Lacking Pay Raises, NY Judges Get More Benefits

New York judges, who have not had a pay raise since 1999, will be getting more cash in the form of better benefits. The judges will be allowed an extra $5,000 a year to reimburse them for uncovered medical costs and job-related expenses such as bar association dues, the New…

Nov 2, 2007 11:38 AM CDT

Controversial Las Vegas Judge’s Suspension Upheld

The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld the suspension of controversial Las Vegas Judge Elizabeth Halverson, accused of mistreating staff members and sleeping during hearings. The court rejected Halverson’s procedural objections to her interim suspension and cited ample evidence that supported it, Blogonaut reports. As a result of the ruling, Halverson…

Nov 2, 2007 10:48 AM CDT

Lawsuit Targets Alleged CA ‘Legal Aid’ Scam

The phrase “legal aid” is used in a Northern California business name. But contrary to what that phrase suggests, the company isn’t a nonprofit legal aid clinic. Instead, the Legal Center for Legal Aid is a sham business that misrepresents itself in order to scam would-be clients out of their…

Nov 2, 2007 2:00 AM CDT

CA Judge: New Execution Regs Invalid

An effort to enact a new execution protocol in California that would put an end to a death penalty moratorium declared last year by a federal judge has suffered a setback. The protocol is invalid, a state judge has decided, because it was not created in compliance with the required…

Nov 2, 2007 12:39 AM CDT

Food Fight

Nov 1, 2007 7:56 PM CDT

Phone Transcripts Released in Jeffs Case

Formerly sealed documents detailing jailhouse phone calls made by the leader of a controversial fringe sect of the Mormon church that advocates polygamy were released Tuesday by a Utah court. A lawyer for Warren Jeffs, 51, who has since been convicted of accomplice rape for pressuring a 14-year-old church member…

Nov 1, 2007 7:33 PM CDT

Judicial Candidate Doesn’t Lie About Most Admired Figure

At least one judicial candidate didn’t feel the need to sound intellectual when asked which historical figure he would most want to spend the day with. Former Boston Celtics star Larry Bird was the person named by Rhode Island probate judge Stephen Isherwood, the Providence Journal reports. Isherwood said Bird…

Nov 1, 2007 6:32 PM CDT

States Enforce Federal Immigration Laws

Although enforcing the nation’s immigration laws has traditionally been the federal government’s job, states increasingly are doing it. They are motivated by a perception that the feds aren’t getting it done—and that illegal immigrants cost states money. This year, as Congress failed to agree on omnibus immigration legislation, 43 states…

Nov 1, 2007 5:48 PM CDT

NY State Suit: Lender-Appraiser Scheme Inflated Home Values

In violation of federal lending regulations, a major real estate appraisal company and two of the nation’s biggest savings and loans participated in a scheme to inflate the value of homes throughout the country, contends a lawsuit filed by New York’s attorney general. It accuses eAppraiseIT, a division of First…

Nov 1, 2007 5:25 PM CDT

Ohio Dowry Ruling is Appealed; Important Muslim Marriage Issue

In a case that has attracted national interest, an Ohio woman is appealing a court ruling that her ex-husband doesn’t have to pay the dowry she is guaranteed in her Muslim marriage contract. Although courts in other states reportedly have enforced similar religious marriage contracts, the judge in Raghad Alwattar’s…

Nov 1, 2007 4:21 PM CDT

NY Lawyer Faces Defamation Suit Over Media Remarks

A New York lawyer has been accused of making “reckless and defamatory” comments to the media in a defamation lawsuit. Thomas Liotti of Garden City, N.Y., was targeted for comments he made in defense of his client, who is accused of embezzling $4.3 million from escrow accounts at his brother’s…

Nov 1, 2007 2:27 PM CDT

Lawyer Chastises Supreme Court for Allowing TX Execution

A lawyer for the inmate executed after a Texas judge would not keep the courthouse doors open for his emergency petition says many people share the blame “for this preventable travesty.” Those who looked the other way include the justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, writes University of Houston law…

Nov 1, 2007 1:29 PM CDT

Ex-PI Lawyer Admits Stealing $148K in Client Cash

A former lawyer has agreed to serve at least one year in prison for stealing $148,000 from at least 20 clients. Richard Boter also agreed to pay $160,000 in restitution and forfeited cash when he entered his guilty plea in a New York court yesterday, the New York Law Journal…

Nov 1, 2007 1:11 PM CDT

Record $460M in Fees Sought in Securities Class Action

Milberg Weiss and two other lead law firms are seeking $460 million in fees and about $29 million in expenses in the $3.2 billion settlement of a securities class action against Tyco International Ltd. The money, said to be a record amount in a securities class action, would also be…

Nov 1, 2007 12:47 PM CDT

Controversial GA Judge a ‘Fool,’ Says Fellow Judge in E-mail

Judge Hilton Fuller is facing increasing criticism for his handling of attorney fees in the Georgia trial of a courthouse shooting suspect. And one of those complaining is a fellow judge. Fuller had halted the murder trial of Brian Nichols after his defense lawyers complained of unpaid legal bills and…

Nov 1, 2007 12:12 PM CDT