States

Starting at $40K, FL Jobs a Stepping-Stone

Young attorneys working as assistant prosecutors and public defenders in South Florida make only about $40,000 annually when they first start work. So, within five years, most have moved on to other jobs. In Broward and Miami-Dade counties, roughly 20 percent a year depart for greener work assignments elsewhere, and…

Sep 11, 2007 7:01 PM CDT

Judge Tosses Calorie-Posting Rule

A federal judge has ruled New York City did not have the authority to require fast-food restaurants to post calorie information. The New York regulation, which applied to restaurants that had already voluntarily disclosed calorie information, required them to make it more accessible by measures such as posting it on…

Sep 11, 2007 6:02 PM CDT

Gay Marriage Blurb Brings Suit

Two men are suing American University for publishing an announcement in an alumni magazine that said they had married each other. In a suit filed Aug. 30 in Manhattan federal court, Ross Weil and Brett Royce say the blurb defamed them because the false statement “imputes homosexual behavior” between the…

Sep 11, 2007 4:32 PM CDT

NY Justices Weigh Death Penalty

New York’s highest court is considering arguments in a case that could determine the future of the death penalty in the state. In oral arguments before the Court of Appeals on Monday, lawyers were asked whether the court should revisit a 2004 decision that struck down the state’s 1995 death…

Sep 11, 2007 3:55 PM CDT

Paris Hilton Hot Over Hallmark Card

“That’s hot,” is Paris Hilton’s trademark phrase, both figuratively and literally. Those are the allegations in a lawsuit Hilton has filed over a Hallmark moment that was not a happy one for the heiress. Hilton has sued the card company for superimposing a photo of her face on a cartoon…

Sep 11, 2007 2:28 PM CDT

Guilty Plea in Tax Shelter Case

One of five remaining defendants has pleaded guilty in the government’s prosecution of advisers accused of working with KPMG to set up phony tax shelters. David Amir Makov pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit tax fraud and agreed to repay $10 million, the Wall Street Journal reports…

Sep 11, 2007 2:07 PM CDT

Politics on Trial Along With Oil Man

The defense attorney for Texas oil man Oscar Wyatt argued yesterday that the federal prosecution of his client for paying kickbacks to buy Iraqi oil is “the United States at its hypocritical worst.” Gerald Shargel told Manhattan jurors that his 83-year-old client had long helped the United States in the…

Sep 11, 2007 11:45 AM CDT

Two Old Firms Struggle With New Paradigm

Two big law firms in the nation’s capital have dropped in Legal Times’ top-20 D.C. rankings, prompting the publication to conclude the firms “seem to be having trouble adjusting to Washington’s new paradigm.” The firms—Arnold & Porter and Covington & Burling—are slipping in the rankings at the same time that…

Sep 11, 2007 11:09 AM CDT

LA ‘Health Zoning’ Would Limit Fast Food

Los Angeles is considering a two-year ban on new fast food restaurants in part of the city, in order to encourage residents to eat better food. The approach, which the Los Angeles Times terms “health zoning,” is far from the first attempt to ban fast-food restaurants by municipal legislation, the…

Sep 10, 2007 11:58 PM CDT

NJ Firms Raise Associate Salaries

While they’re not at the absolute top of the associate salary scale, a number of law firms in New Jersey are nonetheless raising starting pay for first-years significantly. Although some firms are holding the line, others say they are upping the associate ante by as much as 10 to 15…

Sep 10, 2007 10:52 PM CDT

Judge Gags Spector as Jury Deliberates

The trial judge in Phil Spector’s second-degree murder case issued a gag order prohibiting the famed music producer and his wife from commenting to the media as the jury began deliberations today. Saying that the Los Angeles case “will be decided based on the facts in the courtroom,” Superior Court…

Sep 10, 2007 7:26 PM CDT

Philly Firm Splits; Drinker Biddle Benefits

Updated: Miller Alfano & Raspanti, a Philadelphia commercial litigation boutique, is splitting. Due to a growing divergence between practice groups, half the firm reportedly will join Philadelphia-based Drinker Biddle & Reath, and the other half is merging with Pittsburgh-based Pietragallo Bosick & Gordon. Gregory Miller, the firm’s founder and managing…

Sep 10, 2007 6:18 PM CDT

Rape Victim Sues Judge Over R-Word Ban

An alleged acquaintance-rape victim has sued the Nebraska judge who banned her from using the word “rape” in testimony, in what her lawyer describes as a troubling trend. A federal lawsuit filed in Lincoln contends Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront violated Tory Bowen’s rights of due process and free…

Sep 10, 2007 4:39 PM CDT

Prisons Tossing Religious Books

Prisons are dismantling collections of religious books as part of an effort to block access to materials that can be used by militant Islamic and other radical groups. The Bureau of Prisons has created lists of up to 150 approved books for each of 20 religions or religious categories, and…

Sep 10, 2007 4:26 PM CDT

35 La. Deaths: Nursing Home Owners Not Guilty

In a case that has focused criticism on the prosecution, two 60-something owners of St. Rita’s nursing home in Louisiana have been acquitted of 35 charges of negligent homicide. Their 35 patients died after Sal and Mabel Mangano decided not to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina. They two were found not…

Sep 10, 2007 3:21 PM CDT