Trials & Litigation

NJ Firm Bows Head re Unadmitted Atty

In a rare sanction of a law firm that names no individual partner names, the New Jersey Supreme Court has reprimanded Newark-based Sills Cummis Epstein & Gross for allowing an associate not admitted to the state bar to work on transactional matters for seven years. There are conflicting accounts of…

Jul 27, 2007 12:03 AM CDT

Judge Voids Hazleton Immigration Law

In a ruling with national implications, a federal judge in Pennsylvania today struck down a controversial Hazleton municipal ordinance that would have imposed hefty fines on businesses for hiring illegal immigrants and landlords for renting to them. The ordinance was unconstitutional, ruled U.S. District Judge James M. Munley, because it…

Jul 26, 2007 9:38 PM CDT

Judge’s Loafers Lucky Fit for FL Inmate

Wearing the trial judge’s loafers may have been the final sartorial touch that helped a Florida inmate win an acquittal on cocaine trafficking charges. Michael Fernandez, 22, was mistakenly brought from jail to his Fort Lauderdale trial Tuesday in his jail uniform. Although officials sent for—and received—his street clothes before…

Jul 26, 2007 8:57 PM CDT

Record $100 Million for Unjust Conviction

A federal judge in Boston has awarded $100 million to four men unjustly convicted of murder in Massachusetts state court in 1968, reportedly the largest such judgment ever made. Ruling today, U.S. Dist. Judge Nancy Gertner found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had suppressed evidence that four men convicted…

Jul 26, 2007 8:06 PM CDT

Canine Bites Dog Doc, Owner Prosecuted

Sent to a canine psychologist for treatment of the “anxiety issues” that had led him to attack four children and two adults, a German Shepard promptly bit the professional, too. The dog will now be euthanized, but his 58-year-old British owner—who spent $20,000 pounds trying to help him become a…

Jul 26, 2007 7:51 PM CDT

US Attorney to Judge: No Scruggs Case

A federal prosecutor in Alabama has declined a federal judge’s suggestion that she should prosecute Richard Scruggs, a prominent Mississippi plaintiffs lawyer, for contempt of court. U.S. Attorney Alice Martin said yesterday in a letter to U.S. District Judge William M. Acker Jr. that “following a serious and thorough review…

Jul 26, 2007 5:43 PM CDT

$6.7 Mil Awarded in Infant Car Seat Case

A jury in Livingston, Mont., awarded nearly $6.7 million to the family of a 4-month-old who died when his car seat was ejected from his mother’s vehicle six years ago. Jurors, who also found the car seat manufacturer liable for punitive damages, will now hear evidence about Evenflo’s finances, the…

Jul 26, 2007 3:31 PM CDT

Nev. Judge Suspended, Poses ‘Substantial Threat,’ Commission Finds

A controversial Nevada judge was suspended today by the state Commission on Judicial Discipline, which found that Elizabeth Halverson “poses a substantial threat of serious harm” to the public and the administration of justice. In a final order of interim suspension filed today, the commission suspended the judge with pay,…

Jul 26, 2007 12:55 AM CDT

Hamdan Lawyer to Head Emory U Clinic

A prominent U.S. Navy lawyer will serve as a visiting professor at Emory University School of Law this fall after retiring from the military, and he will help establish a new international humanitarian law clinic. In addition to teaching courses on international humanitarian law, criminal law, evidence, and military law,…

Jul 25, 2007 10:46 PM CDT

Jurors Questioned re Masturbation Habits

Jurors were questioned about their own personal masturbation habits today at the outset of a Florida trial in which they must determine if a 20-year-old inmate is guilty of masturbating while alone in his jail cell. In response to a defense lawyer’s questioning, all nine men among the prospective jurors…

Jul 25, 2007 9:54 PM CDT

Are New Justices Rewriting Case Law?

Two new members of the U.S. Supreme Court reportedly have lost no time in overturning a number of settled precedents. And among those taking note of the situation are members of Congress, who are thinking about looking into whether the justices said one thing during confirmation hearings and did something…

Jul 25, 2007 9:22 PM CDT

New Claim: Justice Hecht Fee Discount

A new ethics complaint has been made about Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht. He allegedly was given a discount on the legal fees he paid in a successful defense of an earlier ethics complaint, and a Travis County prosecutor is investigating this new complaint, reports the KWTX television station.…

Jul 25, 2007 8:55 PM CDT

NY Panhandler Case Now a Class Action

A federal judge in New York City has certified as a class action a case brought on behalf of some 5,000 to 10,000 panhandlers allegedly arrested or forced off the streets for begging. Despite a 1992 federal court decision that the state loitering law being applied was unconstitutional–and an appeals…

Jul 25, 2007 7:57 PM CDT

Almost 800% Rise in Calif. Foreclosures

The number of California mortgage foreclosures has risen by almost 800 percent compared to the same period last year, according to figures released today. And experts predict the record-breaking situation is likely to get worse (or better, from the standpoint of lawyers who make a living representing foreclosing lenders), as…

Jul 25, 2007 12:35 AM CDT

Judge: No Release from KPMG Defense

Lawyers for a defendant in the KPMG tax shelter fraud case signed on and can’t now sign off until the case reaches a final conclusion, a federal court judge says. Although he was initially paid $400,000 by the Big Four accountant, attorney Robert Fink is concerned the ongoing representation of…

Jul 24, 2007 11:08 PM CDT