3rd Circuit Court

Another Philadelphia TV News Anchor Spat Hits the Courts

Warring former news anchors at Philadelphia television stations are creating a litigation boom for at least one local law firm. In the latest lawsuit, filed yesterday in Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court, ex-NBC10 anchor Lori Delgado, 28, says she quit her job because of fear for her safety and her husband’s…

Nov 11, 2008 8:59 PM CST

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal in Secret Abortion Bias Case

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a publisher’s appeal of a ruling that had sealed the court record of an abortion bias case. The secret suit was filed by a woman who claimed she was fired because she had an abortion, the Associated Press reports. The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S.…

Nov 11, 2008 7:20 PM CST

Federal Juror Names No Longer Secret in Western District of Pennsylvania

A rule that required the names of federal jurors to be kept secret in the Western District of Pennsylvania has been revoked by the chief judge there. The move by U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose followed a media protest over a decision by another judge there to keep juror names…

Oct 14, 2008 11:14 PM CDT

Chief Justice Roberts Depicts a Hard-Boiled Detective in ‘Three-Dollar Steak’ ‘Hood

It reads like a chapter from a hard-boiled detective novel: Narcotics officer Sean Devlin is working undercover in a neighborhood “tough as a three-dollar steak. Devlin knew. Five years on the beat, nine months with the Strike Force. He’d made fifteen, twenty drug busts in the neighborhood.” But it’s not.…

Oct 14, 2008 8:57 PM CDT

Jury to Decide Why Sandy Morgan Died, in Jail and Mentally Ill

If jail authorities had checked her vital signs, they should have known that something was seriously wrong with Sandy Morgan in addition to her obvious mental illness, experts say. But despite checking her every 15 minutes, as part of a suicide watch, they didn’t realize the Pennsylvania woman needed emergency…

Oct 7, 2008 10:19 PM CDT

Longtime Federal Judge Says Money Motivated Move to Pepper Hamilton

A longtime federal judge in Pennsylvania says he is returning to practice because of the significant difference between judicial and law firm pay. James Giles has left his job as a senior U.S. district judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to return to practice at Pepper Hamilton, where he…

Oct 7, 2008 4:34 PM CDT

Pennsylvania Law Firm Claims Websites Free-Ride on Its Name

A Pennsylvania law firm has sued a Canadian domain name registry, claiming that it helped create websites that free-ride on the Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn name. The Kingston personal injury firm, which is also known by its HKQ acronym, alleges in the federal suit that Domain Discreet registered website names…

Sep 26, 2008 3:35 PM CDT

Opponent ‘Bought’ Privileged Docs, Used Them to Seek More

A struggling mortgage lender in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case may have opened up a major new battlefield in the legal malpractice arena. Eager to put an end to a fraud suit brought by a software developer, New Century Mortgage agreed, as part of a settlement in federal bankruptcy court…

Sep 5, 2008 6:46 PM CDT

Mervyns Sues Its Ex-Owners Over ‘Fraudulent Transfer’ of Stores

In a sign of the economically troubled times, a struggling department store chain has sued its former owners over its 2004 sale, contending that they improperly stripped it of its equity in a two-pronged transaction. Mervyns characterizes the sale, in which its department stores and the company’s real estate were…

Sep 5, 2008 1:24 AM CDT

Feds Can Review N.J. Lawyer’s Client Files, Judge Rules

A federal judge has OK’d a plan for the FBI to review computer records that a New Jersey lawyer says concern all of his clients for the past 15 years, finding that the procedure established for doing so is adequate to protect the rights of all concerned. The ruling by…

Sep 3, 2008 9:15 PM CDT

Lawyer Lied About Pomeranian in Federal Corruption Probe in N.J.

A New Jersey lawyer who is also an architect reportedly gave a Pomeranian to a Union City Zoning Board member’s girlfriend, in an effort to bribe him. Then, when questioned about the little orange yapper by the FBI, attorney Jose Izquierdo, 52, falsely claimed that he had been repaid $3,417…

Aug 28, 2008 6:11 PM CDT

Ex-News Anchor Pleads in E-Mail Snooping Case

Until a few months ago, Larry Mendte was a television news anchor at CBS 3 in Philadelphia. Today, the ex-anchor was in the news at his former station and throughout the country after he pleaded guilty in a criminal case in federal court to intentionally accessing the private e-mail accounts…

Aug 22, 2008 5:00 PM CDT

Judge Won’t Lift Sanction Against Lawyer for Client’s F-Bombs

Lawyer Joseph Ziccardi of Chicago has failed to persuade a judge to lift a $29,000 fine imposed for his client’s profanity-laced deposition. U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno of Philadelphia had imposed the sanction earlier this year after finding that Ziccardi’s client, Aaron Wider, had used the F-word or a variant…

Aug 18, 2008 2:44 PM CDT

Brighton Ruling Spurs More Minimum Prices and Some Lawsuits

A U.S. Supreme Court decision involving Brighton handbags has led several manufacturers to set minimum prices for their products and cut off retailers who fail to follow them. The June 2007 decision, Leegin Creative Leather Products Inc. v. PSKS Inc., said companies may set and enforce minimum prices if they…

Aug 18, 2008 11:58 AM CDT

Attorney Vilified Over Lawsuit He Filed for Estate of Dead Child

A Pennsylvania lawyer has hired legal counsel of his own to help him deal with harsh public criticism of his role in filing a lawsuit for the estate of a disabled child who was allegedly killed by her own parents through neglect that caused her to starve to death. Andrea…

Aug 15, 2008 11:09 PM CDT