Government

Fla. City to Pay $55K to Bait Shop Ticketed for Displaying US Constitution

Lawyers for the city of Clearwater had said the Florida municipality was on solid legal ground when it fined a local bait shop over a fish mural painted on an exterior wall of the business. But after two federal judges disagreed that the city’s sign ordinance was constitutional as applied,…

Jul 28, 2009 7:13 PM CDT

Will Credit Card Snafu Keep Disabled Law Grad from Taking Calif. Bar?

The California bar exam starts tomorrow, and the last word from officials was that Sara Granda wouldn’t be allowed to take it. The quadriplegic woman, who is indigent and receiving disability benefits, paid the more than $600 fee with a state-issued check, and hence the bar exam form she filed…

Jul 27, 2009 9:52 PM CDT

Harvard’s Gates, Officer Accept Obama Invite to Discuss Arrest Flap Over a Beer

In the initial heat of battle over his controversial arrest last week for disorderly conduct at his own home in Cambridge, Mass., a prominent Harvard University scholar had talked about filing a lawsuit over the incident. Apparently mistaken by a passer-by for a housebreaker, Henry Louis Gates Jr. had contended…

Jul 27, 2009 8:41 PM CDT

Grenada AG Resigns Over Letter Seeking Leniency for Stepson in Fla. Case

The attorney general of Grenada has resigned over a letter he sent on official letterhead seeking leniency for his stepson from the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney in a Florida criminal case. Media reports in Grenada say Attorney General Jimmy Bristol’s resignation was accepted today by the prime minister of the Carribean…

Jul 24, 2009 6:12 PM CDT

Lawyer Plans Extreme Pretrial Makeover for Client in Alleged Police Abuse Case

When Richard Rodriguez was arrested in May by El Monte, Calif., police after a televised car chase, his booking photo showed the 23-year-old with a shaved head and covered in tattoos. But before he goes to trial in the tort claim he filed yesterday over an apparent kick in the…

Jul 24, 2009 5:37 PM CDT

Town Mgr. Weds Porn Actress and Is Fired, Raising Legal Issues

Seeking to avoid disruptive publicity, a small Florida town fired its manager after learning that he had recently married an adult film actress. But Scott Janke’s firing this week by the town council of Fort Myers Beach was probably even bigger news, according to the Associated Press. It also raises…

Jul 23, 2009 7:46 PM CDT

Dual Pact in $8.4M Detroit Texts Case Didn’t Seem ‘Nefarious,’ Lawyer Says

When an attorney representing the city of Detroit suggested two separate settlement agreements to document an $8.4 million pact resolving police whistle-blower litigation and keeping secret racy text messages between the then-mayor and a top aide, there was no reason to suspect anything “nefarious,” plaintiffs lawyer Mike Stefani testified today…

Jul 23, 2009 5:27 PM CDT

Federal Careers Expert Offers Tips on Jobs in Attorney Honors Programs

Most federal agencies have attorney honors programs for entry-level lawyers, according to federal careers expert Derrick Dortch. In an online discussion hosted by the Washington Post, Dortch responds to a question about attorney honors programs outside the Justice Department. Dortch says job seekers can find out more by going to…

Jul 23, 2009 5:24 PM CDT

1 in 10 Prisoners Serving Life, But State Budget Woes May Bring Some Relief

More prisoners than ever before were serving life terms in 2008—a total of 140,610 out of 2.3 million inmates, or nearly 1 in 10, according to a report released today by the Sentencing Project, which advocates the elimination of life terms without the possibility of parole. Two-thirds are Latino or…

Jul 22, 2009 11:39 PM CDT

ABA to Sue if FTC Won’t Exempt Lawyers from ID Theft Rules

The American Bar Association is prepared to sue if the Federal Trade Commission doesn’t exempt attorneys from new regulations intended to safeguard against identity theft, ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr. said. Proskauer Rose will represent the ABA on a pro bono basis in the case if litigation becomes necessary,…

Jul 22, 2009 10:10 PM CDT

New York AG Sues 35 Law Firms, Seeks to Void 100,000 Default Judgments

The attorney general of New York has sued 35 law firms and two collectors in a case that could overturn 100,000 default judgments in consumer debt cases. In a lawsuit filed today in Buffalo, Andrew Cuomo seeks to compel cooperation from firms that had relied on what may be faulty…

Jul 22, 2009 8:16 PM CDT

Virginia Tech Gunman’s Missing Counseling File Found in Doctor’s Home

A missing file for the gunman who killed 32 people in a 2007 shooting rampage at Virginia Tech has been discovered in the home of a former director for the college’s counseling center. An announcement that the the file had been located was made this morning by Gov. Timothy Kaine,…

Jul 22, 2009 7:09 PM CDT

Lawyers Seek Order Barring Top Pa. Court from Destroying Juvenile Records

A bizarre case in which two senior Pennsylvania judges in Luzerne County are accused of having profited from putting hundreds—or perhaps even thousands—of youths into juvenile detention for relatively minor offenses has now taken a strange new twist. In an extraordinary filing, lawyers representing individuals allegedly improperly jailed as youngsters…

Jul 21, 2009 10:59 PM CDT

Attorney Sought Law Firm Job to Spy On Businessman, Regulator Says

An unidentified attorney got a job at a law firm in Munich in order to gather information about businessman Leo Kirch on behalf of Deutsche Bank NG, says a German data-protection regulator. The bank, which is Germany’s biggest, called off the effort by private detectives it had retained before the…

Jul 21, 2009 8:27 PM CDT

Ariz. AG Lays Off 12 Lawyers, 17 Staff

In another sign of the dismal economic times, the Arizona attorney general’s office is axing 12 lawyers and 17 staff members to close a $2 million budget gap. The layoffs were announced today by the Attorney General Terry Goddard and will take effect July 31, reports the Phoenix Business Journal.…

Jul 20, 2009 8:28 PM CDT