Appellate Practice

Posner tells how Internet research has helped him draft opinions

Judge Richard Posner thinks judges and lawyers are too often ignoring a valuable source of information: the Internet. In a forthcoming book, Reflections on Judging, the Chicago-based federal appeals judge writes that the Internet is “an incredible compendium of data” that isn’t going away, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog…

Jul 19, 2013 11:15 AM CDT

Top NJ court says warrant is required to track cellphone location

Reversing an earlier appellate court ruling, New Jersey’s top court today held that a warrant is required to track an individual’s cellphone location. Under the state constitution, the New Jersey Supreme Court held in in unanimous 7-0 ruling, individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such information, reports the…

Jul 18, 2013 7:00 PM CDT

Lawyer’s demand-letter threat to reveal sexual liaisons was not extortion, appellate court says

Ruling in a case that has been closely watched by lawyers, a California appeals court held that a pre-litigation demand letter threatening to reveal an opponent’s sexual activities if he did not provide an accounting and return allegedly embezzled business funds did not amount to extortion. The opponent, former reality…

Jul 17, 2013 7:30 PM CDT

Motorcycle for-sale sign allowed search of suspect’s home, 8th Circuit rules

A man with a felony record wound up sentenced to a new 34-month prison term because he put a for-sale sign on a motorcycle at his Kansas City home. If the sign hadn’t been there, police would have needed a warrant to enter his yard, which was fenced and posted…

Jul 12, 2013 5:50 PM CDT

Record 12-year term OK’d for ex-associate who revealed BigLaw deal info in $37M insider-trade scheme

A federal appeals court was not persuaded by a former BigLaw associate’s argument that a record 12-year prison term for insider trading should be reduced. Matthew Kluger “was an attorney who took an oath to uphold the law,” said the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its Tuesday opinion…

Jul 10, 2013 4:34 PM CDT

7th Circuit revives acquitted lawyer’s malicious prosecution suit over witness bribery case

Acquitted almost immediately in a 2009 trial over a claimed witness bribe, attorney Michael J. “Mick” Alexander then filed a civil suit against his accusers under the Federal Tort Claims Act He contended that the Delaware County, Ind., prosecutor and two FBI agents had conspired to make a false accusation…

Jul 2, 2013 6:05 PM CDT

Appeals court disqualifies BigLaw firm in big enviro case, says it can’t simply switch sides

Agreeing with a Minnesota trial judge who found a conflict of interest with a former Covington & Burling client could not be waived, a state appeals court has upheld its disqualification of the law firm from representing the state in a big environmental case against 3M Co. Although Covington argued,…

Jul 1, 2013 7:14 PM CDT

Chief justice has advice for lawyers faced with rapid-fire questions in oral arguments

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. acknowledged on Saturday that the justices “overdo it a bit” with questions during oral arguments Roberts said justices typically do not discuss cases before oral arguments, so they use their questions to “bring out points that we think our colleagues ought to know about.”…

Jul 1, 2013 2:50 PM CDT

Lawyer held in contempt after skipping traffic trial for real estate closing, gets 2 days and fine

An Illinois lawyer who found himself caught in a bind between a client’s downtown Chicago real estate closing in October 2011 and another client’s traffic-court trial scheduled at the same time opted to attend the closing. That resulted in a contempt citation for Wayne Adams and two trials. The first,…

Jun 27, 2013 4:40 PM CDT

Lawyer decked at court hearing is still unable to work 6 weeks later; client charged in assault

Ordered to rest as he recuperates from being struck in the head during a May 13 court hearing, Ebensburg, Pa., attorney Tim Burns was not present Tuesday at a preliminary hearing on new charges now faced by death-row inmate Andre Staton over the incident. But Blair County District Attorney Richard…

Jun 26, 2013 5:39 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor gets 2-year suspension over 100s of calls and texts with judge in death-penalty case

A referee recommended that a former Florida assistant state attorney be suspended from practicing law for one year due to the more than 1,400 ex parte calls and text messages he admittedly exchanged with the judge presiding over a death-penalty case he was prosecuting and the Florida Bar agreed this…

Jun 25, 2013 1:00 PM CDT

Governor can grant clemency in capital case even if inmate rejects it, state’s top court rules

The governor of Oregon has power to grant clemency in a capital case regardless of whether the inmate in question wants to be put to death, the state’s top court ruled Thursday. Reversing a trial court’s decision last year, the Oregon Supreme Court unanimously held that death row inmate Gary…

Jun 20, 2013 9:55 PM CDT

Winning, so far, in trial court, Hearst wants 2nd Circuit to clarify intern issue after new ruling

In an unusual effort to obtain federal appellate court clarification, Hearst Corp., which has been successfully defending a case over the use of unpaid interns in its publishing ventures, is supporting the plaintiffs in their request for an interlocutory appeal of a recent trial court ruling, Reuters reports. In a…

Jun 18, 2013 6:40 PM CDT

New legal battle for ex-prisoner awarded $6M: Ex-wife who he divorced in 1992 wants a share

An exonerated former inmate who was awarded a $6 million compensation package after serving 24 years for rapes committed by another man is still racking up big legal bills. First Steven Phillips did battle with the lawyer who represented him in the compensation case, contending that the $1 million fee…

Jun 17, 2013 8:00 PM CDT

Chief Justice Roberts assigns DC Circuit to review complaint against 5th Circuit judge

The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court has put the wheels in motion for a review of a complaint concerning a federal appeals court judge. The June 12 letter from Chief Justice John Roberts does not name the judge or describe the complaint, but says the transfer was made…

Jun 13, 2013 4:40 PM CDT