Appellate Practice

8th Circuit Restores Halloween Restrictions on Sex Offenders in Missouri

A federal appeals court is permitting enforcement of a Missouri law that restricts sex offenders from contact with children on Halloween. The law requires sex offenders to stay at home the evening of Halloween unless they are required to be elsewhere for just cause, and bars them from “Halloween-related contact”…

Oct 31, 2008 12:00 PM CDT

En Banc Federal Circuit Restricts Business Method Patents

In a closely watched case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has restricted business method patents. The 9-3 en banc ruling holds that a business method cannot be patented unless it is tied to a machine or involves a physical transformation, Legal Times reports. The decision, In…

Oct 31, 2008 11:36 AM CDT

S.C. Inmate Objects to Female Lawyer; State Supreme Court Clerk: Get Over It

Unhappy that a female lawyer had been appointed to represent him in an appeal, a South Carolina inmate wrote to various officials seeking to have a different attorney appointed to his case. The request resulted in a personal letter (PDF) to the inmate from the clerk of the Supreme Court…

Oct 30, 2008 8:35 PM CDT

Posner Targets Lawyer’s Remark about Wives and Clothes Dryers (Take Our Poll)

Updated: A lawyer’s remark during oral arguments that appeared to suggest only women wash and dry clothes apparently didn’t go over too well with Judge Richard Posner of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The lawyer, Clinton Krislov of Krislov & Associates in Chicago, was representing plaintiffs in…

Oct 30, 2008 2:43 PM CDT

Convicted as a Teen, Jailed for 10 Years, Mario Rocha Now Hopes to Be a Lawyer

After a 12-year legal odyssey, a 29-year-old California man who has long maintained his innocence of a 1996 murder is free to move on with his life. In his future, he hopes, is a college degree and a career as a lawyer. Saying that they could not now locate witnesses…

Oct 29, 2008 4:29 PM CDT

Conservative Judges Changed Appeals Courts; Will Election Swing Pendulum?

Regardless of who is elected president of the United States next month, George W. Bush could continue to have a significant impact on the nation for years through his selection of federal appeals court judges. “While a two-term president typically leaves his stamp on the appeals courts—Bill Clinton appointed 65…

Oct 28, 2008 10:53 PM CDT

No New Trial for Christensen, Celebrity Lawyer Convicted in Wiretap Case

A prominent Los Angeles lawyer convicted of conspiring with a private investigator to conduct illegal wiretaps in a celebrity divorce case has been denied a new trial. Terry Christensen, the former managing partner of the law firm now known as Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs & Shapiro, had sought a new…

Oct 28, 2008 10:31 PM CDT

Too-Cozy Home Situation Helps Defeat N.J. Palimony Claim

Cohabitation isn’t an absolute requirement for palimony. But a promise of lifetime support is. So a living arrangement that puts the romantic couple in the same home as the man’s elderly—and wealthy—wife isn’t a positive fact for the party seeking palimony, according to a New Jersey appeals court written opinion…

Oct 28, 2008 7:20 PM CDT

Emergency Motion Asks Supreme Court to Resolve Lawyer Impasse

An emergency motion asks the U.S. Supreme Court to settle a dispute over which lawyer gets to argue an Indian land case next week. The Supreme Court will consider the motion Friday, report Legal Times and the Providence Journal. Lawyer Joseph Larisa Jr. says he has handled the case for…

Oct 28, 2008 11:37 AM CDT

Court Stays Troy Davis’ Execution in ‘Extraordinarily Rare’ Reprieve

A death row inmate who failed to win cert for his constitutional claim of actual innocence has received a stay of execution from the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Troy Anthony Davis claims he is actually innocent and, as a result, the Eighth Amendment bars his execution. On…

Oct 27, 2008 2:23 PM CDT

Fla. High Court Nixes ‘False Light’ Claims Against Papers

In a pair of rulings Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that newspapers can’t be sued for putting people in a “false light” with their reporting. Such a cause of action doesn’t exist in the state, the court held. One of the rulings favors Gannett Co. Inc. and the Pensacola…

Oct 24, 2008 7:55 PM CDT

Oral Advocacy is Overemphasized, Justice Thomas Says

Written briefs are far more important than oral arguments, according to someone who should know: U.S Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas spoke yesterday in a panel discussion on professionalism, according to the Fulton County Daily Report. “We overemphasize the oral advocacy,” Thomas said. “The written advocacy is far more…

Oct 24, 2008 5:04 PM CDT

Larry Tribe to Feuding Lawyer: ‘Flip a Coin and Grow Up’

Famous Harvard University constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe has some advice for a lawyer and Rhode Island officials feuding over who gets to argue an Indian land case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Asked for his opinion, Tribe told the Providence Journal that former solicitor general Theodore Olson is the…

Oct 24, 2008 4:24 PM CDT

Arthur Miller to Head Milberg’s Appellate Practice

Famous law professor Arthur Miller will head the appellate practice at the securities class action firm that survived allegations it participated in a scheme to pay kickbacks to lead plaintiffs. Miller will be of counsel at the Milberg firm while keeping his position as a law professor at New York…

Oct 23, 2008 12:15 PM CDT

2nd Circuit Knocks Settlement Plan to Remove Sanction from Databases

A federal appeals court has refused to vacate a trial judge’s sanctions against three lawyers found to have filed a meritless lawsuit. The court also criticized their attempt to remove the ruling from online databases. The three lawyers had agreed to settle with the defendant—but only if the New York…

Oct 22, 2008 12:28 PM CDT