Judge Elfvin and ABL read in China?

This link to a Chinese website (translated by Google) shows that the Chinese (i.e., the beneficiaries of America's need for cheap plastic toys and a host of other consumer products) are paying attention to American law (as discussed by ABL and others) concerning electronic service of process (e-SOP) -- and how to avoid being hailed into American courts.

Judge Arcara spoke at Federal Practice Meeting

Highlights:

* WDNY wants to be more user-friendly, but does not apologize for setting high standards

* we are increasingly optimistic about securing courthouse funding based on recent conversations with people in DC (including Louise Slaughter by whom Judge Arcara was impressed)

* Judge Bianchini will be doing habeas work from San Diego

* Judge Arcara is tough on giving extensions to the case schedule - it is a court order

* He was surprised to hear that 16(b) conferences were taking as long as a few months to occur

2d Circuit decision discussin class certification

Desmond Inn Of Court meeting on 2/7

The Desmond IOC met yesterday for its first "brown bag" lunch meeting. Despite the weather, approximately 12 members attended and had a lively dialogue about the new deposition rules, a recent decision concerning settlement authority at pre-trial conferences and a recent First Department Decisions (http://nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2006/2006_10132.htm), mediation, and the recent Second Department decisions of Raffellini (http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2006/2006_07722.htm).

Judges Pietruszka, O'Donnell, and Lane led a lively discussion - although there were not many brown-bags to be had. Next month, manga, manga!

The next meeting is on March 7, 2007 at the Ceremonial Courtroom at 12:15. The topic of discussion will be the new DWI laws.

Also mentioned was the fact that Governor Spitzer's budget includes a judicial pay raise (see also http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1170237755668). Supreme Court judges would make slightly more than first-year associates on Wall Street (less when bonuses are factored in).

2d Circuit decision analyzing attorneys' fees