Pennsylvania

Law Firm Partner Loses Lawsuit Over Pay & Alleged Strip Club Outings

A federal judge has dismissed a suit filed by a female partner of a Pennsylvania law firm over alleged pay discrimination and sexually explicit work-related activities. U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab ruled that plaintiff Alyson Kirleis, a 46-year-old partner of Dickie McCamey & Chilcote, can’t continue with her 2006 action…

Nov 3, 2009 7:45 PM CST

Top Pa. Court Vacates 6,000+ Juvenile Rulings By Ex-Luzerne County Judge

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court today issued an order vacating all juvenile rulings between 2003 and 2008 by former Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella. The order, which bars retrial of all but a tiny fraction of the rulings, is expected to affect up to 6,500 cases, reports the On Deadline…

Oct 29, 2009 11:32 PM CDT

Jury Awards Punitives in Hormone Case Against Wyeth, But Amount Is Sealed

A Philadelphia jury awarded punitive damages yesterday in Connie Barton’s case over the Prempro hormone replacement therapy marketed by Wyeth. But the amount of the award won’t be known for at least a month, because a judge in the Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court case agreed that the amount would be…

Oct 27, 2009 6:31 PM CDT

Federal Judge Still Working at 95

Senior U.S. District Judge Malcolm Muir of the Middle District of Pennsylvania turned 95 last week and is still on the job. One of Muir’s earlier memories is the end of World War I, an occasion he remembers because church bells and sirens commemorated the victory, the Williamsport, Pa., Sun…

Oct 26, 2009 6:47 PM CDT

Paralegal Fights Search of His Home Over Tweets About Police Activities

While at least arguably participating in the protests of the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh in September, Elliott Madison was arrested and spent some time in a local jail. But that wasn’t the worst of it. On Oct. 1, federal authorities raided his home in the Queens borough of New York…

Oct 26, 2009 5:13 PM CDT

Pa. Jail Taped Inmate Calls to Counsel, Sent Some to Feds, Lawyer Says

Adding another jurisdiction to those in which defense lawyers have previously accused officials of improperly recording inmate phone calls to their legal counsel, Federal Public Defender Lisa Freeland says in an e-mail this week to the Allegheny County defense bar that this has been happening at their local jail, too.…

Oct 23, 2009 10:14 PM CDT

Jon Who? Gosselin, of Jon & Kate Fame, was Unknown Name to Divorce Lawyer

There’s at least one matrimonial lawyer in the United States who, until quite recently, had never heard of Jon & Kate Gosselin’s high-profile divorce case—Michael Marino. The semi-retired Pennsylvania practitioner doesn’t watch much television. He says he had no idea that the two famous stars of a reality show based…

Oct 13, 2009 6:42 PM CDT

Law Grads Scramble for Interim Jobs; More Deferrals, Fewer Stipends in Future?

Rosemary McKenna feels fortunate to have received an offer to work as an associate attorney at Blank Rome. But the 26-year-old graduate of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law has been told by the law firm not to plan to start there until January. In the meantime, she is working…

Oct 5, 2009 11:30 PM CDT

After Split & ‘Kate Plus 8’ Show Rename, Jon Now Finds TV Unhealthy for His Kids

Over the past four years, a television show about Jon and Kate Gosselin’s family life with their eight children–now 8-year-old twins and 5-year-old sextuplets–have made them a household name. But after a separation and divorce filing announced in June that put them on the front page of supermarket tabloids for…

Oct 2, 2009 7:44 PM CDT

Judge Tosses Blind Lawyer’s Suit Claiming Prostitute Overcharged His Credit Card

John Peoples, a 60-year-old blind Pennsylvania lawyer, claims he was victimized twice when a Philadelphia prostitute overcharged him by $8,600. According to Peoples’ lawsuit, the woman he hired through an escort services website overbilled him on 11 different occasions, overcharging $8,600 in all, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. The suit…

Oct 2, 2009 12:59 PM CDT

How Some Pennsylvania Firms Compensated for the Bad Economy

Pennsylvania law firms that compensated for the bad economy share one trait: They have a broad range of practice areas. That’s the assessment of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “If financial services or real estate plummets, then bankruptcy and, in some cases, litigation often compensate,” the story says. “Firms that have the…

Sep 29, 2009 3:50 PM CDT

Partners are Now Yellow, Associates Green on Ballard Spahr Website

Can this really be a law firm website? In an apparent recent makeover that is catching the attention of the legal community, the online persona of Ballard Spahr now features a bright, visually oriented home page with minimal text. And, in another noteworthy departure from the law firm norm, the…

Sep 29, 2009 12:14 AM CDT

Court Locks Disbarred Lawyer Out of His Own Office

After a history of progressive discipline over his aggressive litigation and courtroom tactics–which allegedly included, at one point, choking a 74-year-old judge after an adverse arbitration ruling, attorney Allen Feingold was disbarred last year. But that allegedly hasn’t stopped the former Pennsylvania lawyer from practicing until at least June of…

Sep 28, 2009 5:43 PM CDT

Lawyer Handcuffed on Judge’s Order Says She Was Not Bending Rules

A Philadelphia lawyer who was handcuffed by an irate judge on Tuesday insists she was nothing but respectful during a courtroom appearance. Lawyer Mary Maran apparently spoke over the judge, drawing a warning that she would be held in contempt if she continued, the Bucks County Courier Times reports. When…

Sep 23, 2009 3:56 PM CDT

Feuding Lawyer Ordered to Take Civility Class, Eat a Meal with His Opponent

Corrected: A Shakespeare-quoting federal judge has ordered a feuding lawyer to take a CLE civility class and to eat a meal with the opponent he labeled an —hole during a deposition. U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter wrote in a recent opinion that she was inspired by a Shakespeare quote…

Sep 21, 2009 1:22 PM CDT