A Los Angeles judge has blasted one of the nation's leading plaintiffs firms in asbestos litigation for attempting to obtain an upper hand in the case through what he called a "type of judicially sanctioned extortion."

The judge's statements came in a lawsuit filed by Waters & Kraus on behalf of a Los Angeles man who died of mesothelioma in December 2007. Six months before, the man had been deposed in Texas, where the case was first filed. The case has since been re-filed in California. During the past month, industrial product manufacturer Crane Co. sought to exclude the man's deposition from the case. In court papers, Crane argued that the information gleaned from the deposition, which under Texas law is limited to six hours, was insufficient to obtain summary judgment in California.

On April 7, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Aurelio Munoz, while refusing to grant summary judgment, concluded that Waters & Kraus had re-filed the case in California intentionally as a means to force a settlement. Calling such tactics a "waste of the court's time," Munoz noted that Waters & Kraus has played the same "grisly game of asbestos litigation" in at least nine cases.

Peter Kraus, managing partner of Dallas-based Waters & Kraus, told The National Law Journal that the judge "got it 180 degrees wrong." While not denying the firm's actions, Kraus said that its attorneys must file asbestos cases in jurisdictions where ailing clients don't have to endure lengthy depositions.

"And if they die, the facts necessary to prove their case die with them," he said.

Lawyers for Crane, in an April 24 appellate petition, said that the dispute could affect "potentially hundreds of pending and future asbestos personal injury and wrongful death actions in California."

"I definitely think this is something the defense and plaintiff's bar are going to watch very, very closely, and it will have very important ramifications regardless of whichever way it goes," said Alexandra Epand, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Nixon Peabody who handles asbestos litigation.

Hsu, 58 years old, pleaded guilty to five counts of mail fraud and five counts of wire fraud at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan.

"I would use later investments to pay off earlier investments, so as to create the impression that my investment strategy was operating properly when, in fact, it was not," Hsu said. "I knew what I was doing was illegal,"

Jury selection is scheduled on the four remaining counts of campaign finance fraud in his case beginning Monday.

Hsu faces up to 20 years in prison on the mail and wire fraud charges.

Alan Seidler, Hsu's lawyer, said Hsu made the plea without having a plea agreement with the government.

Prosecutors had alleged Hsu falsely represented to investors that his companies - Components Ltd. and Next Components Ltd. - were in the business of extending short-term financing to companies and promised short-term, high-return investments.

Between 1997 and August 2007, the government claims Hsu convinced investors to entrust him with at least $60 million in a Ponzi scheme. After repaying some investors their principal and interest, Hsu allegedly swindled other investors out of at least $20 million, prosecutors said.

During his plea, Hsu said the scheme began in 1999.

Prosecutors also have alleged Hsu, in order to raise his public profile, pressured some investors between 2004 and 2007 to individually contribute thousands of dollars to candidates for president and Congress whom Hsu supported.

In some cases, Hsu allegedly reimbursed investors for making political contributions with proceeds from the scam, prosecutors said.

The law firm of Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C. (www.gjn.com) served as counsel to Stratus Building Solutions, an industry-leading provider of integrated facilities maintenance services for retail, commercial, industrial, professional and multi-family buildings and real estate property, in connection with  expansion of the company's successful licensed building services and building maintenance operations into Canada.


The transaction, which was effective May 4, 2009, allows Stratus Building Solutions of Canada, a newly formed entity based in Toronto, Ontario, to use Stratus Building Solutions' trade secrets, copyrighted materials and branding in Canada.  The new entity will offer building services and maintenance licenses under the Stratus Building Solutions brand in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan.

Robert D. Cantwell, a partner at Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., served as lead counsel for Stratus Building Solutions.  Mr. Cantwell’s legal practice focuses on business, corporate and governmental law with an emphasis on complex mergers and acquisitions, gaming and franchising.

St. Louis-based Stratus Building Solutions (www.stratusclean.com) offers 16 different building service and maintenance plans providing “environmentally green” cleaning systems, products, services and marketing support. These include the “Stratus GreenClean” program which uses environmentally-friendly products and services to help sustain healthier, more productive facilities. Also, the firm offers a program called “Stratus Sani-Proof” that kills Influenza Type A and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and other bacteria often found in offices, schools, daycare centers, health clubs, medical facilities and industrial buildings.

Stratus Building Solutions of Canada will operate under an agreement established with Stratus Building Solutions. Jeffrey B. Aibel and Kenneth Casseri will own and manage the new Canadian operation.  

Dennis Jarrett, chief executive officer, and Pete Frese, president, founded Stratus Building Solutions in 2004 after each worked for more than a decade as senior executives in building services and maintenance industries.

Gallop, Johnson & Neuman has served clients around the world since 1976 from its offices in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the largest law firms in St. Louis. The firm serves entrepreneurs, privately-held companies and start-up firms; public corporations; private equity funds; individuals and families; trustees and trust beneficiaries; charities; and non-profit entities. Offices are located at 101 South Hanley Road, Suite 1700, Clayton, Missouri, 63105.  

Stratus Building Solutions currently has U.S. operations in Connecticut, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, with plans for further international expansion.  

For information about Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, please contact Lois A. LaDreier at 314.615.6000 or visit the website www.gjn.com. For information about Stratus Building Solutions, see the website www.stratusclean.com 

or call  314.731.2000 or toll-free at 877.731.2020. Media contact: Jeff Dunlap at 314.993.6925.

Obama met at the White House Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Lavrov's talks with Obama and other U.S. officials come ahead of Obama's planned visit to Moscow in July.

Obama told reporters after meeting with Lavrov the two countries have an excellent opportunity to improve relations "on a whole host of issues."

He said the issues include nuclear proliferation, the situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, conflicts in Iraq and the Middle East, and the worldwide economy.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a lower court's decision rejecting the family's claims of false imprisonment, assault and battery, conspiracy, and unconstitutional search and seizure.

The raid on the Herndon home of Iqbal and Aysha Unus and their daughter, Hanaa, was one of several conducted in northern Virginia in 2002, months after the 9-11 terrorist attacks. No charges were filed as a result of the search, part of a federal anti-terrorism investigation called "Operation Green Quest."

Agents targeted the home of Iqbal Unus, an employee of the Islamic Institute of Islamic Thought, because he was an officer or adviser in three organizations the government suspected of supporting international terrorism.

According to Aysha and Hanaa Unus, authorities knocked loudly on their door and demanded entry. Aysha Unus said she saw a gun through the window and screamed for her daughter, who called 911. That's when agents, weapons drawn, knocked down the door with a battering ram and handcuffed the residents.

"The president is free to nominate whomever he likes," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "But picking judges based on his or her perceived sympathy for certain groups or individuals undermines the faith Americans have in our judicial system."

McConnell's Republicans are turning to a conservative Southerner as their point man on Obama's nominee, signaling that they won't shy away from a protracted fight despite risks of being cast as obstructionist.

Sen. Jeff Sessions' ascension as the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee comes more than 20 years after the panel rejected him for his own federal judgeship during the Reagan administration over concerns that he was hostile toward civil rights and was racially insensitive.

Coincidentally, Sessions, R-Ala., replaces Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a moderate who was one of just two Republicans in 1986 to oppose Sessions as a U.S. district court judge. Specter left the GOP last week to become a Democrat, creating the vacancy atop the committee just as Justice David Souter announced his retirement.