Trials & Litigation

Project Puts Audio Transcripts Online

Starting this week, digital audio files of select court proceedings are going to be made available to the public over the Internet, under a pilot project that may eventually pave the way for doing so as a widespread practice. The audio files will be available through the PACER (Public Access…

Aug 8, 2007 12:07 AM CDT

CEO Convicted in 1st Backdating Case

Updated: In a result seen as a major victory for federal prosecutors, a jury in San Francisco today convicted the former CEO of Brocade Communications Systems Inc. of securities fraud in the first criminal stock options backdating case to go to trial. Today’s conviction of Gregory Reyes, 44, on 10…

Aug 7, 2007 10:06 PM CDT

Did Affair With Mom Help Prosecute Son?

A prosecutor in Washington state has been accused of gaining information through an affair with the mother of an arson defendant to help prosecute her 17-year-old son. Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden reportedly admits he had a relationship with Kristine Wallace, but denies any wrongdoing, saying that the relationship ended…

Aug 7, 2007 9:16 PM CDT

WA Teens Sue for Custody of Parents

In what may be the first case brought under a new Washington state law that gives children a legal pathway to seek a restoration of parental rights, two twin brothers are petitioning to be put back in the custody of their parents. Timothy Wolcott was removed from the family home…

Aug 7, 2007 8:32 PM CDT

Qualcomm ‘Litigation Abuse’ Cited

A judge has ruled that Qualcomm Inc. waived its rights to enforce two patents for video compression and engaged in “aggravated litigation abuse.” The judge said Qualcomm had deliberately concealed patents from a standard-setting body and failed to turn over thousands of discovery documents in its patent infringement suit against…

Aug 7, 2007 7:16 PM CDT

Less Laughter as FL Lawyer Dies at 75

Sy Gaer, a beloved longtime Miami defense attorney known in courthouse circles for his cantankerous charm and unfailing sense of humor, has died following intestinal surgery. He was 75. Never at a loss for words, Gaer was quoted in the Miami Herald late last year in one classic courtroom exchange:…

Aug 7, 2007 7:09 PM CDT

Katrina Hospital Murder Case Closed, But Civil Cases Continue

The criminal case against two nurses and a doctor accused of murdering hospital patients while working under horrendous conditions during Hurricane Katrina is now at an end, following a grand jury’s refusal to indict Dr. Anna Pou last month, prosecutors told the judge in the case yesterday. But it appears…

Aug 7, 2007 5:29 PM CDT

Save the Whales, Judge Says

A federal judge in Los Angeles has ordered the Navy to stop using sonar in training exercises that can harm whales and other marine mammals. Judge Florence-Marie Cooper said mass strandings of whales have occurred after sonar is used and the Navy failed to mitigate the harm, the New York…

Aug 7, 2007 2:37 PM CDT

Ex-Client Loses Paul Weiss Suit

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison has succeeded in getting a suit thrown out that claimed the law firm breached a fiduciary duty to a banker it represented in WorldCom litigation. U.S. District Judge George Daniels of New York dismissed the case in an opinion dated Aug. 2 (PDF posted…

Aug 7, 2007 10:32 AM CDT

Suit: Insurer Issued False Katrina Reports

A federal whistleblower lawsuit ordered unsealed today claims that State Farm Insurance Co. pressured engineers investigating homeowner claims to falsify reports about the cause of damage from Hurricane Katrina. Instead of saying that wind damage from the August 2005 storm, which is covered by homeowner policies, destroyed insured houses on…

Aug 6, 2007 11:14 PM CDT

Red Cross: U.S. Tortured Prisoners

American intelligence agents tortured terrorist suspects captured after Sept. 11 in secret foreign prisons for years, suspending the practice only after the U.S. Supreme Court declared it illegal in a ruling last summer, according to a magazine article that appears on newsstands today. In doing so, the Central Intelligence Agency…

Aug 6, 2007 7:58 PM CDT

Judge Perry to Win ABA Marshall Award

A revered South Carolina civil rights lawyer whose career included numerous “firsts” is to be presented by the American Bar Association later this month with its prestigious Thurgood Marshall Award. To be honored by the ABA at its annual meeting for his “substantial and long-term contributions to the furtherance of…

Aug 6, 2007 5:40 PM CDT

No Legal Protection for Telecoms

A new law authorizing the government to wiretap foreign terrorism suspects without a warrant does not contain a provision protecting telecommunications companies from liability. The telecoms had sought protection from past suits that had claimed the companies violated customer privacy by cooperating with the government spying program, the Wall Street…

Aug 6, 2007 4:32 PM CDT

Do Public Schools Promote Christianity?

Teaching but not preaching is the goal. But Christian religious instruction reportedly is the reality in many public schools that teach courses that purportedly seek to inform students about the Bible from a literary and historical perspective. The issue is of growing importance, as an increasing number of public schools…

Aug 6, 2007 3:23 PM CDT

Pants Judge Vote Today

The administrative law judge who unsuccessfully sued a dry cleaners for $54 million will soon learn whether a commission wants to reappoint him. Roy Pearson has had a history of combative behavior and has been a frequent critic of his employer, Washington, D.C.’s Office of Administrative Hearings, Legal Times reports.…

Aug 6, 2007 11:45 AM CDT