3rd Circuit Court

Now at Trial, Law Profs Win Initial Round in Pocket Parts Suit: If Defamation Is Proved, It’s Per Se

Two longtime authors of the supplementary “pocket part” to a Pennsylvania criminal procedure treatise say they were shocked when they saw they were still listed as the authors of a “sham” new version in 2008, after refusing to revise it because of a pay dispute with West Publishing Co. The…

Dec 14, 2010 8:11 PM CST

Major Del. Law Firm at Which IT Manager Allegedly Traded on Client Merger Info Is ID’d

One of Delaware’s biggest and best-known corporate law firms was reportedly the victim of an alleged insider-trading scheme by a former information technology and security manager. Although not identified in a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint filed against Jeffrey Temple, 40, the law firm from which he stole client merger…

Dec 8, 2010 10:30 PM CST

Law Firm Accused of UPL, After Admittedly Filing Foreclosures Without Attorney Review

A Pennsylvania law firm has joined Florida colleagues on the hot seat over questioned practices in high-volume mortgage foreclosure cases. Goldbeck McCafferty & McKeever has been accused of unauthorized practice of law because—as two of its name partners admitted in deposition—nonlawyers, at least in the past, routinely prepared and filed…

Dec 4, 2010 12:00 AM CST

Estate of Slain Gun-Rights Advocate Loses $1M Suit Over Brief Loss of Concealed-Carry Permit

Saying that concealed-carry regulations have traditionally been recognized as valid under the Second Amendment, a federal district court in central Pennsylvania has dismissed a federal lawsuit against a local sheriff in the Harrisburg area. The suit was brought by a woman whose concealed-carry permit was temporarily lifted after she took…

Nov 3, 2010 9:04 PM CDT

Former Law Firm MP and Ex-NJ State Sen. Arraigned in ‘Retainer’ Legislative Bribe Case

A former New Jersey state senator was arraigned today in prison garb along with the business-suited former managing partner of a law firm who is reportedly battling cancer and was barely able to walk into the federal court in Newark with the help of his attorney. Both pleaded not guilty…

Nov 3, 2010 5:07 PM CDT

High-Ranking Prison Official Charged with Seeking Bribes for Help with Discrimination Case

A high-ranking official with the New Jersey Department of Corrections has been arrested on federal bribery charges. Among the accusations against Lydell Sherrer, 51, is that he accepted $4,000 in bribes to provide a fellow employee with internal documents to use in a discrimination lawsuit against the department, reports the…

Oct 14, 2010 12:47 AM CDT

2 Teens Get $185K, Lawyer Gets $425K in School Webcam Spy Case

The school board of a suburban Philadelphia district has agreed to pay $610,000 to settle a suit by two students who say they were spied upon in their own homes via district-issued laptop computers equipped with webcams. Of that total, $175,000 will be put in trust for the student who…

Oct 12, 2010 5:44 PM CDT

Ex-Legislator’s Indictment re Law Firm ‘Retainer’ Fees Spurs Call for Ethics Reform

Critics are calling for ethics reform, following news of a claimed bribery scheme. It was allegedly conducted under the guise of legal fees paid by one New Jersey law partner to a counterpart at another law firm who also happened to be a lawmaker and chair of the state Senate…

Sep 29, 2010 5:45 PM CDT

Law Firm’s $8K Monthly ‘Retainer’ Payments to Another Law Firm Were Bribes, Indictment Says

Monthly “retainer” payments of $8,000 by one law firm to another law firm were actually bribes, a federal indictment says. It charges Eric Wisler, who was then with DeCotiis Fitzpatrick & Cole, and Wayne Bryant, a former state senator and then-partner in a Cherry Hill, N.J.., law firm, with funneling…

Sep 28, 2010 11:52 PM CDT

Federal Judge’s Standing Order Fines Firm $500/Day for Late Filing, Requires Explanation to Clients

A federal judge in Newark has lost patience with a New Jersey law firm’s “habitual” late filing of briefs in Social Security appellate matters. So she imposed a standing order at the beginning of the month requiring Langton & Alter to pay $500 a day for future late fillings, as…

Sep 24, 2010 8:16 PM CDT

Lawyer Indicted, Accused of Diverting $380K in Law Firm Fees

Updated: A Philadelphia lawyer has been federally indicted for tax evasion, wire fraud and obstruction of justice, after allegedly diverting $380,000 from his clients that should have gone to his law firm. Charles Naselsky, 50, is also accused of filing a false 2005 tax return and falsely telling investigators in…

Sep 10, 2010 6:34 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Gives Judges Discretion to Demand Warrants for Cell Phone Tracking

A federal appeals court has ruled that judges have statutory authority to demand a showing of probable cause when the government seeks cell phone location data to track criminal suspects. The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a Justice Department argument that judges are required to issue orders…

Sep 8, 2010 3:03 PM CDT

Partner Accused of Embezzling $1M, Faking Paperwork and Forging Signatures

Updated: A former partner of a Philadelphia law firm has been accused of embezzling $1 million from clients and the firm, allegedly faking documents and forging signatures to transfer money that should have been held in trust to himself and an unidentified favored female client. A federal indictment charging Jeffrey…

Aug 20, 2010 5:04 PM CDT

Home of Phila. Traffic Court Judge Is Raided by Feds

A traffic court judge was among three prominent Philadelphia individuals raided by the feds at home or at work yesterday. Judge Robert Mulgrew, whose home was searched in connection with the joint FBI and Internal Revenue Service probe, could not be reached for comment. But unidentified sources told the Philadelphia…

Aug 19, 2010 5:22 PM CDT

No Criminal Charges in Case Over School District’s Alleged Webcam Spying on Students

Saying that they could not prove requisite intent, federal authorities today announced they do not intend to pursue criminal charges against those responsible for admittedly taking photos of some students within their homes and elsewhere on webcams embedded in laptop computers issues by a Pennsylvania school district. However, civil litigation…

Aug 17, 2010 11:26 PM CDT