States

Deal Would Give Plaintiffs About $3M in DA Race Bias Case

Dozens of employees who won a suit against New Orleans District Attorney Eddie Jordan for firing them because they were white would receive about $3 million under a deal financed by the city and the state of Louisiana. The troubled DA’s office was facing threats from lawyers for the fired…

Nov 21, 2007 2:30 PM CST

Terrorism Judge Warns Government About Wiretap Secrecy

The federal judge who presided over the trial of confessed terrorism conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui appeared to be out of patience with the government yesterday in a hearing in another terrorism case. Judge Leonie Brinkema of Alexandria, Va., said she might order a new trial for Islamic scholar Ali al-Timimi, convicted…

Nov 21, 2007 1:59 PM CST

Lawyer Ordered to Testify About Client Communications

A lawyer has been ordered to testify about his communications with clients regarding opinion letters he wrote facilitating the sale of shares in Defense Technology Systems Inc. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin has ordered lawyer Frank Hariton of White Plains, N.Y., to testify under the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege,…

Nov 21, 2007 12:52 PM CST

Record $700M in Attorney Fees Sought in Enron Litigation

San Diego securities class-action firm Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins is seeking a record $700 million in fees for plaintiffs lawyers in litigation against professionals accused of aiding Enron accounting fraud. A $700 million attorney fee would be the largest ever in a securities class action, the Wall Street…

Nov 21, 2007 11:30 AM CST

New N.Y. Law School in Binghamton?

A possible plan to establish a new public law school in Binghamton, N.Y., is being discussed by two existing universities there. If established, it would be the third public law school in the state. Under preliminary plans being discussed, the law school apparently would be a joint venture of Binghamton…

Nov 21, 2007 1:19 AM CST

Obscure Ore. Law: Don’t Dig for Artifacts

An Oregon bottle collector had no idea that his seemingly innocent hobby of looking for old glass around outhouses could violate state law. But then local media featured him in news reports. Soon afterward, 44-year-old Dale Mlasko received a letter from the Oregon State Preservation Office, reports the Mail Tribune,…

Nov 21, 2007 1:02 AM CST

New Look at Case of Teen’s Suicide Over Web Bullying

Authorities in Missouri initially said no laws appeared to have been broken by at least one adult allegedly responsible for an Internet hoax that reportedly bullied a 13-year-old girl into committing suicide a year ago. But now prosecutors are looking into the situation further following a public outcry after recent…

Nov 21, 2007 12:09 AM CST

‘Harvard Lawyer’ Now Has New Title: Inmate

Young, attractive and clean-cut, Charles Brady certainly looked the part of the Harvard-trained land use and zoning attorney police say he claimed to be. Even a number of fellow practitioners reportedly were fooled by the 26-year-old stepson of a former Florida legislator. However, Brady, despite regularly practicing law and collecting…

Nov 20, 2007 11:23 PM CST

Jeffs Prison Sentence: Five-to-Life x 2

The controversial leader of a fringe Mormon sect in Utah that advocates polygamy was sentenced today to two consecutive terms of five years to life, following his conviction earlier this year for accomplice rape. That means that Warren Jeffs, 51,will have to serve at least 10 years before he is…

Nov 20, 2007 10:32 PM CST

Concerned re Web Privacy, Ohio Courts Mull Paper Records Removal

Updated: As county courts in Ohio moved to make a number of dockets and case records available online, concerns arose about how that might adversely affect individual privacy. So a judicial commission was appointed to study the issue. Now, under its proposed recommendations, it appears that new rules may not…

Nov 20, 2007 9:49 PM CST

Fee Arb Bars Legal Malpractice Suit

A divorce client who unsuccessfully contests her matrimonial counsel’s bill in arbitration can’t then turn around and sue for malpractice over the legal fees the law firm charged her, a New York appeals court has ruled. The arbitration was over a claim filed by Laurie Wallenstein with a grievance committee,…

Nov 20, 2007 9:26 PM CST

S.C. Supreme Court: ‘Understandable Concerns’ About Bar Exam

Responding to what it describes as “understandable concerns” about the unusual manner in which some who took the South Carolina bar exam in July 2007 belatedly learned that they had passed, the state supreme court has offered an additional explanation of what happened. A scrivener’s error resulted in one examinee’s…

Nov 20, 2007 7:34 PM CST

Democratic Donor Accused of Impersonating a Lawyer

A Democratic campaign donor has been released on bail after being accused of impersonating a lawyer. Mauricio Celis was released on $50,000 bail, the Caller-Times reports reports. He has a controlling interest in CGT Law Group of Corpus Christi, Texas, the Associated Press reports. Celis was indicted Friday for impersonating…

Nov 20, 2007 4:52 PM CST

Ex-ABA Membership Chair Dies

A Shreveport, La., lawyer who served as ABA membership chairman has died. Robert G.Pugh, a former president of the Shreveport Bar Association, died at the age of 83, the Shreveport Times reports. ABA membership tripled during his tenure from 1977 to 1984, the newspaper reports. Pugh’s listing on Lawyers.com shows…

Nov 20, 2007 3:45 PM CST

Lawyer’s Conviction for Obstructing Probe Upheld

A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of a former Florida lawyer for conspiring to obstruct an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The lawyer, Donald Frank Mintmire, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, according to the Fulton County Daily Report. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court…

Nov 20, 2007 2:33 PM CST