Ethics

Judge Helped Spouse Shield Assets

Lawyers recommended to a disciplinary panel at a hearing today that a New Hampshire judge be publicly reprimanded for helping her husband shield assets from creditors as he was being disbarred several years ago. Superior Court Judge Patricia Coffey says she didn’t realize at the time that she was doing…

Dec 10, 2007 9:37 PM CST

FBI Agents Search Offices of Lawyer for Richard ‘Dickie’ Scruggs

FBI agents this morning searched the office of a lawyer for indicted personal injury lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, who is accused in a federal indictment of conspiring to bribe a judge. Agents executed a search warrant for the office of lawyer Joey Langston of Booneville, Miss., according to the Clarion-Ledger.…

Dec 10, 2007 7:41 PM CST

Judge Talks Himself into Trouble

A routine training session led to another, in-depth program for a Washington state judge censured for his “demeaning, offensive and shocking” behavior at a Los Angeles conference last summer. Judge John Wulle, 57, who sits in Clark County Superior Court, made a number of ill-advised comments at the training program,…

Dec 10, 2007 6:37 PM CST

Blog Names Year’s Top 10 (Make that 12) Legal Ethics Stories

Updated: The blog Legal Ethics Forum picked its top 10 ethics stories of the year, then made it the top 12 ethics stories at the suggestion from a reader. (The addition is No. 11 below.) Among the top stories named by the blog: The case against former Durham County, N.C.,…

Dec 10, 2007 3:07 PM CST

Widow of City Attorney to File Suit Blaming DA for Suicide

The widow of former Denver city attorney Larry Manzanares plans to sue the district attorney who investigated her husband, saying the investigation and a press conference contributed to his suicide. Peggy Montaño has filed a letter of intent to sue District Attorney Scott Storey, the Denver Post reports. Storey filed…

Dec 10, 2007 2:28 PM CST

Kerik Lawyer Loses Bid for Disqualification Documents

A judge has refused to give the defense lawyer for former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik access to evidence that prosecutors are using to try to toss him off the case. Prosecutors claim lawyer Kenneth Breen is a potential witness to obstruction of justice by Kerik in a…

Dec 7, 2007 3:51 PM CST

Former High-Flying PI Lawyer Sentenced to 15 Years

A once-prominent Miami lawyer has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for bilking elderly asbestos clients out of more than $13 million. The sentence for Louis Robles was the longest possible under federal sentencing guidelines, the Daily Business Review reports. U.S. District Judge Alan Gold also ordered Robles to…

Dec 7, 2007 11:51 AM CST

Irked Client Publicly Zings Counsel

Apparently unsuccessful in an effort to contest a $342,000 legal bill in court, the owners of a bankrupt construction company have taken their complaints over the way a big Buffalo, N.Y., law firm handled their case to the court of public opinion. A billboard, a website, flyers distributed to area…

Dec 7, 2007 1:04 AM CST

What Clients Think of Lawyers

A significant number of British clients are unhappy with their lawyers and, like their American counterparts, many complain about a lack of communication. According to a survey by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority, which regulates the profession in England and Wales, one in five clients feels let down by legal counsel,…

Dec 6, 2007 5:12 PM CST

Second Judge Cites ‘Schmucks!’ Book to Contest Ethics Charges

A New York judge has lost a bid to block ethics proceedings against him based on a claim that the chair of the ethics commission showed racial bias in a book he co-wrote with comedian Jackie Mason. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis denied the judge’s request for a preliminary injunction…

Dec 6, 2007 1:16 PM CST

MoFo Acts Quickly After Discovering a Conflict

An expert says Morrison & Foerster took the right steps after a client’s bankruptcy objection revealed a sale of a patent to a second law firm client. Client Novell Inc. was a creditor in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy of SCO Group Inc., the Recorder explains in its story on the…

Dec 6, 2007 11:25 AM CST

Jurists Defend Mass. Judge in Murder Case

There is a growing groundswell of support by colleagues for a Massachusetts judge who has become a target for national election-year political criticism after agreeing to release a convicted killer who allegedly then murdered two newlyweds in Washington state. Although the anguish of survivors of the two claimed victims of…

Dec 5, 2007 10:06 PM CST

U.K. Lawyer at Heart of Heroin Ring

A corrupt lawyer at the heart of a multimillion-dollar British heroin ring reportedly is headed to jail for his role in orchestrating bogus alibis and fraudulent evidence to help associates avoid criminal conviction. Solicitor Naveen Sagar, 32, will be jailed today, after pleading guilty to burglary, fraud, contempt of court…

Dec 5, 2007 9:21 PM CST

Lawyer Pleads Guilty and Cooperates in Scruggs Case

Lawyer Timothy Balducci has changed his initial not guilty plea and agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy in a judicial bribery case involving high-profile plaintiffs lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs. Balducci has cooperated with the government and will continue to do so, according to a plea agreement filed in a Mississippi…

Dec 5, 2007 7:53 PM CST

No Jail Time for Loyola Law Prof Who Helped Client Find Counsel

A Louisiana appeals court has overturned a contempt finding by a state judge that would have required a law professor working with the Orleans Parish public defender’s office in New Orleans to serve a brief jail term and take a legal ethics course. Steve Singer, who is on leave from…

Dec 5, 2007 7:35 PM CST