Ethics

Texas Lawyer Ordered to Repay $35.7 M

A big-name Houston plaintiffs lawyer has been ordered by an arbitration panel to repay $35.7 million in improper legal fees he charged to some 3,000 plaintiffs he represented in breast implant litigation. Including interest and attorney fees to be paid to the plaintiff lawyer who brought the claim, the total…

Jul 19, 2007 10:09 PM CDT

Solo’s Suits ‘Vexatious,’ Judge Says

A Manhattan solo practitioner says an order barring her from filing new lawsuits on her own behalf is part of a judicial conspiracy against her. Eleanor Capogrosso will have to get advance permission if she wants to file any more suits, after filing 16 of them on her own behalf,…

Jul 19, 2007 3:58 PM CDT

KPMG Lawyers: Unchain Us from Clients!

Representing a high-profile client in a major white-collar case can be both a blessing and a curse for a criminal defense attorney. Such cases can bring in big bucks and offer lots of free publicity. But they can also result in enormous unpaid legal bills. That nightmare scenario is apparently…

Jul 18, 2007 10:46 PM CDT

Diversity Issue Heats Up in Miami Courts

A simmering controversy over a series of insensitive remarks recently made by Miami area judges has heated up further, following the resignation of a Broward County jurist chairing the court’s newly created diversity board. Elijah H. Williams, the first black to be appointed to the Broward County bench in 20…

Jul 18, 2007 8:35 PM CDT

Texas Firms Pay $447 K to Defend Judge

Law firms and attorneys in Texas donated $447,000 to help an embattled state supreme court justice defend his integrity, according to recently revealed expense reports. With the help of these contributions, Justice Nathan Hecht prevailed in his appeal of an ethics citation for allegedly misusing his judicial office to help…

Jul 18, 2007 7:47 PM CDT

Judge Resigns in Conduct Probe

A New York judge has resigned in the wake of allegations that he intervened with police on behalf of his girlfriend and tried to get authorities to investigate her estranged husband. Justice Lawrence Horowitz signed a stipulation saying he was unable to defend against disciplinary charges and would not serve…

Jul 18, 2007 1:59 PM CDT

Gitmo Lawyer: U.S. Agents Seized Notes

A Canadian attorney representing an accused enemy combatant held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison says he was harassed and had his legal notes reviewed on Saturday by U.S. authorities. On his way home after meeting with his client, Omar Khadr, 20, Dennis Edney was singled out by U.S. customs…

Jul 17, 2007 12:56 AM CDT

Bad Call Raises Judge’s Ire

A federal judge has notified federal prosecutors about the conduct of three lawyers defending a mortgage company. U.S. District Judge Harold Ackerman sent letters summarizing the facts to the chief judge for the District of New Jersey, federal prosecutors in Newark, and New Jersey’s Office of Attorney Ethics. They concern…

Jul 16, 2007 9:32 PM CDT

Judge Calls Interference on Prosecutors, Dismisses 13 from KPMG Case

Updated: Saying that prosecutors inappropriately interfered with their defense, a federal judge in Manhattan has dismissed charges against 13 of 16 KPMG former employees charged in a tax shelter fraud case. In a ruling today, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said he had no choice but to dismiss the…

Jul 16, 2007 7:37 PM CDT

Court Fines Law Firm Over Spam Filter

Initially, the problem at a suburban Denver law firm was pornographic e-mail. Employees complained, and the office’s tech administrator was told to do something. He did. Dialing up the spam setting on the firm’s firewall solved the porn problem. But it also created a new issue, PC World reports. Shortly…

Jul 13, 2007 9:26 PM CDT

Panel Urges Censure for N.J. Justice

Censure is appropriate for a New Jersey Supreme Court justice who interceded in a case against a youth accused of bullying his son, according to the state’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct. The committee concluded in its presentment (PDF posted by Law.com) that Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto engaged in conduct prejudicial…

Jul 13, 2007 3:00 PM CDT

Spector’s Ex-Lawyer Says She Will Testify

Bowing to the California Supreme Court’s effective decision that attorney-client privilege doesn’t apply, a lawyer who formerly represented music producer Phil Spector says she will testify in his ongoing murder trial. Sara Caplan is expected to testify today about whether she saw an expert mishandle evidence at the crime scene…

Jul 12, 2007 10:05 PM CDT

Top CA Court: Spector Atty Must Testify

A former lawyer for Phil Spector must testify in the music producer’s ongoing murder trial, the California Supreme Court determined today. By refusing to hear Sara Caplan’s appeal of a ruling by the trial judge holding her in contempt for not testifying, the court effectively is affirming the lower court’s…

Jul 12, 2007 1:50 AM CDT

CA Bar Closes Web-Based Criminal Firm

California bar authorities are closing down an insolvent Los Angeles criminal defense firm, saying that its Internet ambitions exceeded its ability to satisfy professional standards. Robert Michael Nudelman, 59, agreed Monday that the State Bar of California could take over his insolvent firm, Criminal Defense Associates Inc., in the Woodland…

Jul 11, 2007 7:28 PM CDT

Desire to Help Hurts Ex-Prosecutor

A Washington, D.C., ethics committee is considering whether to recommend sanctions for a former federal prosecutor accused of giving improper vouchers to witnesses. G. Paul Howes is accused of giving 132 witnesses more than $140,000 in vouchers in two cases, Legal Times reports. Among those who got the vouchers were…

Jul 11, 2007 1:38 PM CDT