10th Circuit Court

McDermott Ordered to Pay Attorney Fees for ‘Abuse of Advocacy’

A federal judge in Colorado has ordered McDermott Will & Emery and one of its clients to pay the legal fees of an opponent in a patent infringement case because of “abuse of advocacy.” U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch chastised two McDermott lawyers, Terrence McMahon and Vera Elson, in his…

Feb 15, 2008 12:57 PM CST

Kansas AG in Sex Scandal Resigns

The attorney general of Kansas, who has been embroiled in a sex scandal that also raises significant legal ethics issues, announced today that he will resign from office effective at the end of January. At that point, he will have been in office barely one year. “Many people feel betrayed…

Dec 14, 2007 10:59 PM CST

U of Colo. to Pay $2.85M in Football Party Case

The University of Colorado has agreed to pay $2.85 million to settle a lawsuit by two women who say they were raped in 2001 at an off-campus party attended by football players and recruits. Hank Brown, CU’s president, said the settlement was in the best interest of the university, in…

Dec 6, 2007 1:02 AM CST

Judge Axes Verdict Due to Racist Remarks

A federal judge in Utah has thrown out a guilty verdict in an assault case against an American Indian defendant because of jurors’ racist remarks during deliberations. Rather than focusing on the allegations against defendant Kerry Dean Benally, who was accused of assaulting a federal officer investigating a report that…

Dec 3, 2007 8:37 PM CST

Government Stay Quickly Denied in Prisoner Suicide Case

A federal appeals court has rejected a government request to delay disclosure of documents in connection with the death of a federal prison inmate. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the motion Tuesday within hours of receiving it, the Deseret Morning News reports. The government had sought…

Nov 29, 2007 1:13 PM CST

Chief Judge Accused in Handicapped Parking Spat

A Denver lawyer has filed a complaint claiming the chief judge of the Colorado federal courts threatened to call authorities when she confronted him about parking in a handicapped space. The lawyer, Jeanne Elliott, was paralyzed in 1986 when she was shot by an angry litigant. She told KUSA in…

Oct 24, 2007 10:27 AM CDT

Lawyer’s ‘Bombast’ Gets Verdict Tossed

Colorado lawyer Mark Brennan is firing back at a judge who ordered a new trial in an employment case because of “boorish and unprofessional” behavior by the lawyer. U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn of Denver recently overturned a $1.2 million jury verdict for Brennan’s client in an age discrimination case…

Oct 11, 2007 6:33 PM CDT

Ex-CEO Nacchio’s Prosecution ‘Unprecedented,’ Appeal Says

Former Qwest Communications CEO Joseph Nacchio contends in a brief seeking to overturn his insider trading conviction that his optimism about the company’s financial outlook was not unfounded. The brief was filed yesterday with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, the Wall Street Journal reports. “Despite the…

Oct 10, 2007 3:41 PM CDT

John Grisham Sued for Libel

The best-selling author of numerous legal thrillers has been sued for libel over his first nonfiction work, The Innocent Man. In an unusual federal libel conspiracy case, John Grisham, along with other authors and publishers, has been sued by a prosecutor and law enforcement officer over three nonfiction books published…

Oct 1, 2007 10:49 PM CDT

Hearing Transcripts to Go Online

The policy-making arm of the nation’s federal courts voted today to make it easier for both lawyers and the public to access court materials. For lawyers, the big news is the plan approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States to put transcripts of district and bankruptcy court proceedings…

Sep 18, 2007 7:01 PM CDT

Liberal UC Irvine Dean Hired, Then Fired

Updated: Erwin Chemerinsky, a renowned constitutional law scholar at Duke University, reportedly agreed to be dean of the new University of California law school slated to open at Irvine next year—but was then fired a week later due to his controversial political views. So says a University of Texas law…

Sep 12, 2007 6:57 PM CDT

Court Fines Law Firm Over Spam Filter

Initially, the problem at a suburban Denver law firm was pornographic e-mail. Employees complained, and the office’s tech administrator was told to do something. He did. Dialing up the spam setting on the firm’s firewall solved the porn problem. But it also created a new issue, PC World reports. Shortly…

Jul 13, 2007 9:26 PM CDT

Last Resorts of Court

One date that’s on almost every federal judge’s calendar this summer is the meeting of his or her circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, at which trial and appellate judges review the work of the court and socialize at some of the nicest resorts and hotels in the nation.…

Jul 1, 2007 7:04 PM CDT