Connecticut

Should bar regulators use tech tools to search for ethics violations on law firm websites?

Red-light cameras (so to speak) for lawyer websites? At My Shingle, Washington, D.C., solo Carolyn Elefant took note of a new tool by legal document start-up Docracy that tracks updates to websites’ terms of service agreements at more than 900 social media sites. The tool got her thinking. “Docracy’s TOS…

Feb 15, 2013 4:06 PM CST

Lawyer is shocked at nasty response to Craigslist ad, says he was offering a service to law grads

Connecticut lawyer Kenneth Beck wasn’t prepared for the hullabaloo when he placed a Craigslist ad seeking a monthly fee from law grads who wanted to shadow him. The ad told of Beck’s 20 years of experience, and said inexperienced grads willing to pay for the privilege could observe him in…

Jan 23, 2013 1:01 PM CST

Around the Blawgosphere: Quitting law, by the numbers | The best word processor, word-count wise

Former lawyers confess Why do lawyers leave the law, and how do they feel about their choices? Adam Smith, Esq. and Above the Law teamed up late last year and polled 430 lawyers who had left practice—about half of them expats of Am Law 200 firms. The most common answer…

Jan 18, 2013 2:30 PM CST

Lawyer says her experience with bipolar disorder is reason for appointment to Sandy Hook commission

Just one lawyer has been appointed to a group making policy recommendations after the Sandy Hook school shootings, but she says her legal background was not the reason she got the nod. Kathleen Flaherty says Connecticut’s governor appointed her because she has bipolar disorder, the Connecticut Law Tribune reports. “I…

Jan 15, 2013 6:11 PM CST

Owner of Hepburn Estate Loses Claim that Historic Commission Caused Him Emotional Distress

Corrected: A developer who owns the Connecticut estate of Katharine Hepburn won’t be able to pursue a counterclaim against a historic commission that alleged the agency’s decision on two granite posts exceeded its powers and caused emotional distress. Frank Sciame built the posts at the end of his driveway 5…

Jan 9, 2013 12:00 PM CST

Gun Control Debate Gains Traction as Obama Appoints Task Force in Wake of Conn. School Slayings

It appears that a massacre of first-graders at a Connecticut elementary school last week could lead to a significant change in the nation’s firearms laws, as a number of prominent individuals who formerly opposed more stringent gun control measures are now rethinking their positions in the wake of the tragedy…

Dec 19, 2012 11:49 PM CST

Feds Probe Fake Web Posts re Conn. School Massacre, May Pursue Criminal Charges

Amidst the shock and horror over the Friday shooting massacre of more than two dozen children and adults at an elementary school in Connecticut, some individuals inserted themselves into the high-profile case by creating fake Internet posts and pages, authorities say. At a Sunday press conference, Connecticut State Police spokesman…

Dec 17, 2012 9:20 PM CST

Charges Dropped Against Bar President Who Went Armed to Screening of Batman Movie

Charges have been dropped against a Connecticut immigration lawyer who reportedly went to an Aug. 7 screening of the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises openly carrying a licensed handgun. Sung-Ho Hwang, 46, who is currently president of the New Haven County Bar Association, had faced misdemeanor charges of breach…

Dec 4, 2012 7:05 PM CST

Ex-White House Lawyer to Assert Insanity Defense in Attempted Murder Case

A former White House lawyer accused of trying to strangle his wife and beating her with a flashlight will plead not guilty by reason of insanity, according to his lawyers. Lawyers are seeking a state-paid mental health evaluation for the accused man, John Michael Farren, TheHour.com reports. Farren is a…

Nov 14, 2012 12:41 PM CST

Divorce Client’s Ex-Spouse Charged with Harassing Lawyer, Allegedly Sent Email re Unrelated Shooting

A Connecticut man was criminally charged last week after allegedly sending a threatening email to a Waterbury matrimonial lawyer who survived being shot four times by a client’s estranged husband in 2005 outside a state courthouse in Middletown. The shooter, who was a retired state trooper, shot and killed his…

Oct 15, 2012 4:30 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Media Getting Rape Case Wrong, Bloggers Say; Will LinkedIn Take Over?

In 2008, a Connecticut jury found Richard Fourtin Jr. guilty of sexually assaulting a woman with severe cerebral palsy. But in 2009, state appellate court, considering “the sole issue of whether the jury reasonably could have found that the state introduced sufficient evidence to prove that the victim was unable…

Oct 12, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Police Seek Computer of Teen Killed by Father Investigating Report of Masked Intruder

The Connecticut man who shot and killed a masked youth who turned out to be his son is cooperating with a police request to examine the boy’s computer. An early morning phone call on Sept. 27 set the events in motion that led Jeffrey Giuliano of New Fairfield to shoot…

Oct 5, 2012 1:35 PM CDT

9 Out-of-State Colleagues Will Help Overwhelmed Federal Court in Conn. Get on Top of Caseload

On paper, the federal district court in Connecticut has lost only one judge, who was elevated to the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But three more have been sidelined by death, illness and, in the case of one senior judge, the need for a reduced schedule.…

Sep 24, 2012 6:31 PM CDT

Jennifer Jaff, Advocate for Those with Chronic Illness, Dies of Crohn’s Complications

A Connecticut lawyer whose illness inspired her to become an advocate for others with chronic illnesses has died. Jennifer Jaff, of Farmington, was 55. Jaff died Sept. 14 of complications of Crohn’s disease, an incurable gastrointestinal disorder she was diagnosed with at age 19, according to a news obituary in…

Sep 24, 2012 10:22 AM CDT

Those with Criminal Tendencies Who Like Tattoos Might Want to Rethink Ink

With the increasing popularity of tattoos has come a growing problem for those with criminal tendencies. Aware that the skin decorations can provide an inked evidentiary link to identify a suspect or help add up to a conviction, police increasingly are keeping track of tattoos and including information about them…

Sep 4, 2012 7:19 PM CDT