States

Wrestler’s Doc Charged in Drug Case

A personal physician for a professional wrestler who recently committed a double murder-suicide was charged today in a federal drug probe. Phil Astin is accused of having improperly dispensed painkillers and other drugs, in a case that began after wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and their 7-year-old son were found…

Jul 2, 2007 8:02 PM CDT

Draft Rule: CA Lawyers Must Tell Clients About Insurance

One in five California lawyers doesn’t have malpractice insurance–as clients would have to be told, under a proposed attorney ethics rule. A State Bar of California task force is proposing a rule that would require lawyers to disclose to new clients whether or not they have malpractice coverage, reports the…

Jul 2, 2007 7:21 PM CDT

Civil Union Law Lacks Clout

Same-sex couples who got hitched under a New Jersey civil-unions law are running into roadblocks that bar them from getting the same benefits as married couples. A survey by the gay-advocacy group Garden State Equality found that as many as one in eight couples were denied at least some of…

Jul 2, 2007 5:58 PM CDT

Pastor Had Right to Reveal Affair

A pastor had a First Amendment right to disclose a parishioner’s affair to church members, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled. The court dismissed a lawsuit filed by Peggy Lee Penley, who argued the pastor had a duty to keep the affair a secret since he learned it in a…

Jul 2, 2007 5:28 PM CDT

Bar Exam Suit Cites Religion

A would-be lawyer who failed the bar exam has filed suit contending a question about gay marriage violated his First Amendment rights. Stephen Dunne says the Massachusetts bar question required him to “affirmatively accept, support and promote homosexual marriage and homosexual parenting,” the National Law Journal reports. He didn’t answer…

Jul 2, 2007 2:07 PM CDT

The Body in Question

Coroners eye Ohio suit demanding they tell families about removal of body parts

Jul 2, 2007 12:33 AM CDT

Her Homework: Law Practice

After a busy day in the classroom, this teacher gets her solo practice going

Jul 1, 2007 11:31 PM CDT

At this Prosecutor’s Office, a Furry Soft Spot for Kids

Unconditional love, sad to say, isn’t what brings children to the offices of the King County Special Assault Unit.

Jul 1, 2007 7:25 PM CDT

DEA Raids Office of Dead Wrestler’s Doc

A doctor who prescribed testosterone to pro wrestler Chris Benoit is under investigation by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, following a double murder-suicide by Benoit in his suburban Atlanta home over the weekend. Phil Astin’s medical office in another Atlanta suburb was raided last night by DEA agents and Fayette…

Jun 29, 2007 12:41 AM CDT

Weiss, Lerach: No Deal to Plea Deal

Updated: Famed plaintiff securities lawyers Melvin Weiss and William Lerach reportedly have said no deal to a plea deal offered by federal prosecutors in a criminal kickbacks case against the New York City law firm Weiss founded and two partners there. The rejected plea deal, offered weeks ago in the…

Jun 28, 2007 9:14 PM CDT

Disgraced Duke Rape DA to Quit Monday

Mike Nifong, the Durham, N.C., attorney disbarred for his handling of the rape prosecution of three former Duke lacrosse players later determined to be innocent, will quit his job Monday. However, that still isn’t the end of the road for Nifong, as far as his legal career is concerned–he faces…

Jun 28, 2007 5:44 PM CDT

N.Y. DWI Law Doesn’t Cover Inhalants

New York’s highest court has held that a law barring driving while intoxicated does not apply to impairment from inhaling chemicals from an aerosol can. The New York Court of Appeals said the law covers only impairment from alcohol, the New York Law Journal reports. The court ruled (PDF) yesterday…

Jun 28, 2007 1:39 PM CDT

Court Bars Secret High-Low Deals

New York’s highest court has ordered a new trial for an asbestos defendant because it was not told that a co-defendant had reached a high-low agreement with the plaintiff. The New York Court of Appeals said all parties in multiple defendant cases should be notified of such agreements, the New…

Jun 28, 2007 1:16 PM CDT

AG Meets With Slain Prosecutor’s Family

During a visit to Seattle, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales met today with the family of a federal prosecutor shot and killed by an unknown sniper five years ago as he sat working in his home near a window. The visit gave Tom Wales’ family hope for an increased federal…

Jun 28, 2007 2:27 AM CDT

Law-and-Order Libby Judge Under Fire

The product of a strict childhood under an authoritarian father, U.S. Dist. Judge Reggie Walton expects those who do the crime to do the time. And that includes Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney. But his two-and-a-half-year sentence for Libby in an obstruction…

Jun 27, 2007 11:20 PM CDT