LAW
• Director Steven Soderbergh gets out of jury duty in an Upper East Side sex-crimes trial. [NYT]
• Roger Meltzer leaves Cahill Gordon & Reindell and takes his $20 million book of business to DLA Piper, where he will be the head of corporate finance. [The American Lawyer]
• With his Anna Nicole Smith antics, Judge Larry Seidlin makes the best case against cameras in the courtroom. [Crime & Federalism via Inside Opinions]
MEDIA
• Village Voice hires Deborah Kolben away from the Sun to be managing editor; neocons plan redecoration of pinko commie offices. [Media Mob/NYO]
• Former Army scientist Dr. Steven Hatfill has settled a $10 million libel suit against Vanity Fair and Reader’s Digest after the two publications agreed to retract any statements tying him to the 2001 anthrax attacks. [NYS]
• Gawker still searching for a woman to edit the company’s new “girlie” blog, which is supposed to attract female readers from the country’s non-media-obsessed midsection. [Radar Online]
FINANCE
• By naming Gary Crittenden CFO of Citigroup, beleaguered chief and chairman Charles Prince bought himself some time. [NYT]
• Tim Sykes is a young hedge-fund manager who hires his impoverished friends to clean his apartment. [Real Hoboken via DealBreaker]
• Midtown suits who eat at Smith & Wollensky will now line the pockets of new owners Patina Restaurant Group, who bought the steakhouse for $79.5 million. [NYP]
FASHION
• Marc Jacobs considers a third, even cheaper, line. [IHT]
• Yohji parodies Louis Vuitton signature print. [Flypaper]
• Gap kills 19 Forth & Towne, its brand and chain for “older” women. [Slate]
