Government

Stanford Receiver Defends $27M Bill Against SEC’s ‘Shrill Objections’

In an unusual public battle over a court-appointed receiver’s $27 million bill, attorney Ralph Janvey is telling the feds that cleaning up an alleged $7 billion bank Ponzi scheme of which Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford is the accused mastermind costs money. In a filing last night in federal district…

Sep 2, 2009 6:22 PM CDT

Pfizer to Pay Record $2.3B, Subsidiary to Plead to Felony in Drug Marketing Case

A $2.3 billion global settlement by Pfizer Inc. detailed by federal authorities today reportedly includes a number of record payments to resolve both a federal criminal probe and a pharmaceutical whistle-blower case. The case concerns the company’s alleged illegal off-label marketing of multiple drugs and related claimed Medicare/Medicaid fraud, according…

Sep 2, 2009 5:41 PM CDT

CIA Resists Disclosure of Additional Interrogation Documents

The CIA has told a federal court that disclosure of additional documents about its interrogation of terrorism detainees could jeopardize national security. The CIA outlined its position in a court filing in a freedom of information suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The CIA said the documents, including…

Sep 2, 2009 11:49 AM CDT

DOJ to Hire 50 More Lawyers, Gear Up for Civil Rights Enforcement Drive

The U.S. Department of Justice is gearing up for a renewed emphasis on traditional civil rights enforcement after a shift in focus during the administration of former President George W. Bush to a greater emphasis on religious rights, human trafficking and individual cases in which there was evidence of intentional…

Sep 1, 2009 10:04 PM CDT

Ex-Ontario AG Charged in Fatal Accident; Victim Reportedly Clung to Car

A former attorney general in Ontario, Canada, Michael Bryant, has been charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death after a fatal auto accident in Toronto yesterday. The victim, a 33-year-old bicycle courier, clung to the side of a convertible for about 100…

Sep 1, 2009 8:14 PM CDT

Law Says Ill. Inmates Must Get DNA Tests, But Some 50K Weren’t Done

A state law took effect in Illinois in 2002 requiring officials to collect DNA samples from convicts before they were released from prison or county probation. But officials didn’t do so for perhaps 50,000 released individuals, reports the Chicago Tribune. Among the reasons why are a shortage of both test…

Sep 1, 2009 5:55 PM CDT

Minn. County Must Pay for Lawyer for Mother in Child-Custody Case

Everyone agreed that a mother at risk of losing custody of her child needed a lawyer. But who would pay the attorney’s fees? She couldn’t afford to, and officials for Rice County and the state of Minnesota pointed the finger at each other. Upholding County Judge Thomas Neuville, a state…

Sep 1, 2009 5:38 PM CDT

Venable Partner Resigns, Lost Monitor Job Due to Texts With Ex-Detroit Mayor

A white-collar criminal defense partner has resigned from Venable after stepping down in July from her role as an independent monitor of court-mandated Detroit police reforms. Sheryl Robinson Wood resigned from the law firm effective yesterday, a spokeswoman tells the Detroit Free Press. Wood, who is a former federal prosecutor,…

Sep 1, 2009 5:10 PM CDT

Doing What Felt Right Put Lawyer, 33, at Helm of Own Practice

A little over seven years ago, Tony Jorgensen was getting ready to take the Pennsylvania bar exam after earning his law degree from Temple University in Philadelphia. But on a sudden impulse he hustled home to his native Connecticut on the last possible day to apply to take the bar…

Aug 31, 2009 6:28 PM CDT

Cheney Weighs In On Probe of CIA, Calls US Terror Tactics Legal & Necessary

Reacting to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s appointment of a special prosecutor last week to look into the legality of interrogation techniques used on suspects by the Central Intelligence Agency following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, former Vice President Dick Cheney called the probe a political witchhunt by left-wing…

Aug 31, 2009 5:29 PM CDT

Doc at VA Hospital Wins $10M in Libel Suit Against St. Petersburg Times

Hampered in its defense of a defamation suit by the death of its reporter, the St. Petersburg Times was hit with a libel judgment of more than $10 million on Friday. A four-woman, two-man Florida state-court jury awarded $5.1 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages to…

Aug 31, 2009 4:46 PM CDT

Accused Record ID Theft Mastermind to Plead Guilty in 2 Earlier Cases, Feds Say

A 28-year-old Florida resident accused of masterminding what authorities say is the largest-ever computer hacking and identity theft case is expected to plead guilty in two earlier cyberfraud conspiracy cases, prosecutors say. Paperwork filed in federal court in Boston today states that Albert Gonzalez will plead guilty by Sept. 11…

Aug 28, 2009 8:15 PM CDT

Obama’s ‘Pay Czar’ Made $5.76M Last Year as a Law Firm Partner

The Obama administration’s “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg knows a thing or two about big paychecks. Feinberg earned $5.76 million last year as a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm Feinberg Rozen, Reuters reports. His assets, including two homes each worth more than $1.5 million, are valued at between $11…

Aug 28, 2009 6:43 PM CDT

CIA Reportedly Will Pay Legal Fees of Officers in Interrogation Abuse Probe

The CIA will make sure officers investigated for interrogation abuses have legal representation, according to a senior intelligence official. The unnamed official told the Washington Post that CIA Director Leon Panetta “will do everything he can to ensure that anyone who needs legal representation has it, whether they have liability…

Aug 28, 2009 12:07 PM CDT

N.Y. Judge Restores Lawyer’s $106K Pension, Nixes $605K Repayment Order

Ordered to repay more than $600,000 in pension benefits which he allegedly was improperly paid over the past seven years, a New York lawyer has won at least a temporary reprieve from a state-court judge. Because the state comptroller’s office didn’t give attorney Albert D’Agostino proper notice and an opportunity…

Aug 27, 2009 9:44 PM CDT