Government

Mass. Appeals Court Allows Suit by Man Who Volunteered DNA Sample, Wants Genetic Profile Destroyed

A Massachusetts man who voluntarily provided DNA in 2002 to police investigating a murder may pursue a privacy invasion suit seeking return of his genetic profile, a state appeals court has ruled. Keith Amato claims in his class action suit that police promised the sample and data would not be…

Aug 26, 2011 12:17 PM CDT

US Weighs Refinancing Plan for Mortgages

As the housing market continues to slide, the U.S. government is considering a mortgage refinancing plan and other options to help struggling homeowners. Many homeowners have been unable to refinance because they are underwater on their mortgages or their credit rating is tainted. Specifics of the plan are unclear, but…

Aug 25, 2011 11:25 AM CDT

Reward Offered in Hit-and-Run Death of Calif. Lawyer and GOP Leader Killed While Jogging

As family and friends attended a funeral Mass today in San Francisco for attorney Donald Casper, 63, a $12,500 reward was announced for information about the hit-and-run driver who struck him from behind with a white pickup as he was jogging on Aug. 14, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Casper,…

Aug 24, 2011 1:50 AM CDT

Cal. AG’s Raid on Golden State Lawyers re Bank ‘Mass Joinder’ Suits Doesn’t Faze Fla. Colleague

Last week, authorities in California raided several attorneys and law firms there, shutting down at least one, to combat what was described by the state attorney general’s office as a fraud on struggling homeowners. They were allegedly persuaded to front thousands of dollars to pay for litigation unlikely to save…

Aug 24, 2011 1:25 AM CDT

Spouse of Plaintiff Can Collect Attorney Fees in Civil Rights Case, 9th Circuit Rules

Although the nation’s top court says lawyers can’t collect attorney fees for representing themselves in civil rights cases, that blanket prohibition doesn’t apply to an attorney who serves as a spouse’s legal counsel, a federal appeals court has ruled. Reversing the trial judge in the Central District of California case,…

Aug 23, 2011 9:10 PM CDT

Former Acting Solicitor General Katyal Jumps to Hogan Lovells

Former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal will join the appellate group at Hogan Lovells. Neal Katyal did not comment on his new job, the National Law Journal reports. Hogan Lovells partner Robert Bennett confirmed Katyal will be joining the firm, telling the NLJ he is “one of the outstanding appellate…

Aug 23, 2011 3:29 PM CDT

Rick Perry Hits Federal Tax Amendment and Social Security ‘Ponzi Scheme’

In a book outlining his constitutional vision, Texas Gov. Rick Perry questions the federal government’s authority to collect Social Security and the wisdom of the federal income tax. The candidate for the Republican presidential nomination says Social Security and Medicare are a “Ponzi scheme” and he’s not sure they are…

Aug 23, 2011 3:00 PM CDT

Law Firm Seized; 3 Firms, 4 Lawyers, 14 Others Sued re Claimed Client Fraud in Bank Litigation

A California law firm has been raided and shut down and four attorneys are among 18 individual defendants sued in civil litigation over a fraud allegedly perpetrated on thousands of struggling homeowners nationwide under the guise of legal representation. The defendants are accused of working, in a combination of law…

Aug 18, 2011 10:31 PM CDT

Federal Judge Apologizes for Delay in Ruling on Mass. Inmate’s Sex-Change Surgery Suit

For years, Michelle Kosilek has been living as a woman in a men’s prison in Massachusetts, with the help of female hormone and hair-removal treatments. Now 62, the former Robert Kosilek was convicted in 1993 of killing his wife three years earlier. Kosilek wants a sex-change operation and has been…

Aug 18, 2011 7:35 PM CDT

In New York, a Tiny Pot Stash Can Lead to a Child Neglect Claim and Lost Custody

New York’s child welfare agency is opening child neglect cases and sending children to foster care in hundreds of cases when a parent is caught with small amounts of marijuana. The New York Times interviewed lawyers and examined city records to confirm that such consequences are common. In a few…

Aug 18, 2011 3:42 PM CDT

SEC Illegally Destroyed Madoff Documents, Other Records, Agency Lawyer Alleges

A Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer is accusing the agency of illegally destroying thousands of files, including records of the probe into convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff. Lawyer Darcy Flynn says records of at least 9,000 closed preliminary investigations were routinely destroyed since 1993, according to stories by Rolling Stone,…

Aug 18, 2011 11:45 AM CDT

Four Tobacco Companies File Suit Claiming New Warnings Violate Free Speech Rights

Four of the nation’s five largest tobacco companies claim violations of their free speech rights in a lawsuit challenging new tobacco warning labels. The new labels include pictures of diseased lungs and the sewn-up corpse of a smoker, the Associated Press reports. Rather than just conveying the facts, the warnings…

Aug 17, 2011 2:47 PM CDT

As Workers Battle Jurors for Parking During Court Construction, Lawyer Offers a Pricey Leaseback

Parking is going to be scarce for the next several years at a South Florida courthouse, as construction of a new facility eliminates a former parking lot. But should jurors or workers at the Broward County Judicial Center be inconvenienced by having to take a trolley from a remote county…

Aug 16, 2011 5:15 PM CDT

2nd Cir. OKs Minority New Haven Firefighter’s Disparate-Impact Suit, Despite Supremes’ Ricci Ruling

In an unusual 2009 decision, a divided U.S. Supreme Court not only vacated a lower court’s ruling that the city of New Haven, Conn., had a right to discard the results of a promotional test, out of concern that it was racially biased, but ordered the the city to certify…

Aug 15, 2011 11:48 PM CDT

Ex-Detroit Mayor Ordered to Reimburse State $15K for Prison Stay

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been ordered to pony up $15,190 to the state Corrections Department for his recent prison stay. The money will come from an escrow account Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner ordered to be created for Kilpatrick’s portion of the profits from his recently released…

Aug 12, 2011 9:13 PM CDT