http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-18T23:06:02-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/officer_fined_2_for_hitting_handcuffed_suspect/ A police officer in Louisville, Ky., was convicted Friday of official misconduct and harassment for striking a handcuffed suspect. But Officer David Graham was spared jail time and fined only $2. Despite facing jail time and hundreds of dollars in fines, jurors chose to fine him $1 for the misconduct… Criminal Justice, States, Kentucky Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:18:31 -0500 43193.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/murder_defendants_claimed_threats_against_his_attorneys_have_left_him_lawye/ Saying that he found himself in an "interesting and unique" situation, a Kentucky judge told a murder defendant on Monday that local attorneys aren't willing to represent him because of his past threats to kill two defense lawyers. “I honestly don’t know where we are going to go from here,”… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Public Defenders, Trials & Litigation, States, Kentucky Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:26:58 -0600 42825.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jailed_ky._judge-executive_hasnt_resigned_will_he_like_predecessor_hold_job/ For the second time in a row, the judge-executive of Knott County, Ky., has gone to prison after being convicted in a vote-buying case. That raises the question, will Knott County Judge-Executive Randy Thompson, like his predecessor, former Judge-Executive Donnie Newsome, continue to hold office as judge-executive while he serves… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Government Law, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, 6th Circuit Court, States, Kentucky Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:11:34 -0600 41939.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_blasted_by_ky._judge_who_also_called_client_a_carcass_now_seeks_his_/ A lawyer who was blasted by a senior Kentucky judge during a videotaped hearing that has generated much comment from observers has now filed a removal motion seeking a new jurist to oversee his client's motion for a new trial in a capital murder case. “It is my opinion that… Appellate Practice, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary, Trials & Litigation, States, Kentucky Tue, 16 Oct 2012 16:58:03 -0500 41178.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jefferson_circuit_kentucky_judge_martin_mcdonald_backseat_driver_video/ Updated: In an action-packed Sept. 28 hearing, a Kentucky senior judge blasts an appellate lawyer seeking a new trial for his client in a high-profile murder case. As the camera rolls, retired Jefferson Circuit Judge Martin McDonald repeatedly criticizes assistant public advocate David Barron and cuts him off as he… Appellate Practice, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Trials & Litigation, States, Kentucky Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:37:11 -0500 41053.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_disciplined_for_using_personal_laptop_at_work_to_earn_extra_bucks/ A Kentucky lawyer has been reprimanded for using his personal laptop computer during downtime at work to earn extra income by answering legal questions on JustAnswer.com. Matthew Scott Finley also got into hot water by occasionally using his state computer at his job in the public protection cabinet of Kentucky's… Administrative Law, Government Law, Internet Law, Labor & Employment, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Kentucky Mon, 01 Oct 2012 12:47:56 -0500 40956.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jury_deadlocks_in_murder_trial_of_widow_of_attorney_shot_to_death/ A Kentucky jury deadlocked Wednesday in the murder trial of a lawyer's widow accused of shooting him to death in his London law office last year. Larry and Lisa Gilliam had been married just 44 days on Jan. 7, 2011. The prosecution in the Laurel Circuit Court case contended that… Criminal Justice, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Kentucky Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:13:10 -0500 40803.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/on_trial_for_murder_lawyers_widow_says_he_shot_himself_to_death_in_his_law_/ On trial in Kentucky for the murder of her husband, attorney Larry Gilliam, who was shot to death in his law office last year, Lisa Gilliam is arguing that his death was in fact a suicide. The defense says Lisa Gilliam was in another area of the London office when… Criminal Justice, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, States, Kentucky Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:35:28 -0500 40768.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/bingham_mccutchen_plans_to_open_centralized_admin_office_at_u_of_kentucky/ Bingham McCutchen has become the latest major law firm to centralize its back-office legal services in a facility far from its expensive big-city attorney offices. The 1,000-attorney firm announced Wednesday that it will be opening a 250-employee facility next year in Lexington, Ky., the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. Bingham… Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Law Firms, Large Firm, States, Kentucky Wed, 12 Sep 2012 17:31:36 -0500 40695.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/new_equine_law_casebook_interweaves_human_drama_of_horse_racing/ Equine Regulatory Law might sound like a dull legal topic. But in fact the new book by attorney and former Kentucky lawmaker Bob Heleringer is a highly readable history of the country's thoroughbred horse-racing industry, according to the Daily Racing Form and… Animal Law, Law Schools, States, Kentucky Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:43:39 -0500 40666.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/disbarred_lawyer_gets_5_years_in_federal_prison_for_embezzling_1m_from_elde/ A lawyer for Louis M. Smith said his Parkinson's disease is at least in part responsible for the now-disbarred Kentucky lawyer's alleged embezzlement of over $1 million from two elderly women from his church and sought a sentence of home detention for his ailing 63-year-old client. But a federal prosecutor… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Legal Ethics, Trusts & Estates, 6th Circuit Court, States, Kentucky Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:50:10 -0500 40547.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/kentucky_residents_sue_over_black_gunk_whiskey_fungus/ The whiskey fungus identified by researchers in a 2007 article has a name—Baudoinia—and a long history of bedeviling those who live near distilleries. The scientific discovery had led to class-action lawsuits against five major distilleries filed by home and business owners in the area of Louisville, Ky., the Trials & Litigation, States, Kentucky Fri, 31 Aug 2012 09:28:21 -0500 40497.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judges_in_one_kentucky_court_and_their_vacation_honor_system_get_poor_marks/ Some lawyers didn’t hold back in a survey intended to gauge reaction to a reorganization in Kentucky’s Jefferson District Court. A majority of the 164 lawyers who responded to the survey disagreed that the reorganization led to positive change, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported in a story last… Judiciary, States, Kentucky Thu, 30 Aug 2012 13:46:45 -0500 40476.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ky._bar_association_ordered_to_pay_191.5k_legal_bill_for_lawyer_whose_free_/ The Kentucky Bar Association has been ordered by a federal judge to pay a little over $190,000 in attorney's fees to a lawyer whose free speech rights were chilled. The order follows a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision… Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Legal Ethics, Tort Law, Trials & Litigation, Attorney Fees, Verdicts & Settlements, 6th Circuit Court, States, Kentucky Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:42:39 -0500 40377.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/6th_circuit_says_ky._bar_chilled_lawyers_free_speech_he_had_a_right_to_crit/ A federal appeals court has sided with a Kentucky lawyer who challenged, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, a threatened legal ethics case concerning his criticism of the state Legislative Ethics Commission ruling dismissing a case against a prominent politician. The comments made by attorney John M.… Bar Associations, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 6th Circuit Court, States, Kentucky Fri, 27 Jul 2012 15:40:59 -0500 39915.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/as_u_of_louisville_reviews_2.4m_law_scholarship_windfall_admissions_officia/ The University of Louisville's law school budgeted $550,000 for scholarships to incoming students this academic year. But, officials say, the school actually offered first-year law students $1.3 million. That error, multiplied by three years, is going to cost the university's Brandeis School of Law $2.4 million over the next three… Law Schools, States, Kentucky Wed, 18 Jul 2012 12:47:41 -0500 39766.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/around_the_blawgosphere_ALM_marketing_hastings_makers_mark_law_order_svu/ ALM's Latest Moves Last week, American Lawyer Media announced that it's forming a "Marketing Services team that will work with clients to plan, execute and measure a comprehensive legal marketing campaign to better achieve their business goals." "Our clients in the legal services industry are moving away from… Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Legal Marketing & Consulting, Criminal Justice, Intellectual Property Law, Trademark Law, Law in Popular Culture, Law Schools, Law Students, Trials & Litigation, 6th Circuit Court, States, Kentucky Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:30:40 -0500 39040.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/woman_sues_dentist_claims_he_dropped_tool_down_her_throat_that_had_to_be_su/ A Kentucky woman sued a Lexington dentist on Thursday, contending that she reflexively swallowed a small implant screwdriver he dropped in her mouth during a routine treatment and it had to be surgically removed from her digestive tract. Lena David, 71, is seeking unspecified damages in the Fayette County Circuit… Health Law, Tort Law, Medical Malpractice, Trials & Litigation, States, Kentucky Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:30:55 -0500 38514.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/disbarred_civil_rights_lawyer_won_us_supreme_court_ban_on_ten_commandments_/ One of Kentucky's most prominent civil rights lawyers has been disbarred after failing to remit to three clients over $150,000 to which they were entitled. David Friedman had been suspended in August 2010 after complaints concerning two clients, one of whom was a Jefferson Family Court judge, reports the Appellate Practice, Civil Rights, Legal Ethics, U.S. Supreme Court, 6th Circuit Court, States, Kentucky Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:45:07 -0500 38495.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_castigates_petulant_and_peevish_prosecutors_for_media_contact_says_he/ A Kentucky judge blasted prosecutors for alerting local media in what he claimed was a "petulant and peevish" effort to pressure him into ruling in the state's favor when deciding whether to release a jailed defendant on shock probation. However the first assistant of the commonwealth’s attorney’s office, Harry Rothgerber,… Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Judiciary, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Kentucky Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:57:08 -0500 38435.abajournal.com