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To: Cactus Jack who wrote (151832)	11/7/2008 2:51:56 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 361732

Unsettled times a boon for lawyers _______________________________________________________________ By Carol J. Williams The Los Angeles Times November 3, 2008 The loose-leaf binders on Beverly Hills, Calif., attorney Paul Kiesel's blond wood shelves contain hundreds of stories alleging deception, loss and heartache. Kiesel is representing struggling homeowners who claim they were misled about the terms of their mortgages. He is far from the only lawyer finding himself busy these days as a result of the hard economic times. In addition to attorneys suing lenders, there are others providing counsel for companies that are downsizing or have been pushed into bankruptcy. Some are representing clients in fraud lawsuits against banks and Wall Street investment firms. And there are lawyers guiding distressed banks seeking a piece of the $700 billion government rescue package for the financial system. The country may be slipping into recession, but it's shaping up to be boom time for lawyers as the bailout creates plenty of work. "Is this a business opportunity?" Karen Garrett, head of the financial institution regulatory practice for the Bryan Cave law office in Kansas City, asked rhetorically. "From here on out, we're going to see huge opportunity as credit fans out and everyone tries to use the tools available from recent legislation." The bailout legislation also includes new rules putting restrictions on executive compensation, which will create more work for lawyers, said Scott Sinder, head of Steptoe & Johnson's government affairs and public policy practice in Washington. "We're going to have to marry program restraints with contractual obligations of companies" as lenders and insurers enter contracts with the government, Sinder said. Smaller clients whose businesses aren't directly affected by the credit and mortgage problems are peppering their lawyers with questions on such matters as the security of their deposits and their access to credit, said Marty Rolle, a partner in Bryan Cave's London office. Labor and employment lawyers are busy advising companies cutting their staffs on how best to handle layoffs without getting sued, even as some law firms are being hit by the tough economy and are letting go of staffers. In this year's Litigation Trends Survey by international law firm Fulbright & Jaworski, 43 percent of corporate counsel surveyed said they expected an upswing in lawsuits, largely spurred by economic crises. Stephen Dillard, who heads the firm's global litigation practice, said the survey's findings represent a belief that we are in "a period of economic challenge that is likely to fuel litigation over who is to blame and who should pay for the consequences." Michael Dorff, associate dean and law professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, sees little prospect of success in most of the litigation, although he agrees that a gusher of lawsuits is likely to occur nonetheless. He sounds a cautionary note about the financial future for law firms, noting lawyers, like everyone else, may be facing tougher times. "If you look industrywide, the recession is going to hurt lawyers more than any kind of benefit they would derive from the legal work," he said. Dorff said many of the lawsuits that grow out of the crisis, including shareholder suits alleging executives misled investors, will be difficult or impossible to win because plaintiffs would have to prove willful misconduct or failure to fulfill fiduciary duties. Banks, brokerages and investment houses can argue they were caught unaware by the swift change in the economic tide. But that won't stop the legal actions. "There's so much at stake, it's just undeniable that there is going to be a lot of litigation," said Michael Dolan, chief executive of Tusker Group of Austin, Texas, which operates two legal services facilities in India, where 300 lawyers, researchers and processors review documents for about 10 percent of what it costs a U.S. lawyer to do similar work. "Because of the players involved, this is going to be document-intensive litigation," Dolan said, estimating that U.S. law firms spend $30 billion a year poring over potential evidence that has grown exponentially in volume now that courts allow exchanges by computer. Only a fraction of the document reviewing for U.S. cases is done offshore, he said, leaving far more than 90 percent in the hands of American lawyers billing their clients more than $200 an hour.

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (151832)	11/11/2008 8:20:37 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361732

Lincecum defies critics, wins Cy Young nationalpost.com November 11, 2008 Too small. Too unorthodox a delivery. Reconstructive arm surgery waiting to happen. Tim Lincecum heard all the naysayers over the years. The San Francisco Giants righthander may never be able to quiet concerns about his long-term durability, but the 24-year-old now has a National League Cy Young Award that proves he can pitch. "People have been doubting me my whole life," Lincecum said yesterday, after easily beating Arizona's Brandon Webb in the Cy Young voting. "It's nothing new and it's not one of those things that I'm going to hold against them." Lincecum, who the Toronto Blue Jays tried to acquire via trade last winter, went 18-5 with a 2.65 earned-run average for the Giants and led the majors with 265 strikeouts. He received 23 of 32 first-place votes and 137 points from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Webb had four first-place votes and 73 points after going 22-7 with a 3.30 ERA. He won the NL award in 2006 and was also second in the voting last year. New York Mets lefthander Johan Santana, who had a league-leading 2.53 ERA, was third in the voting, followed by Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge, Milwaukee lefty CC Sabathia and Ryan Dempster, the Chicago Cubs righthander from Gibsons, B.C. Sabathia received one first-place vote despite spending the first half of the season in the American League. After Milwaukee acquired him from Cleveland, Sabathia went 11-2 with seven complete games and a 1.65 ERA. "I was definitely surprised," said Lincecum, who was lying on his sofa watching NFL highlights when he heard the news. "I was thinking more along the lines of Johan or Sabathia or Webb. Those guys are all great players. I think they're all three Cy Young winners previously [Santana won the AL award in 2004 and 2006, Sabathia won it last year]. So I figured they had a better shot, or as good of a shot, as I did." Lincecum has a history of proving himself. He was a Golden Spikes award winner in 2006 at the University of Washington as the top college player in the United States. And he posted a 0.69 ERA facing other top prospects in the prestigious Cape Cod League in 2005. But the pitcher who is listed as 5-foot-11, 160-pound righthande fell to 10th overall in the 2006 draft because of concerns about how he would hold up to the rigours of professional baseball. Before the draft, Baseball America described Lincecum's herky-jerky delivery as "resembling a pinwheel as he rocks back, [it] makes his body do most of the work and seemingly brings his lightning-quick arm along for the ride." While six of the nine players selected ahead of Lincecum have reached the majors, he is the second member of his draft class to win a major award. Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, the third overall pick in 2006, won AL rookie of the year honours on Monday. Lincecum credited his changeup for helping him become a dominant starter. "I haven't been really one to consistently use it at all," said Lincecum, who went 7-5 and posted a 4.00 ERA in 24 starts as a rookie in 2007. "This year it definitely came up as a big pitch for me. I found a grip that I'm more comfortable with that I can throw more consistently for strikes and just proved to work for me." Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive