Appellate Practice

Appellate lawyer decked in court by handcuffed death-row client sues county for damages

A Pennsylvania lawyer who was decked in court by a handcuffed death-row inmate while working as a contract appellate lawyer earlier this year has sued Blair County for damages. Plaintiff Timothy S. Burns, 40, lost consciousness briefly when he was knocked to the floor by his client at the counsel…

Nov 19, 2013 9:50 PM CST

Do most litigators have ‘impostor syndrome?’ | Men vs. women on ‘having it all’

At Associate’s Mind, Alabama lawyer Keith Lee notes how many young professionals suffer from “impostor syndrome” in which the person feels as though they’re secretly unqualified for their responsibilities. Houston criminal defense lawyer Mark Bennett noticed the post and points out at Defending People that the syndrome (“you call it…

Nov 15, 2013 2:29 PM CST

Ouster of 3 federal appeals court judges sought by plaintiffs in hard-fought NYC stop-and-frisk case

Will three federal appeals court judges who booted a federal district court judge from overseeing a lawsuit about New York City police stop-and-frisk practices get a taste of their own medicine? In a brief (PDF) filed Monday, lawyers for the plaintiffs challenging the city’s stop-and-frisk practices ask not only for…

Nov 13, 2013 10:20 PM CST

Man imprisoned as teen won’t be retried in controversial murder case, says AG

A 29-year-old man who spent a decade in prison for a murder he says he didn’t commit was freed Tuesday night after the Missouri attorney general said Ryan Ferguson would not be retried. The announcement by AG Chris Koster followed a decision last week by a state appeals court throwing…

Nov 13, 2013 5:05 PM CST

Appeals court OKs new trials for 5 men because judge was in romantic relationship with their counsel

Saying that five men were convicted of serious crimes before a Georgia judge whose impartiality was seriously compromised, a state appellate panel has granted them new trials due to a romantic relationship between the judge and the assistant public defender serving as their legal counsel. District Attorney Scott Ballard said…

Nov 11, 2013 6:40 PM CST

Ex-DA takes plea in wrongful conviction case: 10 days, community service, $500 fine and disbarment

Michael Morton spent almost 25 years in a Texas prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson, the man who put him there, will get 10 days for contempt of court after agreeing Friday to take a plea in a comprehensive settlement of all…

Nov 8, 2013 11:30 PM CST

Video of cohort ‘confession’ and TV coverage credited in reversal of murder conviction

A man serving a 40-year prison sentence for the murder of a newspaper sports editor he says he did not commit has had his conviction reversed by a Missouri appellate court Granting writ of habeas corpus to Ryan Ferguson, the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District found that the prosecution…

Nov 5, 2013 8:15 PM CST

Ex-client in $2.2M law firm chair-collapse case wins reinstatement of ‘substantial’ verdict

A would-be client of a Florida personal injury law firm wound up without the legal representation he had sought after his chair collapsed as he was meeting with an attorney in 2003. But Robert Friedrich did eventually wind up with a big win against Fetterman & Associates in the premises…

Oct 24, 2013 11:00 PM CDT

Judge grants new trial for Kennedy cousin Skakel in 1975 slaying of teenage neighbor

A Connecticut judge has OK’d a new trial for Michael Skakel, a cousin of the famous Kennedy family, due to ineffective assistance of counsel. Skakel, 52, is a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy’s widow, Ethel Kennedy. He was convicted in 2002 of beating to death a teenage neighbor, Martha Moxley,…

Oct 23, 2013 9:30 PM CDT

9th Circuit mulls high school’s ban on US flag T-shirts to avoid Cinco de Mayo trouble

In a case that pits First Amendment rights of young Americans to display pride in their country against the power of high school administrators to take reasonable measures to promote student safety, a federal appellate panel heard oral arguments Thursday about whether to revive a lawsuit brought by former students…

Oct 17, 2013 9:20 PM CDT

New trial sought because juror didn’t reveal he was an attorney and blogged about case

A burglar who was sentenced to nearly 39 years in prison as a habitual offender is asking a federal appeals court to reverse his conviction due to the conduct of a California lawyer who served as foreman of the jury that convicted him. Defendant Donald R. McNeely initially filed the…

Oct 11, 2013 3:05 PM CDT

Writing briefs with the iPad in mind | Taking your dog to the office | What is true innovation?

Most judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals read legal briefs on iPads, New Orleans appellate lawyer Raymond P. Ward wrote at Louisiana Civil Appeals. “But before the briefs are downloaded to the iPad, they are run through a program that automatically turns all the legal citations into…

Oct 11, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Despite bruising, spanking daughter, 12, with wooden spoon wasn’t child abuse, appeals court rules

It may have been at the outer limit of permissible parental discipline. However, spanking a 12-year-old girl with a wooden spoon so hard that it left bruises wasn’t sufficient grounds for a “substantiated” child-abuse report, a California appellate court has ruled. In light of the mother’s motivation to prevent her…

Oct 8, 2013 9:30 PM CDT

Noncustodial parents not responsible for college costs of adult children, court says

The Alabama Supreme Court has reversed a 1989 decision requiring noncustodial parents to help pay college expenses for their adult children. The court, in a 6-2 decision (PDF) Friday, said the 1989 ruling failed to recognize the “ordinary and common-law definition” of a child as a minor, which the state…

Oct 7, 2013 7:41 PM CDT

Alan Dershowitz writes memoir, calls his fame ‘a complete accident’

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz has written a new memoir, and his fact checker apparently left no stone unturned. Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam got a prepublication copy of the book, Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law, and noticed that a note, apparently written by the fact checker,…

Oct 7, 2013 11:40 AM CDT