http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-22T19:27:30-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/feds_say_assets_of_ex-lawyer_charged_in_4.5m_client_theft_are_missing_ask_j/ Released on bond as he awaits trial in a federal wire-fraud case related to his alleged theft of $4.5 million in client funds, former Indianapolis lawyer William F. Conour is now accused of having violated bond conditions by disposing of personal assets without court approval. A new inventory ordered last… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Real Estate & Property Law, Trials & Litigation, 7th Circuit Court, States, Indiana Wed, 08 May 2013 14:27:04 -0500 44093.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/posner_op-ed_privacys_benefits_are_exaggerated/ Privacy is really about concealing aspects of yourself from others, according to federal appeals judge Richard Posner. We want to hide our arrest records, medical histories and peccadilloes, Posner writes in a New York Daily News op-ed. “We want to present sanitized versions of ourselves… Criminal Justice, Judiciary, Privacy Law, Terrorism, 7th Circuit Court Tue, 30 Apr 2013 06:05:30 -0500 43960.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_sued_for_fake_nun_comment_wins_appellate_ruling_that_court_cant_deci/ Updated: A Chicago-based federal appeals court has ruled on behalf of a lawyer seeking to prove the truth of his comment that a woman was a “fake nun.” Sued for defamation, Indiana lawyer Kevin McCarthy produced a statement by the Holy See’s diplomatic mission to the United States that the… Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Religious Law, 7th Circuit Court Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:42:44 -0500 43685.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/7th_circuit/ A "destitute" paralegal who has made reasonable efforts to repay her student loan debt is entitled to a bankruptcy discharge of the remaining $25,000 or so despite the fact that she never enrolled in a federal income-contingent repayment plan, a federal appeals court has ruled. Reinstating a bankruptcy court's determination… Appellate Practice, Bankruptcy Law, Careers, Law Firms, Paralegals, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 7th Circuit Court Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:20:26 -0500 43672.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/woman_who_sued_google_over_levitra_link_to_her_name_loses_in_7th_circuit/ A federal appeals court has tossed a lawsuit by a Wisconsin woman who claims Google violated state misappropriation laws by linking her name to erectile dysfunction drugs through its Google Suggest feature. In an opinion issued on Wednesday, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found no… Internet Law, Privacy Law, 7th Circuit Court Thu, 07 Mar 2013 09:53:41 -0600 43157.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/district_attorneys_are_declining_to_defend_controversial_state_and_federal/ Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Legal Ethics, 7th Circuit Court, States, Illinois, Wisconsin, The National Pulse Fri, 01 Mar 2013 04:40:28 -0600 42770.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/full_7th_circuit_declines_to_review_appellate_decision_striking_illinois_co/ In another step toward a likely relaxation of a strict Illinois state law banning concealed-carry firearms under most circumstances, a divided federal appeals court on Friday denied a request for en banc review of an earlier appellate court decision finding the law unconstitutional. The 5-4 order (PDF) by… Appellate Practice, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Government Law, Legislation & Lobbying, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 7th Circuit Court, States, Illinois Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:55:19 -0600 42982.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/attorney_radio_host_is_charged_in_10m_alleged_mortgage_fraud/ A suburban Chicago attorney who hosts a syndicated national radio program is facing a federal mortgage fraud case. Warren Ballentine is accused of helping unqualified buyers obtain mortgages by falsely stating in real estate closing documents that they intended to occupy the homes they were purchasing, according to the Celebrities, Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Real Estate & Property Law, 7th Circuit Court, States, Illinois Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:57:16 -0600 42587.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ex-lawyer/ A once-prominent personal injury attorney in Indiana is now represented by a public defender as he awaits trial in a federal wire fraud case in which he has been accused of stealing $4.5 million from 25 clients. William F. Conour, 65, told a federal judge at a hearing Friday in… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, 7th Circuit Court, States, Indiana Fri, 25 Jan 2013 13:48:43 -0600 42558.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/facebook_ban_for_sex_offenders_is_overturned_by_7th_circuit/ A federal appeals court has overturned an Indiana law that bars most registered sex offenders from using social media that is accessed by minors. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law “broadly prohibits substantial protected speech rather than specifically targeting the evil of improper communications to… Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Criminal Justice, Internet Law, 7th Circuit Court, States, Indiana Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:18:23 -0600 42531.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federal_jury_awards_12m_to_man_denied_epilepsy_medication_while_in_prison/ A man who said staff at an Illinois prison denied him his prescribed epilepsy medication while he was an inmate there was awarded $12 million on Friday by a federal jury in Chicago. Raymond Fox suffered permanent brain damage from an aneurysm caused by a series of seizures and now… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Tort Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 7th Circuit Court, States, Illinois Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:15:18 -0600 42460.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/fans_backstage_chat_with_joan_rivers_included_in_doc_film_wasnt_private_7th/ Affirming a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit against Joan Rivers, a federal appeals court in Chicago on Thursday held that a fan did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning a brief backstage chat with the raunchy comedian, in the presence of others. The fan, Ann Bogie, sued… Celebrities, Civil Procedure, Media & Communications Law, Tort Law, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, Verdicts & Settlements, 7th Circuit Court, States, Wisconsin Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:42:58 -0600 42452.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/law_prof_7th_circuit_needs_to_rein_in_slapdash_posner/ University of Baltimore law professor Garrett Epps is taking federal appeals judge Richard Posner to task for the tone of his opinion striking down an Illinois gun law. Posner's opinion for the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Moore v. Madigan overturned a law that… Constitutional Law, Judiciary, 7th Circuit Court Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:07:05 -0600 42387.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/mayer_brown_fraud_case/ Already accused of teaming up with a vendor to bilk a Chicago-based international law firm of nearly $1 million, the former chief information officer of Mayer Brown is now facing charges that he and the other man stole nearly $5 million from Mayer Brown between 2004 and 2011. The former… Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Law Firms, Large Firm, 7th Circuit Court, States, Illinois Mon, 14 Jan 2013 13:29:43 -0600 42358.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/2nd_man_who_escaped_federal_prison_by_climbing_down_15_stories_on_bedsheet_/ A second man who escaped a fortress-like federal prison in downtown Chicago last month by climbing 15 stories down its facade on a makeshift rope made of bedsheets has been captured. Although the resulting federal manhunt had reportedly gone nationwide, Kenneth Conley, a convicted bank robber, was found Friday in… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary, Court Security, 7th Circuit Court, States, Illinois Mon, 07 Jan 2013 10:30:55 -0600 42233.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/daring_escape_down_15_stories_of_federal_prison_in_chicago/ In a strategic move apparently intended to avoid wasting resources on an unnecessary trial and, perhaps, encourage cooperation by a defendant already facing substantial time behind bars, the feds have dropped an escape case against one of two men who made a daring escape from a downtown Chicago prison last… Criminal Justice, Judiciary, Court Security, 7th Circuit Court, States, Illinois Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:34:07 -0600 42211.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/chicago_legal_heavyweights_to_retry_2400-year-old_socrates_case_before_7th_/ Star litigators in Chicago are preparing to retry a controversial 2,400-year-old free speech case that famously resulted in the death of Socrates, now considered the father of Greek philosophy, when he drank a cup of poisonous hemlock. Dan Webb of Winston and Strawn and plaintiffs lawyer Robert A. Clifford, a… Criminal Justice, International Law, Legal History, Media & Communications Law, 7th Circuit Court, International Courts/Tribunals, International, Europe, States, Illinois Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:12:49 -0600 42164.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/posner_advises_judges_to_consider_cost_of_imprisoning_elderly_when_imposing/ Judge Richard Posner of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has some advice for judges tempted to substitute “a superlong sentence for a merely very long sentence.” Consider the costs, Posner says in an opinion concurring in the dismissal of an appeal filed on behalf of a 46-year-old… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary, 7th Circuit Court Thu, 20 Dec 2012 06:30:50 -0600 42114.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/7th_circuit_strikes_illinois_concealed-carry_ban_gives_state_180_days_to_re/ Saying that the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized a right to bear arms for self-defense, which can be just as necessary outside the home as in one's home, a divided three-judge panel of a federal appeals court in Chicago has struck down as unconstitutional an Illinois law that prohibits most… Appellate Practice, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Government Law, Legislation & Lobbying, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 7th Circuit Court, States, Illinois Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:29:13 -0600 42001.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ex-lawyer_for_club_convicted_with_6_others_in_outlaw_biker_gang_racketeerin/ A trial lawyer in Gary, Ind., has been convicted of conspiracy, along with six co-defendants, in a federal racketeering case in St. Louis over their alleged activities in what prosecutors called an "outlaw biker" gang. Jerry Peteet, 49, who previously served as the lawyer for the Wheels of Soul motorcycle… Criminal Justice, 7th Circuit Court, States, Indiana Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:25:56 -0600 41997.abajournal.com