States

Bar Exam Film Ups Ante for 6 Law Grads

It’s hard enough just studying for the bar exam. But six California law graduates decided to up the ante even further by doing so in the public eye. Responding to a 2006 request by documentary filmmakers, they agreed to allow video footage of everything from crying jags and the struggle…

Jul 26, 2007 6:24 PM CDT

US Attorney to Judge: No Scruggs Case

A federal prosecutor in Alabama has declined a federal judge’s suggestion that she should prosecute Richard Scruggs, a prominent Mississippi plaintiffs lawyer, for contempt of court. U.S. Attorney Alice Martin said yesterday in a letter to U.S. District Judge William M. Acker Jr. that “following a serious and thorough review…

Jul 26, 2007 5:43 PM CDT

GOP Sets Stage for Spitzer Probe

Two top aides to New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer have refused to be interviewed in an investigation of an attempt by his office to gather negative information about a political rival. Republicans highlighted the refusal to cooperate as they were setting the stage for a probe that could lead to…

Jul 26, 2007 4:31 PM CDT

Ohio Domestic Violence Law Upheld

In 2004 Ohio voters adopted a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage despite warnings that it could undermine domestic violence laws. That argument has proven unwarranted. Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court held the same-sex marriage ban does not conflict with laws barring domestic violence between unmarried couples, the Toledo Blade reports.…

Jul 26, 2007 3:59 PM CDT

$6.7 Mil Awarded in Infant Car Seat Case

A jury in Livingston, Mont., awarded nearly $6.7 million to the family of a 4-month-old who died when his car seat was ejected from his mother’s vehicle six years ago. Jurors, who also found the car seat manufacturer liable for punitive damages, will now hear evidence about Evenflo’s finances, the…

Jul 26, 2007 3:31 PM CDT

Kilpatrick Lawyers Go and Come

Less than three months ago, Kilpatrick Stockton lost 18 attorneys to a Chicago-based firm opening a Charlotte, N.C., office. Now Kilpatrick has announced (PDF) it is beefing up its Charlotte office, which currently has only 11 lawyers. The law firm has hired two new lawyers and transferred another five lawyers…

Jul 26, 2007 2:01 PM CDT

Masturbating Inmate Convicted

Jurors deliberated only 45 minutes before finding a Florida inmate guilty of indecent exposure for masturbating alone in his jail cell. A Broward County sheriff’s deputy claimed inmate Terry Lee Alexander, 20, did not try to hide what he was doing, the Miami Herald reports. Deputy Coryus Veal testified she…

Jul 26, 2007 1:45 PM CDT

$6 Million Rollover Verdict

A Florida jury has awarded $6 million to a man injured in a rollover of a 1993 Ford Aerostar van. The jury found that the van’s roof was defectively designed, causing it to collapse in the accident five years ago, the Daily Business Review reports. Plaintiff Julian Felipe suffered a…

Jul 26, 2007 1:28 PM CDT

NY Bar Exam Marred by Glitch

Bar examiners in New York suspect a software glitch caused test takers to experience problems this week saving and uploading their essays. Diane Bosse, chairwoman of the Board of Law Examiners, told the New York Law Journal that officials are trying to determine if any answers were lost. She says…

Jul 26, 2007 1:06 PM CDT

Nev. Judge Suspended, Poses ‘Substantial Threat,’ Commission Finds

A controversial Nevada judge was suspended today by the state Commission on Judicial Discipline, which found that Elizabeth Halverson “poses a substantial threat of serious harm” to the public and the administration of justice. In a final order of interim suspension filed today, the commission suspended the judge with pay,…

Jul 26, 2007 12:55 AM CDT

Major Jacksonville PI Firm is Splitting Up

Two longtime law partners in Jacksonville, Fla., have agreed to an amicable split, saying that their plaintiff personal injury firm had grown so large they were essentially officing together rather than practicing together. Woody Wilner and Robert Spohrer now plan to dissolve the firm they formed in 1991 and go…

Jul 26, 2007 12:40 AM CDT

29,000 Sex Offenders Using MySpace

The estimated number of registered sex offenders among some 180 million people using the social networking site MySpace to post personal profiles has quadrupled. Several months ago, operators of the site said they thought some 7,000 registered sex offenders had posted on MySpace. But now they have upped that estimate…

Jul 25, 2007 11:54 PM CDT

Fla. Deals Cold-Case Cards to Inmates

In what a Miami newspaper describes as a macabre—and, so far, unique—game of cold-case poker in the nation’s prisons, authorities in Florida are spending $80,000 to print and deal out to inmates decks of special playing cards that provide information about unsolved crimes and photographs of victims. The poker decks,…

Jul 25, 2007 10:17 PM CDT

Jurors Questioned re Masturbation Habits

Jurors were questioned about their own personal masturbation habits today at the outset of a Florida trial in which they must determine if a 20-year-old inmate is guilty of masturbating while alone in his jail cell. In response to a defense lawyer’s questioning, all nine men among the prospective jurors…

Jul 25, 2007 9:54 PM CDT

New Claim: Justice Hecht Fee Discount

A new ethics complaint has been made about Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht. He allegedly was given a discount on the legal fees he paid in a successful defense of an earlier ethics complaint, and a Travis County prosecutor is investigating this new complaint, reports the KWTX television station.…

Jul 25, 2007 8:55 PM CDT