DOJ Lawyer Denies ‘Nefarious, Secret’ FBI Records System; Judge Isn’t Satisfied

Updated: A federal judge in Utah has asked the FBI to explain why it hasn’t searched all possible databases and evidence rooms for surveillance tapes related to the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups ruled in response to a freedom of information…

May 13, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Judge Tosses Suit Against Pranksters Who Issued Fake Press Release

A federal judge has tossed a cybersquatting suit filed by Koch Industries against pranksters who issued a fake online press release claiming the company had changed its stance on global warming. U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball of Utah ruled (PDF) against Koch in a decision seen as an important test…

May 10, 2011 1:26 PM CDT

Artist-Turned-Lawyer Highlights Typographic Detail in Legal Docs

May 1, 2011 9:00 AM CDT

Hair Braider Challenges Law Requiring 2,000 Hours of Cosmetology Classes

Updated: A hair braider in Utah has filed a lawsuit challenging a state law that requires her to complete 2,000 hours of coursework to ply her trade. The Institute for Justice filed suit on behalf of Jestina Clayton, the Associated Press reports. In a YouTube video, Clayton says she wants…

Apr 28, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Prosecutors and Judges to Join Police at DWI Checkpoints to Enforce New ‘No Refusal’ Law

In what is billed as a first-of-a-kind law enforcement effort in Jasper County, Mo., prosecutors and judges will be joining police at drunken-driving checkpoints, starting tonight, to enforce a new “no refusal” statute in the state. If motorists who seem to be driving while intoxicated refuse to take a breath…

Apr 1, 2011 10:21 PM CDT

Latest Howrey News: Top Antitrust Partner Is Leaving, Salt Lake City Office to Close

After news earlier this week that two intellectual property partner groups had announced plans to exit Howrey during a single day, one including a rainmaker with a reputed $20 million book of business, comes word of more contractions there. A top antitrust partner is leaving the law firm’s Brussels and…

Jan 20, 2011 10:33 PM CST

Law Grad Who Reportedly Faked Bar ID Is Charged with Stealing $176K From Indian Tribe

A graduate of Brigham Young University’s law school who reportedly served previously as a military lawyer after faking his membership in the California bar has been charged with stealing from an Indian tribe in Utah. Jeffrey Zander served as general counsel for the tribe, according to the Deseret News. However,…

Jan 14, 2011 2:21 AM CST

App Tracks Document Delivery in 2 States

Jan 1, 2011 7:50 AM CST

Jury Reaches Verdict in Elizabeth Smart Child-Kidnap Case: Guilty

Despite an insanity defense, a street preacher accused of kidnapping a then-14-year-old girl from her bedroom at knifepoint in 2002 and keeping her in hiding for nine months as his “celestial wife” before she was freed in 2003, has been convicted in federal court in Utah. Brian David Mitchell was…

Dec 10, 2010 6:34 PM CST

Ruling: State Can Be Sued Over Fatal Bear Attack at Campground

A Utah woman whose child was killed by a bear while they were camping near American Fork Canyon in 2007 can sue the state for not warning her family about a bear attack that took place earlier that day. Eleven-year-old Sam Ives was pulled from his tent by a bear…

Nov 24, 2010 7:03 PM CST

Jail Officials Read Legal Mail & May Record Lawyers, Says Defense in Guard Murder Case

Lawyers defending Curtis Allgier in a Utah capital murder case clearly don’t have any easy job. A self-described white supremacist with a shaved head, the 31-year-old is heavily tattooed over his entire face, skull and neck. He gave an interview to KSL Broadcasting in 2007 in which he reportedly admitted…

Nov 3, 2010 9:53 PM CDT

‘Maternal Wall,’ Sex Bias Block Advancement for Women Lawyers, Utah Study Finds

A new survey finds a “startling amount” of sexual harassment and sex discrimination occurs in Utah law firms. The gender bias has a “consistent, negative impact on the advancement of female attorneys” in Utah law firms, according to an executive summary (PDF) of the survey by the Women Lawyers of…

Nov 2, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Nepal Plane Crash Kills Brooklyn Law Grad, Two Utah Law Firm Workers

A Brooklyn Law School graduate and two workers at a Utah law firm were among 14 people killed Tuesday when a plane destined for the area of Mount Everest crashed in Nepal. The law grad was Irina Shekhets, the New York Daily News reports. She took the New Jersey bar…

Aug 25, 2010 11:27 AM CDT

Attorney Who Stole $346K to Set Sons Up in Law Practice Gets 1 Year in Jail

After pleading guilty to stealing over $346,000 in client trust funds, a Utah lawyer argued that he needed to keep working in order to pay restitution. But a Summit County judge sentenced 66-year-old Gary William Nielsen on Monday to a year in jail just the same, followed by six years…

Jul 28, 2010 5:45 PM CDT

Jeffs Wins Appeal of Rape Convictions Based on His Role as Minister at 14-Year-Old’s Wedding

Agreeing with defense lawyers that a claimed marital rape involving two teenagers hadn’t been properly focused upon in jury instructions, the Utah Supreme Court has overturned unusual felony accomplice rape convictions of a religious leader based on his role in promoting an underage marriage between an unwilling 14-year-old and her…

Jul 27, 2010 7:14 PM CDT