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Meet Michele Bachmann, Oral Roberts Law Grad and Former IRS Tax Attorney

Now that Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann is a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination and portraying herself as a potential tax reformer, her background as an Oral Roberts University law graduate and tax attorney is news even though it dates back to the late 1980s. Bachmann also earned a master’s…

Aug 22, 2011 10:31 PM CDT

After Hollywood Stint, Mass. Prosecutor Returns to the Courtroom

While working as a state and federal prosecutor in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., Pamela Wechsler got a chance to move to Hollywood and work as a writer and consultant on legal dramas including Law & Order. So she jumped at it. But now, after seven years, the form Suffolk County…

Aug 22, 2011 7:16 PM CDT

New York Attorney Is a Driving Force at the Track

Sam Caruso Jr. tried 13 felony cases in 2010. But when the Rochester, N.Y., criminal defense lawyer is in the winner’s circle, it’s just about as likely to be on the track as in court. Despite driving in only 25 harness races this year, the 54-year has had five wins,…

Aug 22, 2011 6:34 PM CDT

Job Market Improves for Some South Florida Lawyers

Law firms in South Florida are in a hiring mood. Florida’s legal services sector added 3,000 jobs in July, the Sun Sentinel reports. Law firms in the Miami area are hiring lawyers in corporate law, bankruptcy, employment law, government regulation and even real-estate law, the story says. Among the law…

Aug 22, 2011 2:30 PM CDT

Study of Israeli Parole Board Shows Why Good Scheduling Promotes Better Decisions

A study of a parole board considering the fate of Israeli prisoners demonstrates the concept of decision fatigue—and how timing can affect good decision-making. The study found that board members were more likely to grant parole at the start of the day and after breaks for food. The problem, researchers…

Aug 22, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Former ABA President Jerome Shestack, Known for His Human Rights Work, Dies at 88

Corrected: Well-known human rights lawyer Jerome J. Shestack, who served as president of the ABA in 1997-98, died Thursday. He was 88. In an obituary Friday, the Philadelphia Daily News reports that during his career, Shestack “was appalled by the violence that people heap upon each other in the world,…

Aug 19, 2011 9:45 PM CDT

Associate Who ‘Closed’ Files of Law Firm Clients He Wanted for His Future Solo Practice is Disbarred

In a 4-3 decision, a divided Maryland appeals court today ordered the disbarment of a young personal injury attorney who admittedly altered client records in the computer system of the law firm for which he then worked as an associate, in order to facilitate his plan to take the clients…

Aug 19, 2011 4:43 PM CDT

Wis. Judge Found Dead of Gunshot Wound in Apparent Suicide

The local community is in shock over the apparent suicide this week of a judge in Racine County, Wis. Circuit Court Judge Dennis Barry, 64, was found dead yesterday morning in Racine’s Lincoln Park not far from his car. He had suffered a gunshot wound to his head, reports the…

Aug 19, 2011 2:49 PM CDT

‘Addiction’ to Video Games Results in 3-Year Suspension for Pa. Lawyer

Otherwise a competent and respected lawyer, Matthew Eshelman had one major Achilles heel, according to a disciplinary panel report: He loved to play video games. When his work or family life became stressful, he spent time at his computer playing games instead of focusing on his law practice. Admitted in…

Aug 18, 2011 4:51 PM CDT

Longtime Golden Gate Law Prof Bernard Segal Dies

A longtime Golden Gate University law professor who defended Vietnam War protesters and civil rights advocates, Bernard Segal, has died at the age of 81. Segal’s most prominent client was Army doctor Jeffrey MacDonald, accused of murdering his family in 1970 in a case portrayed in the book Fatal Vision,…

Aug 18, 2011 3:13 PM CDT

Mass. Lawyer Gets Screen Credit for Bringing Barbarian to Hollywood, Attends Premiere

It isn’t every attorney who gets to attend a Hollywood movie premiere as a result of his legal work. But Frederick Fierst, 63, of Fierst Pucci & Kane in Northampton, Mass., also got credit as an executive producer for helping to bring a new Conan the Barbarian to the silver…

Aug 17, 2011 9:20 PM CDT

In UK First, Attorney and Spouse Say Law Firm Forced Them Out Due to Caste Discrimination

In what is being billed as a first-of-its-kind case, a man and a woman of Indian descent have made a wrongful dismissal claim against a British law firm, saying they were forced out of their jobs due to caste discrimination. After practice manager Vijay Begraj, 32, who is a Dalit,…

Aug 17, 2011 7:49 PM CDT

Burleson Opens New Office in Denver

A rapidly expanding Houston-based energy law firm announced today that is has opened an office in Denver. It is the third new office for Burleson in the past two years, the not-quite-100-attorney firm said in a press release. It will be headed by Jack R. Luellen, who formerly practiced at…

Aug 17, 2011 5:57 PM CDT

To Get a Higher Salary, Try Using Hostage Negotiator Tactics

When negotiating a salary, you may want to try tactics used by FBI hostage negotiators. That is the advice offered by Jim Hopkinson, author of Salary Tutor: Learn the Salary Negotiation Secrets No One Ever Taught You. Writing in the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), Hopkinson suggests borrowing these hostage…

Aug 17, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Fired Kasowitz First-Year Sues for $77M, Says Firm Didn’t Appreciate His ‘Superior Legal Mind’

A first-year associate fired by Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman in May after he emailed partners about his “superior legal mind” and asked for more responsibility has filed suit against the law firm seeking $77 million in damages. Gregory Berry, who says he started work at the firm last September…

Aug 16, 2011 10:37 PM CDT