States

EMU Firings: Rare Clery Act Fallout

Three senior administrators including Eastern Michigan University’s president have been fired and an in-house lawyer has been reprimanded, in response to reports finding that the Ypsilanti institution violated federal law by falsely portraying Laura Dickinson’s death in her dorm room last year as a non-criminal act. In fact, the 22-year-old…

Jul 17, 2007 5:37 PM CDT

Accused Doc Sues La. AG

A physician who stuck it out at a New Orleans hospital in disastrous conditions following Hurricane Katrina has filed a lawsuit against the state attorney general who accused her of killing four patients. The lawsuit by Dr. Anna Pou claims some patients could not be saved in the chaotic situation…

Jul 17, 2007 5:16 PM CDT

Child Support Appeal Backfires

A millionaire father who tried to get his child support payments reduced will end up paying more due to a ruling yesterday by the California Court of Appeals. Adam Venit had challenged his monthly support payments of nearly $27,000, but a trial judge instead increased the amount to about $31,600…

Jul 17, 2007 4:40 PM CDT

Waiver Doesn’t Protect Pool

The California Supreme Court ruled yesterday that liability waivers don’t protect recreation programs if they commit gross negligence. The ruling was the first by the court to address whether recreation providers may protect themselves from suit, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The court ruled in the case of a 14-year-old…

Jul 17, 2007 4:00 PM CDT

Innocence Claim Delays Execution

Georgia’s parole board has granted a 90-day stay of execution for Troy Anthony Davis, who says he is innocent. Davis’ scheduled execution for shooting a policeman was less than 24 hours away when the board granted the reprieve, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. A press release says the board will evaluate…

Jul 17, 2007 2:45 PM CDT

Emotional Close to Priest Suit

A judge has approved a record $660 million settlement in a suit against the Los Angeles archdiocese for sexual abuse by priests. Victims cried as Judge Haley Fromholz of Los Angeles County Superior Court said settlement “was the right thing to do,” the New York Times reports. The plaintiffs’ lead…

Jul 17, 2007 2:28 PM CDT

DA Wants Judge Investigated

A district attorney in Conroe, Texas, says he will seek a special prosecutor to investigate a judge who jailed a lawyer for missing a hearing. Montgomery County, Texas, District Attorney Michael McDougal told Texas Lawyer he would file a motion on Friday for a special prosecutor to investigate Judge Frederick…

Jul 17, 2007 1:44 PM CDT

Ex-Software CEO Can Sue Lawyers

The California Supreme Court has cleared the way for malicious prosecution suit by the founder of a software company. The decision allows Siebel Systems founder Thomas Siebel to sue two lawyers who represented a woman in a suit against Siebel and the company, the Recorder reports. Siebel Systems was later…

Jul 17, 2007 12:37 PM CDT

Murderer Loses, Jurors Win Wedding

A murder trial led to matrimony for two Queens, N.Y., jurors who met while sitting on the same jury panel and are to be married next month by the presiding judge in the case. Given all the time that panel members spend together—while under strict instructions to say nothing about…

Jul 17, 2007 12:30 AM CDT

New Leader for Bingham’s SF Office

Bingham McCutchen is putting a new partner at the helm of its San Francisco office, following the departure of seven partners and several associates since the beginning of the year. The new office leader is Geoffrey Howard, 40, who has been jointly heading the firm’s complex litigation practice group, reports…

Jul 16, 2007 11:41 PM CDT

‘Part-Time’ Partner Works 9 Hours a Day

Virginia Seitz is living proof that women lawyers can do it all, balancing a high-powered career with a family life. The Washington, D.C., appellate practitioner, 50, is a partner at Sidley Austin, yet leaves the office at 2:55 p.m. to pick up her two children from school, reports the New…

Jul 16, 2007 10:52 PM CDT

US Citizens Move for Foreign Partners

Tim Miller has met his life partner. The problem is, the couple can’t live happily ever after here in the U.S. That’s because his partner, Alistair McCartney, is not only gay but an Australian citizen. Even if the two establish residency in one of the handful of states that allows…

Jul 16, 2007 10:22 PM CDT

Cell Phone Calls Can Make, Break Cases

When Paul Cortez was tried for the murder of the stripper he had been dating, there was an unexpected witness against the New York actor—his cell phone. Records showed he had called her more than a dozen times in the two hours before her death, and then never again. Plus,…

Jul 16, 2007 9:33 PM CDT

Did Slur Shake Up Law School Board?

A racial slur admittedly used by the man for whom Roger Williams University’s law school was named has reportedly resulted in the departure of four members of the university’s board of trustees. Ralph Papitto, 80, a major donor who has chaired the board for 40 years, says he has never…

Jul 16, 2007 8:14 PM CDT

Girls in Jail Need Beauty, Kind Words

Throughout the country, prisons are run in a paramilitary manner that seems to work for men. But it’s not nearly as effective for young women, experts believe. So, as the number of girls in jail goes up, juvenile authorities in Illinois have been developing new kind of lock-up for young…

Jul 16, 2007 6:35 PM CDT