Legal News

Court nixes new rape trial in dispute over poem

Posted on March 24, 2011
A court has overturned a decision granting a new trial to a convicted rapist who claimed his rights were violated when a poem written by the victim was kept out of evidence during trial in Wayne County. The poem expressing regret about alcohol and sex was written before the woman's encounter with Dustin Wiecek in 1999...

High court unlikely to grant right to lawyer

Posted on March 22, 2011
The Supreme Court appears unlikely to rule that delinquent parents must be given a lawyer before judges can jail them for not paying child support.Several justices said Wednesday they were troubled by the case of a South Carolina father who was repeatedly jailed even though he insisted he could not afford payments of $50 a week...

INSURANCE Company Secrets

Posted on March 21, 2011
ALLSNAKE In the Special Network TV Premier, The Insider Exclusive INVESTIGATES & EXPOSES ?INSURANCE Companies Secrets - What Policyholders Need to Know" If you own an Insurance Policy?And you believe it protects you from life?s misfortunes?..You really need to watch this Network TV Premier Show...

Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher dies

Posted on March 21, 2011
A law firm spokeswoman says former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who worked for peace in Bosnia and the Mideast in the Clinton administration, has died in Los Angeles.Spokeswoman Sonja Steptoe from law firm O'Melveny & Myers where Christopher was a senior partner says he died at his home Friday night of complications from bladder and kidney cancer...

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Court-appointed lawyer denied for torture suspect

Posted on March 20, 2011
A judge has denied a court-appointed attorney for a Texas man accused of torturing a woman for two weeks on a device used for skinning deer.The judge said Monday during Jeffrey Allan Maxwell's initial court appearance that the 58-year-old wasn't indigent because he had listed his net worth as about $200,000...

Court Won't Get Involved in Eminem Royalty Suit

Posted on March 20, 2011
The Supreme Court won't get involved in a fight between Eminem's former production company and Universal Music Group over downloads of the rapper's songs and ringtones.The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Universal Music Group.The 9th U...

Court blames LA County for ocean pollution

Posted on March 11, 2011
A California appeals court has sided with environmentalists in a decision that blames Los Angeles County and its flood control district for sending polluted runoff into the Pacific Ocean.The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the county is responsible for the heavily polluted storm water flowing untreated each year down the Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers...

Mississippi high court upholds price-gouging law

Posted on March 11, 2011
The Mississippi Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the state's price-gouging law.The justices Thursday unanimously overturned a Winston County judge's ruling that the law was unconstitutionally vague.Chancellor J. Max Kilpatrick's ruling came in 2008 as he rejected Attorney General Jim Hood's lawsuit accusing a Mississippi oil company of charging too much for fuel after Hurricane Katrina...

Ex-judge Camp sentenced to 30 days in prison

Posted on March 11, 2011
Jack Camp, the former federal judge ensnared in a scandal involving drugs and a stripper, was sentenced Friday to 30 days in prison and 400 hours of community service.Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan said he could not give a sentence of only probation because Camp had breached his oath of office...

Law Firm Website SEO

Posted on March 10, 2011
Search Engine Optimization, or ?SEO?, is a crucial element within the many services we offer. If you are interested in marketing your law firm website on the internet, it is probable that you have heard about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and the affect they can have on your website...

Lawyer-legislator says ethics opinion clears Prattville lawmaker

Posted on March 10, 2011
The chairman of the Legislature's Contract Review Committee said an opinion from the executive director of the State Ethics Commission clears a senator to work for a law firm that does business with the state.The chairman, Republican Sen. Bill Holtzclaw of Madison said the opinion settled the issue of whether Republican Sen...

Maritime Transportation - Florida Maritime Lawyer

Posted on February 25, 2011
In today?s global economy, our system of commerce relies on an efficient ocean transportation industry.  Whether you are a vessel owner, operator, logistics provider, terminal operator, or user of the ocean transportation system, you need the assistance of legal counsel who is familiar with the business and regulatory challenges faced by maritime participants...

US high court says Nevada can ban brothel ads

Posted on February 25, 2011
The Supreme Court is refusing to invalidate Nevada laws banning newspaper advertisements that identify places where prostitution is legal. The court refused to hear on Tuesday an appeal from two newspaper companies, the American Civil Liberties Union and a Nye County brothel called the Shady Lady Ranch...

Scott+Scott LLP Announces Class Action Lawsuit

Posted on February 25, 2011
Scott+Scott LLP filed a class action complaint against Oilsands Quest Inc. ("Oilsands Quest" or the "Company") (AMEX:BQI) and certain of the Company's officers in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The action for violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is brought on behalf of those purchasing the common stock and other publicly-traded securities of Oilsands Quest between August 14, 2006 and July 14, 2009, inclusive (the "Class Period"), including Oilsands Quest's "Exchangeable Shares" offered as consideration for the minority interest in OQI Sask on August 14, 2006; Oilsands Quest's "units" first publicly offered on December 5, 2007 at $5...

France's Publicis faces $100 million gender bias lawsuit

Posted on February 25, 2011
A former public relations employee has sued Publicis Groupe SA for $100 million, saying the French advertising company discriminates against women in pay and promotions.Women make up 70 percent of the company's public relations staff but hold only about 15 percent of leadership positions, the lawsuit says...

Vivendi To Cut US Class Action Provision

Posted on February 24, 2011
Vivendi SA said Wednesday it will significantly reduce the EUR550 million provision it had made to cover potential damages for a U.S. class action case after a U.S. judge narrowed the size of the class. The Paris-based company's potential liabilities have been slashed by 80% in light of the court victory, which will free up more cash as the group prepares to buy out Vodafone PLC's minority stake in telecoms operator SFR...

Iowa bill on same-sex marriage licenses in trouble

Posted on February 23, 2011
A measure that would bar Iowa county officials from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples faces a bleak future as it sits in a House committee. Top Republicans on Thursday said they have no plans to debate the issue, viewing it a nod to the party's social conservative wing...

Horizon Lines to plead guilty to fixing prices

Posted on February 21, 2011
U.S. authorities say the shipping company Horizon Lines LLC has agreed to plead guilty to fixing prices and to pay a $45 million fine.A Justice Department statement Thursday says the company was accused of conspiring to fix rates and surcharges for freight transportation between the United States and Puerto Rico from May 2002 until April 2008...

as man on Neb. death row appeals to high court

Posted on February 19, 2011
A Texas man on Nebraska's death row for killing two men has appealed his case to the state Supreme Court.Marco Torres Jr., formerly of Pasadena, Texas, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and other charges in the 2007 shooting deaths of two Grand Island men, 48-year-old Timothy Donohue and 60-year-old Edward Hall...

Fla. Ruling Big Tobacco Won Comes Back To Bite It

Posted on February 18, 2011
A Florida Supreme Court ruling that threw out a $145 billion award against cigarette makers is biting Big Tobacco back, making it dramatically easier for thousands of smokers to sue and turning the state into the nation's hot spot for damage awards.The 2006 ruling has helped generate more than $360 million in damage awards in only about two dozen cases...

Father of music group members pleads guilty

Posted on February 18, 2011
His voice barely audible, the patriarch of the acclaimed 5 Browns classical music group said "guilty" to each charge of sexually abusing his three daughters when they were children. Thursday's admission in a Provo courtroom means that Keith Brown, 55, will go to prison for at least 10 years...

Maine federal judge lets class action in care suit

Posted on February 03, 2011
A federal judge in Maine says 40 residents with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other conditions can join a lawsuit seeking to force the state to provide opportunities for them to live outside nursing homes.On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock granted class-action status to a lawsuit filed by three men with cerebral palsy who want to live on their own but retain services provided by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services...

Too big to stop? Obama's overhaul lumbers on

Posted on February 02, 2011
Most insurers, hospital executives and state officials expect they'll keep carrying out President Barack Obama's health care overhaul even after a federal judge cast its fate in doubt by declaring all of it unconstitutional."It's still the law of the land," said William Hoagland, vice president for public policy at health insurer Cigna...

Trenton voids law firm contract for contributions

Posted on February 01, 2011
Trenton's city attorney has found pay-to-play problems with a $50,000 contract that the city recently awarded to an Atlantic City law firm with ties to Mayor Tony Mack.Acting Law Director Marc McKithen voided the contract because he says Cooper Levenson gave money to a political action committee that supported Mack...

Court says convicted lawyer unfit to practice law

Posted on January 26, 2011
The New Hampshire Supreme Court is making it clear that not everyone who passes the bar exam gets to practice law.The court has denied the appeal of a would-be lawyer who was shot down by its Committee on Character and Fitness.The applicant - identified in the ruling by the initials G...

Mo. court sides with immigrant in adoption appeal

Posted on January 26, 2011
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that state adoption laws were not followed in terminating the parental rights of a Guatemalan woman who was caught up in a 2007 immigration raid and allowing her son to be adopted by an American couple.But the decision doesn't automatically return the now 4-year-old child to his birth mother, Encarnacion Bail Romero...

Journal seeks to end ban on Medicare data

Posted on January 25, 2011
The publisher of The Wall Street Journal went to court Tuesday seeking to overturn a 31-year ban on the release of records about how much Medicare money individual doctors receive.Dow Jones & Company Inc. filed papers in federal court in Orlando in an effort to end a prohibition that was implemented in 1979 following a successful lawsuit in Florida by the American Medical Association...

Court won't stop class-action suit against Pella

Posted on January 18, 2011
The Supreme Court won't stop the class-action certification of a lawsuit against Pella Corp. over a purported defect in one of its windows.The high court on Tuesday refused to hear an appeal from the window-maker.The lower courts have certified a class-action lawsuit against Pella...

Menzer & Hill, P.A. Files an Arbitration Claim Against E*Trade Securities, LLC.

Posted on January 18, 2011
The Securities Law Firm of Menzer & Hill, P.A. www.suemyadvisor.com, announced today it has filed an arbitration claim against E*Trade Securities, LLC (?E*Trade?), a subsidiary of E*Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC ), for its failure to execute a customer?s sell order after failing to deliver the customer his shares gained from a forward split...

Court won't hear appeal from NY couple

Posted on January 17, 2011
The Supreme Court won't overturn the convictions of a suburban New York City couple convicted of enslaving two Indonesian housekeepers.The high court on Tuesday refused to hear appeals from Mahender and Varsha Sabhnani that sought to overturn their forced-labor convictions...

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