Dismembered Body Was Law Grad’s; Investigation Continues

A dismembered body found near the apartment of a missing Mercer University law graduate has been identified as that of the young woman, 27-year-old Lauren Giddings, who served as president of the Federalist Society at the school. The police investigation in Macon, Ga., is continuing, the Associated Press reports. Meanwhile,…

Jul 6, 2011 9:36 PM CDT

Georgia Lawyer Trades Prosecutor Post to Peddle Popsicles

Nicholas J. Carse has no regrets trading in his job as an assistant prosecutor in Gwinnett County, Georgia, to fulfill his dream to go into business with his brother and do their own thing. The two are selling homemade fruit popsicles from carts outside gas stations, farmers markets and festivals.…

Jul 5, 2011 12:04 PM CDT

Police Find Dismembered Body Outside Apartment of Missing Law Grad

Updated: Police in Macon, Ga., discovered a dismembered body on Thursday outside the apartment building of a missing Mercer law grad after a friend reported her missing. Police were working to identify the body, Macon.com reports. The missing woman, 27-year-old Lauren Giddings, had recently graduated and was preparing for the…

Jul 1, 2011 2:31 PM CDT

Legislative Efforts Requiring Judges to Hold JD Meet with Mixed Results

Jul 1, 2011 8:30 AM CDT

Lawyer Seeks Probe After Execution Using Animal Sedative Goes Awry

A lawyer is raising questions about an animal sedative used as a replacement drug in lethal injections after his client’s execution went awry on Thursday night. The Georgia inmate, Roy Blankenship, was executed with the use of pentobarbital, substituted because of a shortage of the sedative sodium thiopental, the Atlanta…

Jun 27, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Exodus of Prosecutors Slows Case Disposition in Fulton County, Ga.; DA Blames $56K Starting Pay

Nearly a fifth of the assistant prosecutors in the Fulton County, Ga., district attorney’s office have left so far this year, in moves some attributed to what the newspaper describes as the office’s “micromanagement style” and others said they made to advance their careers. DA Paul Howard points to the…

Jun 16, 2011 9:00 PM CDT

11th Circuit OKs 28-Year Term for Phil Hill in $110M Mortgage Fraud; 2 Lawyers Also Convicted

Saying that lies upon lies underpinning a massive mortgage fraud had devastated Atlanta’s housing market, a federal appeals court yesterday upheld the conviction and 28-year prison term imposed upon its ringleader. Phillip Hill, 54, appropriately got more time than other defendants involved in the scheme, because he orchestrated it, the…

Jun 15, 2011 8:52 PM CDT

Emory Law Student Arrested in Egypt, Accused of Spying for Israel

A third-year Emory law student was arrested Sunday in Cairo and accused of spying for Israeli intelligence. The semiofficial Egyptian daily Al-Ahram said the 27-year-old student, Ilan Grapel, was a suspected “Mossad officer who tried to sabotage the Egyptian revolution,” the Associated Press reports. A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office…

Jun 14, 2011 11:26 AM CDT

Ex-Client Files RICO Class Action, Says PI Firm Made Usurious Loans to 200 Vioxx Plaintiffs

A former client has filed a federal civil racketeering class action against a Georgia personal injury firm, contending that it cheated up to 200 or more plaintiffs in Vioxx litigation by misleading them into taking out usurious loans against an expected settlement. At the time, the Eichholz Law Firm knew…

Jun 9, 2011 5:43 PM CDT

Police Led to Drug Suspect After His Phone Pocket Dials 911

A 911 dispatcher in Georgia got a surprising call from a drug suspect on Wednesday. The call was apparently placed as the result of a pocket dial by the suspect, report the Gainesville Times and CBSAtlanta.com. The Hall County dispatcher heard talk of a drug deal involving prescription narcotics, police…

May 20, 2011 3:35 PM CDT

Online Travel Companies Must Rework Pricing Formulas to Pay More Hotel Taxes, Ga. Supreme Court Says

Online travel companies that book Atlanta hotel rooms should rework their pricing formula to pay the city more in occupancy taxes, the Georgia Supreme Court found today. Under the existing structure, the Associated Press reported, a travel site that buys a hotel room for $50 and sells it for $100…

May 16, 2011 8:36 PM CDT

Muslim Man Wearing Kufi was Denied Entry to Ga. Court, His Lawyer Says

After a Muslim woman was arrested and jailed for refusing to remove her hijab as she tried to enter a Douglas County courtroom, the Georgia Judicial Council adopted a policy stating that religious headcoverings can be worn in all state courthouses. However, a Henry County judge today refused to allow…

May 6, 2011 12:03 AM CDT

2nd Circuit Overturns Injunction Against Southern Gun Shops Accused in NYC Nuisance Suit

A federal appeals court has upheld a default judgment against two Southern gun stores accused of having “New Yorkers’ blood on their hands,” but ruled the injunctions issued against them were overbroad. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday, the New York Post reports. New…

May 5, 2011 12:39 PM CDT

Battle of Atlanta: Fight over a Downtown Homeless Shelter Strains Some Down-Home Ties

May 1, 2011 9:50 AM CDT

Ga. Lawyer Gets 2-Year Suspension After Sending Sex Video to Undercover Officer He Thought Was 16

In an attorney discipline case that explores the boundaries of when private sexual misconduct renders a lawyer unfit to practice, and for how long, a Georgia practitioner says he was blindsided by a state supreme court decision this week to suspend him for two years after a misdemeanor conviction for…

Apr 28, 2011 7:45 PM CDT