‘Casket cartel’ rules banning sales by monks are nixed by 5th Circuit

In the latest win for the Institute of Justice in a “rational basis” economic regulation case, a federal appeals court has agreed with a trial judge that the state of Louisiana overreached by preventing Benedictine monks from selling simple wooden caskets because they are not funeral directors. Finding that “mere…

Mar 21, 2013 3:41 PM CDT

Federal judge sides with whooping cranes in water rights case

A federal judge has ordered Texas officials to put the needs of an endangered flock of whooping cranes first when determining whether to grant water-use permits to new users. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times provides a link to Monday’s 124-page opinion (PDF) by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack. She…

Mar 13, 2013 8:00 PM CDT

New indictment accuses jailed lawyer of defrauding utility of millions

Jailed since November, when federal prosecutors accused him of a role in a claimed conspiracy to launder $600 million in Mexican drug cartel money, a once-prominent South Texas lawyer is now facing a new indictment issued Wednesday by a federal grand jury in El Paso. Marco Delgado, 46, also known…

Mar 1, 2013 5:49 PM CST

With billions at issue, trial begins to apportion fault for oil spill among BP, its subcontractors

A federal judge in New Orleans began hearing opening statements Monday in a trial to determine how to apportion blame between BP Plc and its subcontractors for the massive oil spill that began April 20, 2010 with a blowout of an undersea well after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded…

Feb 25, 2013 6:16 PM CST

Defendant attorney takes stand in latest corruption trial linked to convicted judge

An Austin lawyer being tried in a criminal corruption case linked to a South Texas judge who has already been convicted of racketeering has taken the stand in his own defense in federal court in Corpus Christi. Marc G. Rosenthal, who is charged with conspiring to bribe then-404th District Judge…

Feb 22, 2013 6:59 PM CST

Racism complaint filed against federal judge by civil rights group

A long-time federal judge in Houston known for outspokenness has been called out by a Texas civil rights group for making allegedly racist statements, the Houston Chronicle reports. The Texas Civil Rights Project’s formal complaint to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals comes on the heels of a blog…

Feb 7, 2013 5:45 PM CST

Law firm ‘wine and dine’ event with client led to insider-trading case against partner’s husband

The husband of a partner at a well-known law firm is facing an insider-trading case, after allegedly using information he obtained in connection with a planned “wine and dine” event with a Silicon Valley client. James Balchan, an information technology specialist in Houston, is accused in a federal complaint filed…

Feb 7, 2013 3:20 PM CST

Ex-associate admits scheme to divert $453K in law firm funds, takes federal wire fraud plea

An ex-associate of a Louisiana law firm pleaded guilty to a wire fraud count Wednesday in federal court in Baton Rouge and admitted a scheme to get $453,123 of Crawford Lewis funds for his own use. James M. “Tres” Bernhard III, 36, settled last summer a civil lawsuit brought against…

Jan 31, 2013 4:49 PM CST

Testimony: Lawyers promised then-judge big bucks to ‘make sure things came out OK’

When some local lawyers in South Texas wanted to “make sure things came out OK,” they used to steer their personal injury cases to Abel Limas, the former judge testified in federal court in Brownsville on Thursday. Then a 404th state district court judge, he now admits he ran his…

Jan 18, 2013 7:09 PM CST

Judge who dismissed racial slur claim as ‘surprising to Colonel Sanders’ gets sensitivity lesson

A federal appeals court has a message for U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes of Texas: A remark about President Barack Obama and fried chicken does indeed have a racial component. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals criticized Hughes in an opinion (PDF) that nonetheless upholds his decision…

Jan 15, 2013 1:14 PM CST

Inmate Has Been in Prison Awaiting Court-Ordered Retrial Since 1980

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Jerry Hartfield’s murder conviction in 1980. He is still in prison waiting for his retrial. The state court twice refused state requests to reconsider the ruling, the last one in 1983, the Associated Press reports. Eleven days later, the governor commuted Hartfield’s sentence…

Jan 4, 2013 1:23 PM CST

Transocean to Pay $1.4B to Resolve DOJ Criminal Probe, Other Federal Claims re Gulf Oil Spill

The company that owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and safety equipment involved in the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill nearly three years ago has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle federal claims over the fatal environmental disaster. Transocean Ltd. will plead guilty to violating the Clean Water…

Jan 3, 2013 10:52 PM CST

Texas Lawyer Sues the State over His Blog’s Name and Wins

Jan 1, 2013 9:49 AM CST

Texas Lawyer Gets 46 Months re $2.3M Scam of 46 Disabled Veterans

Rejecting an argument by prosecutors that a Texas lawyer should get harsher punishment than his wife for scamming disabled veterans of $2.3 million, because he had fiduciary responsibilities as their guardian, a federal judge on Wednesday gave Joe B. Phillips, 73, exactly the same sentence: 46 months. His 72-year-old wife,…

Dec 21, 2012 6:18 PM CST

Federal Judge Gives La. Woman TRO re Home Rooftop Light Display Featuring Hand with Extended Finger

A federal judge in Louisiana has issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting a municipality from interfering with a resident’s holiday light display. It reportedly features at least one hand, with its middle finger extended. The court order follows two separate incidents in which Denham Springs police allegedly ordered Sarah Childs…

Dec 20, 2012 10:17 PM CST