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Legal News

It's (Barely) Legal

A regular compilation about the law and legal news from Glen Ashman, who has been a municipal judge since 1988 and a lawyer since 1980
By Glen Ashman

Post Frequency: 3.2/day

Last Entry: March 24, 2011 at 11:49:36

Court rules against Judge Alex

Posted on February 21, 2008
TV Judges don't always win in real court... Court rules against Judge Alex AP - Wed Feb 20, 11:38 AM ET WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled against the star of the syndicated TV show "Judge Alex," saying that an arbitrator must decide a fee dispute with an attorney who is claiming 12 percent of "Judge Alex's" earnings.

Judge Ups Damages in Stent Patent Case

Posted on February 19, 2008
The Associated PressA patent judgment against Boston Scientific Corp. has jumped to $501 million after a Texas federal judge tacked on an additional $69 million in interest. U.S. District Judge John Ward ruled Thursday to expand the damages award -- decided by a federal jury in Marshall, Texas -- to cover interest on royalties dating back to the medical device maker's 2004 U...

MySpace 'Friend Request' Violates Order

Posted on February 14, 2008
MySpace 'Friend Request' Could Violate Protection OrderNew York Law Journal In a case of apparent first impression, a New York judge has ruled that a MySpace "friend request" can constitute a violation of a temporary order of protection. "While it is true that the person who received the 'friend request' could simply deny the request to become 'friends,' that request was still a contact," the judge wrote...

Skadden Blog's 'Hot Associate' Contest I

Posted on February 12, 2008
The American LawyerWho's the hottest young woman lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom? Last week that question -- posted on a blog written by two anonymous employees -- sent the New York firm into a bit of a tizzy, with its employment adviser chastising the blog in an e-mail sent to all Skadden lawyers in the United States...

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Attorney Charged With Laundering Drug $

Posted on February 08, 2008
Defense Bar Rallies Behind Attorney Charged With Laundering Drug MoneyDaily Business ReviewColleagues call his ethics beyond reproach; Vice President Al Gore relied on him in his fight to get ballots recounted in the 2000 presidential election. But Miami attorney Ben Kuehne appeared Thursday before a federal magistrate charged with laundering $5...

Law Firm Perks Are Nice, but ...

Posted on February 07, 2008
Law Firm Perks Are Nice, but What's the Catch?Fulton County Daily ReportIn the battle to lure and retain associates, some big law firms top off whopping salaries with attractive perks. But do perks benefit the firm as much as the attorney? Allen & Overy now lets lawyers buy and sell vacation days...

Minority Enrollment at Law Schools Down

Posted on February 07, 2008
The National Law JournalA Web site recently established by Columbia Law School paints a dismal picture of enrollment among certain minority groups in law schools. Enrollment of blacks and Mexican-Americans has fallen by 8.6 percent in the past 15 years, as applications to law schools among those two groups have remained constant and as law school enrollment overall has increased...

A ripoff on title insurance?

Posted on February 04, 2008
Consumer Class Action Certified Against Title Insurance Co.The Legal IntelligencerA federal judge has certified a consumer class action against Commonwealth Land Title Insurance, brought by homeowners who claim they were overcharged for title insurance when they refinanced because they were never told they qualified for a discounted premium...

Lawyer's Liability for Baseless Claims

Posted on January 31, 2008
Lawyer's Liability for Client's Baseless ClaimNew Jersey Law JournalNew Jersey's Supreme Court will review a case that could decide whether a lawyer is liable for furthering a client's illegitimate purpose in pursuing litigation. The resolution will have implications for lawyers involved in what a court may deem a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP suit, which can invite counterclaims for malicious use of process...

'Ghostwriting' Lawyers Remain Cloaked

Posted on January 30, 2008
New Jersey Law JournalA federal magistrate judge's ruling last year that "ghostwriting" pleadings for a pro se litigant violates a lawyer's ethical duty of candor to the court has caused an uproar loud enough to get a New Jersey Supreme Court ethics committee's attention...

Posting Bail

Posted on January 30, 2008
An interesting read... Illegal Globally Bail for Profit Remains By ADAM LIPTAK - NY Times Bail bondsmen, who post bail for people accused of crimes in exchange for a fee, are all but unknown outside the U.S.

A racist DA in Texas?

Posted on January 28, 2008
Judge Wants Texas District Attorney to Resign Over E-MailsTexas LawyerAs an e-mail flap involving Harris County, Texas, District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal heated up, Judge Ed Emmett said Wednesday that local officials have asked the Texas Office of the Attorney General to investigate Rosenthal to see if his actions may be grounds for removal from office...

Palimony for a mistress?

Posted on January 23, 2008
N.J. High Court Hears Pitch for Palimony Sans CohabitationNew Jersey Law JournalFor the nearly three decades that New Jersey has recognized a cause of action for palimony, cohabitation has been the litmus test. No degree of love, devotion, mutual assurance or sacrifice has been found sufficient without it...

Young Female Lawyers Play by Own Rules

Posted on January 23, 2008
Legal TimesEven 20 years ago, few women managed to combine family and success at a big firm. But today's middle-aged lawyers pushed to make it happen. They worked nonstop, staying up half the night with a brief in one hand and a crying baby in the other, and they succeeded...

The Slowest Federal Judges in the Land

Posted on January 23, 2008
Legal TimesThe Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts last month released its semiannual report on pending cases and motions, the closest thing there is to a judicial report card. The data shows the backlog cuts across age and experience -- but those with the deepest dockets almost uniformly say the rankings fail to account for the nuance of law...

One more dumb criminal

Posted on January 22, 2008
Australians jailed in bungled burglaryAP - Tue Jan 22, 1:09 AM ET MELBOURNE, Australia - Two Australian robbers were sentenced Tuesday for their April Fools Day heist at the Cuckoo Restaurant, where they thought they were hauling away a big sack of cash that turned out to be bread rolls.

Ruling May Shut Down Legal Hotlines

Posted on January 18, 2008
Lawyer-Client Relationships Can Arise From Legal Hotline Calls, Panel RulesNew Jersey Law JournalLawyers who answer legal hotlines can't rely on a disclaimer to avoid forming an attorney-client relationship, even with one-time callers, a New Jersey Supreme Court ethics committee held on Thursday...

CIA Faulted for Destruction of Videos

Posted on January 18, 2008
CIA Faulted for Destruction of Interrogation VideotapesNew York Law JournalA federal judge won't hold the CIA in civil contempt for the 2005 destruction of videotapes of the interrogation of high-level al-Qaida detainees -- but only because it wouldn't do any good...

Can you make a contract via email?

Posted on January 16, 2008
E-Mail Carries the Power of PaperThe National Law JournalA Massachusetts Appeals Court ruling enforcing an e-mail settlement agreement of a contractual dispute between Amazon.com and a software maker serves as a reminder to lawyers that courts will enforce settlements contained in e-mail messages that meet the traditional criteria of an enforceable contract...

Today's dumbest criminal

Posted on January 16, 2008
Not much doubt that this person is not cut out for a life of crime... Talk about things going really wrong... AP - Tue Jan 15, 9:42 PM ET KOKOMO, Ind. - Police say a man accidentally shot himself in the groin as he was robbing a convenience store. A clerk told police a man carrying a semiautomatic handgun entered the Village Pantry Tuesday morning demanding cash and a pack of cigarettes.

Suing your meth supplier

Posted on January 14, 2008
Former Meth Addict's Negligence Suit Proceeds Against Alleged SupplierThe Associated PressA Canadian judge has cleared the way for a damages hearing in the case of a former crystal meth addict who sued her alleged supplier for negligence after her drug overdose put her in the hospital...

Blogging Lessons Learned

Posted on January 11, 2008
The National Law JournalFor attorneys, blogs are powerful tools that can elevate -- or create -- their status as experts in their fields. But blogging isn't for everyone, writes attorney Mark Herrmann, who shares lessons learned in the blogosphere...

Judges wants DA to resign in email flap

Posted on January 11, 2008
Texas LawyerAs an e-mail flap involving Harris County, Texas, District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal heated up, Judge Ed Emmett said Wednesday that local officials have asked the Texas Office of the Attorney General to investigate Rosenthal to see if his actions may be grounds for removal from office...

Dumb (and strange) criminals (part II)

Posted on January 09, 2008
Pair wheel corpse to store to cash check AP - Tue Jan 8, 10:18 PM ET NEW YORK - Two men wheeled a dead man through the streets in an office chair to a check-cashing store and tried to cash his Social Security check before being arrested on fraud charges, police said.

Today's dumbest criminals

Posted on January 08, 2008
Dude, the cops will never smell it LAKEHURST, N.J. (AP) - Lakehurst police didn't have to go far to make a marijuana arrest. An officer heading home early Saturday smelled pot burning in the police station parking lot. 'Dice shooter' nabbed after complaining IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - An man who complained to police that he was robbed of his gambling earnings was arrested for illegal betting...

Sperm Donor Not Required to Pay Support

Posted on January 07, 2008
Sperm Donor Not Required to Pay Child SupportThe Legal IntelligencerIn a case of first impression, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that a sperm donor who gave up his parental rights in an oral contract with the mother of twins can't be required to pay child support...

Today's Dumbest Criminals

Posted on January 04, 2008
Alleged bank robber doesn't notice cop Tue Jan 1, 10:27 PM ET AP BOSTON - An alleged bank robber in Boston should have been more aware of who was behind him in line. Police said Adam Grennan, 39, of Hull, passed a note to a teller at Mt. Washington Bank in Dorchester on Monday, demanding large bills and no "funny money...

Lurid judicial tapes & sharks in ...

Posted on January 03, 2008
Tenn. judge resigns over fantasies tape AP CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A Tennessee judge resigned last month after making a recording of fantasies so lurid that when the tape fell into the hands of the police and FBI, they thought they were listening to a torture session and believed it might be linked to a murder case...

Lexis/Nexis sued over e-filing ripoff

Posted on December 28, 2007
I want to applaud this lawyer. It is inexcusable how some state courts have teamed with Lexis to in effect jack up filing fees to allow e-filing of cases. Electronic filing done right should be free. The federal dcourts have it right. The Lexis mess that some state courts use is far inferior, costs a lot, and doesn't have the ease of use...

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