Trials & Litigation

Sonnenschein Faces $9 M Suit by Ex-Lawyer

A $9 million pay dispute between Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal and a former partner may soon be scheduled for trial. Douglas Rosenthal contends Sonnenschein owes him the money for big successes in two cases, Legal Times reports in a story reprinted by New York Lawyer. Rosenthal claims the law firm…

Sep 5, 2007 12:20 PM CDT

Trial of Millennium: Osama Bin Laden

It’s not a real trial, of course. But some of the country’s best-known lawyers are talking about how they would defend the nation’s most-wanted terrorism suspect, if they were lucky—or unlucky—enough to draw the job of representing Osama bin Laden, were he to be captured. The case would probably start…

Sep 5, 2007 10:09 AM CDT

ACLJ is Key Contender in Religious Cases

Most lawyers are probably familiar with the ACLU. Far fewer attorneys may have heard of the ACLJ. However, the two civil rights organizations—sometimes fighting together and sometimes on opposing sides—are both key players in ongoing efforts to protect religious rights. The ACLJ—American Center for Law and Justice—is a leading Christian…

Sep 5, 2007 12:44 AM CDT

Defense Lawyers Give Terror Effort a D+

In an article that has sparked lively debate on the Internet, the ABA Journal discusses the results of a poll of 50 defense lawyers about the legal system’s response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Their answers weren’t confidence-inspiring. Although the defense lawyers felt that the judicial branch has…

Sep 4, 2007 10:47 PM CDT

Noneconomic Damages Key in 9-11 Suits

Liability for pain and suffering is a key issue in 41 pending lawsuits against airlines, security companies and other defendants alleging negligence in the Sept. 11 attacks. The plaintiffs in many of the cases would not have received high awards from the federal fund set up to compensate victims, the…

Sep 4, 2007 2:57 PM CDT

Husband’s Tactics Influenced Award, Court Suggests

A New York appeals court has vacated a spouse’s award in a divorce case, saying the result was likely influenced by the husband’s litigation conduct. The husband, investment banker Richard Houghton, fired his lawyers at least twice and missed several hearings, the New York Law Journal reports. The couple married…

Sep 4, 2007 1:35 PM CDT

Moussaoui v. The United States

How due process thwarted a courtroom jihad

Sep 1, 2007 8:00 AM CDT

“If I Represented Bin Laden ...”

Imagine Osama bin Laden is captured by U.S. forces on the Afghan-Pakistan border. He’s transported to the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan—blocks from the World Trade Center site—where he has been under indictment for the 1993 attacks on U.S. troops in Somalia and the 1998 bombings of U.S.…

Sep 1, 2007 6:15 AM CDT

Nifong in Contempt, Gets 1 Day in Jail

The disgraced former prosecutor responsible for filing unfounded rape charges against former members of the Duke University men’s lacrosse team was found in criminal contempt of court today and sentenced to one day in jail. Former Durham County, N.C., District Attorney Mike Nifong’s decision to withhold DNA evidence from defense…

Sep 1, 2007 12:02 AM CDT

2 Men Wed, Then Iowa Ruling Suspended

Two gay men in Iowa persuaded a judge to approve an expedited wedding, paid an extra $5 fee and were married today, apparently becoming the first same-sex couple to wed in state history. But then the judge who approved same-sex Polk County marriages yesterday, saying that a previous legal ban…

Aug 31, 2007 11:10 PM CDT

$75 Million Attorney Fee an Iowa Record?

A judge’s approval today of a $180 million antitrust settlement by Microsoft Corp. includes $75 million in attorney fees and costs, which apparently sets an Iowa record. Lead counsel Roxanne Conlin of Des Moines, who brought the case with Richard Hagstrom of Minneapolis, says one reason why the legal bill…

Aug 31, 2007 10:22 PM CDT

Told of Threat to Tot, Lawyer Kills, Repents, Gets 12 Years

A Connecticut patent lawyer who killed his neighbor after his wife reportedly told him the man had molested their 2-year-old daughter was sentenced today to 12 years in prison. Meanwhile, it appears that the alleged Aug. 28, 2006 attack on the toddler that led to the killing may never have…

Aug 31, 2007 9:21 PM CDT

Bad Closing Doc Puts Va. Lawyer in Jail

A former president of the Northern Virginia Bankruptcy Bar Association reportedly has been sentenced by a federal judge to a year and a day in jail for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The sentence yesterday concerned a closing document that Leslie W. Lickstein, 54, of Fairfax, prepared in 2002 for…

Aug 31, 2007 4:22 PM CDT

Scientists Challenge Background Checks

Twenty-eight contract scientists, engineers and other workers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California have filed a suit claiming that newly instituted security checks invade their privacy. The suit claims the government is seeking detailed information covering areas such as sexual history and is asking for waivers so past employers…

Aug 31, 2007 4:21 PM CDT

Spouse’s Death Ends US Residency Quest

Jacqueline Coats’ husband died a hero, and was posthumously awarded a Coast Guard medal for his attempts to save two boys from drowning in the Pacific Ocean. He also died without filing an application for her to become a legal resident of the United States, although the paperwork was completed…

Aug 31, 2007 3:40 PM CDT