Georgia

Masked Bandit Nabbed After Eating Courthouse Food

A masked intruder of the four-legged variety has been nabbed after breaching security at the federal courts building in Atlanta. A raccoon who has been named “Russell” after the Richard B. Russell Federal Building was trapped in the ceiling on Monday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Bankruptcy Judge Paul Bonapfel reported…

Aug 26, 2008 2:21 PM CDT

E-Mail Scam Targeting Law Firms Ensnares a Lawyer in Atlanta

The latest victim of an e-mail scam targeting law firms is Atlanta lawyer Gregory Bartko. The lawyer sometimes handles international legal transactions involving Asian clients, and work is often conducted by e-mail because of the time difference, according to the Fulton County Daily Report. So Bartko wasn’t alarmed when he…

Aug 26, 2008 11:27 AM CDT

Legal Fees Get 2 Ga. Lawyers Indicted Under ‘Slayer’s Statute’

When Candace Rader and Valerie Cooke represented Debra Post in a murder case, they were allegedly paid $320,000 in legal fees through life insurance proceeds and real estate she deeded over to them. The problem is, their client was accused of—and eventually pleaded guilty in 2003—to murdering her husband. And,…

Aug 25, 2008 5:26 PM CDT

Judge Says King & Spalding’s Discovery Abuse Claims ‘Are Just Not True’

A federal judge in Atlanta has found that discovery abuse claims made by King & Spalding “are just not true” and ordered the firm or its client to pay 75 percent of its opponent’s fees to litigate the dispute. The penalty comes to about $87,000, according to the Fulton County…

Aug 19, 2008 12:54 PM CDT

Longtime Ga. Court Official Allegedly Made Sex a Part of His Job

Sex in a judge’s chambers. Trysts at local hotels during business hours. Obscene phone calls. Although these activities would seem unlikely to fall within the parameters of a court administrator’s job, all allegedly occurred during the 23-year tenure of Howard “Skip” Chesshire at Cobb County Superior Court, reports the Atlanta…

Aug 18, 2008 8:05 PM CDT

Ga. Judge Shoots Down Idea of Guns at Airport, For Now

A federal judge ruled against gun rights advocates who argued that residents should be allowed to carry legal firearms into public areas of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob declined to grant a preliminary injunction that would have barred Atlanta officials from enforcing the gun ban in…

Aug 12, 2008 2:33 PM CDT

Coverage Roundup: Prosecutors Drove Cost of Ga. Death Penalty Case

A retired Georgia judge who stepped down from the 2005 Atlanta courthouse killings case told an ABA panel today that prosecutors are partially to blame for high costs and delays associated with the ongoing capital trial. Retired Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller said that prosecutors could have scaled down their…

Aug 9, 2008 5:52 PM CDT

Suit: Ex-NBA All-Star Asked to Give Up Seat for White Women

Former NBA All-Star Joe Barry Carroll has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against a popular Atlanta tavern, claiming that while other while men were sitting at the bar, he and his friend were forced to move so that two white women could sit down. It’s apparently a custom at…

Aug 7, 2008 4:07 PM CDT

Trustee Targets Smith Gambrell in Hedge Fund’s Downfall

A bankruptcy trustee contends that the law firm of Smith, Gambrell & Russell failed to prevent the founder of a now-defunct Atlanta investment firm from embezzling from his clients. Trustee William Perkins is seeking $80 million from the firm and its former counsel, C. Gladwyn Goins, according to the Fulton…

Aug 6, 2008 3:52 PM CDT

Alston & Bird Merges with L.A. Firm, Opens Office With Akin Gump Lawyers

Rumors of a potential merger between Atlanta-based Alston & Bird and an 83-lawyer Los Angeles law firm have proven true. The 800-lawyer Alston & Bird announced today (PDF) its acquisition of Weston Benshoof Rochefort Rubalcava & MacCuish. At the same time, Alston said it is opening a 12-lawyer office in…

Jul 30, 2008 3:24 PM CDT

Divorce Lawyer Banished After Calling Black Court Staffer ‘A Little Monkey’

An Atlanta divorce lawyer has been banned from the entire fifth floor of the DeKalb County courthouse following an incident in which he called an African-American court staffer a “little monkey.” Two judges cited the remark in an order that bans lawyer Paul Koehler from the floor where the judges…

Jul 30, 2008 1:52 PM CDT

Ga. Business Owner Ordered to Pay $150K for Broken Engagement

RoseMary Shell wasn’t actually left at the altar. Instead, the middle-aged woman came home one day in late 2006, shortly before she was to get married, and discovered a note from her fiance, along with a check for $5,000, in the bathroom of their home. It said he was having…

Jul 29, 2008 6:54 PM CDT

How One Borrower Escaped ‘Foreclosure Hell’ Without Being Burned

Retiree Mamie Ruth Palmer filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and has been battling her mortgage lender ever since. Now she has agreed to a settlement that allows her to remain in her home and pay the fees of the lawyer who helped her. “In some mortgage circles, Ms. Palmer, a…

Jul 28, 2008 11:22 AM CDT

Lawyers Sue over ‘Walmartization’ of Ga. Public Defender System

Critics have sued the director of Georgia’s public defender system for closing an office that handles conflicts cases in the Atlanta area and hiring contract lawyers to do the work. Critics say replacing 16 full-time lawyers with contract workers amounts to a “Walmartization” of the legal system that harms representation…

Jul 25, 2008 1:55 PM CDT

Georgia Gov. Says Guns at Airport Should Be OK

Proponents of the right to carry concealed weapons at Atlanta’s international airport got some high-profile political support for their federal lawsuit. Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said new legislation that allows residents to carry concealed guns on public transportation, state parks and restaurants that serve alcohol should include the non-secure areas…

Jul 15, 2008 2:52 PM CDT