Appellate Practice

Top state court vacates murder conviction, based on now-discredited bite-mark evidence and new law

Corrected: It took a state law. But on Thursday the California Supreme Court granted a habeas petition and vacated the 1997 conviction of a man convicted of murdering his wife, in which bite-mark evidence played a significant role. The dentist who testified against William Richards at trial, Dr. Norman Sperber,…

May 27, 2016 10:00 AM CDT

Tom Brady and NFL players union seek 2nd Circuit en banc rehearing of Deflategate ruling

When quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots recently added superstar appellate lawyer Ted Olson to his team, it appeared that he might be anticipating a U.S. Supreme Court appeal of his four-game suspension imposed over the so-called Deflategate incident last year. But, at least initially, Brady and the…

May 23, 2016 2:20 PM CDT

Lawyer for former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle asks 7th Circuit for reduced sentence

A lawyer for former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle told a federal appeals court on Friday that Fogle’s sentence should be reduced because it was partly based on his fantasies that were never carried out. The lawyer, Ron Elberger, told the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Fogle’s sentence…

May 20, 2016 3:23 PM CDT

Supreme Court favors white males in amicus appointments, study says

A law professor’s review of 59 lawyers invited to argue as an amicus before the Supreme Court found that a disproportionate number of those picked are white males. The study by Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law professor Katherine Shaw found that about 10 percent of those who received the…

May 17, 2016 5:45 AM CDT

Coffeemaker win lacks perk for lawyer who asked for $180K in fees but got $6,800

Plaintiff Pamella Montgomery still gets the $250 settlement she was promised after a more than two-year legal battle with Kraft Foods Global Inc. and Starbucks Corp. over her purchase of a single-serve coffee maker. But the Michigan woman’s lawyer is receiving $6,800 in attorney fees and costs rather than the…

May 16, 2016 5:02 PM CDT

9th Circuit removes judge who slashed attorney fees from BarBri antitrust class action

A trial judge cannot simply cut by 70 percent the requested $1.9 million attorney fee award in a winning antitrust class action without providing a detailed explanation why he did so, a federal appeals court has ruled. A Wednesday opinion (PDF) by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of…

May 12, 2016 2:00 PM CDT

Law partner who had lifeguard job sees age-discrimination suit over Speedo rule revived on appeal

A Long Island bankruptcy attorney who moonlights as a lifeguard is back in the swim of things, as far as his age-discrimination suit against the state of New York over a required bathing suit is concerned. In a decision last week, the Appellate Division, Second Department, said a trial court…

May 10, 2016 11:00 AM CDT

White House announces another 58 sentence commutations

Another 58 prison sentences, a number of them life terms, have been commuted by President Barack Obama, the White House announced Thursday. The president has now commuted a total of 306 sentences and intends to grant relief to more prisoners while he remains in office, according to Reuters and the…

May 6, 2016 7:45 AM CDT

Crime lab chemist was high almost daily, cooked crack cocaine at work, state AG says

A state chemist responsible for testing drug evidence in Massachusetts criminal cases was high at work and while testifying in court almost daily between 2005 and 2013, says an investigative report by the state attorney general. Released Tuesday, the report by AG Maura Healey says Sonja Farak, who worked at…

May 5, 2016 6:30 AM CDT

Sued after posting video of brawl with neighbor, law partner loses bid for SLAPP protection

The chief of Sedgwick’s cybersecurity practice has lost a round in personal litigation over a brawl with a neighbor. In an opinion last week that contained a “Reader Discretion Advised” disclaimer because of “an abundance of obscene language,” the California Court of Appeal, Second District, said partner John Stephens can’t…

May 3, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

SCOTUS to mull Federal Circuit refusal to apply top court’s copyright laches ruling in patent case

Does the same laches standard recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 2014 copyright infringement case also apply in a patent infringement case? In an en banc decision last year, a divided 6-5 panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit crafted its own hybrid…

May 2, 2016 2:00 PM CDT

Sanctions of $18K against defendant lawyer and his counsel are upheld by New York appeals court

A defendant attorney in a business dispute and his counsel must each pay $9,000 for their deposition conduct, a New York appeals court ruled last week. Upholding the $18,000 in sanctions imposed by a commercial division judge in 2013 opinion (PDF), the Appellate Division, First Department said the trial court…

Apr 26, 2016 10:57 AM CDT

Judge denies lawyer’s motion to withdraw from representing client who calls him Satan

A man who opted to represent himself at trial in an aggravated stalking case after firing three lawyers had his conviction reversed on appeal last year because the judge didn’t warn him on the record about the danger of doing so. Now, Anthony McCrory is seeking a new attorney, arguing…

Apr 12, 2016 4:05 PM CDT

Top Texas court says city’s possession of stray dog didn’t end owner rights

Ruling in a case near and dear to the hearts of animal lovers, the Texas Supreme Court has strengthened the ability of owners to reclaim a stray pet. Siblings Alfonso and Lydia Lira did not lose their property rights in Monte, a German shepherd, simply because the dog had, for…

Apr 6, 2016 1:05 PM CDT

Judge: Pro se lawyer guilty of soliciting murder would win if he could sue himself for malpractice

A suburban Chicago judge pulled no punches on Friday when a former bankruptcy attorney convicted of murder solicitation after representing himself at a Will County bench trial sought to represent himself on appeal. Apologizing in advance of his frank assessment, Judge Daniel Rozak told Robert Gold-Smith he was not only…

Apr 1, 2016 4:35 PM CDT