States

No Misconduct by Florida ‘NHI’ Judge

The former chief criminal judge in Broward County, Florida, has been cleared of misconduct for using the acronym NHI, short for “no humans involved,” after an April attempted murder trial ended in the defendant’s acquittal. The victim, the defendant and the witnesses in the case were all African-American, and several…

Jul 3, 2007 9:02 PM CDT

Affidavit: Wrestler Got ‘Excessive’ Steroids

Before murdering his wife and 7-year-old son and committing suicide at his suburban Atlanta home late last month, professional wrestler Chris Benoit reportedly got “excessive” amounts of steroids using prescriptions from his personal physician. Doctor Phil Astin, charged yesterday with improperly administering painkillers, prescribed, AP reports, “a 10-month supply of…

Jul 3, 2007 8:35 PM CDT

Fewer Empty Chicago Offices, Rents Up

A hiring spree by local law firms is in part responsible for a drop in office vacancies and a rise in office rents in Chicago. Financial services firms and law firms looking for more space in the downtown area are behind a business boom for commercial landlords, which is encouraging…

Jul 3, 2007 8:10 PM CDT

Slain Victim’s Kin Own OJ Book Rights

A highly controversial book authored by fallen football hero O.J. Simpson that some considered his confession to the 1994 murders of his former wife, Nicole, and a male companion, Ron Goldman, is now likely to be published after all. But if so the profits will go not to O.J. Simpson’s…

Jul 3, 2007 6:52 PM CDT

Agony of Defeat for Raiders

A California Supreme Court justice sounded something like the late sportscaster Howard Cosell in explaining why the Oakland Raiders will not get a retrial in a territorial rights suit against the National Football League. The trial judge had cited juror misconduct in granting a new trial but failed to clearly…

Jul 3, 2007 12:58 PM CDT

Chicago Lawyer Prowls Trash Dumpsters

By day, Todd Kooperman practices law with the Cook County public guardian’s office. But by night he can often be found prowling back alleys in affluent neighborhoods in and around Chicago, looking for treasure tossed in local trash dumpsters. The 28-year-old Chicago attorney is seeking bicycles and other salvageable items…

Jul 3, 2007 1:17 AM CDT

‘Best Interest’ in Chimp Custody Case?

Are Emma, 5, and Jackson, 6, just somebody’s property? Or are the two chimpanzees, with their individual interests and tastes–she likes watermelon, for instance, while he prefers grapefruit–entitled to have their best interest taken into account when a court decides who owns them? That is the question that is now…

Jul 3, 2007 12:37 AM CDT

New Ice Shop Lures 14 Wildman Lawyers

Ice Miller has established a new presence in the Chicago suburbs in DuPage County by taking over a 14-lawyer satellite office of Chicago’s Wildman Harrold Allen & Dixon. The Indianapolis firm’s new office in Lisle will also include partner Bob Schillerstrom, from Ice Miller’s existing Naperville, Illinois, office, reports the…

Jul 2, 2007 10:21 PM CDT

Townsend Moves to D.C., Raids Rivals

A 200-lawyer California intellectual property boutique is establishing an East Coast presence in Washington, D.C., with seven lawyers raided from other firms. Townsend and Townsend and Crew has set up shop temporarily at 601 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, in a law office headed by Gary Morris, formerly of Kenyon & Kenyon,…

Jul 2, 2007 9:49 PM CDT

IL Prosecutors + Low Pay = ‘Brain Drain’

Although it hasn’t yet caused a rush to the courthouse door, state prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois, due to a budgeting quirk, earn less than public defenders. On average, they have been making $63,000 annually to prosecute alleged criminals, compared to $73,000 for those who defend alleged criminals. And that…

Jul 2, 2007 8:51 PM CDT

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