Family Law

Around the Blawgosphere: Smartphones and Dumb Moves; Axiom, Clearspire Big Competition for Solos?

What Firms Compete Best with Solos? At My Shingle, Washington, D.C., solo Carolyn Elefant says that she knows where she stands when she’s competing with the Am Law 250 for corporate work. “I know that in most cases, what brings clients to my door to begin with is that I’m…

Oct 21, 2011 1:59 PM CDT

Want to Preserve Marriages? Require a 1-Year Wait for Divorce, Reconciliation Education, Op-Ed Says

The former chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court says states may be able to preserve more marriages by passing a uniform law that imposes a one-year wait for divorce. Writing in the Washington Post, former Justice Leah Ward Sears says the conventional wisdom that most divorcing couples had high…

Oct 21, 2011 1:04 PM CDT

‘Divorce Hotel’ to Offer 5-Star Weekend Law-and-Mediation Stay to Help Couples Prepare for Split

A Dutch entrepreneur with a cutting-edge divorce mediation concept says he is ready to launch it in the United States. Divorce Hotel—which is currently only available in the Netherlands but will begin offering its services at U.S. resorts this spring—offers couples a chance to meet with professionals in a five-star…

Oct 20, 2011 9:00 PM CDT

New York Lawyer Dead, Along with Wife and 2 Kids, in Reported Murder-Suicide at Their Home

A New York attorney in a troubled marriage reportedly beat his wife to death with a furniture leg and then fatally shot their two children in bed before committing suicide in the basement of their Westchester home. Samuel Friedlander, 50, and his wife, Amy, 46, were in the process of…

Oct 19, 2011 7:32 PM CDT

Lawyer Sued Over Shooting by Elderly Client; Complaint Alleges He Should Have Warned Authorities

A Florida lawyer has been named as a defendant in a personal injury lawsuit seeking damages over a shooting in another state by an elderly client. Attorney David Gilmore should have anticipated that his client, Thomas Kyros, 81, posed a danger to Georgia Smith and her young adult daughter, Promethea…

Oct 18, 2011 6:21 PM CDT

1st Offender, Once a Court Employee, Gets 21-Year Maximum in Attack on Prosecutor and Her Brother

Beaten and stabbed at least eight times by her ex-boyfriend earlier this year, an Ohio prosecutor told a visiting judge today of regaining consciousness at home in a pool of her own blood and finding her younger brother, a criminal defense lawyer who had been beaten and stabbed 19 times…

Oct 18, 2011 1:36 AM CDT

LA Times: After $20M in Legal Bills, Dodgers Owner OKs $130M Settlement with Wife in Divorce Case

After racking up more than $20 million in legal bills, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers has reportedly reached a $130 million settlement in his divorce case. In exchange for the payment from Frank McCourt, his wife, Jamie McCourt will relinquish her claim to any ownership rights in the…

Oct 18, 2011 12:20 AM CDT

Private Detective Accused of Setting Up Divorcing Men for DUIs with Help of Alluring Women

A former police officer turned private detective has been accused of setting up divorcing men for drunken driving arrests with the help of alluring women who pretended to have a romantic interest in their targets. The private detective, Christopher Butler, has also been accused in a federal indictment of selling…

Oct 17, 2011 1:25 PM CDT

Supreme Court Won’t Decide Case of Gay Adoptive Dads Who Wanted Their Names on Birth Certificate

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the case of a gay couple who wanted both their names listed on the birth certificate of their adopted boy. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled against the couple, Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith, in an…

Oct 11, 2011 4:20 PM CDT

Md. Surrogacy Lawyer in Baby-Sale Ring Disbarred, Awaits Sentencing in Federal Wire Fraud Conspiracy

A Rockville, Md., lawyer who reportedly collaborated with a California attorney to flout adoption and surrogacy laws in a baby-selling scheme has been disbarred. Hilary Neiman was disbarred by consent yesterday in Maryland, reports the Gazette. She and a California lawyer, Theresa Erickson, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit…

Oct 7, 2011 10:08 PM CDT

Attorney Michael Dowd Wins Another Murder Case With Battered-Woman Defense

Updated: In what could be his last such trial, a New York lawyer known for his defense of women who kill their spouses has won another victory in a tough case. Barbara Sheehan admittedly fired 11 bullets at her husband from two guns in February 2008, inside their New York…

Oct 6, 2011 9:40 PM CDT

Inmate Convicted in Courthouse Slayings Sues, Says Ohio Won’t Provide Halal Meals to Muslims

An inmate on death row for murdering his estranged wife and brother-in-law in an Ohio domestic relations courtroom is pursuing a federal civil rights suit over the state prison system’s alleged refusal to provide halal meals to Muslims. Although the state does accommodate dietary restrictions of Muslims by offering no-pork…

Oct 3, 2011 5:54 PM CDT

Cutting Edge: San Francisco Judge Orders Circumcision Measure Off the Ballot

Ocean/Corbis In an unusual move, a San Francisco Superior Court judge ordered this summer that a proposed city measure, scheduled for a November vote, be removed from the ballot. Backed by “intactivists” and receiving more than 7,000 signatures from San Franciscans, the measure sought to ban circumcisions of boys under…

Oct 1, 2011 9:00 AM CDT

Judge Refuses to Block Kansas Law Restricting Insurance Coverage for Abortions

A federal judge refused Thursday to block enforcement of a new Kansas law restricting insurance coverage for abortions. The law, which took effect July 1, prohibits insurance companies from offering abortion coverage as part of a general health plan, except when a woman’s life is at risk, the Associated Press…

Sep 30, 2011 9:27 PM CDT

Murder of Ala. Lawyer Found Shot to Death at His Home in July Is Still Unsolved

Two months after a 54-year-old Alabama lawyer was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds at his home, police are still seeking his killer. The case is under investigation; that is really all I can say,” District Attorney Steve Giddens told the Daily Home yesterday. Lazenby was a partner of Thornton…

Sep 30, 2011 2:09 PM CDT