Ethics

‘Harvard Lawyer’ Now Has New Title: Inmate

Young, attractive and clean-cut, Charles Brady certainly looked the part of the Harvard-trained land use and zoning attorney police say he claimed to be. Even a number of fellow practitioners reportedly were fooled by the 26-year-old stepson of a former Florida legislator. However, Brady, despite regularly practicing law and collecting…

Nov 20, 2007 11:23 PM CST

Fee Arb Bars Legal Malpractice Suit

A divorce client who unsuccessfully contests her matrimonial counsel’s bill in arbitration can’t then turn around and sue for malpractice over the legal fees the law firm charged her, a New York appeals court has ruled. The arbitration was over a claim filed by Laurie Wallenstein with a grievance committee,…

Nov 20, 2007 9:26 PM CST

S.C. Supreme Court: ‘Understandable Concerns’ About Bar Exam

Responding to what it describes as “understandable concerns” about the unusual manner in which some who took the South Carolina bar exam in July 2007 belatedly learned that they had passed, the state supreme court has offered an additional explanation of what happened. A scrivener’s error resulted in one examinee’s…

Nov 20, 2007 7:34 PM CST

Lawyer’s Conviction for Obstructing Probe Upheld

A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of a former Florida lawyer for conspiring to obstruct an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The lawyer, Donald Frank Mintmire, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, according to the Fulton County Daily Report. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court…

Nov 20, 2007 2:33 PM CST

Court Won’t Kick Scruggs Off State Farm Case

A federal appeals court has refused to kick Richard “Dickie” Scruggs off a lawsuit filed against State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. for denying Hurricane Katrina claims. A federal judge said the insurer waited too long to seek Scruggs’ ouster, and the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals…

Nov 20, 2007 1:57 PM CST

Trial Lawyer Sentenced for Using Nude Pictures in Attempted Blackmail

A respected Missouri trial lawyer has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for trying to blackmail his ex-wife with nude photos of her younger sister taken when she was age 16. Gary Peel, formerly with the Lakin Law Firm, was convicted based on allegations he threatened to send the…

Nov 20, 2007 1:38 PM CST

India Says Yes to Foreign Legal Work, But No to Foreign Lawyers

A charm offensive by the British bar has failed to win immediate permission from the Indian government for foreign lawyers to practice in what many consider the world capital of legal outsourcing work. “The Bar Council of India (BCI) has released a joint resolution with the country’s state Bar councils…

Nov 19, 2007 6:50 PM CST

Judge Gets 33 Months in Alleged Mob Money Case

A former New York judge was sentenced to a 33-month prison term today for conspiring with a reputed mobster to launder $400,000 in claimed proceeds from stolen jewelry. David Gross, 45, who served on the Nassau County District Court bench from 1999 to 2005, could have been sentenced to as…

Nov 17, 2007 12:13 AM CST

Defense Lawyer Seeks Gag, Gets It—Then Talks to Media

After requesting and receiving a gag order from the judge in a high-profile Detroit-area murder trial, a defense lawyer now may have violated it. Whether attorney Stephen Rabaut crossed the line will be clearer after his interview with local Channel 7 about the case is televised, according to the Detroit…

Nov 16, 2007 5:10 PM CST

Richard Scruggs Wins Venue Change in Contempt Case

A renowned Mississippi personal injury lawyer defending a criminal contempt case after allegedly defying the instructions of an Alabama federal judge to turn over insurance company documents has scored an apparent victory in a wide-ranging ongoing court battle related to insurance coverage for Hurricane Katrina. Federal district court judges in…

Nov 15, 2007 8:20 PM CST

Federal Judge Hit for ‘Unseemly Haste’ in Dismissing Case

A federal appeals court said Tuesday that U.S. District Judge Manuel Real acted with “unseemly haste” when he dismissed a case brought by a no-show lawyer with a good excuse. The lawyer, Stanley Raskin, received e-mail notice of a hearing even though there was no evidence he had agreed to…

Nov 15, 2007 11:28 AM CST

N.Y. Lawyer Stole $24M, Gets 10 Years

Updated: It isn’t every dishonest lawyer who manages to steal $24 million. But Anthony Bellettieri, a former real estate practitioner in wealthy Westchester County, N.Y., pleaded guilty earlier this year to doing so and was sentenced yesterday by a federal judge to a 10-year prison term. The onetime partner of…

Nov 14, 2007 8:05 PM CST

Judge to Decide Whether Pillsbury Should Give Up $4M-Plus Fee

A bankruptcy case involving alleged conflicts of interest by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has reinforced the need for disclosure. A San Jose, Calif., bankruptcy judge will consider whether the law firm should give up its $4 million-plus fees in the bankruptcy case of client SonicBlue following an investigation by the…

Nov 14, 2007 11:38 AM CST

House Approves Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act

The Attorney-Client Protection Act was adopted in the U.S. House of Representatives by a voice vote today, but it may not be addressed by the Senate until the spring. Supported by an unusually broad-based coalition of organizations that includes the American Bar Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the…

Nov 14, 2007 1:33 AM CST

Scruggs to Challenge Special Prosecutors in Hearing Next Week

Mississippi plaintiffs lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs will be arraigned next week on a criminal contempt charge for failing to return documents related to State Farm’s handling of Hurricane Katrina claims. Scruggs got the documents from two sisters who worked for a State Farm contractor. Rather than returning them, he gave…

Nov 13, 2007 6:56 PM CST