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Artists sue auction houses over royalties law
Legal Business |
2011/10/20 09:36
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Famed New York painter Chuck Close and other artists are suing Sotheby's, Christie's and eBay, contending the auctioneers willfully violated a California law requiring royalty payments on sales of their works.
The three federal suits filed Tuesday seek class-action status to represent many other artists and demand unspecified royalties and damages — which could total hundreds of thousands of dollars given current art prices.
The suits were filed on behalf of Close — best known for his enormous photorealistic paintings — along with Los Angeles artist Laddie John Dill, and the estate of late sculptor Robert Graham. Graham's works include the ceremonial gate for the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that was commissioned for the 1984 Olympics and features nude statues modeled on some of the athletes.
A foundation of late California painter Sam Francis also is named as a plaintiff in the suits against Christie's and eBay Inc. |
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Mom pleads guilty to forcing beer on children
Legal Career News |
2011/10/19 09:37
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A Connecticut mother has pleaded guilty to charges that she forced her 4-year-old son to drink beer and gave her 10-month-old daughter beer and cocaine.
The Connecticut Post reports Juliette Dunn, of Bridgeport, pleaded guilty Wednesday to risk of injury to a child under the Alford Doctrine, where the defendant doesn't agree to the facts but agrees the state has enough evidence to win a conviction.
A companion, 33-year-old Lisa Jefferson, pleaded guilty to the same charges.
Police say officers were waved down in June by a neighbor who complained that a woman was feeding children beer at a playground.
The children were turned over to the Department of Children and Families after 29-year-old Dunn's arrest. Custody hasn't been decided. |
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Court to hear bid to sue Shell for Nigerian abuses
Court Press News |
2011/10/18 10:08
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The Supreme Court said Monday it will use a dispute between Nigerian villagers and oil giant Royal Dutch Shell to decide whether corporations may be held liable in U.S. courts for alleged human rights abuses overseas.
The justices said they will review a federal appeals court ruling in favor of Shell. The case centers on the 222-year-old Alien Tort Statute that has been increasingly used in recent years to sue corporations for alleged abuses abroad.
The villagers argue Shell was complicit in torture and other crimes against humanity in the country's oil-rich Ogoni region in the Niger Delta.
A divided panel of federal appeals court judges in New York said the 18th century law may not be used against corporations. More recently, appellate judges in Washington said it could.
In a second case the court agreed to hear, the justices will weigh whether the Torture Victims Protection Act of 1992 can be invoked against organizations, or only individuals.
The sons and widow of Azzam Rahim have filed a civil lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The Palestinian-born Rahim was a naturalized U.S. citizen who was beaten and died in the custody of Palestinian intelligence officers in Jericho in 1995. Three officers were jailed for their role in the case, according to a State Department report.
But when Rahim's relatives sought money damages for his death, the federal appeals court in Washington said they could not use the 1992 law to go after the Palestinian organizations. The law may be applied only to natural persons, the appeals court said.
The Nigerians' lawsuit stems from alleged human rights violations between 1992 and 1995. The suit claims that Shell was eager to stop protests about continuing oil exploration in the area and was complicit in Nigerian government actions that included fatal shootings, rapes, beatings, arrests and property destruction. |
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Greenberg Traurig Receives 2 International MA Advisor Awards
Law Firm News |
2011/10/18 10:07
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The international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP won two awards in the Major Transaction category for Corporate/Strategic Acquisition of the Year and for Financing Deal of the Year at The Mamp;A Advisor 3rd Annual International Mamp;A Awards. The awards were presented for Greenberg Traurig's role in the business combination of Liberty Acquisition Holdings Corp. and Promotora de Informaciones, a transaction that involved more than 100 firm attorneys. The firm was also a finalist for Mamp;A Deal of the Year and Turnaround Deal of the Year in the Major Transaction category and for Media, Entertainment and Telecom in the Sector Transaction category.
Leading the Liberty deal team at Greenberg Traurig were, from the Fort Lauderdale office, shareholders Donn Beloff, Bruce March and Brian Gavsie, and associate Bernie Grondin; from the Miami office, shareholders Patricia Menendez-Cambó, Chair of the firm’s Global Practice Group, Randy Bullard, and Mark Lopez, and associate Enrique Conde; from the New York office, shareholders Alan Annex and Ken Gerasimovich; from the Tysons Corner office, shareholder Jason Simon; from the Chicago office, shareholder Peter Lieberman; and from the Wilmington office, shareholder Kelly Terribile. The winners were announced at the 3rd Annual International Mamp;A Awards Gala on Tuesday, October 11, 2011, at The Cornell Club in New York City.
Comprised of more than 350 lawyers in more than 30 offices, Greenberg Traurig’s Corporate and Securities/Mamp;A Practice provides advice and services to companies and entrepreneurs throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Greenberg Traurig’s practice groups and attorneys have been recognized as No. 1 in their respective geographic regions by The National Law Journal, Chambers amp; Partners, Corporate Board Member magazine, Latin Lawyer magazine and numerous regional and local professional publications.
Most recently, Greenberg Traurig ranked 5th among all law firms representing investment banks in U.S. mergers and acquisitions transactions, with 12 announced transactions, in the 2011 Six-Month Banker Representations listing published by Corporate Control Alert. Firms were ranked by the total number of deals having a value of $100 million or more during the period from January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011. According to league table reports published by Bloomberg, mergermarket and Thomson Reuters, during the first half of 2011, Greenberg Traurig had 50 Mamp;A deals announced globally, with a value of approximately $60 billion, up from 30 announced deals valued at approximately $16 billion in the first half of 2010. The firm's advance was propelled by its role in several high-profile transactions. Greenberg Traurig ranked in the top 15 law firms nationally and top 20 law firms globally in eight rankings in the reports, which highlight deal activity at top law firms across a broad array of deal types, regions, and industry sectors.
For additional information, please visit www.gtlaw.com. |
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Brower Piven Announces Investigation of El Paso Corp.
Law Firm News |
2011/10/17 10:07
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The law firm of Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, has commenced an investigation into possible breaches of fiduciary duty to current shareholders of El Paso Corporation and other violations of state law by the Board of Directors of El Paso relating to the proposed acquisition of the company by Kinder Morgan, Inc. The firm’s investigation seeks to determine whether El Paso’s Board breached its fiduciary duties by, among other things, failing to maximize shareholder value.
On October 16, 2011, El Paso and KMI jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby KMI will acquire all outstanding shares of El Paso for $26.87 per share based on the closing prices of each of the companies on October 14, 2011. The joint press release stated that the agreement provides that El Paso shareholders will receive for each of their shares $14.65 in cash plus 0.4187 KMI shares and 0.640 KMI warrants with a five-year term exercisable at $40.00 per share.
According to the joint press release, while under all circumstances El Paso shareholders will receive 0.640 KMI warrants per El Paso share held, subject to proration, El Paso shareholders will be able to elect, for each El Paso share held, either (i) $25.91 in cash, (ii) 0.9635 shares of KMI common stock, or (iii) $14.65 in cash plus 0.4187 shares of KMI common stock. According to the joint release, El Paso’s board, two members of which will join the KMI board after the transaction closes, has agreed not to solicit competing transactions. Further, under certain circumstances, according to the companies, KMI will receive a termination fee of $650 million, or over $0.90 per El Paso share, from El Paso. According to Yahoo! Finance, at least one analyst has set a price target for El Paso of $28 per share.
If you own El Paso common stock and would like to learn more about the investigation being conducted by Brower Piven, you may email or call Brower Piven, who will, without obligation or cost to you, attempt to answer your questions. You may contact Brower Piven by email at hoffman@browerpiven.com, by calling 410/415-6616, or at Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, 1925 Old Valley Road, Stevenson, Maryland 21153.
Attorneys at Brower Piven have combined experience litigating securities and other class action cases of over 60 years.
hoffman@browerpiven.com |
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