Puerto Rico

Denying disability benefits to Puerto Rico residents violates equal protection rights, ABA amicus brief says

The ABA filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday arguing that denying disability benefits to residents of Puerto Rico violates the equal protection clause.

Sep 8, 2021 12:40 PM CDT

ABA legal ed section finds Puerto Rico law school back in compliance with accreditation standard

The University of Puerto Rico School of Law has taken “concrete steps” to demonstrate compliance with an accreditation standard regarding academic support, according to a decision recently posted online by the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. The section’s council considered the matter when it met…

Mar 29, 2019 9:22 AM CDT

Congress should exempt Puerto Rico from shipping law, ABA House says

A nearly century-old shipping regulation is hampering Puerto Rico's economic and physical recovery in the wake of Hurricane Maria last year, and Congress should enact legislation to permanently exempt the island, the ABA House of Delegates declared in a vote on Tuesday.

Aug 7, 2018 1:06 PM CDT

Proposed Florida law resurrects the debate around the legal duty to help someone in distress

Florida would be in a distinct minority of states if it imposes a duty to rescue people in distress. The rule in the United States is you have no duty to rescue a stranger, and legal scholars are divided on whether that’s a good thing.

Jun 1, 2018 1:50 AM CDT

Florida nonprofit legal clinic hires Puerto Rican attorneys displaced by Hurricane Maria

The Puerto Rican Bar Association of Florida has opened a nonprofit legal clinic focused on providing legal services to Puerto Ricans who have settled in Florida after fleeing Hurricane Maria—and the clinic is employing displaced Puerto Rican attorneys.

Mar 8, 2018 9:51 AM CST

It’s difficult to describe lawyers’ situations in Puerto Rico, but hurricane damage was ‘extreme’

The impact of the hurricanes over the island was not uniform, with some areas suffering extreme devastation. There was greater havoc in the eastern and central parts of the island, so many lawyers in those communities are still without power in their offices.

Feb 1, 2018 12:03 AM CST

Island lawyers start to pick up the pieces in the wake of hurricanes

As someone who had lived in the U.S. Virgin Islands since he graduated from law school in 1982, Tom Bolt has experienced hurricane damage firsthand. “In 1989 we had Hurricane Hugo, which devastated St. Croix,” says Bolt, shareholder and managing attorney of BoltNagi P.C. and member of the ABA Board…

Sep 29, 2017 3:45 PM CDT

Legal aid hotline opens for Hurricane Irma victims

Updated: A legal aid hotline has opened for Hurricane Irma victims in Florida who can’t afford a lawyer. The hotline number is 866-550-2929, report the Orlando Sentinel and an ABA press release. The hotline is operated by young lawyers divisions of the ABA and the Florida Bar, in conjunction with…

Sep 14, 2017 10:27 AM CDT

Puerto Rico seeks bankruptcy-type protection from creditor suits under new Promesa law

Puerto Rico is seeking to halt creditor lawsuits by seeking protection under the new Promesa bankruptcy law for insolvent territories. Puerto Rico acted Wednesday to seek relief from about $74 billion in debt and $49 billion in unfunded pension obligations, reports the New York Times, Politico and USA Today. The…

May 4, 2017 12:08 PM CDT

Supreme Court decision leaves restructuring of Puerto Rico’s debt to Congress

Federal bankruptcy law bars Puerto Rico from restructuring the debt of its insolvent public utilities, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-2 decision. The ruling leaves Puerto Rico’s fate in the hands of Congress, Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) report. The U.S. House of…

Jun 13, 2016 11:17 AM CDT

Supreme Court considers Puerto Rico’s sovereignty and double jeopardy

Questions about Puerto Rico’s sovereignty were before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday as justices considered whether double jeopardy barred Puerto Rico from trying two defendants prosecuted on federal gun crimes charges. The gun defendants claim Puerto Rico is not a separate sovereign that can retry them under its own…

Jan 14, 2016 12:13 PM CST

Chicken sandwich can’t be copyrighted, federal appeals court rules

A ham sandwich, as popular lore has it, may well be indictable. But a chicken sandwich isn’t copyrightable, a federal appeals court has ruled. Agreeing with a trial court’s decision, the 1st U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday held (PDF) that a fast-food worker seeking a $10 million share of…

Aug 26, 2015 10:30 AM CDT

Puerto Rico judge convicted in bribe-taking case

A Puerto Rico Superior Court judge has been convicted of accepting bribes to acquit a man in a fatal drunk-driving case. Manuel Acevedo-Hernandez, 62, was convicted Wednesday of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery and receipt of a bribe by an agent of an organization receiving federal funds, according to…

Jan 22, 2015 1:45 PM CST

Judge upholds gay-marriage ban, says contrary rulings rely on ‘ingenuity and imagination’

A federal judge in Puerto Rico has upheld a ban on gay marriage in an opinion calling heterosexual marriage “the fundamental unit of the political order.” U.S. District Judge Juan Perez-Gimenez upheld the Puerto Rico gay-marriage ban on Tuesday in a decision (PDF) that bucks the trend, report the Washington…

Oct 22, 2014 8:56 AM CDT

After mass layoffs, foreclosure law firm faces eviction

A foreclosure law firm is facing eviction from its offices in Woburn, Massachusetts, after laying off the majority of its lawyers, paralegals and other staffers. The firm, Connolly, Geaney, Ablitt & Willard, was housed in a Woburn office building owned by an affiliated entity. The building was foreclosed on and…

Jun 17, 2014 5:18 PM CDT