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Last Entry: November 20, 2009 at 12:50:36

Are 6,000 Seroquel trials on the way?

Posted on November 20, 2009
If so, I foresee a lot of money being spent by both sides to retain local counsel? Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- AstraZeneca Plc may face as many 6,000 trials of lawsuits claiming its antipsychotic drug Seroquel causes diabetes after a...

Trial Lawyers Recover $2.4 Billion Dollars for Taxpayers

Posted on November 20, 2009
For those of you who think that trial lawyers don?t do anything but line their own pockets, consider the fact that trial lawyers are behind many if not most of these cases: The Justice Department has secured $2.4 billion in...

Georgia Judge Throws 2 Lawyers in Jail

Posted on November 20, 2009
Personally, I?m all for judges holding lawyers in contempt when they show disrespect for the Court. Otherwise, those who play by the rules suffer. It may not be a good time for Georgia practitioners to try the patience of Matthew...

Live in Abilene, Texas (or Taylor County)? Then Vote For Randy Crownover for Judge

Posted on November 20, 2009
I can honestly say that I wouldn?t be in law school if not for Randy Crownover. I?ve known this man since I was 17 years old, and to say that he influenced my decision to become an attorney would be...

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ABA To Offer Coverage Of Notable Appellate Decisions

Posted on November 20, 2009
Everyone and their illiterate brother who somehow got into law school covers Supreme Court cases. Now it looks like there will be some decent coverage of the lower appellate courts: Welcome to the new Media Alerts on Federal Courts of...

Ha Ha! Mortgage holder can't foreclose due to sloppy paperwork!

Posted on November 20, 2009
Yes, that ?Ha Ha!? was done in a Nelson voice from The Simpsons. The ruling concerned a mortgage held by debtor Mathew Giroux, who filed a voluntary Chapter 7 case in bankruptcy court in Massachusetts on June 27, 2008....

More About the Chamber of Commerce and Climate Change

Posted on November 20, 2009
Dear Trial Lawyers: I still haven?t seen you guys take this ball and run with it. Quit being arrogant, avaricious, and ignorant and start exploiting the enemy?s biggest weakness. Likewise, the administration's affinity for dealing with front-line corporate players subtly...

DMV In Connecticut Won't Give Info to Marshals Anymore

Posted on November 20, 2009
Sucks to be them. Up until last month, state marshals made heavy use of a small room in the Department of Motor Vehicles in Wethersfield when they phoned the Law Enforcement Communications office for people?s last known addresses. Marshals, and...

The Worst Epithet Ever? Trial Lawyer!

Posted on November 20, 2009
At least if you?re a Republican. I got this in an email from the AAJ: We defeated the motion to recommit, [the healthcare bill passed by the house] thanks to many champions of the civil justice system like Congressman Bruce...

How can you be smart enough to get into Harvard Law, but dumb enough to set fire to a 9/11 memorial in NYC?

Posted on November 20, 2009
Yeah, I?m late on this one. But it?s still worth bringing up. Clearly, GPA and LSAT scores don?t determine your intelligence, your fitness to practice, or your worth as a human being: Updated: The law firm Sidley Austin has rescinded...

How can a grant be both fantastic, and a needless waste?

Posted on November 20, 2009
If it?s this one: A group of law schools will help expand an online U.S. Supreme Court database so that it reaches back to the court's first recorded decision in 1792. The schools received an $874,000 National Science Foundation grant...

Dear Trial Lawyers – Try Telling the Public About These 'Defensive Medicine' Facts

Posted on November 19, 2009
I just saw that 54% of Americans support medical malpractice ?reform? as a way to lower healthcare costs. Trial lawyers need to start spending money to spread the following messages: If a doctor orders a test he or she feels...

Calling 911 because your parents took away your Xbox – not a good idea

Posted on November 19, 2009
I think today is the day I officially became old, because I read this and thought ?what the hell is wrong with kids today?? A Buffalo Grove teen was having fun, fun, fun until his parents took his video game...

Was this a County health department, or a high school?

Posted on November 19, 2009
Get this ? grown adults were wearing ribbons to show their membership in an ?I Hate Teena Club,? with Teena being a coworker. What kind of childish asses start ?I hate so-and-so? clubs at work? A New York appeals court...

How Long Will The Chamber of Commerce Fight To Protect Rapists?

Posted on November 17, 2009
I got this email today, and was surprised that the Chamber of Commerce would be so opposed to letting a rape victim have access to the courts. Food for thought if you?re considering supporting the organization. In 2005, Jamie Leigh...

Defense Lawyers Getting Twice As Much As Victims

Posted on November 17, 2009
Remember this the next time someone complains that plaintiffs? lawyers get all the money. The St. Louis Archdiocese has released financial figures showing it spent $352,000 last fiscal year on payments to victims of predator priests -- and more than....

Damage Caps Decisions Forthcoming in Four States

Posted on November 17, 2009
You know the best part about blogging? I can make ?golden rule? arguments here. So I ask you, how much would YOU want to be awarded if you lost an arm, a leg, or an eye due to medical negligence? ...

How long till lawyers start advertising for these erectile dysfunction cases?

Posted on November 16, 2009
I?m dreading the lawyer commercials for this one. Bisphenol-A, better known as BPA, is the building block of polycarbonates and epoxy resins, plastics that have facilitated modern life. (They're in microwave containers, baby bottles, laptops, and even canned foods...

Six Million Reasons to Start a Law Firm

Posted on November 12, 2009
Good news for those considering hanging their own shingle? Looking for some law firm office space? Well, there's plenty to be had. A recent survey by real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle showed that more than 6 million square...

It's not cool for the police to let their informants actually have sex with hookers

Posted on November 12, 2009
Being a police informant just became a lot less fun in Pennsylvania. In a case of first impression, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled last week that state troopers committed "outrageous government conduct" when investigating alleged prostitution at a massage parlor...

Remember that PI lawyer who started the blog to trash his former employer?

Posted on November 12, 2009
You know, the poorly-written blog? He?s getting sued. Former Levinson Axelrod associate Edward Heyburn -- who expected legal consequences for trashing the firm on the Web -- got them Thursday as the firm went to court in an effort to...

Billion-dollar default judgment reversed

Posted on November 12, 2009
I said that I would ?literally eat a shoe? if this judgment wasn?t reversed. It was. I won?t be eating any shoes. The international soft drink maker relied on Dean Panos, a partner with Jenner in Chicago, to beat...

Lawsuit filed against Citibank for raising interest rates on cardholders in good standing

Posted on November 12, 2009
Credit card companies aren?t happy about some changes in federal law that will make it harder for them to screw their customers. So, they?re screwing customers now by raising interest rates on individuals who make their payments on time. PROVIDENCE,...

Judge Uses The Ultimate Insult Against An Attorney:

Posted on November 11, 2009
She told an attorney that a pro se litigant did better work. Ouch. Cannon, who was a state prosecutor before being elected a judge in 1996, turned on O'Brien, saying the case was "no laughing matter" and castigating him for...

It might be time to rewrite the civil procedure textbooks

Posted on November 11, 2009
Where is a corporation?s principal place of business, and why does it matter? Trial lawyers know: For a corporation, the U.S. Supreme Court's axiom may soon be: Home is where the headquarters is. The Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in...

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Posted on November 11, 2009
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Man Files Lawsuit Claiming That Kate Gosselin and Octomom's kids are his

Posted on November 07, 2009
Apparently, he met Kate at a Long John Silver?s over octopus. She then forced him to use stolen Capital One credit cards to finance fertility treatment and ?his sperm was added to the mix.? If that wasn?t bad enough, he...

Lawsuit Claims Apple and Sarah Jessica Parker Stole the iPod and iPhone

Posted on November 07, 2009
It?s totally plausible that a guy invented those devices in the 1980?s, and was pressured to reveal the designs to the FBI. It?s also totally plausible that Sarah Jessica Parker and Apple then stole the ideas. Just like it?s also...

iPhone: Worst. Phone. Ever.

Posted on November 06, 2009
So say the gents at CNET UK. That's right, we said it -- and we're not taking it back. The iPhone may be the greatest handheld surfing device ever to rock the mobile Web, and a fabulous media player to...

Awesome Yaz Parody Video

Posted on November 06, 2009
Not too long ago, the FDA made Bayer run a series of commercials to ?clear up? some things in earlier Yaz ads. This is a brilliant parody of the second commercial. And like most brilliant parodies, it's got a little...

This Is Idiotic: Building A Wall To Celebrate Tearing Down The Berlin Wall

Posted on November 05, 2009
This is the dumbest thing I?ve seen all day. And I watched Maury AND Springer. BERLIN (AP) -- Fans hoping to catch a glimpse of U2's free concert celebrating 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall will have...

Remembering John O'Quinn

Posted on November 05, 2009
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Debt Collection Firm Pays $2.55 Million Due To Abusive Practices

Posted on November 05, 2009
For future reference: debt collectors aren?t allowed to pretend to be from law enforcement: A California debt collection company has agreed to a $2.55 million judgment to settle a lawsuit brought by thousands of Pennsylvanians who claim they were wrongly...

Former Chief Justice of New Mexico Supreme Court Dies While Giving Speech to Law Students

Posted on November 05, 2009
There?s probably something pithy and sarcastic to say about this, but I?m not feeling very lowbrow today. Instead, I?ll just hope the Justice led a full life and thank him for the dedication he had to the next generation of...

Doctor Sues Alleging He Was Fired For Complaining About Deal Between Hospital and Medtronic

Posted on November 03, 2009
I?ll see if I can?t scare up a copy of this lawsuit. Medical device companies like Medtronic have been under fire lately for their megabucks deals with doctors who can influence purchases of medical products. So what happens to doctors...

Las Vegas Attorney Shot By Police After Reaching For Gun

Posted on November 02, 2009
Sounds like a hell of a lawyer. The friend, who did not want to be identified, said Raymond James Duensing, was shot by police several times causing him to receive injuries to his back and arm. Police said an officer...

Will Lerach or Weiss have a credenza full of cash at their halfway house?

Posted on November 02, 2009
Not that people in halfway houses aren?t trustworthy? but leaving large sums of money around there probably isn?t a good idea. Both prisoners eased into halfway houses a full six months before their release dates, taking advantage of a recent...

Interesting 'Bait and Switch' Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Posted on November 02, 2009
I know I?d be pissed if instead of a legendary surgeon, I got a rookie who botched the job. One wonders if he was charged the same amount of money for the lesser surgeons as the legendary surgeons? Hodge, who...

Fired Lawyer Uses Poorly Written Blog To Trash Former PI Law Firm

Posted on November 02, 2009
On the one hand, I applaud this guy for having the huevos to do this. Google "Levinson Axelrod" and you find two addresses -- www.levinsonaxelrod.com and www.njlawyers.com -- that bring you to the Edison, N.J., personal injury firm's Web site...

87 Million Reasons for BP To Fix Safety Problems

Posted on November 02, 2009
Whether they?re levied as fines, or by a jury as punitive damages, it?s going to be dollar amounts like these that make companies start taking safety as seriously as they should: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the largest...

Viagra, Sex Toys, and 'Just In Case' – or, what not to do if you're an Assistant Attorney General

Posted on October 29, 2009
My ?just in case? kit includes: a full-size floor jack, a tarp, a bottle of water, jumper cables, and a small air compressor. I obviously don?t know how to party like now-former assistant AG Richard Corning: Roland Corning, 66, a...

More Bad News for Iqbal

Posted on October 29, 2009
I for one have my fingers crossed that Congress will undo this oppressive decision. On Wednesday, the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing called "Access to Justice Denied -- Ashcroft v. Iqbal," on the outsize...

Bayer Targets Sexually Active Girls For Popular Birth Control Pill Yaz

Posted on October 26, 2009
That?s the headline that I thought of after reading the oh-so-biased headline in the article below about lawsuits over the Yaz birth control pill. A Newark, Calif., woman and her husband sued drugmaker Bayer in federal court in San Francisco...

I hope I never have to go to this hospital

Posted on October 26, 2009
Five times? Would it really be a bad thing if some of these quacks quit practicing medicine due to a big jury verdict? PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Health officials are investigating how a surgeon at Rhode Island Hospital mistakenly operated on...

Kicking Iqbal To The Curb

Posted on October 26, 2009
Perhaps Congress will do just that. Considering that Iqbal allows judges to determine which cases have merit based on their own subjective opinion, I hope Congress gets rid of this decision. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold the...

Dear Trial Lawyers, it's me again. Pay attention this time.

Posted on October 24, 2009
Remember a few days ago that I said climate change would be the Achilles heel for the Chamber of Commerce and the anti-consumer, anti-lawsuit hacks who run it? The White House and environmental groups are turning up the heat on...

Evangelists Have Enforcers?

Posted on October 24, 2009
I am so out of touch with the world of evangelism. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- A fugitive accused of beating two teenagers on evangelist Tony Alamo's orders must pay $3 million in restitution, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District...

Dirty Jokes Admissible Against Sexual Harassment Plaintiff

Posted on October 23, 2009
Some of the women I know (like, the ones I hang out with) could make sailors blush. I thought of them when I saw this. A plaintiff in a hostile work environment case who claims that her boss' sexual innuendo...

Bernie and the North Pole

Posted on October 23, 2009
Seriously? Cocaine was so prevalent in Bernard Madoff?s office that it was once called the North Pole, according to an expanded lawsuit that alleges a culture of ?sexual deviance? and drug use. The suit filed by plaintiffs lawyer Joseph Cotchett...

Only Hourly? I check my Blackberry every time it goes off

Posted on October 23, 2009
If I hear my BB go off at 2:00 in the morning, I reply immediately if it?s a work thing. For me, an order to check my email hourly would be permission to slack off. After doing a great job...

Is it a bad idea to 'friend' your boss?

Posted on October 23, 2009
It may be bad for your boss. Blurring the line between work and friendship works best in smaller companies, imho. Bosses who "friend" their subordinates on social networking sites may seem warm and harmless, but they've got liability risk written...

Lawsuit Alleges That Nursing Home Let Man's Penis Rot Off

Posted on October 19, 2009
It?s a cruel irony that so much tort ?reform? is directed at protecting nursing homes from their residents, when what we need to do is protect nursing home residents from nursing home negligence. During the four months that followed the...

What's wrong with the current health insurance system?

Posted on October 19, 2009
How about this? This is the house they've built: an insurance market where plans are written for the healthy and all legal efforts are made to exclude the sick. That's meant premiums are somewhat lower than they'd otherwise be, but...

I did not know that Apple was a pawn of trial lawyers and labor unions.

Posted on October 19, 2009
Could the Chamber of Commerce be any more full of it? To claim that Apple?s opposition to the Chamber?s policy on climate change is really just due to trial lawyers and unions? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has seen...

Well, technically, it IS a pre-existing condition

Posted on October 18, 2009
If you define pre-existing condition as a condition you had prior to buying a policy, then yes, being a woman is a pre-existing condition. Other than that little logical error, I?m with them. Is having a uterus a pre-existing condition?...

SEC Sued For Negligence

Posted on October 15, 2009
I totally agree that the SEC was asleep at the wheel with the whole Madoff thing. But I don?t see this lawsuit succeeding. After the relentless pounding the Securities and Exchange Commission has received for failing to expose Bernard Madoff's....

Did Delta Hack Email Accounts Of a Passenger Rights Group?

Posted on October 14, 2009
That?s the allegation made in the following lawsuit: Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Delta Air Lines Inc. is accused in a lawsuit of using ?stolen e-mails? from a consumer group as part of an effort to stem passenger-rights legislation in the...

Peter Dreier: Health Insurance Industry Exposes Its Insatiable Greed

Posted on October 14, 2009
The title caught my eye. So did this: Baucus' Finance Committee is scheduled to vote tomorrow on the bill, which includes: An individual mandate requiring all those without coverage to buy private insurance - in other words, tens of millions...

Tort 'Reformers' Bitten By Tort 'Reform'

Posted on October 13, 2009
If you?d like to know what gives me schadenfreude, look no further than this:" Now many of the investors are stuck with securities that pay ridiculously low yields. In some cases, the securities will never mature, so the investors will...

Washington State Supreme Court Strikes Down Meritless Certificate-Of-Merit Law

Posted on October 13, 2009
Many states have passed a tort ?reform? measure that requires injured patients to file a certificate of merit along with a medical malpractice lawsuit. The Washington State Supreme Court has held that law to be unconstitutional: On Sept. 17, justices...

Jury Gets It Right In Libel Case

Posted on October 13, 2009
There aren?t many hard-and-fast rules in the law. One of them has been that truth is an absolute defense to libel, meaning that if I print something unflattering about someone, that person can?t sue me for libel if what I...

I read this article and thought about the discovery implications

Posted on October 12, 2009
Of course, since I look at everything through a litigation lens, that?s no surprise. Why wait for a response to an email when you get a quicker answer over instant messaging? Thanks to Facebook, some questions can be answered without...

Nope, this isn't usurious at all

Posted on October 09, 2009
(sigh) ?I was caught in a debt trap,? said Patricia Nelson, a 64-year-old Waukesha, Wis., retired nursing home worker who said she ended up paying $2,700 in interest on a $550 loan from payday lenders. Source: Obama pushes consumer protection...

Illinois Supreme Court Lets Defendant Choose Jury Size

Posted on October 09, 2009
And why not? After all, it?s not the prosecutor?s ass on the line. The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that if a criminal defendant wants a jury with fewer than 12 people and the judge allows it, a state prosecutor...

Benevolence is an abuse of discretion

Posted on October 08, 2009
One often wonders just what a trial court judge has to do to abuse his or her discretion. In Florida, it turns out that showing ?benevolence and compassion? is sufficient. "Benevolence and compassion" have no place when it comes to...

Former Justice O'Connor Not Happy With Roberts Court

Posted on October 06, 2009
She seems to have noticed what the current Court is up to: WILLIAMSBURG, Va. ? Retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor says she regrets that some of her decisions "are being dismantled" by the current Supreme Court. O'Connor, who....

In retrospect, it seems really obvious a lawsuit was coming…

Posted on October 05, 2009
If I were an employer, and the wife of one of the most famous Constitutional law scholars worked for me, I?d make sure not to let her be sexually harassed. In an e-mail to the Washington legal community in the...

Justice Thomas Offers a Compelling Reason to Waive Oral argument

Posted on October 02, 2009
Honestly, if I?m ever given the chance to skip oral argument, I probably will. Why work yourself up into a frenzy to try and distill a complicated issue down to 30 minutes of argument? Appellate judges probably will have decided...

No one saw this one coming after D.C. v. Heller

Posted on October 02, 2009
Of course, the wingnuts will still be convinced that Obama is gonna grab all their guns. In orders released Wednesday morning by the Supreme Court, the justices granted review in 12 new cases for the fall term, including a major...

Accuracy and truth are not the same?

Posted on September 23, 2009
Well, I guess it?s better than just showing up to court and shrugging your shoulders, but this argument doesn?t persuade me. The prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's office on Sept. 18 filed a motion for reconsideration in the case,...

Will Congress Undo The Supreme Court's Iqbal Decision?

Posted on September 21, 2009
We often hear a lot of complaints about ?judicial activism.? Definitions vary, but most would agree that it occurs when a judge or judges substitute their own judgment instead of the law. The Supreme Court?s Iqbal decision is a double...

Tardive Dyskinesia and Primary Pulmonary Hypertension

Posted on September 20, 2009
What do those two illnesses have in common? They can both be caused pharmaceutical products. Tardive Dyskinesia is a movement disorder that particularly affects the face. People who suffer from it can?t control their lips and eyes. It can cause...

Tort Reform, Health Care Reform, and Socialism

Posted on September 12, 2009
Brian Wilson has a great post about the contradictory stance some people have on all of the above. And while we're on the topic of "socialism," those opposing health care reform have recently begun to argue that the federal govenmnent...

Dems can learn a thing or two from McCain

Posted on August 27, 2009
I don?t think he can run the country, but he can run his town hall meetings: PHOENIX - Sen. John McCain met with an angry crowd at a town-hall meeting about health care reform Wednesday, sometimes having to fight to...

Curious About Tort Reform?

Posted on August 25, 2009
One of the topics that keeps coming up again and again in the health care debate is whether or not we need to change the civil justice system. Many people proposing these changes call it tort reform. Others, like myself,...

Tips For The First Day of Law School

Posted on August 16, 2009
I know that law school starts for some schools tomorrow, and for others on next Monday. The first day of any semester is always the most important because it determines who you?ll end up sitting next to. I know you?re...

Lawsuit filed against college for allowing a culture of drug and alcohol abuse

Posted on August 15, 2009
The lawsuit is against Utah State University: Utah State University officials long tolerated "a culture of drug and alcohol abuse" at a fraternity house where a teenage freshman pledge died of alcohol poisoning after an alleged hazing last fall, his....

Legal Reader Reborn!

Posted on August 14, 2009
My name is Justinian Lane, and I've been a fan of LegalReader.com for many years. When I saw a few months ago that John's interest in the site had waned, I offered to take it over. The two of us...

Thoughts on Gay Pride Day

Posted on June 28, 2009
[I first published this 6 years ago, in 2003. I thought I would bump it back to the top of the list.] Tomorrow (Sunday) is the annual Gay Pride Parade down Market Street in my home town, San Francisco. I...

Do You Want This Blog?

Posted on February 01, 2009
I started this blog in November 2002, which makes it quite elderly and venerable. I seem to have lost interest in blogging in the last year or so. Do you want to take it over? I think it costs about...

Why Are There No Black Gummy Bears?

Posted on December 15, 2008
I'd never thought about this before. Is it a racist conspiracy? My cat is black, and I'm certain that if he liked Gummy Bears he would be pissed off about it too....

Next President Will Shape Supreme Court

Posted on October 20, 2008
One of the most momentous and least-discussed topics in the presidential campaign is the likely departure in the next four years of as many as three of the more liberal justices on a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court. When the...

Morro Bay Pot Dispensary Owner Found Guilty of Federal Charges

Posted on August 06, 2008
From the Los Angeles Times: In a closely watched trial involving conflicting marijuana laws, a jury on Tuesday convicted the owner of a Morro Bay medical marijuana dispensary on five counts of violating federal drug laws. Charles Lynch, 46, was...

Broadcom's Co-Founder Charged in Tawdry Narcotics Indictment

Posted on June 05, 2008
This guy RULES!!! I was gonna write about this myself, but The Smoking Gun has already done it better than I could, so why bother? JUNE 5--A technology billionaire was a drug fiend who trafficked in cocaine, Ecstasy, and methamphetamine,...

Lawyer Hopes F-Word Means 'Forgiven,' Asks Court to Lift Sanctions

Posted on May 07, 2008
The lawyer who was hit with sanctions for failing to rein in a foul-mouthed client is now asking a federal judge for permission to drop the client and begging for the sanctions imposed on him to be lifted. The Feb....

Right to Confront Dildos

Posted on March 11, 2008
From Above The Law comes the Florida case in which the defendant Tyrrell: [F]irst argues that his ?right to due process and right to confront witnesses? was violated because the state did not produce the [sex toys] that were the...

For Law Wonks Only

Posted on March 11, 2008
Got time to kill? How Appealing recently pointed me to Bryan Garner's interviews with eight-out-of-nine sitting Supreme Court justices regarding their tips on written and oral advocacy. I found them fascinating and enlightening listening. Among the most surprising things: Justice...

Assault Rap for Rough Handshake

Posted on February 11, 2008
FBK wants you to know: A Florida lawyer has been charged with assault for over-vigorously shaking the hand of a fellow attorney. Kathy Brewer Rentas, 49, shook the hand of Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Keene so hard her arm was...

Lawyer Misses Client?s Murder Trial, Says He?s on Sabbatical

Posted on January 29, 2008
A Las Vegas personal injury lawyer known for his colorful commercials failed to show up last week to defend a client accused of murder, telling a prosecutor he was on sabbatical out of state. Glen Lerner left a voice mail...

Neuborne Holocaust-Suit Fee Flap Again Rears Its Ugly Head

Posted on January 29, 2008
Loyal Law Blog readers will remember the controversy surrounding Burt Neuborne, the NYU law professor who was awarded $3.1 million by a federal judge for his work administering a $1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and Holocaust survivors. A number...

Partner Offers $10K Bounty for Blogger?s Identity

Posted on January 29, 2008
A Chicago lawyer who is being criticized, along with his law firm, in an anonymous Internet blog supposedly authored by a fellow attorney has offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who can provide him with the identity of "Troll Tracker."...

Who?s Cuddly Now? Law Firms

Posted on January 25, 2008
IN the last two decades, as working schedules became flexible, and even accounting firms, of all places, embraced the mantra of work-life balance (at least on paper), there was one unbending, tradition-bound profession: the law. That is why it is...

Charge Against Ex-Boxer Dropped When Witness Shows Up Drunk

Posted on January 25, 2008
PORTLAND, Maine -- A felony charge against a former women's boxing champion from South Portland was dropped when the alleged victim showed up in court too drunk to testify. The prosecutor said she was reluctantly dropping the elevated aggravated assault...

Santa Barbara Paper Illegally Fired Union Backers, Judge Says

Posted on January 01, 2008
A judge has ruled that the Santa Barbara News-Press committed flagrant violations of federal labor laws when it fired eight journalists for engaging in union activities, and he ordered that the newspaper rehire the former employees. Evidence presented during...

Public Defender Builds Injection Case

Posted on January 01, 2008
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) ? One of the biggest capital punishment cases to come before the U.S. Supreme Court in a generation was put together largely by a young, fresh-out-of-law-school member of Kentucky's overworked and underpaid corps of public defenders...

Lawyer Finds Redemption in Helping Poor

Posted on January 01, 2008
He used to be one of them. Now an attorney, he's dedicated to helping drug addicts and skid row residents. Legal aid lawyer Louis Rafti was leading a group of law students on a tour of skid row when he...

Trial Delayed Due to LSU-Ohio St. Game

Posted on December 22, 2007
Justice can wait until after the LSU game. A state judge near the home of the Tigers has agreed to postpone a trial scheduled to start on the same day LSU plays Ohio State in the BCS national championship game....

Control Sought on Military Lawyers

Posted on December 17, 2007
Bush wants power over promotions The Bush administration is pushing to take control of the promotions of military lawyers, escalating a conflict over the independence of uniformed attorneys who have repeatedly raised objections to the White House's policies toward prisoners...

Bill Would Penalize Judges Leaving for High-Paying Jobs

Posted on December 17, 2007
Monday in The Daily Journal of California, Lawrence Hurley will have an article that begins, "Congress may be offering federal judges a major pay raise for the first time in 16 years, but lawmakers are also embracing a plan to...

There Goes the Judge

Posted on December 13, 2007
Just how low does a California judge have to go to be forced out of his or her job? The state's eleven-member Commission on Judicial Performance is responsible for answering that question. And, in fact, the commission rarely rules that...

The Man That Got Away

Posted on December 12, 2007
Judges dreamed of having Barack Obama as their clerk. Why did he turn them all down? Among prominent federal appeals court judges in the 1990s, Barack Obama was known as ?the one who got away.? In 1990, Obama had...

Contractor, Homeowner at Odds Over Fortune Found in Bathroom Walls

Posted on December 12, 2007
Most folks are happy to reach into the pocket of a little-used jacket and find a long-forgotten $10 bill. Multiply that feeling by 18,200 and you will understand how Lakewood home-improvement contractor Bob Kitts felt when he pulled a giant...

DNA Test Clears Man After 27 Years

Posted on December 11, 2007
A man enjoyed freedom Tuesday after a DNA test proved he did not commit a 1979 rape. John Jerome White, 48, left Macon State Prison on Monday evening. "I'm just thankful that this is behind me," White said at...

Judge's "Shocking" Words at Meeting Lead to Censure

Posted on December 11, 2007
Clark County Superior Court Judge John Wulle has been censured for "demeaning, offensive and shocking" behavior at a training conference last year. Wulle, 57, appeared before the state Commission on Judicial Conduct on Friday in SeaTac. The judge and...

Attorney Who Made Up Kidnapping Had 'Meltdown,' Husband Says

Posted on December 11, 2007
A pregnant Ohio attorney who admitted that she fabricated her kidnapping left her family behind because she "experienced a meltdown," her husband said Tuesday. She never was abducted last week outside Toledo's juvenile court building or forced into a...

Solo Convicted in Sex Scam

Posted on December 11, 2007
A San Antonio, Texas, jury has convicted solo Mary S. Roberts on five counts of theft stemming from allegations that she helped her lawyer-husband appropriate $155,000 from four men with whom she had affairs in 2001. The jury returned its...

Court Supervision of Attorney Ordered due to Lack of Civility

Posted on December 11, 2007
A New York judge has ordered court supervision of a lawyer for "objectionable conduct" toward a female opposing counsel who he said had a "cute little thing going on" during a deposition. According to transcripts of the deposition, Thomas B....

High Court Justices to Review Detainees' Rights Under Habeas Corpus

Posted on December 04, 2007
Former Solicitor General Seth P. Waxman has always worked to ensure that the great writ of habeas corpus does not become an empty shell. On Wednesday, Waxman will argue in the Supreme Court what is perhaps the most important...