Administrative Law

Judge’s Prosecution on Hold in Obstruction Case Based on His Rulings

In an unusual move intended to give the Arizona Supreme Court time to weigh in on the controversial bribery and obstruction prosecution of a state-court judge over his court rulings, a fellow jurist in another county has issued a stay that will put the case on hold until March. As…

Jan 7, 2010 7:11 PM CST

EPA Proposes Stricter Smog Standards

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed stricter smog standards that would likely put hundreds of additional counties in violation of the regulations. Scientists had recommended the proposed new standards before President Obama took office, the Associated Press reports. Obama’s predecessor, President George W. Bush, had refused to implement the stricter…

Jan 7, 2010 5:18 PM CST

New US Regulation Limits Tarmac Waits to Three Hours

A new regulation requires airlines to let passengers on domestic flights deplane after waiting on the tarmac for three hours. The Transportation Department regulation, which goes into effect in 120 days, allows exceptions for safety or security, or to avoid disruption of airport operations, according to the Associated Press and…

Dec 21, 2009 5:00 PM CST

New Exam Issue Tests NYU Law School: How to Grade, When Some Saw Questions Earlier?

In at least the second such snafu reported this month concerning a law school exam, New York University administrators are now pondering how to handle a situation in which some of the students in a law school class, through no fault of their own, saw the questions in advance. Earlier,…

Dec 19, 2009 12:41 AM CST

Owners Making Agreed Loan Payments Can Lose Their Homes Without Notice

The federal Home Affordable Modification Program is supposed to help struggling owners get revised mortgage terms that will make it possible for them to hold onto their personal residences. But only a small fraction of those who apply are being approved by lenders, even when they are making trial revised…

Dec 18, 2009 12:29 AM CST

ABA Prez Applauds Progress Toward Passing Privilege Protection Law

Applauding the introduction of a bill in the House of Representatives yesterday that would restrict federal agencies from pressuring organizations and their employees to waive legal protections when they are under investigation, the president of the American Bar Association has called for swift enactment of the the Attorney-Client Privilege Protection…

Dec 17, 2009 11:50 PM CST

Silver Lining for DUI Driver: Tax Court Allows $33K Writeoff for Totaled Truck

Expecting to drink at a party several years ago, Justin Rohrs arranged a ride home in advance with another driver. But after he got home, he decided to drive over to his parents’ home in the Ford F-350 pickup he’d paid about $40,000 for only months earlier. En route, he…

Dec 16, 2009 2:10 AM CST

Feds Arrest 30, Including Doctors, in 3-State Medicare Fraud Sweep

Federal authorities have reportedly begun rounding up 30 suspects, including doctors and nurses, in a three-state Medicare fraud sweep. Arrests are expected Brooklyn, N.Y., Detroit and the Miami-Dade area in Florida, reports the Miami Herald. South Florida is the epicenter of the problem nationally, which generally involves bribes paid for…

Dec 15, 2009 8:48 PM CST

Oops. Accidental Posting of Exam a ‘Teachable Moment,’ Law Prof Says

Updated: An accidental posting of a law school exam on a University of Oregon School of Law e-mail discussion list last week offered students an opportunity to apply legal ethics rules in real life, their professor says. The advance distribution of Professor John Bonine’s administrative law exam tested the moral…

Dec 15, 2009 12:51 AM CST

IRS Audits Single Mom Making $20K, Says She Can’t Claim Kids as Dependents

A single mom who makes about $20,000 a year working at a hair salon, Rachel Porcaro doesn’t own a car and lives with her parents in order to make ends meet. But apparently not believing that she could pay her bills on her actual, reported income, the Internal Revenue Service…

Dec 8, 2009 9:53 PM CST

Billionaire Gets Discovery in Bid to Force SEC to Pay His Legal Fees

A federal judge has agreed that billionaire Mark Cuban, who owns the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, can proceed with discovery in his effort to force the feds to pay his defense fees in a failed insider-trading prosecution. A spokesman for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment on…

Dec 7, 2009 11:25 PM CST

1st Ban on Drop-Side Cribs Follows Nationwide Recall of Millions

Following news this week of a Consumer Product Safety Commission recall of 2.1 million so-called drop-side cribs, a suburban New York county has banned their sale. In a new law that is believed to impose the first such prohibition in the country but is already being considered for emulation elsewhere,…

Nov 24, 2009 9:46 PM CST

Meet William Marler, a Food Safety Lawyer Hungry for Change

Young and “extremely overconfident,” William Marler took a leading role in his first food-borne illness case when he was only five years out of law school. But news coverage about his severely injured 9-year-old client helped persuade another 200 alleged victims of a fast food restaurant in Washington state to…

Nov 24, 2009 7:08 PM CST

After AWOL Argentine Affair, Gov. Sanford Now Faces Ethics Charges Over Expenses

The governor of South Carolina is accused of taking illicit upgrades from coach to business or first class, as well as misusing government planes for personal purposes including a haircut, in 37 charges filed today by the state ethics commission. Gov. Mark Sanford has been scrutinized on multiple fronts after…

Nov 23, 2009 11:02 PM CST

Nasty Attitude to Co-Worker, Naughty Word in Web Comment Cost 2 Their Jobs

A hearing officer had discretion to terminate an 11-year government civil service employee over her obnoxious treatment of a co-worker, a New York appeals court has ruled. The fired woman, Penny Sindoni, was an organizer of the “I Hate Teena” club directed at a disliked fellow Tioga County Health Department…

Nov 20, 2009 12:54 AM CST