Ohio

Juvenile Judge Orders 4 Sex-Assault Victims to Take Polygraph Test

Baffling prosecutors and upsetting victims, an Ohio judge has ordered four teenage victims of sexual assaults to take polygraph tests—after their alleged attackers have already been found delinquent, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cuyahoga Juvenile Court Judge Alison Floyd has also called for the delinquent teens, who are accused of…

Mar 19, 2010 5:35 PM CDT

Judge Won’t Jail Reporter; Fellow Jurist Says He Gave Accused Serial Killer’s Psych Report to Paper

After a fellow jurist admitted that he gave a confidential psychiatric report on an accused serial killer to an Ohio newspaper, the judge overseeing the case of murder defendant Thomas Sowell has dropped her threat to jail reporter Gabriel Baird if he didn’t reveal the source. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas…

Mar 17, 2010 8:56 PM CDT

Allegations Against Attorney Guardian Spur Ohio Judge’s Proposed Rules

An Ohio judge is developing local rules for attorney guardians after hearing the case of a retired city worker who alleged his guardian’s actions cost his estate more than $400,000 in assets. Judge Eric Brown of Franklin County Probate Court in Columbus is proposing standards that bar attorney guardians from…

Mar 8, 2010 11:30 AM CST

Benesch Friedlander Snaps Up Century-Old Indy Firm

Cleveland-based Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff announced this week that it has merged with Indianapolis-based Dann Pecar Newman & Kleiman as part of its continuing growth strategy. Benesch now counts 145 attorneys and 288 support staff in seven offices in the United States and Shanghai, according to a news release.…

Mar 3, 2010 12:36 PM CST

Mortgage-Rescue Meltdown: Calif. Probes 400 Lawyers, Fields 30 Complaints Daily

Amidst the mortgage meltdown, a stunning number of lawyers reportedly may be taking advantage of desperate homeowners by accepting thousands of dollars in fees from individuals while doing little or no work to save their homes. The California Bar is probing more than 400 lawyers in such cases, and is…

Feb 16, 2010 7:31 PM CST

Legal Secretaries Pursue Class Action Against IP Boutique, Claim Overtime Violations

A former legal secretary at a BigLaw firm wondered why her new boutique employer didn’t pay her overtime, since her former firm did. That led to federal lawsuit against an Ohio intellectual property boutique, reports the National Law Journal in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.). And…

Feb 11, 2010 10:04 PM CST

Lawsuits Against Toyota Accelerate Amidst ‘Massive PR Mess’

As news of claimed acceleration—and, on hybrid models, brake—problems related to an already-massive recall of Toyota automobiles seemingly exploded today, so did news of an ever-expanding list of lawsuits against the automobile manufacturer. In Ohio, for instance, attorney Stan Chesley filed a potential class action yesterday on behalf of a…

Feb 4, 2010 12:16 AM CST

Mom Makes Federal Case Out of Latest Student Hairstyle Rights Fight

Headlines about school district battles over student hairstyles are now focusing on Ohio, where a mother of an 11-year-old boy says he was publicly humiliated by a teacher and a classroom aide and has filed a federal lawsuit over their alleged “gender-based harassment” of the boy. When the unidentified boy…

Jan 28, 2010 8:20 PM CST

Class Action Alleges Day-Care Center Handed Out Melatonin to Help Kids Sleep

A class action lawsuit claims an Ohio day-care center gave children an over-the-counter supplement to help them sleep during nap time. Police are investigating allegations that workers at the day-care center run by the Covenant Apostolic Church in Springfield Township handed out melatonin to the children, according to the Cincinnati…

Dec 16, 2009 7:50 PM CST

Judge’s E-Mail to Newspaper Reportedly Forces Him Off Alleged Serial Killer’s Trial

An Ohio judge’s e-mails to a newspaper about an alleged serial murderer whose case he was later assigned have reportedly led him to step down from the upcoming trial. Although Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty declined to detail the conflict that is the basis of his decision yesterday…

Dec 11, 2009 8:11 PM CST

Inmate Apologizes for Murder, Is Executed in First 1-Drug Injection

After apologizing for murdering a 22-year-old woman in 1991, a death row inmate was executed in Ohio today in a historic one-drug lethal injection that the director of state prisons described as problem-free. Kenneth Biros, who was in his early 50s, died in about 10 minutes once thiopental sodium began…

Dec 8, 2009 6:56 PM CST

Latest Baker Hostetler Growth Spurt Starts With New Office in Chicago

In the latest move in an ongoing growth strategy, Baker Hostetler has announced today the opening of a new office in Chicago. The more than 600-attorney Ohio-based firm now lists on its website a four-lawyer office in the Windy City on the 31st floor of 191 N. Wacker Drive. A…

Nov 12, 2009 6:11 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

Woman Can’t Take Her Pet Monkey to Restaurants, Federal Judge Rules

A Missouri woman has lost her legal bid to have her monkey, Richard, accompany her to restaurants and other business establishments. Richard is a pet, not a service animal to the disabled, U.S. District Judge Richard Dorr ruled Wednesday, and his owner, Debby Rose, is not disabled under the Americans…

Oct 23, 2009 11:41 PM CDT

Ohio-Based Buckingham Firm Axes 16, Appoints New Management Team

A nearly 100-year-old Ohio based law firm has let 16 attorneys and staff members go and appointed a new executive committee and managing partner, as part of a restructuring effort to cope with its overly rapid expansion in recent years. The move by Buckingham Doolittle & Burroughs implements strategy recommended…

Oct 23, 2009 9:15 PM CDT