Connecticut

Lawyer Jokes No Laughing Matter for This Partner/Comedian

By night and on weekends, one might find Nuzzo & Roberts senior partner Rick Roberts doing stand-up comedy at a fundraiser or charity event. But you won’t hear Roberts cracking jokes about lawyers. That’s because he keeps his day job—doing insurance defense, product liability, employment litigation and commercial litigation at…

Jan 28, 2008 6:32 PM CST

Kasowitz Firm Makes Clear: We Fired Former IP Head

The former head of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman’s intellectual property practice group reportedly didn’t jump ship to accept a job at a 52-lawyer New York City intellectual property boutique. Jeremy Pitcock was fired, his former firm says in a press release. Issued by name partner Daniel Benson, it states…

Jan 22, 2008 10:07 PM CST

Slap on Wrist for Alleged Santa Assailant

A Connecticut woman who is accused of having inappropriately touched an elderly Santa Claus while sitting on his lap in a local shopping mall is likely to get off lightly for the alleged offense. Sandrama Lamy, 33, has applied for a special program of accelerated rehabilitation available to first offenders,…

Jan 22, 2008 8:29 PM CST

Judge Moonlighted as Attorney, Ruled on Own Cases

During a 16-year stint as a probate judge in Portland, Conn., Richard Guliani heard three cases in which he was also acting as an attorney. This was, however, a conflict of interest for which he has reportedly been suspended from law practice for six months, starting Dec. 10. In one…

Jan 7, 2008 11:14 PM CST

Interrogation Tape Prosecutor Seen as Tough, Nonpartisan

The assistant U.S. attorney tapped to lead the criminal investigation into the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes is described as a nonpartisan career prosecutor who has pursued government officials and Mafia chiefs. Friends of John Durham, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut, were unable to recall…

Jan 3, 2008 5:36 PM CST

Conn. Lawyer Gets 16 Months for Tax Evasion

A Connecticut lawyer who worked with a well-known criminal defense attorney was sentenced this week to 16 months in prison for tax evasion. Joseph Richichi, who is in his early 60s, pleaded guilty in April in federal court in Bridgeport, Conn. His sentence this week included a $15,000 fine in…

Dec 20, 2007 5:36 PM CST

Sexual Harassment of ... Santa?!?

The next time Santa’s making a list and checking it twice, he might want to focus on an elite group. That is the very small number of adults who show up at a shopping mall for a visit with St. Nick with more than Christmas on their minds, an employment…

Dec 18, 2007 7:37 PM CST

Lawyer Who Destroyed Evidence Spared Jail Time

A Connecticut lawyer who destroyed a laptop containing evidence of child pornography was spared jail time today. Philip Russell instead will serve six months of home confinement, pay a $25,000 fine and do 240 hours of community service, the Associated Press reports. Russell admitted in September that he knew the…

Dec 17, 2007 5:27 PM CST

Conn. Death Penalty Hearing Held in Prison Gym

Security concerns forced a Connecticut judge considering the constitutionality of the state’s death penalty to hold the hearing in a prison gymnasium. “Judge Stanley T. Fuger Jr. of superior court usually presides over his cases in a courthouse,” the New York Times writes. “But with seven of the nine residents…

Dec 14, 2007 4:28 PM CST

Ford Agrees to 4-State Rollover Settlement

Ford Motor Co. has struck a rollover settlement deal that applies to some 1 million people in four states. The litigation involved Ford Explorers that plaintiffs in California, Connecticut, Illinois and Texas, claimed were prone to rollovers, the Associated Press reports. The AP reports that vehicle owners will be allowed…

Nov 28, 2007 11:45 PM CST

Yale Law Grad Gives Up Law to Write Kids’ Books

A Yale law grad who worked 10 years as a legal services lawyer has chucked legal practice to become a writer. The career change is beginning to pay off with accolades for Alice Bauer, who has written a critically acclaimed new children’s book called No Castles Here, the Connecticut Law…

Nov 27, 2007 3:20 PM CST

Missing Lawyer Found Dead

The Clinton, Conn., lawyer who disappeared in July after confessing he embezzled money from clients has apparently committed suicide. Police found the body of 59-year-old Jonathan Hoyt on Monday in an apartment he had been renting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, since the end of August, the Connecticut Law Tribune reports.…

Oct 31, 2007 10:48 AM CDT

Guilty Lawyer Still Blames His Murder Victim

In his first public comment after being sentenced to 12 years in prison for breaking into a neighbor’s home and stabbing him to death, a 30-year-old Connecticut lawyer says he still believes his wife’s accusation that the victim molested their young daughter. However, police say there is no evidence this…

Oct 29, 2007 11:35 PM CDT

1,700 CT Attys Suspended Over $110 Bill

In a payment enforcement mechanism that some see as draconian, the Client Security Fund in the state of Connecticut has slapped 1,700 lawyers with an administrative suspension for failing to pay a $110 annual fee. The “striking” number of suspensions includes all lawyers who haven’t paid the fee during any…

Oct 29, 2007 7:11 PM CDT

Prof Who Played Pimp Film to Resume Teaching

A law professor who went on leave after he showed a controversial film clip to students from the documentary Really Really Pimpin’ in Da South will return to teaching this spring at the University of Connecticut law school. Robert Birmingham will teach three classes, including law and philosophy, but he…

Oct 23, 2007 11:58 AM CDT