Pennsylvania

Former Spector Gadon associate admits to $500K client theft, pleads guilty to wire fraud

A former associate of Spector Gadon & Rosen pleaded guilty Monday to one count of wire fraud in federal court in Philadelphia, admitting that he had stolen a total of more than $500,000 from four of the firm’s clients. Gomer Thomas Williams III, 54, resigned from the state bar in…

Mar 17, 2014 9:30 PM CDT

Name partner leads 7-lawyer team to new Philly firm, joining 11 others from dissolving partnership

A founding partner of litigation defense boutique Lavin O’Neil Ricci Cedrone & Disipio is leaving the firm, along with six other lawyers, after almost 30 years there, in order to form a new legal shop. William J. Ricci and his team will join with all 11 lawyers from dissolving Hollstein…

Mar 14, 2014 7:45 PM CDT

Buchanan Ingersoll acquires a 90-attorney Florida firm

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney is acquiring a 90-lawyer Florida law firm, increasing its attorney roster in the state and adding four new Florida offices. Partners of Pittsburgh-based Buchanan Ingersoll and Fowler White Boggs voted Thursday to approve a merger that takes effect Friday, according to a press release. Together, they…

Mar 13, 2014 7:53 PM CDT

More than 186,000 fugitives escape justice because no one wants to pursue extradition

Crossing a state border proved to be a good move for more than 186,000 fugitives. A confidential FBI database used to track outstanding warrants indicates that officials don’t want to spend the time or money to extradite 186,873 fugitives when they are arrested for other alleged crimes, according to a…

Mar 13, 2014 12:50 PM CDT

Secret hospital urine test on pregnant woman led to gov’t scrutiny over false positive, suit says

A Pittsburgh woman who says her urine was tested without her knowledge or consent by the hospital where she was delivering her baby has sued the facility for turning over the drug test results to a government agency. Plaintiff Rachel Devore says the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center obtained a…

Mar 12, 2014 10:50 PM CDT

Lawyer gets one year in federal prison for his role in $14M mortgage fraud

A Pennsylvania lawyer has been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for his role in a $14 million mortgage fraud that stripped homeowners in a suburban Philadelphia county of their equity. Stephen G. Doherty was also ordered to forfeit $202,000 by U.S. District Judge Mary A.…

Mar 5, 2014 8:25 PM CST

Abu-Jamal appellate work derails lawyer’s nomination to lead DOJ Civil Rights Division

Updated: Debo Adegbile’s nomination to head the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has been blocked amid controversy over the lawyer’s appellate work on behalf of former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal. Eight Democrats joined Republicans to block Adegbile in a procedural vote, the Washington Post reports. Among those voting against Adegbile…

Mar 5, 2014 6:59 PM CST

Judge OKs injury suit by lawyer decked in court by death-row client

A Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyer who says he is still trying to recuperate from being struck in the face by a handcuffed death-row client and knocked to the courtroom floor last May has gotten a green light to proceed with his personal injury suit against Blair County, its prison board…

Feb 27, 2014 5:30 PM CST

Government agency can’t assert attorney-client privilege in AG probe, top state court says

There are circumstances in which state agencies can assert an attorney-client privilege. But a grand jury investigation into their claimed wrongdoing by the state attorney general’s office isn’t among them, a top state court has ruled. That’s because the public is the client represented by state-paid lawyers counseling a troubled…

Feb 20, 2014 5:30 PM CST

After reading the most ‘intentionally disrespectful’ jury form he’d ever seen, judge scolds couple

Running late for work one day, Tina Keller asked her boyfriend to fill out a jury summons form. Bad idea. Drayke Jacobs-Van-Tol responded to questions such as “How many children do you have” with smart-aleck answers, including “none survived the abortions” and “The NSA knows everything. Ask them.” That led…

Feb 19, 2014 11:04 PM CST

Wanted: Skilled lawyer to defend high-profile client in capital case on rush basis

The removal of a Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyer from a capital murder case, after she and her client were charged with attempting to intimidate witnesses, has created a big problem for Luzerne County’s court administrator. Finding a new lawyer to replace Shelley Centini, who was being paid $85 an hour…

Feb 19, 2014 6:50 PM CST

Grand jury probe finds paralegal’s death in lawyer’s bathtub was accidental

A grand jury investigation into the death of a paralegal found dead in a lawyer’s bathtub has concluded there was no evidence of criminality. Julia Law, 26, was found dead last May in the Philadelphia condo of her lawyer-boss, A. Charles Peruto Jr., who had been dating the paralegal. The…

Feb 14, 2014 12:00 PM CST

3 practice leaders exit Dorsey & Whitney

The leader of the labor and employment practice group at Dorsey & Whitney has left the firm to join the Minneapolis office of Littler Mendelson, a San Francisco-based firm known for its national labor and employment practice. The departure of litigator Doug Christensen follows last month’s exit of two other…

Feb 13, 2014 9:05 PM CST

Charged with perjury along with client, lawyer is taken off murder case over defendant’s objection

A Pennsylvania lawyer can no longer represent the defendant in a capital murder case because both she and her client have been charged with trying to obstruct the prosecution. Although defendant Hugo Selenski still wanted court-appointed criminal defense attorney Shelley Centini to represent him in the Luzerne County case and…

Feb 11, 2014 5:54 PM CST

Who shot suburban attorney to death in law firm parking lot? Suspect still sought in 2009 slaying

Those who knew Eric Birnbaum say it is impossible to imagine who could have wanted to shoot the 51-year-old suburban Philadelphia lawyer to death, execution-style, as he was walking across the parking lot to work on Feb. 10, 2009. But someone wearing a knit cap and sunglasses did, possibly in…

Feb 10, 2014 5:25 PM CST