Appellate Practice

After federal judge orders sex-change surgery, board OKs parole for inmate

Gender reassignment surgery that a federal judge has ordered California prison officials to provide to an inmate serving time for murder does not appear to be on a fast track. On Thursday, a state parole board determined that Michelle-Lael Norsworthy is eligible for release, reports the Los Angeles Times (sub.…

May 22, 2015 10:15 AM CDT

Law firm asks 3rd Circuit to block court-ordered interviews of over 30 clients

Facing sanctions over thalidomide birth-defect litigation that was determined to be either baseless or time-barred, did the plaintiffs’ law firm dismiss 27 cases for its own benefit? That is the question a federal judge in Philadelphia is asking and seeking to answer by having special master William Hangley interview more…

May 20, 2015 1:05 PM CDT

Top Massachusetts court refuses to dismiss 40,323 cases linked to rogue state evidence lab chemist

There was good news and bad news Monday for public defenders trying to get Massachusetts to dismiss some 40,000 criminal charges linked to a rogue chemist working at a state evidence laboratory. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that convicted defendants who seek a new trial over alleged misconduct…

May 18, 2015 4:10 PM CDT

En banc 9th Circuit nixes earlier Google takedown order for ‘Innocence of Muslims’

Expressing sympathy for a movie actress “bamboozled” into appearing in an “anti-Islam polemic” that has incited death threats against her, a federal appeals court on Monday nonetheless reversed an earlier takedown order for the Innocence of Muslims. Requiring the film to be removed from all Google sites including YouTube is…

May 18, 2015 3:30 PM CDT

A ‘bait and switch’ cert petition? SCOTUS sidesteps question on ADA rights of mentally ill arrestees

The U.S. Supreme Court knocked lawyers for the city of San Francisco when it ruled Monday on only one question in a case involving a mentally ill woman shot and wounded by police officers after they entered her room and she charged them with a kitchen knife. The majority opinion…

May 18, 2015 11:54 AM CDT

6th Circuit nixes nun’s sabotage conviction over nuclear plant protest

A divided federal appeals court panel has overturned the sabotage convictions of an 85-year-old nun and two others who protested in 2012 at a Tennessee nuclear plant. “On appeal, the defendants argue that, as a matter of law, they lacked the intent necessary to violate the Sabotage Act. We agree;…

May 14, 2015 12:15 PM CDT

6th Circuit OKs sanctions for filing frivolous suit, may add sanctions for filing frivolous appeal

In a Friday ruling, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld trial-court sanctions imposed on a former corporate officer and senior engineer for filing a frivolous False Claims Act lawsuit. But in addition to OKing the sanctions against ex-Lambda Research employee Terry Jacobs and his trial attorney James DeRoche,…

May 6, 2015 9:35 AM CDT

US Supreme Court declines appeal from inmate denied gender-change surgery

A nearly 20-year legal battle by a convicted murderer seeking gender reassignment surgery at taxpayer expense ended Monday when the nation’s top court declined to hear an appeal by Michelle Kosilek. Kosilek, now 65, and her lawyers argued that the surgery is medically necessary to treat her gender identity disorder…

May 6, 2015 8:25 AM CDT

Appeals court greenlights fraud suit against Proskauer related to tax shelter advice

A New York state appeals court has greenlighted a fraud suit against Proskauer Rose related to tax shelter advice the law firm provided to heirs of the Johnson & Johnson fortune approximately 15 years ago. Upholding a trial court ruling that denied a motion to dismiss and also OK’d punitive…

May 4, 2015 1:05 PM CDT

Lawyer’s ‘tale of apparent injustice’ in appeals brief falls short of argument, 10th Circuit says

A lawyer’s “tale of apparent injustice” in an appellate brief contained only one sentence worthy of consideration, and it wasn’t enough to keep the case from being tossed out, according to a federal appeals court. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday affirmed dismissal of the suit…

May 4, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Convicted of egging prosecutor’s cars, man gets a reprieve from state’s top court

It all began with a criminal case accusing an Ohio man of selling alcohol to minors. Within a few months, a prosecutor’s’ vehicles were egged and damaged. An informant provided texts to police in Twinsburg, Ohio, where Nicholas Castagnola lived, in which the young man had gloated about his role…

Apr 29, 2015 10:05 AM CDT

Supreme Court arguments, delivered in 3-minute increments and a 36-minute ‘super cuts’ audio

Not everyone waiting in line got seats for the Supreme Court’s full oral arguments on gay marriage on Tuesday. For those who didn’t make the cut, some accommodations were offered. For those who didn’t want to wait in line for days—or didn’t want to pay others to do it for…

Apr 29, 2015 7:55 AM CDT

Oil baron’s ex can’t appeal divorce award because she cashed his $1B check, top state court says

Unhappy that she got only about $1 billion of her husband’s fortune of at least $10 billion, the ex-wife of Harold Hamm appealed the divorce award. But Sue Ann Hamm, a lawyer and economist who is also known as Sue Ann Arnall, cashed Harold Hamm’s check for not quite $975…

Apr 28, 2015 4:15 PM CDT

Will statue bring luck in gay-marriage arguments? Lawyers reveal their argument rituals

When the preparations are over, many Supreme Court litigators rely on routine and good luck charms to help them on days of oral arguments. Michigan Special Assistant Attorney General John Bursch planned to follow a ritual favored by many in the Supreme Court bar when he defends his state’s gay-marriage…

Apr 28, 2015 8:36 AM CDT

Line started on Friday for gay-marriage arguments in SCOTUS; what does a place sitter cost?

The cost of securing a seat for Supreme Court oral arguments on gay marriage today is $50 an hour. That’s how much money it costs to hire a service to hold a place in line for arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges, Slate reports. The first 14 people in line were…

Apr 28, 2015 7:50 AM CDT