Lawyers & J. David

American Lawyer magazine, which last year captured a behind-the-scenes look at San Diego attorneys scrambling for the legal action from the J. David & Co. fallout, on Wednesday publishes an analysis of the internal machinations and controversies of Rogers & Wells, J. David’s main outside law firm.

The article examines events in late 1982 and early 1983, when Rogers & Wells attorneys began advising J. David (Jerry) Dominelli that his foreign currency trading activity was illegal because the accounts weren’t registered with government regulators as securities.

The magazine looks at “what the partners at Rogers & Wells thought was going on,” according to managing editor Ellen Pollock, who wrote the article. She also analyzes how various internal Rogers & Wells documents--which have been published in San Diego newspapers--will affect the various civil suits filed against them by former J. David investors.

As for conclusions, Pollock said Monday that “Rogers & Wells has a very difficult case,” but also maintains that attorneys examining the case in early 1983 “probably had a different perspective on it than they do now. Hindsight really changes your perspective on it.”

The article’s headline sums up what local attorneys have been arguing since J. David’s collapse.

“Rogers & Wells and the J. David Fiasco: Was the Firm Misled by Client? Betrayed by a Partner? Blind to the Obvious? Or All of the Above?”

An Imperial Deal

There’ll be no strategic changes at San Diego-based Imperial Corp. of America now that Chairman Matthew Shevlin Jr. has resigned and a group of controlling shareholders appear to be fully dictating policy.

“We’ve been diversifying for a couple of years, and those strategies are in place,” according to spokesman Bill Haynor.

Still, the controlling group, led by Victor N. Goulet of Tamco Holding, is based in New York. Although Shevlin will remain as CEO until his successor can be found, it seems clear that the search will be controlled from the Big Apple.

As for Shevlin, he asks for little sympathy: Not only is he off to Hawaii for a vacation, but he’s reached a “mutually acceptable” settlement on his long-term employment contract, which was indeed lucrative.

According to Imperial Corp.’s proxy statement, Shevlin had a base salary of not less than $225,000 per year and a “discretionary bonus” of up to 100% of the annual base salary. In addition, Shevlin was entitled to receive a reduced-interest-rate loan to buy a home; an interest-free $100,000 personal loan, payable in five installments, which would be forgiven if Shevlin was employed by Imperial on the date the payment was due; stock options for up to 100,000 shares of Imperial common at $6.50 (the stock trades at more than $11 per share), and a “split dollar” life insurance policy with $875,000 in benefits payable to Imperial and to Shevlin’s beneficiaries.

On Friday, Columbia Savings & Loan reduced its equity in Imperial Corp. to 4.03% of the outstanding shares from nearly 7%. Columbia sold 390,400 shares of Imperial common from May 7 through June 25 at prices ranging from $8.75 to $10.90 per share.

Toys Will Be Toys

John H. Roberts Jr. has been eyeing toys from F.A.O. Schwarz in New York since he was a boy growing up in Texas. But he admired from afar and could only buy the upscale toys through Schwarz’s catalogue.

To give others a chance to buy the toys, Roberts wants the catalogue to be offered nationwide, he said last week.

Of course, Roberts isn’t just thinking of the kids: Christiana Cos., of which Roberts is chairman, has signed an agreement to buy the toy retailing company and its 22-outlet chain.

Kitty Profit

Larry Kerby isn’t quite sure why Sun Belt residents are taking a shine to his firm’s new “Claw Safe” product for cats, but he’s not spending a lot of time figuring out an answer.

Instead, Kerby, vice president of marketing for Carlsbad-based Claw Safe, is just figuring, as in dollars.

Three thousand Claw Safe kits were sold between late March and the end of May, and Kerby projects reaching the 10,000 mark this month.

The kits, which sell for $9 each, contain various sizes of wooden beads, which are glued on with “Claw Safe Adhesive.” The kits, Kerby said, provide an alternative to surgical declawing, which can be aesthetically unpleasant and which some pet owners believe is inhumane.

The kits are selling best in Sun Belt states, said Kerby, although the product also is catching on in Massachusetts and in three Canadian provinces.

There is an interesting disclaimer in the kits, however. Claw Safe officials warn that “to the best of our knowledge the bonding agent is non-toxic to humans or animals when used externally.”

Sweet Home Chicago

Bob Hartney, the Oak Industries public relations vice president who stuck with the troubled electronics company as it fell from its high-flier status, heads home next month.

The Chicago native joins $8-billion-a-year Household International in Prospect Heights, Ill., outside of Chicago, as director of public relations. Prospect Heights is about 20 miles from Crystal Lake, Oak’s headquarters town before its move here in 1979.

Household International owns Household Finance, National Car Rental, Vons supermarkets and TG&Y; retailers.