Administrative Law

Possible FCC Cell Phone Deal Chops Cancellation Fees, Axes Lawsuits

Cell phone service providers reportedly are negotiating with the Federal Communications Commission to reduce future cancellation fees for unhappy customers in exchange for the federal regulatory agency’s agreement to eliminate state authority to oversee the penalties. Although full details aren’t provided, it appears that the move would eliminate ongoing multimillion-dollar…

May 21, 2008 6:22 PM CDT

Conn. Ethics Counsel’s Fake Letter Helped Get Ethics Chief Axed

An in-house lawyer for the State Ethics Commission in Connecticut reportedly fabricated a letter purporting to be from a parking lot attendant that helped get her boss, ethics chief Alan Plofsky, fired in 2004 for claimed misconduct. Gov. M. Jodi Rell says her office will investigate former commission lawyer Maureen…

May 20, 2008 9:02 PM CDT

Judge Refuses to Stay Suspension of Student for Giving ‘Noogies’

A New York judge has refused to stay the suspension of a student who is accused of giving a teacher “noogies” despite her requests to stop. Lynbrook High School had suspended 14-year-old Ethan Mirenberg for nine months after a hearing officer determined he gave a teacher noogies—which he administered by…

May 20, 2008 12:24 PM CDT

Ruling Castigates 35-Year Mich. Judge; Defense Costs Top $100K

After a scathing report from a special master reviewing his judicial discipline case, a longtime Michigan jurist is digging in for a longer-term battle to retain his seat on the bench. The controversial discipline case pits Rockford District Judge Steven Servaas, 62, who has been on the bench for 35…

May 16, 2008 5:23 PM CDT

Wolverine Loses But Polar Bear Wins in Endangered Species Rulings

Updated: An unexpected February sighting of a wild wolverine in California, where the animal was thought to be extinct, has sparked a renewed, but unsuccessful, call for protection under the Endangered Species Act. But, due to shrinking habitat caused by global warming, the polar bear won such protection today under…

May 14, 2008 4:00 PM CDT

‘100s and 100s’ of N.Y. Lawyers Involved in Pension Scheme, AG Says

Updated: “Hundreds and hundreds” of New York lawyers will be implicated in a statewide scheme in which non-employees have improperly been enrolled in the public pension system, the state attorney general says. The situation was initially reported by Newsday as involving several lawyers in private practice representing Long Island school…

May 9, 2008 3:26 PM CDT

Law Firms Seek, Unsuccessfully, to Keep Associate Disputes Private

Once upon a time, associates who were let go by their law firms tiptoed quietly out the door, perhaps after several months spent “working” at their desks to find another position. But today, when the power of the Internet can help them sweeten the terms of their severance deals, many…

May 8, 2008 9:13 PM CDT

Lawyers Drugged at Bingham Events, Ex-Associate Says

A former first-year associate at Bingham McCutchen complains that the law firm didn’t do enough to investigate alleged druggings of attorneys by a former employee and/or attendee of firm events and keep its female attorneys safe. In discrimination complaints filed with state and federal agencies, former associate Michelle Moor says…

May 8, 2008 5:08 PM CDT

Don’t Bet on Making Online Kentucky Derby Wagers, Experts Say

Banks aren’t betting on lax enforcement of a confusing new federal law that may prohibit them from processing online gambling wagers. So many customers could find their attempts to place an Internet credit card bet on tomorrow’s Kentucky Derby blocked, experts say. Although the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, which…

May 2, 2008 5:38 PM CDT

Wachovia to Pay $144M re Claims Bank Didn’t Safeguard Customer Accounts

In a case that has resulted in stricter regulatory standards for all national banks, one of the country’s biggest financial institutions has agreed to settle for $144 million a federal regulator’s claims that it didn’t do enough to prevent account holders from abusive practices by telemarketers who were also its…

Apr 25, 2008 5:24 PM CDT

FCC Chair Says Net is Neutral Enough; No New Legislation Needed

Concerns about potential interference by major Internet service providers with free and equal access by all Web surfers aren’t severe enough to require legislation at this time, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission told the Senate Commerce Committee yesterday. But such concerns are nonetheless heating up, the Associated Press…

Apr 23, 2008 10:17 PM CDT

Oxford U Students Not Smart Enough to Avoid Facebook Fines

They attend one of the world’s most renowned institutions of higher learning. But even after students learned that proctors at Oxford University are logging onto Facebook in search of evidence, many haven’t been able to resist participating in—and posting online photographs of–excessive celebration of their upcoming graduation. Hence, the proctors…

Apr 18, 2008 11:16 PM CDT

New EEOC Rule to Address Layoffs of Older Workers

In a difficult economy, older workers have reason to worry more than their younger counterparts about being fired. Although it’s illegal to discriminate against those 40 and over because of their age, it’s OK to lay off those who are paid more—as older workers generally are—even if this policy has…

Apr 14, 2008 3:03 PM CDT

Paulson Calls for Fed Regulation of Investment Banks

In the wake of last week’s near-collapse of the once-famed Bear Stearns investment bank, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is saying that such investment houses, like regular commercial banks, should be regulated by the federal government. “In a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Paulson said the Bush administration…

Mar 26, 2008 9:18 PM CDT

Whipped Cream and Money: Fox Fights FCC Indecency Fine

In the latest signpost pointing toward a potential loosening-up of federal restrictions on broadcast content, the Fox Television network is fighting a $91,000 FCC indecency fine over a 2003 reality program featuring strippers and whipped cream that contestants licked off of digitally obscured body parts. The Federal Communications Commission decision…

Mar 24, 2008 7:37 PM CDT