2nd Circuit Tosses FCC Fine for Female Nudity on ‘NYPD Blue’

ABC television stations won’t have to pay a combined $1.21 million penalty for broadcasting an NYPD Blue episode with a shot of a female character’s nude buttocks. A New York-based federal appeals court ruled (PDF) on Tuesday that the nudity policy created by the Federal Communications Commission is unconstitutionally vague,…

Jan 5, 2011 5:15 PM CST

Feds Join Criminal Probe of Claimed Snow-Removal Slowdown in NYC After Heavy Storm Last Week

Following news reports that New York City municipal workers may have intentionally slowed down snow removal efforts during a blizzard last week, as payback for layoffs, demotions and salary cuts, the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office has opened a criminal probe. That action follows investigations begun earlier by district attorneys in…

Jan 5, 2011 12:36 AM CST

Federal Judge OKs RICO Conspiracy Class Action Against Law Firm in ‘Sewer Service’ Case

A federal judge in New York has given a green light to a racketeering conspiracy class action filed against a law firm. The suit contends that the firm and a client consumer debt purchaser, along with a process serving company, schemed to obtain thousands of default judgments in state court…

Jan 4, 2011 8:44 PM CST

Shell Gets a Pass on Nigerian Claims, But Tort Law’s Future Still Unclear

Jan 1, 2011 9:00 AM CST

2 Former Jenkens & Gilchrist Partners on Track for Trial in Tax-Shelter Case

Rejecting an argument that the conduct of two former partners of the now-shuttered Jenkens & Gilchrist and three other non-law firm defendants lacked requisite willfulness, a federal judge has denied a motion to dismiss and put the case on track for a February trial. Charged with conspiring to defraud the…

Dec 29, 2010 6:58 PM CST

Convicted of Murder, High-School Dropout Researches Own Case for a Decade, Wins Release

Convicted at age 22 of a murder he says he didn’t commit, Jabbar Collins saw a bleak future ahead of him. Although he’d been working toward a general equivalency high-school diploma and trying to transfer to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice before his arrest, he was now facing…

Dec 28, 2010 7:33 PM CST

Doc Film Helped Chevron Subpoena Plaintiffs’ US Legal Files in $113B Ecuador Enviro Case

A documentary film encouraged by the lead plaintiff’s lawyer in a $113 billion case concerning alleged damage to a South American rain forest apparently didn’t achieve the result attorney Steve Donziger anticipated. Lawyers for Chevron Corp. used the documentary, Crude, to persuade a federal judge in New York both to…

Dec 23, 2010 9:09 PM CST

Celebrity Lawyer Put Lifestyle Before IRS, Gets 1 Year and 1 Day in Tax Case

Michael “Mickey” Sherman was making good money as a celebrity criminal defense lawyer. But not enough to pay for both the lavish lifestyle he and his family live as well as his income tax. So he put his living expenses first and let the unpaid taxes balloon to as much…

Dec 23, 2010 1:11 AM CST

Judicial Nomination Deal Stymies Liu, Puts Democratic Majority on 2nd Circuit

Majority leaders of both parties in the Senate have worked out a deal allowing confirmation of 19 of President Obama’s judicial nominees and deferral of four others. Democrats agreed not to seek votes on the four nominees, report the Associated Press and the San Jose Mercury News. Their nominations will…

Dec 22, 2010 12:27 PM CST

2nd Circuit Upholds FISA in Appeal by Sailor Who Leaked Classified Information

A federal appeals court has upheld the law that creates a special court to consider wiretap applications in foreign intelligence cases. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law in an appeal by a sailor convicted of leaking details of ship movements to a website operator that supported…

Dec 22, 2010 12:00 PM CST

Shock Jock Hal Turner Gets 33 Months for Threatening 7th Circuit Judges in Blog Post

Defiant to the end, an Internet radio shock jock sought probation today for saying in a blog post that three federal appeals court judges in Chicago “deserved to be killed” for their rulings in gun-ban litigation while simultaneously accusing the judge in his own Brooklyn federal court case of “legal…

Dec 21, 2010 8:38 PM CST

Double Whammy for Ex-BigLaw Partner Both Arrested & Sued by SEC Today re Alleged Role in $20M Fraud

A former partner of Winston & Strawn was both arrested today and sued today by the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations that he had a role in a former New York money manager’s theft of more than $20 million from investors’ accounts. Jonathan Star Bristol, 55, was federally indicted…

Dec 16, 2010 7:48 PM CST

SCOTUS Gives Nod to 2nd Circuit OK of ‘Heavy Hitters’ Law Firm Slogan & Descriptive Trade Names

By refusing to hear an appeal of a 2nd Circuit decision earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court has apparently turned a friendly eye on the use of law firm slogans and descriptive trade names that include a bit of chest-beating, according to the Associated Press. Although it is potentially…

Dec 13, 2010 6:28 PM CST

Madoff Trustee Sues ‘Criminal Soul Mate’ Banker, Seeks $59B (Yes, Billion) in RICO Suit

A “criminal soul mate” of convicted super-swindler Bernard Madoff masterminded a 23-year conspiracy, utilizing European and offshore banks, hedge funds and other financial entities, that made it possible for him to operate a record-breaking Ponzi scheme, contends a bankruptcy trustee who filed a lawsuit today that seeks nearly $59 billion…

Dec 11, 2010 2:03 AM CST

Madoff Trustee Sues JPMorgan Chase, Seeks $6B for Alleged Blind Eye to Massive Swindle

In a complaint filed under seal in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, a court-appointed trustee winding up the business affairs of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff has accused a major bank of aiding and abetting his record-breaking Ponzi scheme over a period of decades. JPMorgan Chase & Co., which was Madoff’s…

Dec 2, 2010 8:31 PM CST