Family Law

Mom Disappears with Son After Court Orders Chemo for the Boy

A judge who ordered a 13-year-old teen to receive chemotherapy has now issued an arrest warrant for the mother after she and the boy disappeared. Colleen Hauser had resisted treatment for her son, Daniel, because she is a member of Nemenhah, a religious group that favors natural healing methods used…

May 20, 2009 12:55 PM CDT

Shocking Story Update: 43 Fla. Kids Stunned, 21 Prison Workers Disciplined

Within little over one day last month, 43 Florida schoolchildren visiting three separate state prisons were reportedly jolted, directly and indirectly, with electronic stun guns during what the Miami Herald describes as “Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day” events gone wrong. In a fourth situation that same day,…

May 15, 2009 11:25 PM CDT

CEO Owes Ex About $750K in Interest for 12-Day-Late Payment, Conn. Court Rules

He’s the CEO of Credit Suisse Group AG. So investment banker Brady Dougan should have understood the terms of a divorce settlement with his ex-wife, a Connecticut appeals court says. Reversing the trial court and enforcing the agreement, the court is requiring Dougan, 49, to pay his wife of 20…

May 14, 2009 10:02 PM CDT

Remove Minn. Judge Who Cut Legal Bill By Referring Cases, Board Recommends

A Minnesota judge said he would have referred 19 divorce cases to Collins Buckley Sauntry & Haugh for mediation regardless of whether he personally benefitted, because the law firm does good work. But the Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards says Goodhue County District Judge Timothy Blakely should be removed from…

May 12, 2009 5:44 PM CDT

Polygamous Sect Feels Strain of Legal Battles

A polygamist sect in Texas won the return of most of the 400 children removed from its ranch last year. But the group’s legal troubles are far from over. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or FLDS, is feeling the strain…

May 11, 2009 3:57 PM CDT

Taking Kids to Work Sparks Lawsuit, as Fla. Jail Guards Reportedly Stun Several

Updated: At least one parent of a Florida schoolchild has sued over “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day,” after guards at three separate state prisons zapped visiting children with electronic stun guns on April 24 to demonstrate how they worked. The Florida Department of Corrections has acknowledged the…

May 7, 2009 8:15 PM CDT

Same-Sex Couples Now Allowed to Marry in Maine, Maybe N.H. Soon, Too

Abandoning his earlier opposition, the governor of Maine today immediately signed new legislation allowing same-sex couples there the legal right to marry. “It’s not the way I was raised and it’s not the way that I am,” Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat, tells the New York Times in a phone…

May 7, 2009 12:51 AM CDT

German Court Upholds Law Banning Long Names

A Munich dentist who wanted to combine her last name with that of her husband won’t be able to do so because of a hyphen problem. The stumbling block is a 1993 law that allows only one hyphen and two last names for married people, the New York Times reports.…

May 6, 2009 6:31 PM CDT

Gloria Allred Sues ‘Octomom,’ Alleges Possible Child Labor Violations

Celebrity attorney Gloria Allred has filed a petition seeking the appointment of a guardian to protect the financial interests of octuplets born to Nadya Suleman. In addition to filing the Orange County Superior Court suit on behalf of former child actor and child labor advocate Paul Petersen, Allred has also…

May 4, 2009 10:48 PM CDT

Courtly Con$olation

When Cupid’s Arrow Goes Astray, in Some Minds Someone’s Gotta Pay

May 1, 2009 11:50 PM CDT

Chicago Judge Jails Lawyer Overnight; Attorney Says Draft Order Set Him Off

A child support hearing in Chicago last week reportedly ended with an attorney for one of the parties being hauled off to spend the night in the Cook County Jail, after the judge objected to the manner in which she had written up his decision-making in a draft order. Nancy…

May 1, 2009 10:15 PM CDT

Wean Toddler from Breast Milk or Use Machine, Judge Rules

A mother whose breastfeeding is preventing a toddler’s father from spending time with his child has two choices, a Canadian judge has ruled. Jennifer Johne, 35, can either wean the nearly 3-year-old child or use a machine to pump breast milk for the girl’s father, Carl Cavannah, 42, to feed…

Apr 27, 2009 7:02 PM CDT

Connecticut Legislature Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Connecticut’s Legislature voted Wednesday night to update the state’s marriage law to conform with October’s state supreme court ruling (PDF) that same-sex couples have the right to marry in Connecticut. The bill would turn all previous civil unions into marriages starting in October 2010, Jurist—Paper Chase reported. The Hartford Courant’s…

Apr 23, 2009 6:31 PM CDT

Lawyer Loses Suit Claiming Failure to Read Divorce Decree

A Virginia lawyer has lost a malpractice suit that claimed she negligently failed to read a divorce decree before signing it. A jury found that Newport News lawyer Amy Van Fossen and her former law firm, Jones Blechman, were negligent and awarded their former client, Nancy Nicholson, $420,000 in damages,…

Apr 15, 2009 6:42 PM CDT

N.J. Judge Refuses Gag on ‘Other Man’ Claim About Bruce Springsteen

Both Bruce Springsteen and a New Jersey woman who knows him because they have patronized the same health club deny that the legendary 59-year-old rocker is the “other man” in her divorce, as her husband claims. But a judge in New Jersey has refused to issue a confidentiality order concerning…

Apr 15, 2009 5:24 PM CDT