Government

Fla. County May Eliminate Top In-House Lawyer to Save Money

It isn’t just corporations that are looking for ways to trim legal bills. And at least some of the commissioners who run one Florida county think they may have found a way to do so: Terminate the top lawyer in the county’s in-house legal department and rely on his two…

Oct 7, 2011 11:34 PM CDT

Another Texas County Mulls Possible MERS Suit; Up to $100M Could Be In Issue in Harris County

With as much as $100 million in unpaid filing fees at issue, another Texas county is pondering possible litigation against those responsible for an electronic system that circumvented the traditional method of recording paperwork when lenders purchase mortgages from each other. On the agenda for a Tuesday meeting of the…

Oct 7, 2011 8:16 PM CDT

DOJ Asks 11th Circuit for Emergency Stay of Ala. Immigration Law

After a partial defeat in its effort to block enforcement of a contraversial new immigration law in Alabama at the federal district court level, the U.S. Department of Justice is now seeking an emergency stay from a federal appeals court. In a filing today, the DOJ asked the Atlanta-based 11th…

Oct 7, 2011 7:28 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Allegedly Kicked In Boyfriend’s Door and Had Knife in Bra Is Suspended

The Indiana Supreme Court yesterday ordered the interim suspension of a lawyer accused last year of kicking in a door, committing a battery on her boyfriend and carrying a knife in her bra. It was allegedly was discovered by a jail corrections officer. Olubunmi Okanlami was found guilty of battery…

Oct 7, 2011 6:17 PM CDT

Muslim Woman Jailed After Trying to Enter Ga. Court With Religious Head Covering Settles Suit

A Muslim woman who reportedly was jailed for contempt of court after she refused to remove her religious head covering when she tried to accompany a nephew to a Georgia municipal court several years ago has settled her lawsuit over the incident in the city of Douglasville. Lisa Valentine protested…

Oct 6, 2011 5:15 PM CDT

Arrested in Seattle, Computer Security Expert Creates Searchable Website of Police Dashcam Video Log

Arrested three years ago in Seattle when a police officer apparently didn’t appreciate his “brainiac” attitude after he was questioned about swatting giant sponge golfballs from bar to bar during a pub crawl, a computer security expert has fought back bigtime. Once the obstruction case against him was dismissed, Eric…

Oct 6, 2011 12:44 AM CDT

Lawyer and Ex-Client Charged in Perjury and Obstruction Case re Failed Hospital and Offshore Trust

An Indiana lawyer and his former client have been federally indicted in Chicago in a perjury and obstruction case related to the demise of an Illinois hospital in which both formerly had an ownership interest. Attorney Frederick M. Cuppy and Peter G. Rogan are accused of standing in the way…

Oct 4, 2011 5:13 PM CDT

Justices Appear Closely Divided over Private Suits to Stop California’s Medicaid Cuts

The U.S. Supreme Court considered Monday whether Medicaid providers and patients may sue to stop California’s cuts in reimbursement rates. No clear consensus emerged during oral arguments, report USA Today and the Washington Post. The Los Angeles Times agreed that the justices appeared closely divided, but said several appeared to…

Oct 4, 2011 4:28 PM CDT

Fannie Mae Knew of Law Firm Foreclosure Abuses as Early as 2003, Report Says

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae knew of abuses by foreclosure mill law firms as early as 2003, but was slow to address the problem, according to an inspector general’s report. Fannie Mae assigned outside counsel to investigate in 2005 after a shareholder reported abuse allegations in December 2003, according to the…

Oct 4, 2011 1:43 PM CDT

Florida Judge Finds Prison Privatization Plan Unconstitutional

A Florida judge on Friday declared the state legislature’s prison privatization plan unconstitutional. The decision, which is likely to be appealed, brings to a halt for now the state’s plan to privatize 30 prisons in 18 Florida counties, the St. Petersburg Times reports. Tallahassee Circuit Court Judge Jackie Fulford held…

Sep 30, 2011 8:05 PM CDT

Arizona City Bans Convicted Sex Offenders From All Public Facilities

Many cities and towns have passed laws banning registered sex offenders from hanging out in places where children are known to congregate, like playgrounds and community swimming pools. But Huachuca City, Ariz., is going boldly where no other municipality apparently has gone before: It has just approved an ordinance banning…

Sep 30, 2011 5:52 PM CDT

Antitrust Suit Alleges Dairy Groups Killed 500,000 Cows to Drive Up the Price of Dairy Products

A price-fixing lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court in San Francisco contends that a so-called dairy cow retirement program in California was actually intended to drive up the price of milk and other dairy products by killing healthy animals, reports KOMO. Over 500,000 dairy cows were slaughtered before their time,…

Sep 28, 2011 1:41 AM CDT

Battle Brews in Calif. as AG Mulls: Can Judges Who OK’d Own Lavish Perks Be Disciplined?

After only part of a series of planned financial reform laws was enacted by lawmakers in California, state-court judges wound up with the power to oversee their own benefits. And some reportedly may have taken advantage of that situation. In San Luis Obispo County, for instance, judges granted themselves perks…

Sep 28, 2011 12:04 AM CDT

Police Chief in City in Which Murdered Brazil Judge Worked Is Arrested, Along with 7 Officers

The head of the police department in Sao Goncalo, Brazil, has been arrested along with seven officers in connection with the murder last month of a judge, the Associated Press reports. Patricia Acioli, who worked as a judge in Sao Goncalo, was shot to death in front of her home…

Sep 27, 2011 9:01 PM CDT

Is NU Law Grad Jerry Springer at a Career Crossroads?

A Northwestern University law graduate with a nontraditional career and a private jet has reached a point in life at which many might opt to slow down. But Jerry Springer is still going strong at 67, in his 20th year of hosting a lowbrow talk show that he himself describes…

Sep 27, 2011 8:30 PM CDT