Judges act as mediators in serious criminal cases in this Kansas county

Criminal court judges in one Kansas county are resolving serious criminal cases by acting as mediators. Judges who mediate the criminal cases in Shawnee Country District Court aren’t the judges assigned to the cases, and they don’t disclose what they learned in the mediation process, the Topeka Capital-Journal reports. During…

Feb 4, 2014 12:00 PM CST

Are secret arbitration panels illegal? Del. Chancery asks SCOTUS to nix 3rd Circuit ruling

In an unusual case pitting one of the nation’s most respected corporate law tribunals against a federal appeals court, the Delaware Court of Chancery is seeking a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court concerning a recent ruling by the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that banned…

Jan 22, 2014 9:30 PM CST

Doctor’s wife is charged in his shooting outside law office after mediation session

A mediation session at a Tennessee lawyer’s office Wednesday “apparently didn’t go well,” a Manchester police investigator says. As Dr. Henry Bartee and his estranged wife, Brenda Bartee, both 47, were being walked by an attorney to the door of Rogers, Duncan and North at about 1 p.m., Brenda Bartee…

Dec 5, 2013 4:29 PM CST

2 lawyers use ‘structured negotiations’ to improve access for the disabled

Dec 1, 2013 8:10 AM CST

Ex-Miss USA contestant told to pay Donald Trump $5M files malpractice suit against her former lawyer

Ordered to pay $5 million to Donald Trump earlier this year in a federal-court ruling upholding an award in a defamation and breach-of-contract arbitration she didn’t attend, an ex-participant in his Miss USA contest has now sued her former lawyer. Sheena Monnin is not alone in blaming attorney Richard Klineburger…

Nov 13, 2013 11:00 PM CST

Letters: The World of Words

Nov 1, 2013 9:10 AM CDT

UPL suit against LegalZoom must go to arbitration, Arkansas Supreme Court says

Customers who claim LegalZoom’s document-preparation services amount to the unauthorized practice of law won’t be able to take their case before a judge. The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that a mandatory arbitration clause in LegalZoom’s customer agreement must be enforced, the ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct…

Oct 24, 2013 5:03 PM CDT

Strangers donate $14K to woman facing petty theft case over $3 in courthouse fountain coins

There seems to be a happy ending looming in the story of a struggling woman ticketed for allegedly taking less than $3 in change from a fountain near a Logan County, Ohio, courthouse. Since the incident was publicized and community members rallied to help Deirdre Romine, some $14,000 in donations…

Oct 23, 2013 11:00 PM CDT

3rd Circuit says Delaware Chancery Court’s secret arbitration program trials violated 1st Amendment

A divided federal appeals court Wednesday said a novel attempt by a highly regarded state court to offer an alternative to private arbitration of corporate matters violates the First Amendment because it involves secret trials. Upholding a lower court’s determination but applying a somewhat different line of reasoning to arrive…

Oct 23, 2013 7:05 PM CDT

Labor lawyer lands a labor of love—planting mediation firmly in India

Oct 1, 2013 8:00 AM CDT

MIA’s video rebuttal to NFL complaint: Sexy underage cheerleaders more offensive than middle finger

The rapper and singer M.I.A. is questioning the National Football League’s definition of offensive in a video rebuttal to its $1.5 million arbitration complaint over her middle-finger gesture during a Superbowl performance. The NFL never paid M.I.A. to perform at the February 2012 Superbowl, but the league claims the artist…

Sep 25, 2013 2:09 PM CDT

After his home is trashed, ex-NFL player seeks to ‘save’ 300 troubled teens

A former NFL offensive lineman watched online from Florida on Aug. 31 as several hundred partying teens who had broken into his upstate New York vacation home trashed it. Before Brian Holloway could call authorities, social media postings announced that police officers were already arriving at the scene, according to…

Sep 18, 2013 10:55 PM CDT

Is the integrative law movement the next ‘huge wave’ for the legal profession?

Aug 1, 2013 7:30 AM CDT

Mediation ordered between NFL and players in head-injury dispute

A federal judge has ordered the National Football League and players into mediation to try to resolve litigation over head injuries. U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia appointed a retired judge, Layn Phillips, to mediate the case, which involves a claim from more than 4,000 football players who allege…

Jul 10, 2013 6:19 PM CDT

Ex-Miss USA contestant must pay $5M to Donald Trump; judge blames her ‘poor choice of counsel’

A former beauty contestant must pay $5 million to Donald Trump for defaming his Miss USA pageant, a federal judge in Manhattan has ruled. Upholding an arbitration award, which determined that the well-known millionaire’s company had suffered a seven-figure loss from a potential sponsor after she resigned as Miss Pennsylvania…

Jul 8, 2013 7:25 PM CDT