Appellate Practice

Lawyer Loses Age Discrimination Case Over In-House Counsel Job Application Ding

First David Reeves lost the competition for an in-house counsel job, watching the post go to another labor and employment lawyer 16 years his junior. Now the 56-year-old lawyer has lost the age discrimination case he filed over the job application ding: A Solano County Superior Court grant of summary…

Jul 13, 2010 6:30 PM CDT

2nd Circuit Strikes FCC Expletive Rule, Says Blanket Ban on F-Word & Others Violates 1st Amendment

Saying that a blanket ban on all use of certain expletives on television is unconstitutionally vague and chills the right of free speech, a federal appeals court has struck down a Federal Communications Commission policy that any use of profanity referring to sex or excrement is inherently indecent and could…

Jul 13, 2010 6:01 PM CDT

Captured at 15 and Held By US at Gitmo, Khadr Says He Nixed 5-Year Plea Deal

In a new wrinkle in the already-controversial terrorism case against a Canadian man imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay since he was a juvenile, a United States military tribunal in Cuba has refused Omar Khadr’s request to fire both his military and civilian counsel. Khadr, now 23, also said he intended to…

Jul 12, 2010 6:37 PM CDT

Nonlawyer Bests Toyota’s Counsel in 9th Circuit Trademark Case

Lisa Tabari is not a lawyer. But she took on an auto giant’s corporate lawyers in a trademark dispute and won. A federal appeals court Thursday lifted an injunction barring Tabari and her husband, Farzad, from using the word Lexus in a family-owned business that specializes in connecting would-be Lexus…

Jul 9, 2010 5:00 PM CDT

Lohan’s Lawyer Quits After Jail Sentence; Is New Bar Admittee Her New Counsel?

A long-suffering lawyer for actress Lindsay Lohan has quit, issuing a statement blasting the 90-day sentence the actress received earlier this week from a California judge for probation violation as excessive. A New York lawyer for Lohan confirms the departure of attorney Shawn Chapman Holley. However, Stephanie Ovadia said she…

Jul 8, 2010 10:46 PM CDT

2 Small Law Firms Face Trial for Allegedly Aiding Parental Child Abduction

Two New Jersey attorneys and their matrimonial firms are facing a looming trial in a high-profile family law case that centers on a client’s transport of her then-4-year-old child to her native Spain, in violation of a United States parenting agreement. The agreement also called for the lawyer initially representing…

Jul 2, 2010 8:20 PM CDT

Court Shows No Mercy to Lawyer Who Missed Deadline After Tactical Filing Delay

A New Jersey lawyer whose delaying tactics caused him to miss a filing deadline in a workers’ compensation case is out of luck, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday. The court found there is no exception to the one-year statutory deadline for moving to reinstate workers compensation petitions dismissed for…

Jul 2, 2010 5:03 PM CDT

SCOTUS Litigators Change Tactics as Court Issues More Summary Rulings

The U.S. Supreme Court is issuing summary decisions without arguments or full briefing in an increasing number of cases, and it’s changing the way litigators are pitching their cases to the justices. The U.S. Supreme Court has issued 12 unsigned summary rulings this term, the most in at least a…

Jul 2, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Lawyer for Ex-Ala. Gov Says New Honest-Services Review Is ‘Massive Victory’

The lawyer for former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman is buoyed by a U.S. Supreme Court order Tuesday sending the political corruption case against his client back to a federal appeals court for a new review. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to…

Jul 1, 2010 1:40 PM CDT

Judge Who Twice Banned State Task Force From Casino ‘Has Got to Go,’ Says Gov’s Office

For the second time in two weeks, an Alabama judge has banned a state gambling task force from an electronic bingo casino, eliciting a bells-and-whistles response from the governor’s office. After issuing a second injunction a little after midnight today, Greene County Circuit Judge Eddie Hardaway Jr. “has got to…

Jun 30, 2010 5:29 PM CDT

Blogger Who Put Juror Info Online Can Be Prosecuted; Intent Will Be Key Issue

Reversing a lower court, a federal appeals panel has given the government a green light to prosecute a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi for posting a juror’s name and publicly available address information on the overthrow.com website after the unidentified man helped convict a fellow white supremacist. Whether William White intended to encourage…

Jun 29, 2010 11:04 PM CDT

Sheriff Shouldn’t Have Searched Lawyer’s Home & Office for Cocaine, But Can’t Be Sued, 7th Cir. Says

An informant’s claim that a known thief and cocaine dealer told him he’d paid his unidentified female lawyer, who also happened to be a cocaine user, with two stolen laptop computers was likely insufficient probable cause to search the attorney’s home and office. But even assuming there was no probable…

Jun 28, 2010 8:49 PM CDT

Judges’ Comments at Sentencing Require Do-Overs, Appeals Court Says

Is a musical chairs sentencing game under way in the courtrooms of two Florida judges? For at least the second time this year, a state appeals court today ordered that a convicted felon be resentenced because of comments by the judge. Circuit Judge David Gooding went too far when he…

Jun 25, 2010 10:07 PM CDT

Lucrative Law Firm Must Dissolve, Court Rules, Because Partnership Agreement Wasn’t Updated

A lucrative asbestos litigation law firm must dissolve, an Ohio appeals court has ruled, because its partnership agreement wasn’t updated to reflect changes in the composition of its partnership roster. The dissolution of Kelley & Ferraro was sought by the widow of founding partner Michael Kelley, so that she could…

Jun 18, 2010 5:25 PM CDT

Girl, 9, Could Join Fray re Chess Giant’s Estate: Bobby Fischer to Be Exhumed for Paternity Test

Reversing a decision by a lower tribunal, the Supreme Court of Iceland has ordered that the body of chess great Bobby Fischer be exhumed to determine whether he is the father of a 9-year-old girl. Fischer died there in 2008 at age 64, apparently leaving no will. A United States-born…

Jun 17, 2010 9:35 PM CDT