Below is the text of a letter from the law firm Firestone Duncan to clients and staff regarding the death of Sergei Magnitsky (I apologize for the conflicting spellings of his name).

November 18, 2009

Dear clients, partners and friends,

On the night of November 17, 2009 we lost our colleague and friend Sergey Magnitskey. Sergey was 37.

Sergey died in police custody where he had been held almost a year without trial or bail. He was held by a group of police officers who he had testified against; a group of officers who we believe committed a crime against a client and the Russian State.

Sergey died because he would not cooperate with criminals. He was repeatedly told that if he gave false testimony against his client he would be released and he refused. As time went

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Baltimore — (TFN): It’s confirmation! On Friday I wrote how I may have a touch of the flu or some other mind-altering ailment because my thoughts were far more liberal than I am comfortable with admitting.

Well, it turns out my ultra-liberal, straight-ticket voting, French-guy marrying sister has a verifiable case of the pig flu. And guess who I had dinner with on Thursday night? You betcha, big sis.

There we have it: cause and effect.

Fortunately, my head case was short-lived. By the time my venison sausage and eggs were off the front burner on Saturday morning, I was back to my old self, almost knocking my O.J. off the table stomping my fist over a local political battle.

In Friday’s edition of notes, I quoted the following paragraph from Callum Robert’s book The Unnatural History of the Sea:

If any trawling ground be over-fished, the trawlers themselves will be the

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TODAY: Markelov murder suspect reportedly confesses; vengeance a possible motive?  Activist abducted in Moscow.  Spy chief issues warning on Georgia; Lavrov surprised at Poland soliciting US help.  Medvedev reserves army use for emergencies. Luzhkov lays into Abramovich; new vodka pricing; toy story. The Moscow Times reports that revenge may be the motive behind the shooting of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov.  Apparently the alleged gunman Nikita Tikhonov may have been a suspect in the stabbing of anti-fascist activist Alexander Ryukhin in 2006, whose mother Markelov was a lawyer for.  The other suspect, Eugenia Khasis, 24, appears to have no prior convictions.  Apparently the killer has confessed - the Other Russia reporting it to be ...

Dolan Media Company (DM) is making big profits from its counter cyclical mortgage default processing services. The company has surprised on estimates the last 3 quarters by an average of 36.30%. Dolan Media trades with a PEG ratio of 0.87.

Company Description

Dolan Media provides professional services and business information to the legal, financial and real estate industries. It has two segments: Professional Services and Business Information Division.

Professional Services consists of two subsidiaries, NDeX and Counsel Press. NDex provides mortgage default processing services in states with large numbers of distressed home owners such as California and Michigan. Counsel Press provides appellate services to the legal community.

The Business Information Division publishes journals and operates media web sites targeted to the business and legal communities in 21 geographic markets.

Dolan Media Expands Into Florida Market

On Oct 5, the company announced its subsidiary NDeX had entered into a

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Investors have filed a class action lawsuit against Regions Financial Corporation (RF) on charges that the bank had obtained shareholders’ approval for the 2006 acquisition of AmSouth Bancorp by misleading investors about its own financial condition.  In November 2006, when the bank announced to purchase AmSouth Bancorp for $10 billion, it allegedly made false representations about the benefits of combining the two banks into a single operation. AmSouth Bancorp has a significant presence in residential loans in Florida market, which suffered losses when the housing bubble burst. Thus, the investors had been unaware that the purchase would expose the company to potential losses.  In January 2009, Regions announced a $6 billion write-down of goodwill stemming from the AmSouth acquisition. AmSouth was supposed to bring about $6 billion in goodwill to Regions, besides the prospects of doubling its operations in Florida's real estate market. Regions had overstated ...

Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (CLI), a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently signed a new long-term lease for its 100,000 square feet Class A JV office property at 1 Jefferson Road in Parsippany, New Jersey. The lessee was Day Pitney LLP, a full-service law firm with approximately 375 attorneys and offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Washington DC.   The deal is reportedly the largest of its kind in the Northern New Jersey region in 2009 and provides an opportunity to Day Pitney to design and construct new space in the building to meet its additional space requirements. Furthermore, the long-term leasing agreement especially during the period of economic uncertainty is testament to the location advantage and the credibility of the asset’s ownership.   The leased property is a joint venture partnership among institutional investors advised by J. P. Morgan Asset Management, The ...

Walt Disney Company (DIS) has recently won a copyright infringement case running since 1991, relating to the famous animated character ‘Winnie the Pooh.’ In 1930, Stephen Slesinger, a New York television and film producer, acquired the merchandising rights to the Pooh works from author A.A. Milne. Later in 1961, Slesinger transferred the rights to Disney in exchange for a regular royalty. However, the heirs of Slesinger filed a case against Disney, alleging its failure to pay billions in royalties. The case has been dismissed by the court on the grounds that Stephen Slesinger Inc. had transferred all of its rights to Disney, and had no legal rights to claim any compensation for any infringement. In a separate story, Walt Disney could face a copyright battle for Marvel characters, having recently agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment (MVL) in a cash and stock deal worth approximately ...

Axial Vector Energy Corp., a leader in energy conversion efficiency, is fortunate in that it is run by one of the most seasoned international management and advisory teams, with over a century of combined experience. This is critical in starting and growing a company, obtaining the required capital, locking in the rights to key products and technologies, and ensuring that your message gets out to the public on a worldwide basis.

• Samuel Higgins, Axial Chairman, has been involved in raising and investing capital globally for over 30 years, with extensive experience in the energy industry, as well as in real estate and technology. His global contacts include his role as Managing Director of a family office in Latin America that advises high net worth individuals. He also has strong connections in the Middle East, and is partner in Emirates International Capital Advisory

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According to reports, Walt Disney Company (DIS) could face a copyright battle for Marvel characters having recently agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment (MVL) in a cash and stock deal worth  approximately $4 billion.  The children of late artist Jack Kirby, represented by the Los Angeles law firm Toberoff & Associates have served notices related to copyright termination for 45 characters (including the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Thor and the Hulk) created by Jack Kirby, to Walt Disney, Marvel Entertainment, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures.  Jack Kirby died in 1994. Sony Pictures owns movie rights to Spider-Man, and 20th Century Fox owns movie rights to the Fantastic Four and X-Men. Paramount Pictures has a film distribution deal for four upcoming films produced by Marvel, and Universal Pictures has distribution rights to Hulk movies.  Kirby’s children seek to get control of the ...

Vornado Realty Trust (VNO), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), recently announced the sale of an office property in the CBD of Washington DC. However, Vornado will continue to manage the property on behalf of the new owner.   The property spanning 25,000 square feet of space was sold to an institutional investor for $207.8 million or $830 per square foot at a cap rate of 6.3%. Vornado realized a net profit of approximately $41 million from the sale, and received net proceeds of $90 million after the repayment of the existing construction loans.   The property was 100% pre-leased to Mayer Brown LLC, a leading global law firm with offices in key business centers across the Americas, Asia and Europe. The new office building was designed by Helmut Jahn, a German-American architect and designer of dozens of major buildings throughout the world. The property also had LEED-CS ...