Connecticut

Homeless Woman Charged with Theft for Enrolling Son in Norwalk, Conn., School to Enter Guilty Plea

A Bridgeport, Conn., woman charged in April with stealing more than $15,000 in funds from the Norwalk, Conn., school district for using her baby-sitter’s address in that city to get her son into school there will enter a guilty plea to those charges—as well as to two charges of sale…

Feb 9, 2012 6:45 PM CST

Shot by Client’s Husband Outside Courthouse, Lawyer Settles with City, Pursues $25M State Claim

Corrected: A matrimonial lawyer who was shot outside a Connecticut courthouse in 2005 by her client’s estranged husband as a divorce trial was in progress has settled her damages suit against the city of Middletown on undisclosed terms. Court documents show the litigation was settled Jan. 9. Attorney Matthew Dallas…

Jan 18, 2012 6:58 PM CST

Conn. Home Invasion Killer of Three Is Sentenced to Death

The second of two men convicted in a Connecticut home invasion and triple murder has been sentenced to death. Jurors deliberated for five days before voting unanimously Friday to send Joshua Komisarjevsky, 31, to death row for the 2007 killing of a New Haven-area woman and her two daughters after…

Dec 12, 2011 11:49 PM CST

Client In Love Relationship with Lawyer Gets Better Representation, Lawyer Argues

A bankruptcy lawyer fighting ethics charges in Connecticut maintains that clients who want good representation may be better off if they are in a romantic relationship with their lawyers. Zenas Zelotes is appealing a disciplinary panel recommendation that he be presented to the superior court for disciplinary action based on…

Dec 5, 2011 1:34 PM CST

Judge Orders Exchange of Facebook and Dating Website Passwords in Custody Fight

A Connecticut judge has ordered lawyers representing a divorcing couple to exchange passwords to their clients’ Facebook and dating websites. Judge Kenneth Schluger ordered the password exchange in the divorce of Stephen and Courtney Gallion, according to the Forbes blog The Not-So Private Parts. The judge cautioned in a Sept.…

Nov 8, 2011 5:25 PM CST

Freak NE Snowstorm Strands Air Passengers on Tarmac, Testing New DOT Regs, and Closes Courthouses

An unusual October snowstorm wreaked havoc on northeastern states, stranding passengers of multiple airplanes on the tarmac for more than seven hours over the weekend and closing a number of courthouses today. The situation was exacerbated by a record number of power outages, and it is expected to take over…

Oct 31, 2011 6:15 PM CDT

Celebrity Divorce Lawyer Accused of Calling Conn. Attorneys ‘Sleazy’ Is Sanctioned $35K

A New York divorce lawyer with high-profile celebrity clients was ordered to pay nearly $35,000 in sanctions after opposing lawyers claimed he called Connecticut lawyers “sleazy” in a courthouse tirade. Judge Lynda Munro of Middletown Superior Court in Connecticut imposed the sanction last week against lawyer William Beslow but did…

Oct 21, 2011 4:36 PM CDT

Law Grads Rita and Gustave Hauser Give $40M to Harvard; Floyd Abrams Donates $3M to Yale

A former BigLaw partner and a cable television pioneer are donating $40 million to Harvard University, one of two institutions where the two spouses earned law degrees. The money from Rita and Gustave Hauser will be used to provide teaching grants to faculty, adminstrators and students and to improve teaching…

Oct 18, 2011 8:06 PM CDT

Ex-Lawyer and Lawmaker Gets 5 Years for Handling Closings for Mortgage Fraud Ring

A former state representative and attorney in Connecticut who lost his law license years ago was sentenced this week to five years in federal prison for his role in a mortgage fraud ring. Morris Olmer, 83, handled closings as a notary for the group. It allegedly included 14 co-conspirators who…

Sep 28, 2011 4:34 PM CDT

Connecticut Justice Apologized to Kelo Plaintiff at a Private Gathering

A Connecticut Supreme Court Justice has offered an apology to the plaintiff in a famous eminent domain case, surprising the author of a book on the dispute. Justice Richard Palmer says his apology to Susette Kelo at the New Haven Lawn Club last year was an expression of regret for…

Sep 20, 2011 2:43 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Thank God I’m a Country Lawyer; Rebuffing Firms’ Family-Friendly Advances

Podunk Practices In July, Minnesota solo Bruce Cameron did a Rural Lawyer post listing eight misconceptions about rural law practice. This week, Cameron used email excerpts from his correspondence with “Thomas,” a 27-year-old lawyer who lives 40 miles from Dallas (“I still need to move farther out,” he writes), to…

Sep 16, 2011 1:36 PM CDT

Jailed for Web Threats to 3 Fed’l Judges, NJ Shock Jock Is Pro Se in Trial re Conn. Legislation Post

Already serving a 33-month prison term for threatening three federal judges in Chicago over the Internet, a former New Jersey shock jock could face substantially more time if he is convicted following a brief trial of the felony of inciting injury to Connecticut lawmakers. The Hartford Superior Court trial of…

Sep 16, 2011 1:12 AM CDT

Lawyer for Co-Defendant in Conn. Home Invasion Case Tries ‘Scorched-Earth’ Approach

The lawyer representing a defendant set to go on trial in September for a Connecticut triple murder is displaying the aggressive tactics that earned the one-time prosecutor a reputation as a courtroom brawler. Jeremiah Donovan is the lead court-appointed lawyer for Joshua Komisarjevsky, accused of taking part in tormenting and…

Aug 30, 2011 4:49 PM CDT

2nd Cir. OKs Minority New Haven Firefighter’s Disparate-Impact Suit, Despite Supremes’ Ricci Ruling

In an unusual 2009 decision, a divided U.S. Supreme Court not only vacated a lower court’s ruling that the city of New Haven, Conn., had a right to discard the results of a promotional test, out of concern that it was racially biased, but ordered the the city to certify…

Aug 15, 2011 11:48 PM CDT

Households Headed by Single Dads Surge as Public and Courts Rethink Traditional Roles

About three out of every four United States households that has only a single parent is headed by a single mom rather than a single dad. But that gap has narrowed tremendously in the last decade or so, according to data from the 2010 census, Bloomberg reports. In Fairfield County,…

Jul 25, 2011 3:47 PM CDT