HIGH PROFILE CASES

• Appellate court hands Grasso partial victory in suit over multimillion dollar NYSE pay package
* Read the Decision
• Conrad Black ordered funds transferred, former partner says

NEWS

• Billionaire Warren Buffett provides details about his succession plan
• US lawmakers debate need of lending reforms as they wade into housing market's complexity
• Simon & Schuster Ex-CEO Says Warner Music Chief Owes Him $100M
• Credit Suisse banker charged with leaking inside information about mergers
• Execs Plead Guilty to Bribing Lawmakers
* Which Lawyer Is Charged In the Case?
• Computer Hacker to Pay $10 Million in Options Fraud Case
• Probe of Trading in Dow Jones

RECENT CASE SUMMARIES

• In re: Globe Building Materials, Inc.
• Coosemans Specialties, Inc. v. Gargiulo
• Bailey v. Fish & Neave

HIGH PROFILE CASES:

APPELLATE COURT HANDS GRASSO PARTIAL VICTORY IN SUIT OVER MULTIMILLION DOLLAR NYSE PAY PACKAGE
(AP) - Former New York Stock Exchange chairman Richard Grasso has won a partial victory in his legal fight to hold on to his $187.5 million compensation package. The New York Appellate Division in Manhattan threw out four rulings against Grasso on Tuesday that had been made by a lower court last year. Read more...

Related Resources
• Read the Decision (People v. Grasso)

CONRAD BLACK ORDERED FUNDS TRANSFERRED, FORMER PARTNER SAYS
(AP) - The government's star witness at media mogul Conrad Black's fraud trial testified Tuesday that Black himself ordered millions of dollars paid to a smaller Toronto-based company he owned. F. David Radler's testimony was the first to tie Black directly to the transfer of tens of millions of dollars that the government maintains belonged to the Hollinger International media empire. Read more...

NEWS:

BILLIONAIRE WARREN BUFFETT PROVIDES DETAILS ABOUT HIS SUCCESSION PLAN
(AP) - Billionaire Warren Buffett does not want to give up the throne at his holding company anytime soon, but the 76-year-old is preparing for that day. Many details remain secret, but the question of who might become Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s chief investment officer is getting a lot of attention because Buffett said in March he plans to hire one or more candidates for that position soon on a trial basis. Read more...

US LAWMAKERS DEBATE NEED OF LENDING REFORMS AS THEY WADE INTO HOUSING MARKET'S COMPLEXITY
(AP) - Congress is looking at potential reforms to risky home lending practices, although a House subcommittee hearing on Tuesday suggests lawmakers are still sorting out the complex workings of the mortgage market and wondering whether reforms will be necessary or helpful. Read more...

SIMON & SCHUSTER EX-CEO SAYS WARNER MUSIC CHIEF OWES HIM $100M
(Andrews) - Former Simon & Schuster CEO Richard Snyder alleges in a recent lawsuit that Warner Music Group chief Edgar Bronfman Jr. "dishonorably and dishonestly" cheated him out of $100 million for setting up Bronfman's $2.6 billion acquisition of WMG. Read more...

CREDIT SUISSE BANKER CHARGED WITH LEAKING INSIDE INFORMATION ABOUT MERGERS
(AP) - A Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC investment banker from Pakistan has been charged with conspiracy and securities fraud in connection with leaks of pending merger details, including TXU Corp.'s proposed buyout by a private-equity group, according to newly released court documents. Read more...

EXECS PLEAD GUILTY TO BRIBING LAWMAKERS
(AP) - Two top officers of an oil services company pleaded guilty Monday to bribing Alaska lawmakers with cash and the promise of jobs, contracts and favors for their backing on bills supported by the multinational firm. Bill J. Allen, founder and chief executive of Anchorage-based VECO Corp., and Rick Smith, a vice president, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to extortion, bribery, and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service. Read more...

Related Resources
• Which Lawyer Is Charged In the Case?

COMPUTER HACKER TO PAY $10 MILLION IN OPTIONS FRAUD CASE
(Andrews) - A federal judge in New York has ordered a Hong Kong company and its CEO to pay more than $10 million in a stock-options trading scheme involving the theft of confidential corporate earnings forecasts through computer hacking. U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. of the Southern District of New York issued the order after the company, Blue Bottle Ltd., and CEO Matthew Stokes, 30, of the English Channel island Guernsey, failed to respond to a complaint the Securities and Exchange Commission filed in February. Read more...

PROBE OF TRADING IN DOW JONES
(AP) - Federal and state authorities are investigating suspicious options trading in Dow Jones & Co. stock prior to an announcement last week of News Corp.'s $5 billion bid for the financial news publisher. News last Tuesday of the $60-per-share bid by Rupert Murdoch's company sent Dow Jones shares soaring. A spokesman for Dow Jones, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, said Monday that it has received a subpoena from the New York attorney general's office and a request for information from the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding options trading. Read more...

RECENT CASE SUMMARIES:

IN RE: GLOBE BUILDING MATERIALS, INC.
(U.S. 7th Circuit) - In a suit by a bankruptcy trustee to recover payments made to a company producing specialized equipment for a bankrupt roofing materials manufacturer during the bankrupt company's preferential period, judgment for the trustee is affirmed where the equipment-manufacturer's delivery of certain components of the equipment line during the preference period was not enough to entitle it to the benefit of the new value exception. Read more...

COOSEMANS SPECIALTIES, INC. V. GARGIULO
(U.S. 2nd Circuit) - In a suit for recovery of funds under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act from a PACA trustee, judgment for plaintiffs is affirmed over the trustee's arguments that: 1) he did not "dissipate" the PACA trust assets; and 2) the plaintiffs did not exhaust the company's corporate assets. Read more...

BAILEY V. FISH & NEAVE
(N.Y. App.) - In case involving the propriety of an amendment to a law firm partnership agreement affecting compensation to withdrawing partners and passed by a majority of the shares in interest of the partnership, dismissal of complaint brought by withdrawing partners is affirmed as, under the agreement, all questions related to the partnership may be decided by a majority vote and the partnership agreed to be bound by the "decision of the majority" on all partnership questions. Read more...