Administrative Law

Whistle-Blower DOJ Employee Testifies About ‘Hostile Atmosphere’ to ‘Race-Neutral’ Policies

An employee of the Department of Justice testified today before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights—as a whistle-blower and against his supervisor’s instructions, he said—that a “hostile atmosphere” in the DOJ’s civil rights division did not reflect “race-neutral” policies. Former voting section chief Christopher Coates, who now works for the…

Sep 25, 2010 12:35 AM CDT

Wis. Disciplinary Group Reopens Probe of Embattled DA Now Accused by Multiple Women

Citing “substantial new information” related to a possible “pattern of conduct” by a prosecutor accused of sexually harassing women in case-related text messages, Wisconsin’s Office of Lawyer Regulation announced today they are reopening an ethics case against embattled Calumet County District Attorney Kenneth Kratz. Although it had previously dismissed a…

Sep 24, 2010 5:25 PM CDT

Can Carrier Block Texts Based on Content? T-Mobile Tells Federal Court the Answer Is Yes

In what the Threat Level blog of Wired describes as the first federal case addressing whether wireless providers are permitted to block text messages based on their content, T-Mobile USA Inc. argued in a filing (PDF) yesterday in federal court in Manhattan that it does have this power. The issue…

Sep 23, 2010 11:41 PM CDT

Judge Reprimanded for Nearly 2-Year Delay in Filing Divorce Ruling

A North Carolina judge has been reprimanded for taking nearly two years to file his ruling in a divorce case. District Court Judge K. Dean Black, who handles cases from Cleveland and Lincoln counties, didn’t contest the public rebuke, reports the Shelby Star. The state Judicial Standards Commission ” views…

Sep 23, 2010 4:49 PM CDT

‘I Am the Prize’ DA’s Self-Report to Bar Authorities Says Crime Victim Flirted with Him

Updated: After a domestic abuse victim complained to authorities that she felt sexually harassed by text messages from a married Wisconsin district attorney then overseeing the prosecution of her ex-boyfriend, observers including the state attorney general criticized the state Office of Lawyer Regulation for failing to discipline him. Calumet County…

Sep 23, 2010 4:18 PM CDT

Tenn. Prosecutor Resigns, NY Judge Loses License over Relationship with Defendant

An explosion of embarrassing news lately about claimed sexual and relationship misconduct by lawyers in positions of authority has cost two their careers. A longtime Tennessee prosecutor has resigned, after a female defendant in a felony drug case provided text and voice mail messages to support her claims that he…

Sep 22, 2010 6:42 PM CDT

As Gov Leans on Wis. DA in Sext Case, AG Says Lawyer Discipline Group Didn’t Do Its Job

Updated: The governor of Wisconsin promised in a press conference earlier this week to seek the removal of a controversial district attorney accused of harassing two women and asking a third to attend an autopsy on a date, as soon as a citizen made the prerequisite complaint. Now multiple citizens…

Sep 22, 2010 4:59 PM CDT

Attorney Disciplined Over Real Estate Loan Made to Client, Pending Tort Case Recovery

A longtime Fort Collins practitioner with a hitherto unblemished ethical record has been put on probation by a disciplinary arm of the Colorado Supreme Court after making a loan to a client in a personal injury case at 18 percent interest. Although Erik Fischer said he felt he was doing…

Sep 21, 2010 2:49 PM CDT

DOL Sues Tyson Sub for Discrimination, Seeks to Cancel All Federal Contracts

The Department of Labor has filed an administrative complaint against a subsidiary of Tyson Foods Inc., alleging that Tyson Fresh Meat systematically refused to hire women at its Joslin, Ill., plant. In addition to seeking back pay for 750 rejected applicants and jobs for 100, the DOL is also seeking…

Sep 16, 2010 12:02 AM CDT

ABA Group Backs Uniform Bar Exam

One country, one bar exam? That is far from the situation in the United States right now, and that is not likely to be the reality at any point in the foreseeable future. Yet while individual states regulate the activities of their own lawyers and administer their own bar exams,…

Sep 15, 2010 9:38 PM CDT

Sex with Client’s Spouse Is a Per Se Legal Ethics Violation, Top SC Court Says

An anonymous member of the South Carolina bar had an unblemished disciplinary record in 37 years of practice. But he has now been admonished after admittedly having a brief affair with a client’s wife. A hearing panel of the state Commission of Lawyer Conduct dismissed an allegation that this conduct…

Sep 14, 2010 4:43 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Represented Ex-Mayor of Detroit to Get 179-Day Law License Suspension

In the latest penalty assessed in an ongoing series attorney discipline cases resulting from a controversial secret settlement in a Detroit police whistleblower case, the lawyer who represented then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was given a 179-day license suspension today by the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board. However, such penalties are normally stayed…

Sep 10, 2010 9:31 PM CDT

Top Texas Criminal Judge Fights Reprimand re ‘We Close at 5’ Handling of Execution Eve Appeal

Still fighting what some observers considered a too-lenient “public warning” over her 2007 refusal to authorize a court clerk to accept a late execution-eve appeal, the top criminal court judge in Texas is asking a special court of review panel to reconsider her disciplinary case. Sharon Keller, who reportedly answered…

Sep 9, 2010 10:55 PM CDT

Gen’l Counsel Did His Job, Didn’t Fail to Supervise Rogue Broker, Judge Rules

A general counsel for an investment bank had some supervisory responsibilities concerning a rogue broker who admittedly participated in a market manipulation scheme at Ferris Baker Watts Inc. But Theodore Urban performed those responsibilities in a “cautious, objective, thorough, and reasonable manner,” a Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judge…

Sep 8, 2010 9:19 PM CDT

John Lennon’s Killer Loses Another Parole Bid

Almost 30 years after he traveled to New York to gun down John Lennon, his convicted killer, Mark David Chapman, won’t be getting out of prison anytime soon. He was denied parole for the sixth time today, reports the Associated Press. “Release remains inappropriate at this time and incompatible with…

Sep 8, 2010 12:03 AM CDT