Judge Rejects Firm’s FOIA Request for Bridge Collapse Data

A Minnesota judge has rejected a law firm’s bid to obtain data about the massive I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Hennepin County District Judge Herbert Lefler ruled that National Transportation Safety Board regulations that control the release of investigation documents trump state law that might have allowed the firm’s consultants…

Nov 29, 2007 10:30 PM CST

A DNA First: Woman’s Murder Conviction Overturned

A judge has set aside the conviction of a New York woman in the first case of a woman convicted of murder to be freed based on DNA evidence. Lynn DeJac was released yesterday after more than 13 years in prison, Newsday reports. Howver, prosecutors plan to retry DeJac for…

Nov 29, 2007 6:24 PM CST

Ex-Judge Who Wrote Privilege Opinion Backs PD Who Told of Client Confession

The former chief judge of the North Carolina Supreme Court hopes an opinion he wrote on attorney-client privilege will help his new client—a North Carolina man convicted of murder partly based on now-discredited evidence. Former chief judge I. Beverly Lake Jr. is one of the lawyers representing Lee Wayne Hunt,…

Nov 28, 2007 1:11 PM CST

Supreme Court Rejects DNA Quest By Death-Row Inmate

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the case of an Alabama death-row inmate seeking to establish his innocence through DNA testing. Thomas Arthur is seeking to test key evidence in the case, the Associated Press reports. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had affirmed dismissal of…

Nov 26, 2007 4:31 PM CST

Attorney Fee Expert Angers Judge

A Philadelphia judge has chastised an expert witness for his testimony challenging attorney fees in two cases, including the class action case against Wal-Mart for unpaid overtime. In opinions issued last Wednesday, Judge Mark Bernstein criticized the defense witness, John Marquess of Legal Cost Control Inc., for testimony in the…

Nov 19, 2007 6:45 PM CST

Inmates Unaware of Suspect Bullet Evidence Used Against Them

Two criminal defense groups will conduct their own reviews of cases in which defendants were sent to jail with the help of now-discredited evidence of lead content in bullets. The groups acted after an investigation by the Washington Post and 60 Minutes that found the FBI abandoned the forensic tool…

Nov 19, 2007 4:54 PM CST

9th Circuit Applies State Secrets Privilege in Wiretap Case

In a ruling seen as a victory for the Bush administration, a federal appeals court has said that a warrantless wiretap case brought against the government by an Islamic charity cannot proceed, at least for now, because of the national security issues it raises. The three-judge appellate panel rejected the…

Nov 16, 2007 7:43 PM CST

Auditors’ Quest for Legal Documents Could Risk Exposure

Auditors complying with post-Enron laws are increasingly asking for legal documents, putting the material at risk for disclosure in lawsuits. When confidential documents are shown to outside parties, they are no longer protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege, the New York Times explains. Only around 30 states protect the…

Nov 16, 2007 4:37 PM CST

House Approves Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act

The Attorney-Client Protection Act was adopted in the U.S. House of Representatives by a voice vote today, but it may not be addressed by the Senate until the spring. Supported by an unusually broad-based coalition of organizations that includes the American Bar Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the…

Nov 14, 2007 1:33 AM CST

Lawyer’s Poems Nix Discrimination Case

An in-house intellectual property lawyer in the Worcester, Mass., office of a Pennsylvania company apparently wrote his way out of a job by sending four anonymous “sexually tinged” poems to a co-worker. Although David Bennett denied that he did so, company officials hired a private investigator to look into the…

Nov 12, 2007 5:17 PM CST

‘Unprecedented Peek’ at Health Insurer Claims-Handling

Due to the important public policy issues implicated, a former California judge overseeing an arbitration over a health insurer’s cancellation of a policyholder’s coverage has opened up the hearing to reporters and made public documents produced for the case. By doing so, former Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam…

Nov 9, 2007 7:04 PM CST

Interpol Plans Increased Use of Internet as Investigatory Tool

After a swiftly successful unprecedented Internet appeal for public help last month in identifying a child sex abuse suspect, an international law enforcement agency says it will use the technique again—and not just in child abuse cases. “This affair opened another dimension to investigations in coming years, new prospects and…

Nov 6, 2007 5:38 PM CST

A Little Internet Savvy Goes a Long Way

You’ve probably heard of the MySpace social networking Web site. But what about Xanga, Bebo and Orkut? Though seemingly esoteric to many over 30, these public Internet sites are familiar territory to the younger generation. And, more so than their elders, the young people of today are likely to connect…

Nov 6, 2007 1:04 AM CST

Law License Spat: Has Ex-Judge Reformed?

Removed from the bench and eventually disbarred a decade ago for misbehavior that included what a court described as “offensive, harassing and vindictive” conduct, former Nassau County Judge Marc Mogil now wants his law license back. However, the subject of a five-year harassment campaign by the then-judge is actively contesting…

Nov 2, 2007 6:31 PM CDT

Alternative Rx

Nov 1, 2007 8:05 PM CDT