Government

Illinois Law Firm Fights Ticket for ‘Justice’ Biblical Verse Sign

A lawyer and Illinois state representative has filed new court papers in McHenry County, on the outskirts of the Chicago suburbs, for citing his law firm over a sign that quotes a Biblical verse. The sign over the front doors at Franks Gerkin & McKenna, in Marengo, says “Justice, Justice,…

Sep 22, 2008 10:50 PM CDT

SEC’s Chief was MIA as US Markets Swooned, Some Say

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson were the men of the hour last week, stepping in with a viable emergency plan as the U.S. economy appeared to be on the verge of a massive meltdown following a year of ongoing bad news. But where was…

Sep 22, 2008 6:35 PM CDT

Quitting Dechert Put Bill Lamb on Path to Fame and Fortune

As a young associate at the law firm now known as Dechert, William Lamb soon found himself feeling restless. Only a year or so out of law school, he marched into the chairman’s office and said he was going to quit. Little did he know then that the risky career…

Sep 22, 2008 3:34 PM CDT

Detroit Text Messages Reviewed in Tort Case Over Exotic Dancer’s Death

Text messages sent and received by Detroit police and other city employees on the day that an exotic dancer was murdered in a drive-by shooting were delivered today to the federal courthouse. If they are found to be relevant to the killing of Tamara Greene, they are likely to become…

Sep 19, 2008 8:33 PM CDT

Judge Rules for Pro Se Plaintiff in Twin-Taser Civil Rights Suit

Reaching a different conclusion than police internal investigators, a federal magistrate judge has ruled that two Tukwila, Wash., officers used excessive force when they simultaneously Tasered a suspect. Siding with pro se plaintiff Terrance Releford, Judge Mary Alice Theiler found that his civil rights were violated in the June 2006…

Sep 19, 2008 5:16 PM CDT

Did a Short-Selling Conspiracy Spark the Stock Market Debacle?

Short-selling of a bank’s stock isn’t illegal. But when investors who are betting that a company’s share price will fall fuel the stock’s downslide with false rumors about the company, that can be a different story. So the New York’s attorney general announced today that he is launching an investigation…

Sep 18, 2008 8:26 PM CDT

Judge Awards Ferry Victim $18M, But Cuts Lawyer’s Contingent Fee

A New York federal judge has awarded a record $18.3 million to the most seriously injured victim of the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, but slashed the contingent fee due his lawyer from one-third of the award to 20 percent. The victim, James McMillan, was a former fish market worker…

Sep 18, 2008 3:50 PM CDT

Meet Detroit’s New Deputy Mayor, Ex-Prosecutor Saul Green

Still reeling from months of controversy over Detroit’s former mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, who resigned earlier this month after agreeing to a plea deal in a perjury case, the city apparently can expect a focus on law and order under the city’s new chief operating officer. Incoming Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel…

Sep 17, 2008 8:23 PM CDT

Fed Bails Out AIG, Prompting Debate on Regulation

In an about-face, the federal government has agreed to loan the American Insurance Group $85 billion in return for a nearly 80 percent ownership interest in the company, prompting debate about government bailouts and the need for regulations. Additional regulations can mean more work for lawyers who will need to…

Sep 17, 2008 11:14 AM CDT

Crime Victim’s Suit Dismissed; Clock Ticked While Teen Was Captive

A runaway at age 14, a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit who is now 26 says she was held captive for a decade by a security guard at her middle school. But, by the time she was 16, she should have known she was sitting on a civil rights lawsuit,…

Sep 15, 2008 6:57 PM CDT

Todd Palin Among 13 Subpoenaed By Alaska Lawmakers in ‘Troopergate’ Probe

The husband of Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been subpoenaed, along with aides who have refused to cooperate in an investigation of whether she improperly fired the head of the state police. A state senate judiciary committee voted 3-2 to issue the subpoenas to to…

Sep 12, 2008 11:23 PM CDT

Inmates Still at Galveston Jail as Hurricane Ike Nears; Gas Prices Spike

Despite a mandatory evacuation order for Galveston, Texas, as Hurricane Ike was about to strike, there’s one group of residents that, as of 10 a.m. today, hadn’t yet complied—about 1,000 prisoners at the Galveston County Jail on Galveston Island. However, their safety and well-being is paramount, and “will be handled,”…

Sep 12, 2008 8:48 PM CDT

Feds Searched Wash. Lawyer’s Office in Witness-Tampering Probe

Underlining the risk to lawyers who are suspected of crossing the line from client representation to assisting in alleged criminal conduct, a Washington state newspaper reports that the office and home of an attorney representing a millionaire defendant in a child porn case have been searched. Although the unnamed “third…

Sep 11, 2008 10:41 PM CDT

Texas Judge Takes Tots from ‘Too Old’ Grandparents, Age 59 and 52

Yolanda and Arnold Del Bosque have taken care of their 1- and 2-year-old grandchildren since they were infants. But a Texas judge said at a hearing last month that the state should take the tots away from them, reports the Houston Chronicle. His order put the children into foster care…

Sep 11, 2008 8:17 PM CDT

Parties, Sex & Drugs Made Fed’l Office Much Like a Frat House, Probe Finds

A federal government office charged with overseeing the collection of some $4 billion in royalty payments by oil companies to the U.S. government allegedly operated more like an out-of-control fraternity than a regulatory agency. Sex, booze, drugs and parties among federal employees and representatives of the oil companies they were…

Sep 10, 2008 11:45 PM CDT