3rd Circuit Court

3rd Circuit rules against religious employers who object to contraceptive-coverage opt-out procedure

Religious employers who objected to the accommodation that lets them refuse to provide contraceptive coverage to their workers have lost their bid for an injunction in a federal appeals court. The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed injunctions granted to the religious organizations, two Catholic dioceses and a…

Feb 11, 2015 12:03 PM CST

Still battling code-theft case, former Goldman Sachs programmer sues bank for legal fees

A former computer programmer for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ultimately prevailed in a federal prosecution over claims that he stole source code from his employer. But Sergey Aleynikov is still battling Goldman to obtain reimbursement for some $3 million he says he has expended in legal defense fees, reports Reuters.…

Feb 10, 2015 3:50 PM CST

Exec asked general counsel to pull up shirt but didn’t spot FBI body cam, news report says

An executive now federally charged in a New Jersey foreign-bribery case apparently feared that his general counsel might be recording device when the two met in 2012 at his Miami, Florida, condominium. But even after Joseph Sigelman asked attorney Gregory Weisman to pull up his shirt, Sigelman failed to spot…

Feb 4, 2015 2:20 PM CST

Lawyer guilty in cemetery theft; state AG says he stole $1.8M to refund $1M in client escrow money

A New York lawyer is the losing party in a white-collar crime trifecta, according to the state attorney general. On Friday, 55-year-old Timothy Griffin was sentenced to a six-month prison sentence, for tax evasion, by a federal judge in Connecticut, where Griffin lives. On Wednesday, in an unrelated New York…

Feb 4, 2015 1:40 PM CST

3rd Circuit ruling upholds a lawyer’s right to post glowing judicial comments about his work

Andrew Dwyer vowed to appeal when a federal district court ruled in June 2013 that his law firm’s website may not post excerpts from unpublished judicial opinions praising the quality of his work on various cases. And now Dwyer’s persistence has paid off. In August 2014, the 3rd U.S. Circuit…

Feb 1, 2015 2:30 AM CST

Many courts close early Monday, plan to stay shuttered Tuesday as predicted monster snowstorm looms

As snow began falling Monday in what is forecast as a potential record-breaking blizzard in the Northeast, court officials joined those in charge of schools and other government offices in declaring an anticipatory shutdown. Amidst airport and school closings and warnings against unnecessary travel, a number of Boston and New…

Jan 26, 2015 4:50 PM CST

Fired Simpson Thacher managing clerk is indicted, accused of surfing firm computers for merger info

A fired former managing clerk for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is now front and center in a federal insider-trading case over a scheme that allegedly earned $5.6 million in illegal profits on $33 million in stock purchases. Steven Metro, 40, was indicted (PDF) Thursday by a federal jury in Trenton,…

Jan 16, 2015 7:30 AM CST

Ex-judge is latest to get time in federal ticket-fixing case targeting Philadelphia traffic court

Michael Lowry was acquitted last year on most charges in a federal criminal case targeting Philadelphia traffic court judges accused of fixing tickets. However, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Stengel gave little credence to arguments by the former jurist’s lawyers Wednesday that being convicted only of perjury, for lying to the…

Jan 14, 2015 5:55 PM CST

Jailed suspect in triple slaying at municipal meeting sues warden over prison food

A Pennsylvania man facing three murder charges over slayings at a municipal meeting in is now involved in a new legal battle. Rockne Warren Newell has filed a federal lawsuit against the warden of the Monroe County prison where he has been held since the August 2013 shooting at a…

Jan 9, 2015 6:20 AM CST

‘Real Housewives’ star files $5M suit against her bankruptcy lawyer, blames him for prison sentence

Reality television star Teresa Giudice filed a $5 million malpractice suit against her former bankruptcy lawyer Wednesday. It accuses attorney James Kridel of making mistakes both on her family’s original 2010 bankruptcy filing and in subsequent amendments, and blames him for the fact that she is headed to federal prison…

Dec 3, 2014 5:30 PM CST

Lawyer sues Eric Holder and ATF over his own homemade machine gun, says feds banned it unlawfully

An associate at a Pennsylvania law firm is suing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, contending that a machine gun he made for himself, through a trust, has unconstitutionally and unlawfully been confiscated. Ryan Watson says in the complaint, which was filed…

Nov 17, 2014 5:14 PM CST

Ex-traffic judge takes felony conflict-of-interest plea, hopes for house arrest

A former Philadephia judge who once held supervisory responsibilities in traffic court has pleaded guilty to felony conflict of interest. Thomasine Tynes, 71, whose lawyer says she suffers from dementia, has cooperated with the Philadelphia district attorney’s office and will not get any additional time due to her plea in…

Nov 10, 2014 4:30 PM CST

SCOTUS overturns ‘perplexing’ appellate decision, rules for cop asserting warrant exception

A police officer who entered a couple’s backyard and accessed their deck without a warrant was entitled to qualified immunity, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a per curiam opinion Monday. The court granted cert and ruled on behalf of Pennsylvania state police officer Jeremy Carroll, who entered the backyard…

Nov 10, 2014 9:55 AM CST

NJ suffers a setback in its bid for a sports gambling law

Given New Jersey’s successful efforts in the 1970s to become the second state to offer casino gambling, a lot of high rollers would have bet that the state would beat the odds in being able to legalize sports gambling. In 2011, voters approved state-sanctioned sports wagering at New Jersey’s casinos…

Nov 1, 2014 3:30 AM CDT

Judge suddenly resigns, takes plea in federal corruption case

Updated: A Philadelphia judge suddenly resigned on Tuesday, then took a plea in federal court on Wednesday to corruption charges unsealed earlier in the day. The criminal information charged now-former municipal court judge Joseph Waters Jr. with mail fraud, honest services wire fraud and aiding and abetting. He pleaded guilty…

Sep 24, 2014 3:00 PM CDT