Kentucky

Workers reportedly get pink slips at Bingham global services center

News of a planned mass lateral move of three-quarters of Bingham McCutchen’s partners to Morgan Lewis & Bockius has quickly been followed by news of layoffs at Bingham’s global services center in Lexington, Kentucky. Unnamed employees told WKYT they got layoff notices Tuesday that will take effect on Friday. However,…

Nov 19, 2014 11:52 AM CST

Ex-bookkeeper convicted of $93.5K law firm theft may get more time for probation violation

Federally convicted in 2009, a former bookkeeper for a Catlettsburg, Kentucky, law firm, served time for stealing $93,477 from her ex-employer, Pruitt & Thorner. Now Ronda Nixon may be headed back to jail, after a federal magistrate judge found that she violated her probation and recommended another 10 months behind…

Nov 10, 2014 5:05 PM CST

6th Circuit upholds same-sex marriage bans in 4 states; will issue now go to US Supreme Court?

For the first time, a federal appeals court has refused to recognize a constitution-based right of same-sex couples to marry, creating a circuit split and setting the issue up for likely U.S. Supreme Court review. In a 2-1 decision (PDF) on Thursday, the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals…

Nov 6, 2014 4:45 PM CST

Senior prosecutor is fired one day after courtroom outburst

A senior prosecutor in Jefferson County, Kentucky, was fired Thursday following a Wednesday courtroom outburst during a contentious hearing. The Louisville Courier-Journal provided a copy of the courtroom video of the incident. In it, prosecutor Robert Fleck called a public defender “wet behind the ears” and said, “For the record…

Oct 30, 2014 3:00 PM CDT

Sordid or educational? ‘Deadbeat’ TV show shames child-support scofflaws with real courtroom footage

A Louisville, Kentucky, reality TV show that features real-life courtroom footage of defendants accused of failing to pay child support is popular with viewers, but critics are hoping for a cancellation. The “stars” of the WBNA show Deadbeat are two Jefferson district court judges who preside over the cases, one…

Oct 16, 2014 5:45 AM CDT

Woman who won new murder trial despite earlier manslaughter plea bargain won’t be retried

A Kentucky woman who took a manslaughter plea because she was afraid she would be convicted of a murder she didn’t commit won a new trial in July. Now the government has decided that Susan Jean King won’t be retried, the Courier-Journal reports. “In our minds, this is a complete…

Oct 9, 2014 5:10 PM CDT

Law firm seeks to join line of judgment creditors against ex-attorney Stan Chesley

Once a famed personal injury lawyer, “master of disaster” Stan Chesley lost his Kentucky law license last year and was ordered last month to help pay, along with other disbarred attorneys, about $25 million owed to hundreds of former clients in fen-phen diet drug litigation. Now another would-be judgment creditor…

Sep 26, 2014 4:05 PM CDT

Law firm uses rapper Master P and his ‘trademark grunt’ to brand its advertising

A well-known rap artist isn’t just narrating video advertising for a Kentucky personal injury law firm. Winton & Hiestand is also branding its services with what Above the Law describes as Master P’s “trademark grunt.” Spelled UGHH! on law firm billboards, which feature the heading “HURT? MAKE EM SAY UGHH!,”…

Sep 25, 2014 12:40 PM CDT

Ex-lawyer gets 20 years for charges including $4M client theft in case linked to fen-phen settlement

Former Kentucky lawyer Seth Johnston, 35, was sentenced Monday to a 20-year federal prison term in a multi-faceted criminal case. Certain charges were linked to a $200 million settlement in litigation over a diet drug combination blamed for causing heart problems, which his lawyer once compared to “the curse of…

Sep 23, 2014 11:05 AM CDT

ACLU to defend man jailed for posting heavy metal band’s violent song lyrics on Facebook

James Evans often posts lyrics from songs he is listening to on his Facebook page. One day last month, the lyrics were from a heavy metal song by Exodus that was inspired by the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech, Billboard reports. “Student bodies lying dead in the halls, a blood-splattered…

Sep 12, 2014 10:40 AM CDT

Lawyer is suspended in third state after police standoff

A third state has temporarily suspended a West Virginia lawyer accused of firing his gun during a standoff with police. Kentucky temporarily suspended lawyer Mark Bramble on Aug. 22, acting on a petition for reciprocal discipline, report the Legal Profession Blog, WSAZ and the Charleston Daily Mail. Bramble had resigned…

Aug 26, 2014 11:15 AM CDT

Judge says ex-attorney must help pay $42M judgment to plaintiffs in fen-phen litigation

Add another ex-lawyer to the group of disbarred personal injury attorneys responsible for paying a $42 million judgment over fees plundered from a $200 million settlement to plaintiffs in fen-phen diet drug litigation. After nearly a decade of court battle, a Kentucky judge ruled earlier this week that former Cincinnati…

Aug 5, 2014 8:35 PM CDT

Defendant claims prosecutor tried to revoke her probation after she told his wife of their affair

A Kentucky woman claims the man who prosecuted her for drug trafficking sought to revoke her probation after she ended their affair and revealed her pregnancy. Motions filed on behalf of Latisha Lashley Sartain allege she became pregnant as a result of a two-month affair with Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew Leveridge,…

Jul 21, 2014 3:44 PM CDT

Suspect in lawyer’s slaying said messages in newspaper, music told him to do it, cop says

The suspect in the June 27 slaying of Kentucky lawyer Mark Stanziano told police he was acting on messages in the local newspaper and music, a detective testified at a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. Somerset Police Detective Chris Gates testified that suspect Clinton Inabnit said “these people” would stop the…

Jul 17, 2014 12:54 PM CDT

‘Smut-filled’ deposition of lawmaker should be sealed, his lawyer says

A lawyer for a Kentucky lawmaker facing a retaliation lawsuit has asked a judge to seal his client’s “smut-filled” deposition. Lawyer William Johnson of Frankfort, Kentucky, says the smut arose from questions asked by opposing counsel, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. The questions, Johnson said, are “the kind of smut and…

Jun 26, 2014 12:28 PM CDT