Administrative Law

SG Brief Mostly Avoids Four-Letter Words in Fleeting Expletives Case

Outgoing U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement tries to avoid two vulgarities in the so-called fleeting expletives case before the U.S. Supreme Court. A Supreme Court brief submitted by Clement uses the words in the statement of facts but then substitutes “F-Word” and “S-word,” SCOTUSblog reports. At issue is whether the…

Jun 6, 2008 2:41 PM CDT

Shear Bureaucracy

Barber Builds Business With Beer, But Politicos Put the Kibosh on Customers Doing 12-Ounce Curls

Jun 1, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

U.S. Investigates Oil Trading, Despite Unclear Legal Rules

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced it is investigating whether the oil market has been manipulated by energy traders. Sources told the Wall Street Journal the agency is pursuing multiple oil investigations, many of them related. The CFTC regulates a market that is subject to different regulations than securities…

May 30, 2008 11:37 AM CDT

Did China Copy U.S. Commerce Secretary’s Laptop Computer?

A U.S. investigation is under way to determine whether China secretly copied a top American official’s government laptop computer during a trip late last year, subsequently using the information in attempts to hack into Commerce Department computers. “Surreptitious copying is believed to have occurred when a laptop was left unattended…

May 30, 2008 12:34 AM CDT

No Fifth in this Courtroom, Where NYC Cops are On Trial

It looks like an ordinary courtroom. But there’s no jury box, because there are no juries. And the Fifth Amendment doesn’t apply. That’s because those put on trial are New York City police officers, facing potential administrative penalties up to termination from their jobs for violation of their professional responsibilities,…

May 29, 2008 10:57 PM CDT

From $253M to $0: Reduced $26M Vioxx Verdict Overturned by Texas Appeals Court

A Texas appellate court today has overturned a verdict against Merck & Co. concerning its popular Vioxx painkiller, eliminating the $26 million judgment that remained after a previous $253 million verdict was cut due to a state punitive damages cap. Meanwhile, an appeals court in New Jersey today has reduced…

May 29, 2008 6:27 PM CDT

Illicit Beer Bottle Caps Bring Feds Down on Calif. Brewer

A beer brewer in a small California town named after a founding citizen and state senator, Abner Weed, has incurred the wrath of federal regulators by his tongue-in-cheek use of the town’s name on bottle caps to help brand his product. “Try LEGAL weed,” they suggest. Around the rim of…

May 28, 2008 10:42 PM CDT

Possible FCC Cell Phone Deal Chops Cancellation Fees, Axes Lawsuits

Cell phone service providers reportedly are negotiating with the Federal Communications Commission to reduce future cancellation fees for unhappy customers in exchange for the federal regulatory agency’s agreement to eliminate state authority to oversee the penalties. Although full details aren’t provided, it appears that the move would eliminate ongoing multimillion-dollar…

May 21, 2008 6:22 PM CDT

Conn. Ethics Counsel’s Fake Letter Helped Get Ethics Chief Axed

An in-house lawyer for the State Ethics Commission in Connecticut reportedly fabricated a letter purporting to be from a parking lot attendant that helped get her boss, ethics chief Alan Plofsky, fired in 2004 for claimed misconduct. Gov. M. Jodi Rell says her office will investigate former commission lawyer Maureen…

May 20, 2008 9:02 PM CDT

Judge Refuses to Stay Suspension of Student for Giving ‘Noogies’

A New York judge has refused to stay the suspension of a student who is accused of giving a teacher “noogies” despite her requests to stop. Lynbrook High School had suspended 14-year-old Ethan Mirenberg for nine months after a hearing officer determined he gave a teacher noogies—which he administered by…

May 20, 2008 12:24 PM CDT

Ruling Castigates 35-Year Mich. Judge; Defense Costs Top $100K

After a scathing report from a special master reviewing his judicial discipline case, a longtime Michigan jurist is digging in for a longer-term battle to retain his seat on the bench. The controversial discipline case pits Rockford District Judge Steven Servaas, 62, who has been on the bench for 35…

May 16, 2008 5:23 PM CDT

Wolverine Loses But Polar Bear Wins in Endangered Species Rulings

Updated: An unexpected February sighting of a wild wolverine in California, where the animal was thought to be extinct, has sparked a renewed, but unsuccessful, call for protection under the Endangered Species Act. But, due to shrinking habitat caused by global warming, the polar bear won such protection today under…

May 14, 2008 4:00 PM CDT

‘100s and 100s’ of N.Y. Lawyers Involved in Pension Scheme, AG Says

Updated: “Hundreds and hundreds” of New York lawyers will be implicated in a statewide scheme in which non-employees have improperly been enrolled in the public pension system, the state attorney general says. The situation was initially reported by Newsday as involving several lawyers in private practice representing Long Island school…

May 9, 2008 3:26 PM CDT

Law Firms Seek, Unsuccessfully, to Keep Associate Disputes Private

Once upon a time, associates who were let go by their law firms tiptoed quietly out the door, perhaps after several months spent “working” at their desks to find another position. But today, when the power of the Internet can help them sweeten the terms of their severance deals, many…

May 8, 2008 9:13 PM CDT

Lawyers Drugged at Bingham Events, Ex-Associate Says

A former first-year associate at Bingham McCutchen complains that the law firm didn’t do enough to investigate alleged druggings of attorneys by a former employee and/or attendee of firm events and keep its female attorneys safe. In discrimination complaints filed with state and federal agencies, former associate Michelle Moor says…

May 8, 2008 5:08 PM CDT