HP's top lawyer leaves job, holds tongue
303180
Bleeds HP blue Career in "ruin," HP's general counsel Ann Baskins fled the company last night with an exit package potentially worth well over $4m.â¦
35979
Hewlett Packard's top lawyer resigns before a hearing on whether it broke laws while investigating media leaks.
144805
(InfoWorld) - A U.S. government panel has asked a corporate ethics lawyer from Hewlett-Packard (HP) to testify in its Sept. 28 hearing onÂ the company's use of "pretexting"Â to spy on journalists, board members and other employees. The investigative unit of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce CommitteeÂ said Wednesday that it has asked HP Senior Counsel Kevin Hunsaker and Fred Adler, a company computer security investigator, to join a growing list of witnesses. The subcommittee had also previously requested testimony from outgoing HP Chairman Patricia Dunn, HP General Counsel Ann Baskins, HP Global Security Manager Anthony Gentilucci, outside attorney Larry Sonsini as well as outside investigators. The practice of "pretexting" usually involves pretending to be a person, in order to obtain that person's personal information. An HP spokesman declined to comment. Up until now, Dunn has insisted she merely initiated the probe of boardroom leaks, and was ignorant of specific techniques used by investigators. "Unfortunately, the investigation, which was conducted with third parties, included certain inappropriate techniques. These went beyond what we understood them to be, and I apologize that they were employed," Dunn said in a recent statement. ButÂ e-mail correspondence examined by newspapersÂ including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times indicates that top HP officials solicited Dunn's opinion and questioned investigation techniques throughout the course of the leak probe. As early as Aug. 6, 2005, HP's Gentilucci asked for Dunn's advice about using "internal and external sources" to gather intelligence on "interested parties," according to company e-mail seen by The Wall Street Journal. Gentilucci offered to brief HP management on more details of "Project Kona" in a proposed meeting on Aug. 31. It is still unknown if that meeting took place, but Dunn replied to the e-mail, promising to respond. By Jan. 28, 2006, e-mail from Hunsaker to Adler shows that HP's own lawyers were closely questioning investigation techniques, The Wall Street Journal reports. Asked whether HP could legally spy on board members' cell-phone text messages, Adler replied: "Even if we could legally obtain the records, which we can't unless we pay the bill or get consent, I would highly suspect text-messaging records are not kept due to volume and expense." It is unclear if HP obtained text messages. But in an April 28 e-mail to Gentilucci and an outside investigator, Ron DeLia of Security Outsourcing Solutions Inc., in Boston, Hunsaker said he was writing at General Counsel Baskins' request to confirm the details of how the investigation team obtained phone records, The Wall Street Journal reports. In the e-mail, Hunsaker described how investigators were making "pretext calls." Hunsaker also said in the e-mail that his legal research confirmed that pretexting is legal. However, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has said that using fraudulent means to obtain personal information is not legal in the state. Lockyer has said he has evidence to charge people outside and inside HP. House investigators have also asked for testimony from DeLia and private investigator Joe Depante, owner of Action Research Group, which was reportedly hired by HP to help in the investigation. Dunn agreed on Sept. 12 to resign her own position, and will be replaced in January by current chief executive Mark Hurd. Â
264524
CRAWFORD, Texas  - A top lawyer for President  Bush's re-election campaign resigned on Wednesday after  disclosing he provided legal advice to a group that accusing  Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry of lying about his  Vietnam War record.
187565
Novell's general counsel is leaving town. Joe LaSala is moving to Discovery Communications.
3409
Dunn-leading Patricia Dunn, chairman of HP, will leave the position in January next year and be replaced by current CEO Mark Hurd. Dunn's position has been shaky since her role in the snooping scandal became public - Dunn hired private detectives to spy on directors and reporters.â¦
459260
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) is getting out of the chip-making business. The Palo Alto, California, company on Thursday announced that it reached an agreement with Intel Corp.
764802
By Henry J. Holcomb, The Philadelphia Inquirer  Feb. 10--The Philadelphia lawyer who helped Hewlett-Packard Co. navigate its boardroom spying scandal last year is moving to California to become the company's executive vice president and general counsel.   Michael J.
450460
Hewlett-Packard Co.'s board will drop prominent Silicon Valley lawyer Larry Sonsini as its outside counsel, according to a report published Thursday, marking the latest fallout from a spying scandal that humiliated the computer and printer maker.
189864
CRAWFORD, Texas  - A top lawyer for President  Bush's re-election campaign resigned on Wednesday after  disclosing he has been providing legal advice to a group that  accuses Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry of lying  about his Vietnam War record.
554938
(InfoWorld) - Another top Hewlett-Packard executive will leave the company, with HP's announcement on Thursday that its general counsel, Ann Baskins, has resigned, effective immediately. It is unclear how closely involved Baskins, who worked for HP for 24 years, was in theÂ internal investigation scandalÂ plaguing HP. The company is being investigated for potentially using illegally methods in its hunt to uncover an internal source leaking information to the press. HP's chairman of the board hasÂ already resignedÂ and other top executives including a senior counsel and the global security manager have left the company since the scandal erupted. Baskins is among many top officials at HP that a U.S. House of Representatives SubcommitteeÂ has subpoenaed, requiring them to testify as part of the committee's investigation Thursday.
222843
(InfoWorld) - A criminal case against some of the people implicated in theÂ Hewlett-Packard pretexting scandalÂ may wrap up Thursday in a courtroom in San Jose, California. A hearing is scheduled in Santa Clara County Superior Court in the cases against former HP legal counsel Kevin Hunsaker, private investigator Ronald DeLia, and research consultant Matthew DePante. At a hearing in March, a state judge said charges against the three defendants would be dismissed if they performed 96 hours of community service and paid restitution to the victims. At that same hearing, state charges against former HP chairman Patricia DunnÂ were dismissedÂ altogether. Dunn was chair of HP in 2006 when the board authorized an investigation to find out which directors had been leaking details of confidential board deliberations to news reporters. The private investigative firms hired by HP engaged in a practice known as pretexting, in which they pretended to be someone else to obtain phone records of other individuals. HP directors, employees, and several reporters had their private phone records revealed under those false pretenses. The scandalÂ resulted in the departureÂ of three directors, including Dunn, from the HP board. Dunn and the three men had beenÂ chargedÂ with fraudulent wire communications, wrongful use of computer data, identity theft, and conspiracy, in a case brought by the Attorney General of California in October 2006. The hearing Thursday had originally been scheduled for sometime in September, but may have been moved up because the defendants met the judge's requirements for dismissal, said Carl Schulhof, a spokesman for the Superior Court. State charges were dropped against a fifth defendant in the case, Bryan Wagner, after he pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft. He was a contractor who engaged in pretexting to gain access to phone records. Wagner's sentencing on the federal charges was postponed to October, his attorney Stephen Naratil, said Tuesday.
272852
Hewlett-Packard Co. chairman Patricia C. Dunn resigned yesterday and was replaced by chief executive Mark V. Hurd, who apologized for what he called "very disturbing" improprieties in an internal media leak probe that has prompted criminal and congressional investigations.
487936
PALO ALTO, California  - Hewlett-Packard   Co.HPQ.N on Friday said Chairman Patricia Dunn had resigned   effective immediately as pressure on the computer maker mounts   over an internal investigation into boardroom leaks.
562606
The often-absent lead defense lawyer in Phil Spector's murder trial announced Monday that he is leaving, and the music producer said outside court that he decided the attorney should depart.
738101
Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ.N said on   Thursday its general counsel, Ann Baskins, resigned ahead of a   congressional hearing on the company's snooping into the   telephone records of some board members and journalists.
749599
An attorney hired by Hewlett-Packard to investigate the conduct of HP and outside investigators has provided new details of his firm's investigation ofÂ news leaks from the HP board.