello: No Politics, OK. But No Barry Bonds?

Joe Russoniello had a media coming out party this morning at the federal building, herding more than a dozen of us into a conference room. Among the U.S. attorney’s more interesting tidbits:

While he spoke generally about the investigation of steroids enhancing drugs, Russoniello said he couldn’t comment on his office’s Barry Bonds prosecution because he might wind up recused from it. “I can’t say why,” Russoniello said.

Cotchett Taps Obama as New Trial Lawyer Fave

California lawyers backing Sen. John Edwards for president can stash the hankies; there's no time to mourn the trial lawyer-turned-politician's announcement this morning that he's dropping out of the presidential primary. There's a primary in six days, which means there are new endorsements to be made and campaign checks to write.

Joe Cotchett

Famed plaintiffs attorney Joseph Cotchett, a big Edwards fund-raiser, said he's ready to back Sen. Barack Obama. And he expects a lot of colleagues to make the Edwards-to-Obama switch with him.

"I think most of John Edwards' people will, and when I say that, I'm talking about the trial lawyers working in the pits every day," Cotchett said. "They'll be looking to Obama for a voice of change."

Edwards hasn’t immediately endorsed any of his rivals. But conservative pundit Robert Novak wrote that Obama backers are already talking up Edwards as the possible attorney general in an Obama presidential administration.

Democrats Edwards, Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton are all lawyers. But it was Edwards' trial-lawyer roots that made him a big favorite of California's personal injury attorneys.

"My heart will always be with John," Cotchett said. But before Tuesday's primary, his campaign money might be going to Obama.

"I'm sure before the fifth, a lot of Edwards supporters are going to be doing a lot of things for Obama," Cotchett said.

—  Cheryl Miller

Lawyer: Street Performer Cost Me $100K

The Ferry Building is a chic location for San Francisco law firms. Historic architecture, great restaurants, a farmer's market and an easy aquatic commute have attracted the likes of Coblentz , Patch, Duffy & Bass and Taylor & Co.

But according to one lawyer, there is a problem with the Ferry Building -- a problem so vexing it's made practicing there "impossible" two days a week.

That problem would be street performer John F. King II, who earns a living by relentlessly banging on a makeshift set of buckets and cymbals every Tuesday and Saturday on nearby Harry Bridges Plaza, when the farmer's market is in session.

William McGrane of McGrane & Greenfield has become so fed up with King, he even filed a claim against the city and county of San Francisco last fall for an alleged $100,000 loss caused by his inability to practice during King's percussive renditions.

"The San Francisco Port Authority's ("Port Authority") negligent failure to maintain Harry Bridges Plaza has resulted in an ongoing nuisance that unreasonably interferes in claimant's, a Ferry Building tenant, right to quiet enjoyment," McGrane wrote in a claim [.pdf] filed Nov. 13. "Specifically, the Port Authority, despite repeated notification, has failed to stop John F. King II from banging on his plastic drums during the hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday and all day every Saturday."

Former ADA Aims for Supervisor's Seat

David Chiu, a prominent member of San Francisco’s Asian-American bar and a former assistant district attorney, announced today that he will run for a seat on the county board of supervisors.

Chiu plans to run on the November ballot for District 3, which is currently the province of Aaron Peskin, the board’s president. Peskin will be termed out of his seat next January. A constellation of individuals from the city’s legal and political communities have already endorsed Chiu, including Peskin, PD Jeff Adachi, DA Kamala Harris and Supervisor Tom Ammiano.

Chiu spent a year in the late 1990s in the trenches of the district attorney’s office, working what he called typical cases such as thefts, DUIs and drug crimes.

A self-described “policy wonk,” Chiu studied government as an undergrad at Harvard and then earned a joint J.D./Master’s of Public Policy from Harvard Law and the Kennedy School of Government.

Chiu says was drawn to San Francisco by the opportunity to clerk for renowned Ninth Circuit Judge James Browning in 1996. Chiu and a law-school pal founded their own online company in 2000, Grassroots Enterprises, which consults with businesses to improve their online communications strategies. Chiu now serves as chief operating officer of the company. Chiu was also chairman of his state assembly district’s Democratic committee and president of the Bay Area’s Asian American Bar Association

—  Evan Hill

Rosati, Sanmina Board Beat CalPERS Offensive

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati name partner Mario Rosati will live another day as a board member at San Jose's Sanmina-SCI.

Rosati and six other Sanmina directors came under fire from California's state retirement fund (CalPERS) for the tech company's poor stock performance and corporate governance issues, including the lingering stock options backdating investigation. The retirement fund, which owns 2.1 million Sanmina shares, publicly announced that it would withhold its votes at the annual shareholders meeting on Monday. 

But the CalPERS votes didn't make much of a difference in the end. Sanmina shareholders re-elected its board of directors, including Rosati, by an "overwhelming majority of the votes," company spokesman Michael Kovacs told Legal Pad in an email today.

—  Zusha Elinson

Forbes Lists Valley Lawyers With 'Midas' Touch

The imperious Forbes magazine has its 100 top tech dealmakers list out today, the so-called Midas List.

The magazine picked four lawyers in a list otherwise populated by Silicon Valley money men and a few money women.

Larry Sonsini: A perennial Midas man, Sonsini ranked seventh this year. The magazine says that Sonsini has the ear of Silicon Valley execs and explains that: “Larry gets the biggest deals (Google's IPO, Freescale's buyout) but also deals with the biggest scandals (options back dating, HP's pretexting mess).”

Legal Pad wonders what the magazine means by “deals with” the biggest scandals …

Bob Gunderson: Gunderson Dettmer’s top dog checks back in at number 43. The magazine doesn’t waste too many words on the veteran venture lawyer.

Warren Lazarow: O’Melveny & Myers’ Menlo Park dealmaker gets back on the list at number 78. The extensive blurb even includes a note about Lazarow’s late father.

Andrew Baker: Lawyer from Baker Botts is a first-timer at number 80. But he’s from Dallas?! Not exactly the tech capital of the world. Legal Pad has heard rumors that his firm is looking to open an office in the Valley, if that makes you feel any better. 

Gordy Davidson: The head of Fenwick & West usually makes the list, but Forbes doesn’t utter his name this year. Legal Pad wonders whether Forbes questioned his deal-making skills for giving tech giants like Cisco big discounts on the legal work Fenwick does for them. 

Jeff Drazan: Not a lawyer, but Legal Pad was pleased to see our favorite VC who doesn’t know how to pick a building contractor for his $13 million house listed at number 68.

—  Zusha Elinson

KLA Settles Shareholder Suit for $65 Million

KLA-Tencor has agreed to pay $65 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit over backdating at the San Jose company, according to a press release from the plaintiff’s lawyers at Berman DeValerio Pease Tabacco Burt & Pucillo.

The company got off much easier with the SEC, which didn’t even require a fine, although KLA’s former general counsel, Lisa Berry was charged, as was the former CEO in the scandal.

Plaintiff lawyers haven’t gotten great traction on most of the backdating suits and companies, like Apple, have had success in getting them dismissed. The largest settlement to date was the $117.5 million that Mercury Interactive Corp. paid to settle shareholder suits last October. 

—  Zusha Elinson

Maxim Integrates Maximum Backdating Damage

Maxim Integrated Products has had just a little trouble with backdating.

The SEC charged and fined former executives in December. Then, plaintiffs in a derivative suit found a way to get their hands on the final report from the company’s internal investigation, which was done by Orrick.

Today, the Sunnyvale chipmaker announced in an SEC filing that it would restate its earnings from 1997 to 2006 to the tune of $550 million to $650 million. A restatement of that size would put the company near the top of the list. Juniper Networks took a $900 million options-related charge in 2006, but few others in the Valley have broken the half-billion-dollar mark.

Because of the whole mess, Maxim has been exiled to trading on the pink sheets (the place where naughty companies who don’t file their financial statements go). It will be there at least until June when the company predicts it’ll be done figuring out exactly what and how much was backdated.

—  Zusha Elinson

Luce Partner Loses Fees in Gay Adoption Case

Looks like good work will have to be its own reward for Charles Bird, a Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps partner in San Diego.

When the appellate lawyer signed on to represent a woman in a custody battle against her same-sex ex, they agreed she’d pay for oral argument at the court of appeal — something like $8,000 to $10,000. They discussed the fact that if they lost there, the client probably wouldn’t be able to pay more, but he’d probably keep representing her because of his concern for the legal issue involved. And his firm would take a chance on recovering fees if he ultimately won.

Well, Bird did win, and in the process forged some landmark gay-rights case law in California: The Supreme Court’s 2003 opinion in Sharon S. v. Superior Court validated so-called second-parent adoptions, where a same-sex partner adopts a child without the biological parent relinquishing her rights.

But today the Supreme Court — despite saying there’s no question the litigation yielded “a substantial and widespread public benefit” — overturned a ruling that had granted Bird nearly a hundred grand in fees. Bird argued that his client had acted as a private attorney general and should therefore be able to collect attorney’s fees from her ex. That had worked on a trial court, which awarded about $92,000. The unanimous Supremes pinned their contrary decision to the role of the biological mother, Sharon S., who had tried to nullify the adoption rights of Bird’s client. Her taking the issue to court hadn’t adversely affected any segment of the public, the court said — it just so happened that when Sharon S. lost her own private battle, an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 adoptive parents benefited.

Or to put it more generally, “being on the losing side of an important appellate case” doesn’t automatically make someone liable for fees.

—  Pam Smith

Santa Clara's Rice Retires From Bench

Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Randolf Rice has retired from the bench due to disability, the Commission on Judicial Performance confirmed today.

The CJP, which reviews such applications, gave the go-ahead on Rice’s application last week. It became official “sometime yesterday afternoon or this morning,” said Victoria Henley, director of the CJP.

Rice, 60, can “no longer perform any judicial duties,” Henley said. Rice could not be reached for comment.