Civil Procedure

Blackwater Sues Wiley Rein for $30M

Blackwater Security has filed a $30 million malpractice suit against Wiley Rein that claims the law firm botched pleadings to remove a wrongful death suit from state to federal court. The malpractice suit claims federal courts would have been a better forum for Blackwater to defend the suit by four…

Jan 25, 2008 11:38 AM CST

Lambda Legal Seeks Mandamus in Transgender Court Access Case

Lambda Legal has announced it will ask the Illinois Supreme Court to compel a suburban Chicago court to follow proper court procedure for a transgender woman seeking a name change. The woman, who wants to change her name from Donald Turner to Daunn Turner, sought a waiver of court fees…

Jan 17, 2008 8:00 PM CST

Claims Court Should Decide Timeliness Issue Despite Waiver, High Court Rules

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the government’s failure to raise the issue of a blown statute of limitations in a takings case filed in the Court of Federal Claims did not bar a decision on the issue. The court held that timeliness is a jurisdictional limit that cannot…

Jan 8, 2008 4:10 PM CST

One-Minute Delay Costs MoFo $1M in Attorney Fees

Missing a deadline for an attorney fee request by one minute has apparently cost a Morrison & Foerster client $1 million, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports. MoFo contended it was late because a hired courier got stuck in traffic on his motorcycle. The courier arrived at the courthouse…

Jan 8, 2008 3:50 PM CST

Amnesty International Successfully Asserts Reporter Privilege

Using a test that protects journalists from disclosing sources, a New York federal judge has ruled that Amnesty International does not have to reveal the names of lawyers who complained of being videotaped while talking to Sept. 11 detainees at a Brooklyn lockup. Judge Viktor Pohorelsky issued the ruling protecting…

Jan 3, 2008 4:03 PM CST

Fear of the ‘Native’

How e-discovery data is delivered can be a costly decision

Jan 1, 2008 9:23 PM CST

Oops—Judge Wasn’t Sworn In, So Cases Must Be Retried

In an effort to ease a backlog of cases, an Australian court recently amped up its roster of magistrate judges, adding a part-time jurist. Unfortunately, no one remembered that George Wilkie had to be sworn in before he heard five cases in Southport Magistrates Court on Nov. 28. That means…

Dec 18, 2007 10:58 PM CST

Law Firm May Be Liable for Earlier Errors

A divided California appeals court has upheld a malicious prosecution claim against a law firm that apparently resulted from conduct of the plaintiff’s lead counsel. LaFave & Rice argued, essentially, that it didn’t know of alleged defects in the case, which was filed by another law firm, but the panel…

Dec 18, 2007 6:10 PM CST

Judge Orders Deposition Referee Due to Lawyer’s ‘Insulting’ Remarks

A New York lawyer will have to be supervised by a court-appointed referee during future depositions in a legal malpractice case because of “inappropriate, insulting and derogatory” remarks made to opposing counsel. Transcripts show lawyer Thomas Decea of White Plains called the opposing lawyer “hon” and “girl” and asked why…

Dec 12, 2007 11:57 AM CST

A Mickey-Mouse Error: Disney Characters Ordered to Testify

Sufferin’ succotash! An Italian court has issued court summonses to several cartoon characters, apparently a result of a Mickey-Mouse kind of error. Tweety Bird, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy have all been ordered to appear Friday in a criminal counterfeiting trial, the Associated Press reports. The defendant…

Dec 4, 2007 8:09 PM CST

European Plaintiffs Pursue U.S. Lawsuits

Although tentative steps are being made toward creating U.S.-style plaintiffs litigation opportunities in Europe, including class actions and shareholder cases, there are still substantial barriers to pursuing such cases there. The real news is that American courts, which clearly offer plaintiffs better litigation opportunities, are increasingly open to hearing cases…

Dec 4, 2007 5:05 PM CST

Alert Solo Catches Clerk’s Error, Derails 200 Christmastime Evictions

More than 200 Florida homeowners facing foreclosure got an early Christmas present from an alert Miami solo—the ability to remain in their homes through the holiday. Solo Scott Jay was discussing a partition case with co-counsel when he noticed a problem: A clerk had inadvertently counted Veteran’s Day in the…

Nov 28, 2007 3:10 PM CST

Court Won’t Kick Scruggs Off State Farm Case

A federal appeals court has refused to kick Richard “Dickie” Scruggs off a lawsuit filed against State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. for denying Hurricane Katrina claims. A federal judge said the insurer waited too long to seek Scruggs’ ouster, and the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals…

Nov 20, 2007 1:57 PM CST

Legal Notices Provide Little Notice, Lots of Profit

The newspaper industry is fighting legislative efforts to allow legal notices to be published on the Internet. So far, the industry has largely succeeded, despite legislation introduced in at least 30 states in 2006 to change the law, Adam Liptak writes in his Sidebar column for the New York Times.…

Nov 19, 2007 3:33 PM CST

Federal Judge Hit for ‘Unseemly Haste’ in Dismissing Case

A federal appeals court said Tuesday that U.S. District Judge Manuel Real acted with “unseemly haste” when he dismissed a case brought by a no-show lawyer with a good excuse. The lawyer, Stanley Raskin, received e-mail notice of a hearing even though there was no evidence he had agreed to…

Nov 15, 2007 11:28 AM CST