Michigan

Lawyer Asks Public to Come Forward with Info About Her Missing Husband, a Bank CEO

On Monday, attorney Anne Widlak expected her husband of six years to give her a 4 a.m. wake-up call, as she was out of town on a business trip. But it never came and later that day she heard from someone at the Macomb County sheriff’s office, wanting to know…

Sep 23, 2010 11:16 PM CDT

Court Reporter Tossed in Jail for Missing Transcript Deadlines, Fleeing Courthouse

A court reporter in Detroit is serving a 30-day contempt sentence based on accusations she repeatedly missed deadlines to produce a transcript and then left the courthouse when she was ordered to do the work. The Detroit Free Press has the story. “Paulette Martin, an official reporter for Detroit’s 36th…

Sep 23, 2010 5:01 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge Cites ‘Insubordination,’ Says Cooley Had Right to Fire Tenured Law Prof

A law school had a right to fire a tenured faculty member for “insubordination,” a federal judge has ruled, in a decision that the plaintiff’s lawyer contends should send shock waves through the nation’s law professor ranks. Lynn Branham had argued that she was improperly fired, without a hearing, after…

Sep 14, 2010 12:24 AM CDT

Lawyer Who Represented Ex-Mayor of Detroit to Get 179-Day Law License Suspension

In the latest penalty assessed in an ongoing series attorney discipline cases resulting from a controversial secret settlement in a Detroit police whistleblower case, the lawyer who represented then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was given a 179-day license suspension today by the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board. However, such penalties are normally stayed…

Sep 10, 2010 9:31 PM CDT

Mich. AG Questions Timing of Lap Dance Allegation

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox is questioning the timing of an affidavit that claims he received a lap dance at a party at the mayor’s mansion. Cox is campaigning for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and he says he wasn’t at any party, and has never even been to the mansion,…

Jul 29, 2010 12:32 PM CDT

Ex-Detroit Mayor Pleads Poverty, Gets PD, in New Federal Tax Fraud Case

Accused in the past of living too lavish a lifestyle, an ex-lawyer and ex-mayor of Detroit has now apparently run out of money. Appearing today in jailhouse orange and shackles at his Detroit arraignment on 19 federal tax and fraud charges, Kwame Kilpatrick, 40, pleaded not guilty, claimed poverty and…

Jul 13, 2010 7:19 PM CDT

Rude Law School Applicants Beware: You Are Not That Anonymous

Rude callers to the admissions office at the University of Michigan Law School are now forewarned: The school has your number—literally. The warning was posted on the school’s blog A²Z by Sarah Zearfoss, the assistant dean and director of admissions. “I have some bad news for the recent spate of…

Jul 7, 2010 2:39 PM CDT

Cancer-Stricken Walmart Worker Sues over Firing for Medical Pot Use

A Walmart employee who has an inoperable brain tumor and sinus cancer alleges in a lawsuit that the retailer violated Michigan law when it fired him for using medical marijuana. Joseph Casias says he was fired from the Battle Creek store even though he had registered with the state as…

Jun 30, 2010 4:51 PM CDT

Judge Tosses Suit by Detroit City Lawyer Ousted over ‘Ghetto Court’ Remark

The former top lawyer for the city of Detroit plans to appeal a judge’s ruling throwing out her suit that claims she was forced to resign because of a “ghetto court” remark. U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow said the remark by former interim corporation counsel Kathleen Leavey was not protected…

Jun 29, 2010 10:29 AM CDT

New Woes May Prove Taxing to Ex-Lawyer & Ex-Mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick

Already in prison for probation violation, after he was found to have spent money on a too-lavish lifestyle instead of required restitution in his obstruction case, the former mayor of Detroit is now the target of tax charges. Kwame Kilpatrick, who agreed to give up his license to practice law…

Jun 23, 2010 11:24 PM CDT

Jailed Ex-Lawyer’s $1M Restitution Is Reduced by $350 Taken From His Prison Store Account

Imprisoned for violating his probation by secreting some $500,000 in assets that could have been applied to his $1 million restitution in an obstruction of justice case, the former mayor of Detroit is apparently still living too high on the hog. Officials at the Department of Correction have seized almost…

Jun 17, 2010 10:30 PM CDT

Ex-Red Wings Star Fedorov in Foreclosure, Blames Law Firm for Loss of $60M

A former star player for the Detroit Red Wings is facing foreclosure. Sergei Fedorov owes more than $2 million on two palatial homes in Bloomfield Hills, according to foreclosure notices filed by the PrivateBank and Trust Co., reports the Detroit News. He has blamed Hyman Lippitt for some $60 million…

Jun 17, 2010 5:26 PM CDT

Law Firm Points Trash-Out Crew to Paid-Up ‘Foreclosure,’ Is Sued

Martin Powelson paid off his delinquent Detroit mortgage. But after a law firm that handles a high-volume foreclosure practice mistakenly said told the lender that the redemption period had expired with the loan unpaid, a so-called trash-out crew paid a visit to his house. Contending that crew removed some $60,000…

Jun 7, 2010 6:51 PM CDT

Ex-Mayor of Detroit Jailed, Loses $120K Job, for Living Lavishly Instead of Paying Restitution

An ex-lawyer and ex-mayor of Detroit is no longer an ex-inmate. Kwame Kilpatrick was sent back to jail today by a frustrated judge, for violating his probation by lying to the court and spending his money on a lavish lifestyle instead of putting it towards his $1 million restitution. The…

May 25, 2010 5:41 PM CDT

Ex-Hooters Waitress Files Suit Claiming Weight Discrimination

A former Hooters waitress claims in a discrimination suit that the restaurant placed her on “weight probation” and counseled her to join a gym so she could fit into her extra-small size uniform. Waitress Cassie Smith, who had worked in the Roseville, Mich., restaurant outside Detroit, claims she was 5-foot-8…

May 25, 2010 2:32 PM CDT