http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-22T20:16:12-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lesbian_couple_can_no_longer_live_together_or_divorced_woman_risks_losing/ Texas couple Carolyn Compton and Page Price can no longer live together because of a morality clause in the 2011 divorce papers Compton signed. A Collin County, Texas judge gave Price 30 days to move out of the home she shares with Compton and her two daughters, ages 10 and… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Family Law, States, Texas Wed, 22 May 2013 17:17:36 -0500 44316.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/suing_ex-client_for_500k_in_unpaid_divorce_fees_leads_to_disbarment_ruling_/ A decision to sue a former client, who happened to be an attorney, for $500,000 in allegedly unpaid legal fees in a divorce case has led to a disbarment ruling against a former Virginia Bar Association president who was once considered one of the titans of the Washington, D.C., matrimonial… Family Law, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Virginia Wed, 22 May 2013 05:58:16 -0500 44300.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/convicted_of_murdering_ex-client_lawyer_is_fighting_attorney_disciplinary/ Convicted earlier this year of murdering a former matrimonial client and her baby, and sentenced to life in prison, an Illinois attorney is fighting a subsequent legal ethics case. In a handwritten answer (PDF) submitted in response to a complaint (PDF) filed last month by… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Family Law, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Illinois Tue, 21 May 2013 10:55:52 -0500 44290.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/suspended_and_facing_ethics_case_judge_blames_president_jurist_claims_she/ An Alabama judge facing a legal ethics case over the unlawful arrest orders she is accused of entering against parties and witnesses in divorce cases is now blaming the jurisdiction's former top jurist for her plight. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Dorothea Batiste denies in court filings that she abused her… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, Family Law, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, States, Alabama Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:19 -0500 44289.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/suspended_judge_expected_to_testify_about_claimed_in-chambers_sex_with_witn/ Updated: A Michigan judge who has been suspended without pay is expected to testify Monday in a legal ethics case over his alleged sexual relationship with a witness in a case that was before his bench. Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree is charged in a Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission… Family Law, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, States, Michigan Mon, 20 May 2013 06:20:31 -0500 44261.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/sex-reassignment_surgery_of_infant_in_states_care_violated_due_process_adop/ The adoptive parents of a baby born with both male and female genitalia claim the state of South Carolina violated their child’s constitutional rights by subjecting the child to sex-reassignment surgery. The child, identified as “M.C.,” was 16 months old when surgeons removed the toddler’s male genitals before the adoption,… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Family Law, Government Law, Tort Law, Medical Malpractice, Trials & Litigation, States, South Carolina Wed, 15 May 2013 07:39:10 -0500 44188.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/unhappy_with_child-custody_award_woman_and_parents_plotted_to_murder_her_ex/ A former elementary school teacher and her father pleaded guilty Thursday to their admitted roles in a plot to murder her former husband because they were unhappy with a child-custody award in the couple's divorce case. Then, after onetime third-grade teacher Kathleen Dorsett was arrested in the 2010 slaying of… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Family Law, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, States, New Jersey Fri, 10 May 2013 10:30:57 -0500 44112.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/did_kobe_bryants_mom_have_ok_to_clear_out_his_boyhood_bedroom_federal_judge/ Just in time for Mother's Day, basketball great Kobe Bryant is involved in a federal lawsuit against his own mother, who he says cleared out his former boyhood bedroom without his permission to obtain sports memorabilia for an unauthorized auction. After a dispute developed, a New Jersey auction house filed… Celebrities, Entertainment & Sports Law, Family Law, Real Estate & Property Law, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Thu, 09 May 2013 13:43:53 -0500 44110.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/daughter_of_delaware_courthouse_shooter_seeks_custody_of_slain_moms_3_kids/ The daughter of a man who shot two women to death at a Delaware courthouse earlier this year is seeking custody of the three daughters of one of the slain women. In Delaware, relatives usually receive preference when courts are considering the permanent guardianship of children in foster care, the… Administrative Law, Criminal Justice, Family Law, Government Law, Judiciary, Court Security, Trials & Litigation, States, Delaware Tue, 07 May 2013 12:52:05 -0500 44069.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/chemerinsky_another_look_at_same-sex_marriage_cases/ No decisions are more eagerly awaited from the U.S. Supreme Court than those in the marriage equality cases. Hollingsworth v. Perry and United States v. Windsor were argued on March 26 and 27, and most expect that the decisions will be announced at the end of June. Having just re-read… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Family Law, Trials & Litigation, U.S. Supreme Court Thu, 02 May 2013 08:30:19 -0500 43946.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/marriage_as_a_loopholewhats_love_got_to_do_with_it/ Family Law, Immigration Law, Obiter Dicta Wed, 01 May 2013 00:50:18 -0500 43798.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/aclu_domestic_violence_penalized/ The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit over a municipal ordinance that effectively penalizes individuals for calling police, if they are deemed to have engaged in "disorderly behavior," by pressuring landlords to evict them. Filed by Pepper Hamilton last week on behalf of Lakisha Briggs, the Philadelphia… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Family Law, Government Law, Real Estate & Property Law, Trials & Litigation, States, Pennsylvania Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:29:57 -0500 43964.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/secret_court_files/ Five state and federal judges, as well as a number of lawyers, were among dozens of "well-off and well-connected" individuals who have had cases–often concerning domestic relations matters–either sealed by Chicago area judges or allowed to be filed using only the initials of the parties. Although the reasons routinely cited–financial… Family Law, Judiciary, Privacy Law, Trials & Litigation, States, Illinois Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:30:11 -0500 43948.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/wicked_and_selfish_mom_pushed_teen_daughter_to_get_pregnant_so_she_could_ra/ Thwarted when she tried, as a single mother, to adopt a fourth child, a "domineering" American woman living in Great Britain tried another approach. She used her influence on her then-14-year-old daughter to persuade the teen to get pregnant and provide the baby she wanted, so she could raise it… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Family Law, International Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, International Courts/Tribunals, International, Europe, United Kingdom Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:24:07 -0500 43958.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/appeals_court_oks_180-day_contempt_term_for_millionaire_who_helped_16-year-/ A Florida appeals court on Wednesday upheld without comment a 180-day contempt term imposed on a millionaire for taking his then-16-year-old son to Las Vegas to get married to his housekeeper's 18-year-old daughter. A Miami-Dade circuit judge had ordered Dan Rotta to take the troubled teen to a Utah boarding… Appellate Practice, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Family Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Florida Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:01:10 -0500 43906.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/son_of_dead_shooter_in_del._courthouse_slayings_gets_six_months_for_probati/ The son of a man who killed two women at a Delaware courthouse earlier this year as they arrived for a child-support hearing was sentenced Tuesday to two months in federal prison for violating his probation in a child-kidnapping and fraud case. David Matusiewicz was also present at the Delaware… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Family Law, Judiciary, Court Security, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 3rd Circuit Court, States, Delaware Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:06:57 -0500 43882.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/break-up_sparks_legal_battle_over_105k_in_parking_tickets_a_record_high_amo/ When Jennifer Fitzgerald and Brandon Preveau split up, he kept the 1999 Chevrolet Monte Carlo he had purchased for $600. But the car was in her name, as were the parking tickets Preveau allegedly racked up by abandoning it for nearly three years in a United Airlines employees-only parking lot… Administrative Law, Family Law, Government Law, Trials & Litigation, States, Illinois Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:35:37 -0500 43692.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_accused_of_signing_her_own_lawyers_name_on_divorce_filing_fights_susp/ A Michigan family court judge accused of signing her own lawyer's name, without permission, on a personal divorce filing and lying under oath is fighting a recommendation by the state Judicial Tenure Commission that she be suspended for 180 days. The divorce case for Wayne County Circuit Judge Deborah Ross… Family Law, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, States, Michigan Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:15:29 -0500 43690.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/mans_alleged_plan_to_impress_girlfriend_with_phony_divorce_degree_backfires/ In an apparent attempt to please his girlfriend, a man allegedly forged his current wife's signature on a false divorce decree. Edward Brown, 45, has been divorced at least once. He allegedly used the divorce decree from the prior marriage to create a falsified divorce decree for his current marriage,… Criminal Justice, Family Law Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:33:01 -0500 43633.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/divorce_from_hell_began_with_6.5k_monthly_alimony_offer_ended_with_1.5k_awa/ A month after their 2008 divorce case was filed in Pinellas County, Fla., Terry Power offered to pay his wife of nearly 20 years $5,400 per month in alimony until he retired, and $50,000 in cash. He also was willing to give Murielle Marie Helene Fournier half of the contents… Family Law, Trials & Litigation, Attorney Fees, Verdicts & Settlements, States, Florida Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:37:38 -0500 43611.abajournal.com