Arkansas

Suspended judge is reinstated after acquittal in hot-car death of his son

A suspended Arkansas judge who was acquitted last summer in the hot-car death of his son has been reinstated to the bench. The Arkansas Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement of Judge Wade Naramore of Garland County on Thursday, report Arkansas Online and the Associated Press. The court added one proviso:…

Feb 24, 2017 3:07 PM CST

LGBT protections in city ordinance struck down by Arkansas Supreme Court

The Arkansas Supreme Court has struck down a city ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, the Associated Press reports, but it did not weigh in on whether the state law that prohibited the protections is constitutional. The 2015 ordinance enacted by Fayetteville, a liberal enclave in…

Feb 23, 2017 5:30 PM CST

Arkansas lawyer is reprimanded over use of private investigators who misrepresented themselves

Updated: An Arkansas lawyer has been reprimanded in South Carolina for sending private investigators into the state to pose as customers and gather evidence of intellectual property infringement. The South Carolina Supreme Court reprimanded lawyer Cecil Duff Nolan Jr. in a Feb. 15 opinion (PDF), the Legal Profession Blog reports.…

Feb 21, 2017 7:00 AM CST

Arkansas judge agrees to quit, but denies charges of trading pretrial release for sexual favors

An Arkansas judge has agreed to resign even as he denies allegations that he lowered bail for some defendants and released others on their own recognizance in exchange for sexual favors. Judge Timothy Parker of Carroll County District Court resigned on Saturday, the last day of his judicial term, report…

Jan 5, 2017 10:03 AM CST

Lesbian moms’ rights not violated by birth-certificate law, Arkansas Supreme Court rules

Arkansas laws that require the mother and father to be listed on birth certificates don’t violate the constitutional rights of lesbian spouses, the Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled. The court on Thursday ruled against three lesbian married couples who used anonymous sperm donors to conceive, report the Wall Street Journal…

Dec 9, 2016 11:12 AM CST

US indictment accuses ex-judge of tossing cases in exchange for compromising photos and paddlings

A federal indictment unsealed Monday accuses a former Arkansas judge of dismissing traffic and misdemeanor cases in exchange for photographing defendants as they picked up litter in “compromising positions” while performing “community service” for the judge. Former Judge O. Joseph Boeckmann of Cross County was charged with bribery, wire fraud,…

Oct 18, 2016 10:04 AM CDT

Smaller towns outrank big cities in this list of best places for law grads

The small town of Hot Springs, Arkansas, once home to Bill Clinton, is the No. 1 place for law grads, according to a ranking by a startup that culls data on education, careers and personal finance. The list by Good Call “features a slew of off-the-radar towns,” Law.com (sub. req.)…

Sep 22, 2016 11:00 AM CDT

Suits seek to block Arkansas referendum that would cap attorney fees and damages in medical cases

Two lawsuits filed this week seek to block an Arkansas ballot referendum that would cap noneconomic damages and attorney fees in medical injury cases with a state constitutional amendment. On Monday, two Arkansas residents filed a lawsuit claiming the referendum should be tossed from the ballot because its title is…

Sep 2, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Federal judge reprimands five class-action lawyers for using court as a ‘bargaining chip’

A federal judge in Fort Smith, Arkansas, has reprimanded five class-action lawyers for dropping a federal case and refiling it in Arkansas state court with a proposed class a settlement. U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III said in an order (PDF) on Wednesday that the lawyers had used the federal…

Aug 5, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Judge fines lawyer $4K for late courthouse arrival, unmoved by claim of bad cellphone reception

A murder trial was supposed to start Tuesday at 9 a.m. for Demarcus Veasey, who is accused of gunning down another young man early this year in Monticello, Arkansas. But when defense attorney Jim Morris arrived at 9:08 a.m., explaining that he’d had to take his daughter to camp in…

Jun 9, 2016 3:05 PM CDT

Claims of corruption by Wal-Mart in Mexico fizzle; Delaware court nixes shareholder suit

What once appeared to be a significant, multi-pronged probe of claimed widespread corruption concerning Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Mexico operations has fizzled. A three-year federal probe, while still ongoing, has determined that evidence to support the claims is lacking, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reported last year, relying on information…

May 16, 2016 11:55 AM CDT

Lawyer admits taking $100K in his law firm’s funds, gives up law license

An Arkansas lawyer has given up his law license in Arkansas and Oklahoma after acknowledging he converted more than $100,000 of law firm funds to his own use. Lawyer Michael Redd admits to taking the funds from Robertson, Beasley, Shipley & Redd, but says he has made restitution, report the…

May 10, 2016 9:19 AM CDT

Nude photos of defendants at judge’s home a ‘turning point’ in resignation decision, official says

A part-time Arkansas judge facing a legal ethics case over accusations that he offered to reduce sentences in exchange for sexual favors has decided to resign, at the suggestion of a state disciplinary commission, after new evidence emerged. In a Friday letter to the attorney representing Cross County District Judge…

May 9, 2016 4:45 PM CDT

Federal judge plans to sanction 16 lawyers for ‘gamesmanship’ and ‘forum shopping’

After issuing a show-cause order earlier this year, a federal judge has now lowered the boom. In a Thursday decision, Chief U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III announced that he intends to impose nonmonetary sanctions on all but one of the counsel of record for both sides in a class-action…

Apr 15, 2016 1:00 PM CDT

FBI to help authorities access iPhone and iPad of suspects in slaying of Arkansas couple

A successful attempt by the FBI to access the encrypted iPhone of a man responsible for a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, may be just the beginning of a new era of smartphone transparency. Days after a Monday announcement that the feds had penetrated the iPhone of Syed Rizwan…

Mar 31, 2016 11:05 AM CDT