Pennsylvania

Philly Firm Won’t Hike Associate Pay

One big Philadelphia law firm has decided to buck the trend by refusing to increase salaries for first-year associates. Fox Rothschild will continue to pay new associates $125,000, the Legal Intelligencer reports. Administrative partner Mark Silow said the firm would rather spend the money on salary increases for more senior-level…

Aug 22, 2007 11:12 AM CDT

Suit Targets Lawyer in Trust Dispute

An animal shelter has accused a Pittsburgh lawyer of improperly diverting money from a widow’s estate to three of his favored charities. The no-kill Pittsburgh shelter, Animal Friends, claims Gregory Harbaugh obtained power of attorney from widow Rita Conrady as her health was failing and then changed her trust to…

Aug 21, 2007 12:38 PM CDT

Indicted Appeals Judge Suspended

A Pennsylvania appeals judge has been suspended as he fights charges of insurance fraud. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered the suspension of Judge Michael Joyce on Friday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Joyce was indicted on Wednesday for mail fraud and money laundering. He is accused of claiming he was suffering…

Aug 20, 2007 10:15 AM CDT

Indicted Appeals Judge Seeks Re-Election

A Pennsylvania appellate judge is vowing to run in a November retention election despite federal charges that he filed fraudulent claims with two insurers following a 2001 car crash. Judge Michael T. Joyce gave a statement to the Erie Times-News saying he will ask voters to approve a second 10-year…

Aug 17, 2007 11:30 AM CDT

Circuit City-Initiated Search OK’d

A Pennsylvania appeals court has upheld a police search for computer files of child pornography done after employees at a Circuit City store spotted suspicious downloads. The defendant had no expectation of privacy in video files on the computer, the court ruled in its Aug. 9 opinion. The ruling reversed…

Aug 14, 2007 10:58 AM CDT

Party Almost Over for 2007 ‘Summers’

Question: When can a law student get paid for traveling to London? Answer: When he or she is working as a summer associate at Dechert. The 1000-attorney firm took all 99 of its 2007 summer associates in 17 offices in the U.S. and Europe to London, where it also has…

Aug 6, 2007 10:44 PM CDT

$107 Million Award Overturned

Ernst & Young has dodged a $102.7 million bullet. The appellate-level Pennsylvania Superior Court has overturned an award of that amount, imposed because of procedural legal gaffes by the accounting firm, the Legal Intelligencer reports. “The sanction was extremely disproportionate to the noncompliance at issue,” the court ruled in a…

Jul 27, 2007 1:45 PM CDT

Judge Voids Hazleton Immigration Law

In a ruling with national implications, a federal judge in Pennsylvania today struck down a controversial Hazleton municipal ordinance that would have imposed hefty fines on businesses for hiring illegal immigrants and landlords for renting to them. The ordinance was unconstitutional, ruled U.S. District Judge James M. Munley, because it…

Jul 26, 2007 9:38 PM CDT

Slowdown for Fast-Track Pa. Lawyer

Only a year ago, Michael A. Adler was on a seeming fast track to major career success. For one thing, he had been named a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” by a legal publication in 2006, and had been elected as a Republican committeeman in Lower Merion Township in suburban…

Jul 20, 2007 12:24 AM CDT

80-Plus = Too Old to Raise Grandchild?

A Philadelphia couple, aged 85 and 89, have at least temporarily lost custody of their 5-year-old grandson, whom they had cared for since his birth, apparently because a family court judge considered them too old to handle the hyperactive boy. Although the city’s Department of Human Services recommended that the…

Jul 13, 2007 7:58 PM CDT

Guard Changing at Cozen O’Connor

The guard is about to change Cozen O’Connor, a 546-lawyer Philadelphia-based law firm known as an international insurance coverage powerhouse.The two name partners, although they have signed employment contracts to remain at the helm for another decade, are ceding significant control to the next generation of lawyers and the firm…

Jun 25, 2007 11:37 PM CDT

Bribe Puts Would-Be Legal Eagle’s Fledgling Law Career at Risk

A New Jersey man’s fledgling law career is not off to a good start. Eager to get into a well-regarded law school, Kevin B. Siangchin of North Plainfield tried to bribe workers responsible for administering the crucial Law School Admission Test to give him an advance copy. But the effort…

Jun 20, 2007 10:18 PM CDT

Suit Over Lawyers’ Conversation Dismissed

A Philadelphia judge has dismissed a defamation suit against Cozen O’Connor that was based on a phone conversation between lawyers. The suit by an heir to a building fortune says a lender called loans for a Rolls Royce and a boat after the conversation, the Legal Intelligencer reports. During the…

Jun 20, 2007 1:51 PM CDT

Rival Outfoxed by PA DA’s Ballot Move

An incumbent Pennsylvania prosecutor who is professionally known by her maiden name, Fox, pulled a fast one on him at election time, contends her rival, whose middle name is also Fox. Voters may have been confused because Greene County District Attorney Marjorie Fox used that name on the ballot in…

Jun 5, 2007 8:57 PM CDT

Court Finds Media Right to Juror Names

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that the media has a First Amendment right to juror names. Writing yesterday (PDF) for a unanimous court, Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy said disclosing jurors’ names furthers the objective of a fair trial and assures society of fairness. Cappy wrote that names could…

Jun 1, 2007 7:48 PM CDT