4 attorneys face racketeering case over mortgage company takeover; 5th lawyer will be a witness

One lawyer has taken a plea and four others are in trial in federal court in Camden, N.J., in a racketeering case involving the claimed plundering of a Texas-based mortgage company. Attorney Cory Leshner, who pleaded guilty, is expected to testify during the trial, which began Wednesday, according to the…

Jan 8, 2014 6:25 PM CST

General counsel takes plea in $39M foreign bribery case

A U.S. lawyer who formerly served as general counsel to an oil and gas company based in the Virgin Islands has pleaded guilty and two former top executives face charges in a federal foreign bribery case made public this week. Attorney Gregory Weisman, 42, pleaded guilty on Nov. 8 in…

Jan 7, 2014 7:35 PM CST

3rd Circuit agrees to en banc rehearing in GPS vehicle tracking case

A federal appeals court has agreed to rehear en banc a panel’s decision requiring police to obtain a warrant to attach a GPS device to a suspect’s car. The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling (PDF) Thursday, set the case for a rehearing before the full…

Dec 16, 2013 8:00 PM CST

Thalidomide plaintiffs agree to $80M settlement in Australian case; discovery continues in US

Decades after women were given Thalidomide to combat morning sickness during pregnancy in the 1950s and 1960s and wound up delivering babies with missing or deformed limbs and other birth defects, survivors are still seeking compensation. Litigation continues in the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain, but more than…

Dec 4, 2013 12:00 AM CST

Former estate-planning lawyer faces federal charges in claimed $3M client theft case

A former Pennsylvania estate-planning lawyer is facing a federal wire fraud and money-laundering case, accused of bilking eight clients of over $3 million between 2007 and 2013. Prosecutors say Wendy Weikal-Beauchat, 46, used fake certificates of deposit and IRS 1099 interest-reporting forms to cover up the claimed thefts, the Gettysburg…

Nov 4, 2013 6:30 PM CST

Hearsay

Nov 1, 2013 8:09 AM CDT

Goldman Sachs must pay legal bills for programmer it accused in code-theft case, federal judge rules

Goldman Sachs Group accused its former computer programmer Sergey Aleynikov of stealing its confidential source code. Now the company must pay his legal bills, a federal judge in Newark, N.J., has ruled. “Immediate advancement of fees is required, subject only to an unsecured undertaking to repay them if the applicant…

Oct 24, 2013 3:30 PM CDT

3rd Circuit says Delaware Chancery Court’s secret arbitration program trials violated 1st Amendment

A divided federal appeals court Wednesday said a novel attempt by a highly regarded state court to offer an alternative to private arbitration of corporate matters violates the First Amendment because it involves secret trials. Upholding a lower court’s determination but applying a somewhat different line of reasoning to arrive…

Oct 23, 2013 7:05 PM CDT

Fired worker loses smartphone privileges for 3 years for hacking into law firm’s server

A former law firm employee and her husband will be on probation for the next three years after taking a misdemeanor plea in a federal criminal case over unauthorized intrusion into a Pennsylvania law firm’s computer system. But likely much worse for Alyson L. Cunningham, and her husband, Jonathan A.…

Oct 18, 2013 9:55 PM CDT

2 rabbis among 10 charged in claimed kidnap-and-torture plot to force religious divorces

For years, there have been stories that men in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in New York City were sometimes kidnapped or beaten to persuade them to provide the required permission for their wives to obtain a religious divorce. More than a decade ago, a Brooklyn rabbi sued another rabbi, claiming that…

Oct 11, 2013 5:20 PM CDT

Suit says those with most United frequent flier miles pay more for redeemed hotels and flights

Those with the most frequent flier miles in their United Airlines accounts are charged higher redemption rates for hotels and flights, contends a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in New Jersey. Seeking class action status, plaintiffs Robert Gordon and Melissa Chan said they found out about the double-standard when…

Oct 10, 2013 6:45 PM CDT

Ex-CEO blames lawyer for 20-year prison term in $800M fraud case, seeks do-over

Saying his lawyer misled him about the terms of a potential plea deal, the former CEO of LeNature’s Inc. has moved to vacate his 20-year federal prison term and is seeking to unseal the transcript of a sidebar hearing at sentencing in the Pittsburgh case that he says will prove…

Oct 8, 2013 5:20 PM CDT

Young lawyer takes plea in lender-looting case as trial looms for 4 other defendant attorneys

Cory A. Leshner said he was still a law student when he became part of a claimed scheme to take over and loot a Texas-based mortgage company. Now Leshner, a 30-year-old Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in federal court in Camden, N.J., according to…

Oct 2, 2013 8:25 PM CDT

Federal district court cautions lawyers to be careful about repeating judges’ compliments

Oct 1, 2013 8:20 AM CDT

Lawyer wins latest round in dog rescue dispute; federal judge awards $50K in attorney fees

A lawyer who oversees a dog shelter in Pennsylvania has won the latest round in a dispute over conditions at the Sixth Angel Shepherd Rescue Inc. A federal judge in Philadelphia has awarded attorney Terry Silva over $50,000 in attorney fees and costs in the successful civil rights suit she…

Sep 25, 2013 4:05 PM CDT