http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-06-20T02:55:37-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/son_and_lawyer_of_elderly_heiress_brooke_astor_are_headed_to_prison_over_60/ The son of heiress Brooke Astor and her former lawyer have exhausted their appeals in a $60 million fraud case concerning her estate and are headed to prison. The New York Daily News reports that state's highest appellate court on Friday denied appeals by Anthony… Appellate Practice, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Elder Law, Trusts & Estates, States, New York Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:30:21 -0500 44532.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/docs_filed_in_will_contest_over_heiress_300m_estate_say/ As a September trial looms in a will contest over the $300 million estate of a copper heiress who died in 2011 at age 104, documents filed Wednesday in the Manhattan Surrogate's Court case provide new details about the facts at issue. On March 7, 2005, Huguette Clark executed a… Elder Law, Health Law, Trials & Litigation, Trusts & Estates, States, New York Thu, 30 May 2013 16:02:55 -0500 44419.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/caregiver_used_legal_documents_to_siphon_350k_from_elderly_mans_assets_pros/ Carmelita Pasamba met Marshall Davies, who was then 90 years old, in 2007, while working as a nursing assistant at an Illinois hospital at which he was a patient. Now Pasamba, 62, is facing a criminal case for allegedly siphoning off over $350,000 of his assets. She is charged with… Criminal Justice, Elder Law, Trusts & Estates, States, Illinois Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:35:14 -0500 43652.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/disbarred_lawyer_gets_180_days_for_misappropriating_225k_from_clients_estat/ A longtime Illinois lawyer who admittedly misappropriated $225,000 from a client's estate was sentenced Friday to 180 days in jail after turning over a $150,000 check to the court. Earl Wilcek, 59, must also repay another $75,000 over a 30-month period of probation, once he serves his time in the… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Legal Ethics, Trusts & Estates, States, Illinois Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:30:18 -0500 43649.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/polo_moguls_adoption_of_girlfriend_42_is_nixed_by_appeals_court/ John Goodman's adoption of his girlfriend, Heather Anne Hutchins, who was then 42 years old, came at a time when he was facing a criminal trial over a fatal auto accident, a wrongful death suit and a dispute over the management of a trust fund for his two children. But… Criminal Justice, Family Law, Tort Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, Trusts & Estates, States, Florida Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:30:35 -0500 43464.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/brooke_astor_estate/ The son of an elderly heiress and a now-disbarred lawyer convicted of working together to siphon some $60 million from her estate have lost an appeal before a midlevel New York court. Following the determination that Anthony D. Marshall, 88, and Francis X. Morrissey Jr. were appropriately convicted in 2009… Appellate Practice, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Elder Law, Trials & Litigation, Trusts & Estates, States, New York Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:15:24 -0500 43449.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/once_again_kennedy_is_considered_tie-breaker_in_doma_case_is_a_roberts_ruli/ Court watchers will be following the remarks of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy when the U.S. Supreme Court takes up gay marriage again today, this time in a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act banning federal benefits for same-sex married couples. The plaintiff, Edith Windsor, had to pay an estate… Constitutional Law, Family Law, Trusts & Estates, U.S. Supreme Court Wed, 27 Mar 2013 08:03:56 -0500 43451.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_accused_of_stealing_elderly_neighbors_1.6m_life_savings_resigns_from_/ A California judge who is facing a 32-count case concerning his alleged theft of a now-deceased elderly neighbor's life savings of $1.6 million or more has voluntarily stepped down from the Alameda County Superior Court bench. Judge Paul Seeman agreed to resign Thursday and never seek to serve on the… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Elder Law, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, Trusts & Estates, States, California Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:40:18 -0500 43392.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/bryan_cave_legal_secretary_gains_100k_thanks_to_ed_koch/ Former New York Mayor Ed Koch has bequeathed $100,000 to his longtime secretary. Mary Garrigan, now 63, began working with Koch in his congressional office in 1975. She remained with him as he governed New York and when he joined the Manhattan law firm Bryan Cave, the Careers, Obituaries, Law Firms, Trusts & Estates Tue, 12 Mar 2013 07:45:15 -0500 43221.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/court_overturns_settlement_of_james_brown_estate/ The South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned a settlement of the late singer James Brown's multimillion-dollar estate. In its ruling Wednesday, the court chastised former state attorney general Henry McMaster, who brokered the settlement between Brown's survivors, for turning a blind eye to the late singer's wishes, the Celebrities, Entertainment & Sports Law, Trusts & Estates, States, South Carolina Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:09:45 -0600 43050.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/suspended_lawyer_is_charged_with_impersonating_dead_client_in_order_to_bilk/ A suspended Minnesota attorney has been criminally charged with impersonating a deceased client in order to bilk his estate. Linda Ann Brost is charged in Ramsey County District Court with identity theft, theft by swindle, aggravated forgery of a document and insurance fraud, the Star Tribune reports. Her… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Legal Ethics, Trusts & Estates, States, Minnesota Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:03:34 -0600 43014.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/actor_raised_by_wolves_in_77_lucan_tv_show_is_stunned_by_reclusive_fans_500/ A reclusive man who lived in a central Illinois farmhouse without running water and drove a Ford truck from the 1960s nonetheless had an estate worth up to $1 million when he died last year. And 71-year-old Ray Fulk, who never married and had no children or close family members,… Trusts & Estates, States, Illinois Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:33:58 -0600 42811.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/another_biglaw_firm_drops_a_less_lucrative_estates_practice._was_lockstep_c/ Debevoise & Plimpton is eliminating its trusts and estates practice, following in the steps of Biglaw firms Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Estates work is less lucrative for law firms than deal-making and litigation, explains the New York Times DealBook blog. The work doesn’t… Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Law Firms, Large Firm, Trusts & Estates Wed, 06 Feb 2013 07:23:42 -0600 42713.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyers_blog_posts_about_sleazy_world_of_probate_bring_ethics_complaint/ Corrected: A patent and trademark lawyer who blogged about alleged corruption in Chicago’s "sleazy world of probate" is facing an ethics complaint that accuses her of undermining the administration of justice. Chicago lawyer Joanne Denison is accused of knowing that her statements were false or made in reckless disregard of… Internet Law, Legal Ethics, Trusts & Estates, States, Illinois Mon, 04 Feb 2013 08:20:18 -0600 42673.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/courthouse/ A reclusive Nevada man who died without a will last year has left some unusual issues for a court in Carson City to deal with. One of the biggest: What to do with the gold coins found in Walter Samasko Jr.'s garage, among cans of tuna fish? Although he had… Judiciary, Court Security, Trusts & Estates, States, Nevada Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:11:08 -0600 42602.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/death_of_a_practice_terminally_ill_lawyers_friend_faces_closing_down_firm/ Bankruptcy Law, Bar Associations, Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Contracts, Legal Ethics, Personal Lives, Trusts & Estates, Features Tue, 01 Jan 2013 06:09:59 -0600 41983.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/letters_sister_strength/ Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Pro Bono, Law Schools, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, Trusts & Estates, Letters to the Editor Tue, 01 Jan 2013 05:39:11 -0600 41947.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/elderly_couple_in_fight_with_lawyers_over_tens_of_thousands_of_dollars_in_q/ Corrected: The battle between a court-appointed law firm and the family of an elderly couple that was in its care over legal fees is raising questions of the treatment of aging Americans by paid guardians and the lack of state processes to protect them. A judge appointed Virginia-based law firm… Administrative Law, Business of Law, Elder Law, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, Attorney Fees, Trusts & Estates, States, Virginia Tue, 04 Dec 2012 18:00:58 -0600 41834.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_accused_of_embezzling_500k_from_her_own_grandmother_gets_probation/ A Texas lawyer who took a plea earlier this year after being accused of embezzling $500,000 from her own grandmother has avoided a prison sentence. However, Judge George Godwin told Michelle Lorenz Valicek, 54, that he doubts she will comply with the terms of her deferred adjudication probation, the Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Elder Law, Trusts & Estates, States, Texas Wed, 21 Nov 2012 11:35:17 -0600 41721.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_accused_of_misusing_ids_of_terminally_ill_in_30m_investment_scheme/ As testimony was about to resume Monday in a federal trial that had been expected to continue for months, a Rhode Island estate planning lawyer and a former employee accused of misusing the identities of dying individuals in a $30 million investment scheme both took a plea. Attorney Joseph Caramadre,… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Insurance Law, Trials & Litigation, Trusts & Estates, 1st Circuit Court, States, Rhode Island Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:30:50 -0600 41688.abajournal.com