Civil Procedure

Gag Order Implies Private Hearings for Federal Judge in Sex Abuse Case

A gag order has been issued by a federal judge who has been brought in from Florida to hear the criminal case against U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Texas, who is accused of sexually abusing his former case manager. The unusual order, which was issued late Friday by Senior…

Sep 8, 2008 7:52 PM CDT

Transgender Lawyer’s BigLaw Experience Would Likely Be Different Today

When Jillian Weiss worked as a male lawyer at a New York law firm in the 1990s, she was ready to make the transition to a female, but she knew her employer would never stand for it. Weiss told the New York Times that simply switching jobs along with her…

Sep 4, 2008 3:32 PM CDT

E-Mail Puts N.Y. Times Publisher in Deposition Seat

Add another well-known name to the list of those unhappy about e-mail communications. Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of the New York Times, is going to have to testify in a defamation suit filed in New Jersey against one of the newspaper’s reporters by Donald Trump, over a book the reporter…

Sep 3, 2008 10:31 PM CDT

Judge Finds Oracle CEO Withheld E-Mail in Investor Suit

A federal judge in San Francisco has found that Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison deliberately destroyed or withheld e-mail and failed to preserve tape recordings in an investor lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said jurors will be told they could infer the documents and tapes would have shown Ellison…

Sep 3, 2008 1:33 PM CDT

An Overwhelmed Lawyer Leads to Md. Suspension for Lemon-Law Founders

The founders of Pennsylvania-based Kimmel & Silverman, the “1-800-Lemon-Law” firm, have been suspended from legal privileges in Maryland for failing to supervise a lawyer there unable to keep up with an overwhelming caseload. Maryland’s highest court suspended Craig Kimmel and Robert Silverman in an opinion (PDF) released yesterday, the Maryland…

Sep 3, 2008 11:24 AM CDT

Despite Sanctions Threat, Lawyer Spars with Judge Over Scheduling Order

A labor lawyer from one of two Orlando law firms threatened with sanctions for missing scheduling orders sparred with a federal judge in a hearing this month. Richard Celler, who heads the wage-and-hour division of Morgan & Morgan, told the National Law Journal it’s impossible to comply with the order…

Aug 28, 2008 3:53 PM CDT

Target Agrees to Pay $6M, Make Website Accessible to Blind

Target Corp. has agreed to pay $6 million and make its website accessible to the blind in a class action settlement. The suit had claimed Target’s website was improperly coded, making it impossible for blind people to use software that coverts text into Braille, the Recorder reports. Laurence Paradis, a…

Aug 28, 2008 1:15 PM CDT

Plaintiff May Videotape Defense’s Deposition of Her, N.J. Judge Says

A plaintiff has a right to videotape a deposition taken by opposing counsel, even if opposing counsel objects to the videotaping, a New Jersey judge has ruled. Although a New Jersey court rule that governs videotaping of depositions doesn’t address the issue, a Bergen County judge found that the plaintiff…

Aug 21, 2008 5:13 PM CDT

Outcry By Family Lawyers, Solos Nixes Self-Help Clinic

There may be a trend nationally to establish more self-help centers in courthouses and public spaces to aid those who are choosing the pro se route in court. But not in Texas. A pilot program meant to test the self-help waters in San Antonio is sunk. The center, which in…

Aug 12, 2008 4:57 PM CDT

Did Collection Firm ‘Shake Down’ Millions?

An Orlando, Fla., civil recovery firm is facing a federal lawsuit accusing it of sending millions of letters across the country in an alleged effort to shake down shoppers. Palmer Reifler & Associates, which sends between 80,000 and 120,000 demand letters a month, is accused in the potential class action…

Aug 7, 2008 10:22 AM CDT

Prosecutor Says Millions in Assets of Two Fen-Phen Lawyers Can’t Be Traced

Millions in dollars of assets held by two lawyers accused of defrauding their fen-phen clients cannot be traced, according to a motion opposing their release from jail as they await retrial. A motion (PDF) by U.S. Attorney Laura Voorhees says it’s unclear what assets are available to lawyers William Gallion…

Jul 31, 2008 6:01 PM CDT

Bratz Doll Maker Says Juror’s Insensitive Remarks Justify Mistrial

Lawyers for Bratz doll manufacturer MGA Entertainment are seeking a mistrial because of a juror’s insensitive remarks about the ethnicity of the company’s chief executive officer. The jury ruled against MGA in the first phase of the copyright infringement case, finding that the Bratz designer had created the doll while…

Jul 28, 2008 6:16 PM CDT

Class Action Firm Hit for ‘Calculated Attempt at Judge Shopping’

A federal judge has criticized class action law firm Labaton Sucharow for seeking to add new and unrelated claims to a lawsuit against American International Group. U.S. District Judge John Sprizzo of Manhattan refused to allow Labaton to add claims related to AIG’s recent write-downs to its older class-action suit…

Jul 22, 2008 1:22 PM CDT

Employers Limit Time for Suits Through Job Applicant Waivers

Employers are increasingly adding some fine print to job applications that limits the time period in which new employees can file workplace lawsuits. Many waivers limit the time for filing suit to six months, the National Law Journal reports. Mike Palese, a spokesperson for DaimlerChrysler Corp., told the publication that…

Jul 21, 2008 1:39 PM CDT

Popular Self-Help Clinic Fielded 43,000 Inquiries in ‘07

Litigants without lawyers are an increasingly common sight in courthouses across the country. In San Diego alone, the percentage of family court cases with at least one unrepresented party was 70 percent in 2004. That’s up from 54 percent in the early ’90s, USA Today reports in an article about…

Jul 15, 2008 5:09 PM CDT