NY Lawyer Loses Lawsuit Over Stabbing of His Baby

A divided appeals court has ruled that a New York lawyer and his wife cannot proceed with a lawsuit over the stabbing of their then-10-month-old baby by a resident of a supportive living facility in Washington Heights. There wasn’t sufficient evidence pled in the complaint to establish that the operator…

May 7, 2008 5:05 PM CDT

Appeals Court Tosses Fieger Suit Against State AG

Lawyer Geoffrey Fieger’s vindictive-prosecution lawsuit against Michigan Attorney General Michael Cox won’t be heard in federal court. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed the lawsuit and affirmed a federal trial court’s order requiring Fieger to pay attorney fees as a sanction for making unsupported allegations against another…

May 6, 2008 4:20 PM CDT

Planned Ga. Execution Tonight is First Since Moratorium Ended

Updated: The planned execution tonight of a Georgia man is the first since a de facto moratorium on capital punishment ended last month with a U.S. Supreme Court rejection of a Kentucky case that contended the lethal injections commonly used there and in other states are cruel and unusual punishment.…

May 6, 2008 3:24 PM CDT

Inside the Scalia Interview

Like any public building before the crowds come, the U.S. Supreme Court at 8 on a rainy March morning is quiet as a tomb. Two janitors holding Styrofoam coffee cups roam the hallways. One clutches a folded newspaper. In the cafeteria, a man wearing a blue jacket works the cash…

May 1, 2008 4:48 PM CDT

Podcast: Scalia and Garner on Appellate Advocacy

May 1, 2008 4:10 PM CDT

Scalia on ‘60 Minutes’: A Regular Joe

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia came across as a regular, albeit brainy, guy on Sunday night’s 60 Minutes profile. In his exclusive ABA Journal interview and in excerpts from his new book, he shows a different side of his personality, offering lawyers his counsel on how to write a brief and argue their cases.

The Journal coverage includes our exclusive interview, excerpts from his book Making Your Case, a podcast of the interview, a complete transcript of the conversation, plus a look inside the interview.

The 60 Minutes segment described to the book as “surprisingly breezy.”

“You almost make it sound like lawyers are imbeciles,” said 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl.

“You would be surprised,” a smiling Scalia replied.

Apr 28, 2008 12:23 AM CDT

Antonin Scalia: A Voice for the Write

When legal writing expert Bryan A. Garner set out to in­terview all nine U.S. Supreme Court justices for his website, at lawprose.org, he found one jus­­tice particularly compatible: Antonin Scalia. “I found on a personal level that he and I clicked,” says Garner. Measured only by their contrasting voices, they…

Apr 28, 2008 12:05 AM CDT

Banned in Boston: Prisoner Legal Self-Help Books

A nonprofit publisher of legal self-help volumes intended for incarcerated criminals has sued Massachusetts over a claimed state ban on distribution of its books throughout the prison system. Prison Legal News contends in the suit that state Department of Correction officials refuse to add the publisher to the list of…

Apr 23, 2008 9:47 PM CDT

Competition is Fierce for the Hottest Docket in Town

Very few cases are granted cert and get the full attention of the U.S. Supreme Court. So when Texas prisoner Carlos Jimenez made the docket last month with his pro se habeas challenge, it was a sure bet that appellate advocates would be quick to offer their services. Sure enough,…

Apr 22, 2008 5:17 PM CDT

Judge’s Mom on Jury Didn’t Violate Defendant’s Rights

A Wisconsin judge acted appropriately when he allowed his own mother to serve as a juror in a criminal traffic case in his courtroom, a state appeals court has ruled. Judge Robert Eaton did not deny defendant Mark Tody Jr. his constitutional right to a fair trial by allowing his…

Apr 22, 2008 4:47 PM CDT

Posner Blasts Asylum Courts, Calls for Judicial Conference

Long a critic of “inadequate” and “ill-trained” asylum courts, the 7th Circuit’s Richard Posner reportedly offered up some remedies in a speech Monday. “This is a system of adjudication that is clearly inadequate,” Posner told a Chicago Bar Association audience. The National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports that Posner called…

Apr 22, 2008 2:59 PM CDT

R.I. Court to Webcast Key Lead Paint Arguments

In a first for Rhode Island, the state’s highest court will webcast hearings on the closely watched lead-paint case against three major manufacturers. While the state’s high court doesn’t typically televise its hearings, the court plans to place two cameras in the court so that anyone with Internet access can…

Apr 22, 2008 10:50 AM CDT

Lawyers Serve As ‘Backboard’ to Judges’ Debate, Chief Justice Tells Moot Court

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. let students into a little secret when he presided over a moot court hearing yesterday at Columbia Law School: Lawyers in oral arguments are really just a catalyst for a debate among judges. “You may have thought we were being a little rude in…

Apr 18, 2008 2:38 PM CDT

Texas Man Innocent in Rape Case; 16th Wrongful Conviction in Dallas County

A Texas judge temporarily released an inmate yesterday who had been imprisoned for more than two decades in a burglary and rape case, after DNA evidence proved his innocence. Thomas McGowan Jr.’s case must now be finally resolved by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, although Judge Susan Hawk recommended…

Apr 17, 2008 9:42 PM CDT

Why Gibson Dunn Keeps Winning in the Supreme Court

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has achieved an impressive record in the past three terms at the U.S. Supreme Court. It has won eight out of 11 cases. The reasons for that record include the firm’s impressive appellate litigators, its loose organizational structure and the strength of its cases, the National…

Apr 15, 2008 11:59 AM CDT