Texas

News of DNA exoneration stuns ex-inmate who didn’t request test

Ailing, wheelchair bound and living in a nursing home, Michael Phillips had long ago stopped trying to persuade others that he had been wrongfully convicted of rape. So the 57-year-old was stunned and, initially, in a state of disbelief when two police officers visited him earlier this year and told…

Jul 28, 2014 5:20 PM CDT

Sex offender living in hotel room may challenge town’s residency restrictions, 5th Circuit says

A registered sex offender and family members who had to live in a one-bedroom motel room to comply with a Dallas town’s residency restrictions have standing to challenge the ordinance, an appeals court has ruled. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday on behalf of Aurelio…

Jul 24, 2014 4:26 PM CDT

Former judge identified as slain man found at Texas law firm

A man found dead by police inside a Lubbock, Texas, law firm early Wednesday has been identified as attorney and former judge Steven “Steve” Wallace, 61. Authorities said the lawyer was pronounced dead at the scene after police responded at 2:26 a.m. to a phone call from a man who…

Jul 24, 2014 3:38 PM CDT

2 lawyers who rejected $9.5M attorney fee in Prempro case will get $21.8M

Two lead lawyers in long-running litigation over Pfizer’s Inc.’s Prempro menopause drug have more than doubled their own payout by challenging a plan to allocate them less than $10 million of a $62 million common-benefit fund for attorney fees. Federal court filings in Little Rock, Arkansas, say fellow plaintiffs lawyers…

Jul 23, 2014 8:20 PM CDT

Man charged with murder after body is found at Texas trial firm

A man who listed a West Texas trial and criminal defense law firm as his home address was charged with murder after a body was found there early Wednesday. When police responding to a disturbance call arrived at the Lubbock offices of Shackelford, Hawkins & Searcy around 2:30 a.m., they…

Jul 23, 2014 5:05 PM CDT

2 men get time in conspiracy to bribe federal judge overseeing $65M money-laundering case

Two men who pleaded guilty to charges that they and a third Mexican citizen tried to bribe a Texas federal judge overseeing a $65 million money-laundering case have been sentenced to a year and a day by a visiting federal judge from Louisiana. Francisco Colorado Jr. and Ramon Segura Flores…

Jul 22, 2014 5:30 PM CDT

Suit says law firm removed estate administrator in effort to block $2M malpractice case

A Houston law firm did not file an adequate medical expert report as required in a wrongful hospital death case, resulting in the “worst possible outcome” when the case was dismissed, an estate administrator says Then Jones Morris Klevenhagen tried to block her from bringing a malpractice case against the…

Jul 22, 2014 3:05 PM CDT

High applications to new law school show ‘pent-up demand,’ law dean says; tuition is $14K

The new University of North Texas Dallas College of Law has no shortage of applicants who want to attend the school, where tuition and fees for an in-state resident cost just $14,540 a year. The school expected about 350 applicants and got more than 600, the Dallas Morning News reports.…

Jul 22, 2014 1:55 PM CDT

Diamond McCarthy files clawback suit against firm’s own ex-partner, over $1.4M Dreier trustee fee

A legal partnership known for its work in high-profile law firm bankruptcy cases has now filed a clawback suit against one of its own ex-partners. Diamond McCarthy says Sheila Gowan is contending, in contravention of the firm’s partnership agreement, that she is entitled to a $1.4 million fee for her…

Jul 21, 2014 5:10 PM CDT

Lawyer’s helmetcam video takes viewers along on high-flying Motocross race

From Monday to Friday, John G. George Jr. is a hardworking civil litigation associate at Beirne, Maynard & Parsons. But by burning the midnight oil on work nights the Texas attorney is often able to make time for adrenaline-inducing dirt bike rides on weekends, when he participates in amateur Motocross…

Jul 17, 2014 10:25 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor seeks pardon for woman convicted after crash now linked to GM ignition-switch issues

A former Texas prosecutor has asked the state to pardon a woman he helped convict in a fatal crash that is now linked to a massive recall by General Motors over ignition-switch issues. Candice Anderson’s fiance died and she was severely injured when her 2004 Saturn Ion suddenly went off…

Jul 17, 2014 5:45 PM CDT

Firm sues ex-client over Yelp review that claims firm will ‘take everything you’ve got’

A Texas law firm has sued a former client over a negative Yelp review, posted after the firm sued the client for attorney fees. Grissom & Thompson claims in the June 24 lawsuit (PDF) that Austin resident Joseph Browning defamed the law firm with the May 9 review, Texas Lawyer…

Jul 14, 2014 11:15 AM CDT

Attorney fears claimed lawyer impersonation, using his name and bar number, isn’t the only one

For at least the second time this week, a lawyer is in the news because someone else assumed the attorney’s identity. Earlier this week, a California solo said someone else filed a motion, using her name and bar number, in a high-profile federal case. Now a woman tells KENS a…

Jul 11, 2014 1:45 PM CDT

Ex-client says law firm filed suit in wrong state, causing loss of $161M case

A former client has filed suit in Dallas against two Texas law firms and three attorneys, contending that earlier business litigation filed in the wrong state resulted in the loss of the $161 million underlying case. Target Strike Inc. alleges that the defendants should have filed suit in the computer…

Jul 8, 2014 10:20 PM CDT

Lawyers give info cards to defendants outside courtroom to protest judge’s arraignment procedure

More than a dozen criminal defense lawyers converged Friday outside a Texas courtroom and handed out informational cards to misdemeanor defendants in an attempt to counteract what they say is an unconstitutional arraignment procedure being used by a Harris County judge. The yellow cards inform defendants of their constitutional rights,…

Jul 2, 2014 1:30 PM CDT