5th Circuit Court

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

Global Warming Suits Claim Greenhouse Gases Are a Public Nuisance

Environmentalists are citing the law of public nuisance in lawsuits that claim greenhouse gases are contributing to global warming. Fox News cites three lawsuits “pushing this agenda” and says one of them could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Two federal appeals courts ruled last year that the suits could…

Mar 31, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

5th Circuit Footnote Hits a Federal Chief Judge for 6-Year Delay

A footnote in a federal appeals court decision takes aim at the chief judge in the Southern District of Mississippi for taking six years to enter a judgment in a civil case. Chief U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate told the Clarion Ledger that his failure to enter a judgment in…

Mar 26, 2010 2:02 PM CDT

2 Attorneys Among 40 Defendants in $20M Texas Mortgage Fraud Case

Updated: Add at least two more lawyers to the ever-lengthening list of real estate attorneys criminally charged over their alleged participation in mortgage fraud schemes. Among 40 defendants charged by a federal grand jury indictment (PDF) announced this week in a Texas case are Daniel Ayers and Anthony Flores, reports…

Mar 17, 2010 5:24 PM CDT

ACLU Sues School District that Canceled Prom Over Lesbian Student’s Date Request

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against a Mississippi high school that canceled its prom after a lesbian student told school officials she wanted to take her girlfriend as her date and wear a tuxedo. Senior Constance McMillen asked officials at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Miss.,…

Mar 11, 2010 7:18 PM CST

Federal Judge Impeached by House in Unanimous Vote

The House of Representatives voted 412-0 today to approve the first of four articles of impeachment against New Orleans District Judge Thomas Porteous. The article found the judge was engaging in misconduct by not disclosing his relationship with a lawyer before him in a hospital case, the Times-Picayune reported. House…

Mar 11, 2010 6:11 PM CST

Cop Pleads in Katrina Shootings Probe; ‘Like a Script from Hollywood’

A retired New Orleans police officer pleaded guilty today to conspiring to obstruct justice concerning a cover-up of the shooting deaths of two unarmed civilians on the city’s Danziger Bridge in 2005, in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Lt. Michael Lohman’s plea is the first in an ongoing federal…

Feb 25, 2010 12:16 AM CST

Top Texas Court Sued Over Case Delay: We Want a Decision, Says Lawyer

After waiting more than four years for a ruling in an interlocutory appeal before the Texas Supreme Court, the plaintiffs in a class action case have made a federal case out of the delay. They have sued the court’s nine justices individually in in the U.S. District Court for the…

Feb 17, 2010 7:44 PM CST

5th Circuit Stays Judge’s Order That Insurer Must Pay Stanford’s Lawyers

Staying a federal district court’s order that a renowned insurance company must pay for R. Allen Stanford’s defense in a criminal case, a federal appeals court today scheduled oral arguments on the issue later this month. Last week, a federal judge in Houston ruled that Lloyd’s of London had a…

Feb 5, 2010 12:58 AM CST

As 2 Insurance Execs Admit Bribes, PI Lawyer Says He Can’t Be Retried

Two executives of the Hartford insurance company pleaded guilty today in federal court in Houston in a conspiracy case concerning the millions of dollars worth of kickbacks they allegedly received from a local personal injury lawyer in exchange for their help in obtaining hefty settlements on behalf of silicosis clients.…

Feb 3, 2010 2:05 AM CST

Lawyer Featured in Katrina Stories Arrested for Alleged E-Mail Threat

A suspended lawyer who got widespread publicity for refusing to abandon his home during Hurricane Katrina is back in the news, this time for an alleged e-mail threat to a federal bankruptcy court. Ashton O’Dwyer was arrested Friday evening, according to the Associated Press and the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He…

Feb 1, 2010 2:05 PM CST