Family Law

I’ll work for legal representation, electrician says in ads outside courthouse

Tapped out after paying his former divorce lawyers $45,000, a New York electrician decided to try another tactic. He posted flyers outside the new Staten Island Courthouse in St. George offering to barter his skilled work for legal representation in the ongoing case. So far, according to Anthony Davino, three…

Oct 20, 2015 4:15 PM CDT

Husband’s tears weren’t protected by spousal privilege, appellate court rules

A husband’s tears during a private drive with his wife could be used as evidence to help convict him in a rape case, a North Carolina appeals court ruled Tuesday. It rejected a defense lawyer’s argument that the man’s crying was essentially an admission by silence and hence a privileged…

Oct 20, 2015 2:30 PM CDT

Man’s pact with wife to help pay grown kids’ rent is unenforceable, court rules

A man’s agreement with his wife to pay his two adult children each $1,900 a month to subsidize their rent is unenforceable because he didn’t receive anything of value in return for his promise, a Nassau County, New York, judge has ruled. Judge Sharon Gianelli ruled for the man in…

Oct 20, 2015 9:24 AM CDT

Parents, 4 others charged in fatal beating of teen at church

The parents of a 19-year-old man who was fatally injured during a prolonged Sunday-night beating at upstate New York church have been charged with manslaughter, because police do not believe they intended the so-called “counseling session” to kill their son, authorities say. In addition to the manslaughter charges faced by…

Oct 16, 2015 8:45 AM CDT

Appeals court nixes 10-year plea deal in claimed contract hit attempt on family lawyer

An appeals court has nixed a plea deal by one of the men allegedly involved in performing a claimed contract hit attempt on a New Jersey divorce lawyer in 2002. However, that means that all the original charges will be reinstated against defendant Vancleve Ashley, who had gotten a 10-year…

Oct 15, 2015 12:10 PM CDT

Man is accused of posing as elderly man and attacking lawyer with electrified cane

A former child-custody litigant is accused of posing as an elderly man and using a cane with a built-in shocking device last Thursday to assault a Maine lawyer involved in his case. Christopher Hall, 48, of Waterboro, is accused of attacking the female lawyer as she got out of her…

Oct 14, 2015 7:23 AM CDT

Michigan agrees to pay $1.9 million to winning lawyers in gay marriage case

The state of Michigan has agreed to pay $1.9 million to the lawyers whose clients successfully challenged its ban on gay marriage. Carole Stanyar, one of four main lawyers for the plaintiffs in the case, said the $1.9 million was “basically the amount that we requested” from the state, the…

Oct 7, 2015 4:40 PM CDT

Alabama probate judge says federal government could issue same-sex marriage licenses

An Alabama probate judge is asking the state supreme court to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages unless the licenses were issued by the federal government or states with laws legalizing such marriages. The judge, John Enslen, tells Al.com he believes he is wrongfully compelled to issue same-sex marriage licenses and…

Oct 7, 2015 8:35 AM CDT

Man convicted of robbing, raping and murdering lawyer in her office gets life term

Convicted in August of posing as a client in order to rob, rape and murder a Colorado attorney in her law office, Warren Dale Watson has been sentenced to a life prison term without parole. Evidence presented at trial showed Watson had sought out a female family law attorney in…

Oct 1, 2015 3:00 PM CDT

Divorce litigant is sentenced for hatchet attack on wife’s lawyer

A Massachusetts man was sentenced on Wednesday to seven to nine years in prison for attacking his wife’s divorce lawyer with a hatchet and wasp spray. The defendant, 54-year-old Michael Kelly of Quincy, was sentenced after pleading guilty on Wednesday to armed assault with intent to murder, the Patriot Ledger…

Oct 1, 2015 7:58 AM CDT

Judge sends sheriff to seize husband’s devices after spyware is found on wife’s phone

Rejecting a lawyer’s argument that the husband in a divorce case should be able to take the Fifth to preclude seizure of his electronic devices, a New York judge earlier this month issued an opinion explaining why he authorized a sheriff to seize the man’s iPhone and computer. At issue…

Sep 29, 2015 3:35 PM CDT

Lawyer obtained credit report of opposing party without permission, ethics complaint alleges

An ethics complaint accuses an Illinois lawyer of accessing the credit report of an opposing party without permission in a bid to obtain additional child support for his client. The complaint alleges lawyer Peter Alexander Papoutsis was able to get the credit report from creditreport.com last December using information obtained…

Sep 29, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

New Jersey judge accused of making vulgar, suggestive remarks faces disciplinary charges

A New Jersey judge faces disciplinary charges for allegedly making vulgar and sexually suggestive remarks to lawyers and witnesses. In a complaint made public Tuesday, a state committee on judicial conduct accused Passaic County Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Portelli of showing “poor judgment and a lack of dignity and…

Sep 23, 2015 12:50 PM CDT

BigLaw associate handling his own divorce is sanctioned $10K for ‘maelstrom of misconduct’

Corrected and updated: A BigLaw associate representing himself in a divorce case has been sanctioned $10,000 by a judge who said he was using his law license to bully and harass other lawyers, a medical expert and even judges, reports the New York Law Journal (sub. req.) Anthony Zappin, a…

Sep 23, 2015 10:05 AM CDT

Deputy serving restraining order is shot and killed outside law office

A sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed outside a Florida law office on Tuesday after he arrived to serve a domestic violence restraining order. The gunman was later shot and killed while exchanging gunfire with deputies at a motel. Okaloosa County Deputy Bill Myers died at the Fort Walton Beach…

Sep 23, 2015 7:19 AM CDT