Ethics

Texas Judge Charged With DUI Can Hear Limited Docket

A Texas judge who is facing a drunken-driving charge can stay on the bench, but can’t hear DUI cases or other criminal cases involving the officers who arrested him, an administrative law judge says. Ruling on a request by Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed that District Judge Raymond Angelini…

Mar 5, 2008 6:19 PM CST

Pa. High Court to Weigh Whether a Felon Can Be a Judge

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court hears arguments today on whether a municipal court judge should be removed from office because of her guilty plea 24 years ago to using a fake Social Security number to obtain a credit card. The Philadelphia District Attorney claims that Deborah Griffin cannot be a judge…

Mar 5, 2008 4:53 PM CST

Lawyer, Client Sanctioned $29K for Client’s Profanity-Laced Deposition

U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno of Philadelphia has tallied the number of times a litigant dropped the F-word or a variant in a deposition—it was 73 times—and calculated the sanction he and his lawyer should pay—it is more than $29,000. The client, Aaron Wider, is CEO of HTFC Corp., a…

Mar 5, 2008 2:39 PM CST

Two Coughlin Stoia Lawyers Linked to Contingency-Paid Witness

Two securities class action lawyers who jumped to Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins have been linked to an expert witness who pleaded guilty last week to perjury. The plea settled allegations the witness was paid on a contingency basis by the lawyers’ prior firm, giving him an incentive to…

Mar 5, 2008 1:49 PM CST

DA Fires Veteran Utah Prosecutor Who Opposed Her in Election

A county district attorney in Utah has reportedly fired a veteran prosecutor who was an opposing candidate in the primary of her 2006 election campaign. Prosecutor Kent Morgan says he was fired on Monday by a “kangaroo court” in the office of Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller, reports…

Mar 5, 2008 12:50 AM CST

Jail Isn’t End of SEC Saga for Convicted Lawyer in $1B ‘Ponzi Scheme’

After pleading guilty in a $1 billion federal securities fraud conspiracy case last year, Florida attorney Stephen Ziegler was sentenced to a five-year prison term and had his law license suspended. But that’s not the final answer, as far as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement efforts against him…

Mar 4, 2008 8:22 PM CST

Hollywood Agog Over Names to be Named in Private Investigator’s Trial

As a so-called private investigator to the stars is about to go to trial tomorrow for allegedly using illegal tactics to gain evidence for his clients, Hollywood is reportedly agog over the names that are being named as possible witnesses. The trial is also expected to provide further details of…

Mar 4, 2008 5:57 PM CST

Does Lawyer’s E-Mail Snooping Merit 2-Year Suspension?

Corrected: At first, when attorney Michael Markins accessed his wife’s e-mail account at the law firm at which she worked, he was trying to find out whether she might be having an affair. But then, having figured out the uncomplicated password system there, the Charleston, W.Va., lawyer admittedly began accessing…

Mar 4, 2008 12:23 AM CST

Speeding Lawyer Not Fast Enough on Her Feet With Court Excuse

An Arkansas lawyer is facing a contempt of court charge after reportedly telling a Carroll County judge she couldn’t appear before him the next day because she was in St. Louis, awaiting a federal appeals court hearing. But after Cindy Baker was ticketed for speeding the next morning in northwest…

Mar 3, 2008 11:30 PM CST

$8.4M Pact, Seeming Cover-Up Put Nearly 12 Detroit Lawyers on Hot Seat

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is reportedly only one of nearly a dozen area lawyers whose conduct concerning a police whistle-blower case is mushrooming into a major scandal. A state court jury awarded $6.5 million last September to two police officers who said they were forced out of their jobs because…

Mar 3, 2008 8:21 PM CST

Lawyers’ Letter Supports Cross-Dressing Judge

Bankruptcy lawyers have started a letter-writing campaign in support of a judge who was wearing a cocktail dress when police arrested him on suspicion of drunken driving. The campaign urges the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reject the resignation of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Somma, who pleaded…

Mar 3, 2008 6:52 PM CST

Ruling on Lawyer’s Nazi Comparison Ads Expected This Week

Embattled Michigan trial lawyer Geoffrey Fieger will learn this week whether a Detroit federal judge views his television ads as prejudicial pretrial publicity. The ad getting the most scrutiny compares the Bush administration to Nazis, the National Law Journal reports. It says: “They came for the Communists … the unionists…

Mar 3, 2008 2:03 PM CST

Scruggs Gets Contempt Prosecution Tossed

After repeated press accounts about charges that Richard “Dickie” Scruggs conspired to bribe a judge, the plaintiffs lawyer finally has some good news. A federal judge on Friday tossed a criminal contempt charge against the lawyer for failing to return documents about State Farm’s Hurricane Katrina claims practices, the Associated…

Mar 3, 2008 12:57 PM CST

Five Things to Remember When Parting Ways with a Client

See “Canning Your Client.”

Mar 2, 2008 12:14 AM CST

Let’s Be Reasonable

Client consent to a fee agreement doesn’t mean it’s ethical

Mar 1, 2008 8:50 PM CST