Government

Law Firm Informant Points Finger at Lawyer for Other Lawyers in Pension Cases

A lawyer representing other lawyers in an ongoing probe of New York pensions being paid to attorneys who alleged did government legal work as private practitioners while being reported as state employees may himself have a dubious claim to his more than $120,000-a-year pension. Citing claims by an unidentified confidential…

Nov 13, 2009 12:56 AM CST

Indicted Pa. Jurists Now a Case for Reduced Judicial Immunity

Since 1872, the U.S. Supreme Court has held the line on judicial immunity, essentially ruling that jurists should be protected from civil litigation over their decisions on the bench no matter how wrong they might be. But a pair of former Pennsylvania judges facing federal corruption charges in the so-called…

Nov 12, 2009 9:00 PM CST

Madam Protests Planned Lecture By Ex-AG Spitzer at Harvard Ethics Center

A madam who supplied former New York governor and attorney general Eliot Spitzer with high-priced escorts is more than a bit aggravated about his planned public lecture tomorrow at a Harvard University ethics center, reports the New York Daily News. “I am greatly intrigued as to what Mr. Spitzer could…

Nov 11, 2009 10:51 PM CST

Law Grad, 59, Looks Forward to Decades of Practice

Relatives of Dana Muller lived well into their 90s, and her 83-year-old mother still takes aerobics classes regularly. So it isn’t unrealistic, the 59-year-old recent law graduate says, to expect that she could practice at least into her 70s. A former legal secretary and law office manager who holds a…

Nov 11, 2009 7:57 PM CST

Quadriplegic Has Right to Own Firearms, Judge Rules

A quadriplegic man has the right to own firearms, even though he can’t hold a gun or pull the trigger, a New Jersey judge has decided, overruling the local police chief in Manville. “I hope you enjoy the use of your firearm,” Somerville Superior Court Judge John Pursel told 46-year-old…

Nov 11, 2009 6:15 PM CST

Police Pose as Clients, Charge Disbarred Lawyer in Office Sting

After what reportedly could be as much as a decade or more of alleged unauthorized practice in Nevada on the part of disbarred attorney Charles Radosevich, authorities have apparently mounted a full-scale campaign against him. Two Las Vegas police detectives went to the Radosevich’s office posing as potential clients on…

Nov 5, 2009 8:47 PM CST

Iconic N.Y. Lawyer Settles Pension Probe; ‘Worked’ Over 1,200 Days in a Year

A Long Island, N.Y., private practitioner whose claims in government legal bills to have worked more than 1,200 days in a single year led to a massive probe of state pensions being paid to attorneys has agreed to give up his own benefits. Lawrence Reich, 69, will no longer receive…

Nov 5, 2009 7:50 PM CST

Authorities Reel Over Parolees’ Stunning Alleged Crimes in 2 States

As a report released today harshly criticized those in charge of monitoring the California parole of convicted sex offender and alleged child-kidnapper Phillip Garrido, who is accused of kidnapping an 11-year-old and keeping her at his home for nearly 20 years, observers are also asking questions about a stunning Ohio…

Nov 5, 2009 1:24 AM CST

Justice of Peace Who Refused to Marry Interracial Couple Resigns

A justice of the peace in Louisiana who originally defended his views that an interracial couple shouldn’t marry and refused calls to resign reversed course today and stepped down. Gov. Bobby Jindal said Keith Bardwell’s resignation from his elected post in a small town north of New Orleans was “long…

Nov 4, 2009 12:50 AM CST

$10K Reward Offered in Sheep Slaying

Three energy companies in Colorado have banded together to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of a poacher responsible for killing of a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep last week near DeBeque. The poacher responsible for the senseless slaying of the quarter-horn ram didn’t even take the…

Nov 4, 2009 12:32 AM CST

Landlord to Pay Record $2.72M in Apartment Rental Discrimination Case

Real estate mogul Donald Sterling, who owns the Los Angeles Clippers, has agreed to pay $2.725 million to settle litigation alleging that he violated fair housing law by discriminating against dozens of African-Americans, Hispanics and families with children at dozens of Los Angeles-area apartments that he also owns. The settlement…

Nov 3, 2009 9:43 PM CST

Judge Reels Over Receiver’s $11M Bonus Request in Mutual Benefits Case

When Chief U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno first saw the bonus requested by the court-appointed receiver in charge of collecting assets for investors who lost some $837 million in the Mutual Benefits viaticals fraud, he thought it was just over $1 million. Then Moreno realized that he’d misread the figure.…

Oct 30, 2009 10:17 PM CDT

OSHA Hits BP Refinery With Monster $87.4M Fine; 15 Died in 2005 Explosion

The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking to impose a record-breaking $87.4 million in penalties on oil giant BP for safety violations at a refinery it operates in Texas. Of that amount, $56.7 million relates to a 2005 explosion at the Texas City refinery that killed 15 people and injured…

Oct 30, 2009 6:55 PM CDT

Arizona Supreme Court Rules Metadata Is a Public Record

The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s public records law requires disclosure of metadata embedded in the electronic records. The supreme court ruled in the case of a demoted police officer who wanted access to metadata to see whether notes written by his supervisor were backdated to justify…

Oct 30, 2009 1:30 PM CDT

Law Prof Argues Pay Czar Is Unconstitutional

Is the appointment of pay czar Kenneth Feinberg constitutional? Stanford Law School professor Michael McConnell, a former federal appeals judge, thinks not. In a Wall Street Journal opinion column, McConnell argues that Feinberg’s appointment violates the appointments clause requiring Senate approval of all officers of the United States. Feinberg was…

Oct 30, 2009 12:59 PM CDT