5th Circuit Court

Battered By Months in Jail, Onetime Billionaire Stanford Says His Defense Is Suffering

Blind in one eye after a jail fight, suffering from other ailments and taking anti-depressants, onetime billionaire R. Allen Stanford is finding it tough to defend the criminal case he is facing over an alleged $7 billion fraud from his cell at the federal detention center in Houston. Denied bond…

Jul 16, 2010 5:26 PM CDT

4 Cops, 2 Supervisors Charged Over Katrina Danziger Bridge Deaths

Four police officers and two supervisors have been federally indicted in a civil rights case over civilian deaths on the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Exactly what they have been charged with isn’t yet clear, reports CNN, and a news conference is planned by…

Jul 13, 2010 8:49 PM CDT

Appeals Court Rules Against Obama Administration on Oil Drilling Moratorium

A federal appeals court has ruled against the Obama administration in its attempt to immediately reinstate a six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reinstate the moratorium while the government appeals a trial judge’s ruling that the administration had failed…

Jul 9, 2010 12:19 PM CDT

Schools’ Confiscation of Candy Cane Pens Was Unconstitutional, 5th Circuit Says

Two Texas school principals may be liable for violating students’ constitutional rights by confiscating candy cane pens and other Christian materials that the children planned to distribute, a federal appeals court has ruled. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the principals interfered with the students’ clearly…

Jul 2, 2010 1:20 PM CDT

Solo Lawyer & Office Manager Wife Accused of Stealing $2M From Guardianship Clients

A 71-year-old solo practitioner in Texas and his 70-year-old office manager and wife are facing a 26-count federal indictment for allegedly stealing more than $2 million from the accounts of disabled military veterans for whom he served as a guardian. Joe Phillips, who practices in Houston, and his wife, Dorothy,…

Jun 30, 2010 9:00 PM CDT

Federal Judge Blocks Offshore Drilling Moratorium in Gulf of Mexico

A federal judge in New Orleans has blocked the Obama administration’s effort to ban deepwater offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico for six months in the wake of the BP oil spill. A CNN article provides additional details about the ruling, which the White House plans to appeal to…

Jun 22, 2010 5:56 PM CDT

Mass Recusal of 5th Circuit Kills Closely Watched Global-Warming Case

Eight judges on the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have recused themselves from hearing an en banc appeal of a provocative global-warming lawsuit. As a result, there’s no quorum, and the court is unable to hear the case. The class action suit, filed by property owners against…

Jun 2, 2010 8:11 PM CDT

Frustration Over Uncontained Gulf Oil Spill—and Tort Claim Contingency Fees of Up to 50 Percent

As crude oil continues gushing into the Gulf of Mexico at a record-breaking rate from an undersea BP well, frustration with the situation is building. A little over a month after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and burned, killing 11 workers, it appears that a combination of factors ranging…

May 25, 2010 1:44 AM CDT

Avoid Chaos, Decide Now Where to Try Oil Spill Cases, Lawyer Urges Multidistrict Panel

As the tally of cases related to the still-gushing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico tops 100, a Louisiana lawyer today urged a panel of federal judges to decide quickly to consolidate the litigation and determine where it should be pursued. Although the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict…

May 20, 2010 12:08 AM CDT

After Federal Judge Bans Counsel Changes, Onetime Billionaire Tells New Lawyer He’s Fired

Only six weeks ago, a federal judge in Houston, Texas, told onetime billionaire. R. Allen Stanford that his two new lawyers would be his last. But already Stanford is testing that limit on counsel substitutions: One of the two new lawyers defending the Houston businessman in a criminal case over…

May 15, 2010 12:07 AM CDT

Class Action Suits Are Filed Over Gulf Oil Spill; Leak Could Be Gushing 25K Barrels Daily

Updated: Two commercial shrimpers have filed a federal lawsuit in Louisiana against the owner and operator of a oil rig that exploded and sank last week in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in a massive oil leak, and similar actions are being filed in federal court in other states, too.…

Apr 30, 2010 5:33 PM CDT

Wife of Ex-Mayor of Detroit Sues County DA, Says Her Money Was Spent on Hubby’s $1M Restitution

As the disgraced former mayor of Detroit faces a possible jail term for having violated his probation in a political corruption case by not making required payments toward his $1 million restitution, his wife has filed a federal lawsuit in Texas contending that Wayne County and its district attorney took…

Apr 22, 2010 5:15 PM CDT

Jailed Onetime Billionaire Allen Stanford Gets Yet Another Lawyer—Alan Dershowitz

Only a few days ago, a federal judge in Houston said he wasn’t going to approve any more changes in defense counsel for jailed onetime billionaire R. Allen Stanford, who is accused of masterminding a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. But today the Houston Chronicle is reporting another addition to Stanford’s…

Apr 8, 2010 7:29 PM CDT

7 Homeowners Awarded $2.6M in Chinese Drywall Suit

In a ruling that is expected to provide guidance for determining potential damages in more than 2,000 similar federal lawsuits filed by other homeowners, a federal judge in New Orleans today awarded $2.6 million to seven homeowners who alleged that their houses were damaged by the installation of drywall manufactured…

Apr 8, 2010 6:14 PM CDT

How Many Lawyers Does Constitution Allow? Onetime Billionaire Allen Stanford May Find Out

Just how many times does the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution allow a defendant the right to counsel of his own selection? It appears that onetime billionaire R. Allen Stanford could be on the verge of testing that question, although a federal judge in Texas is allowing him one…

Apr 6, 2010 7:47 PM CDT