Ethics

Arrested Lawyer: Judge Had Meltdown Over Motion to Dismiss

A New Jersey lawyer facing contempt proceedings says she was arrested and handcuffed simply because she appropriately defended her client in traffic court, raising a racial profiling defense. At her client’s trial on Oct. 4, says Rashidah Hasan, she made a motion to dismiss after the prosecutor concluded his case.…

Nov 8, 2007 9:42 PM CST

Beleaguered Ga. Judge Won’t Respond to Prosecutors’ Filing in Nichols Case

A respected Georgia judge under fire for requiring the state to pay defense costs it says it can’t afford in a complex capital murder trial won’t contest a state supreme court filing seeking to force him off the case. Instead, Superior Court Judge Hilton M. Fuller Jr. has sent a…

Nov 8, 2007 12:19 AM CST

Executed Man’s Wife Sues Judge Who Closed Courthouse Door

Updated: Already facing a legal ethics complaint, a Texas appellate judge who refused to accept an eleventh-hour late filing in a death penalty appeal is now being sued by the executed man’s wife. The federal suit accuses Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller of violating Michael Richard’s…

Nov 7, 2007 11:49 PM CST

Ex-Legal Chief Claims Samsung Had Bribe Fund for Prosecutors

The former chief lawyer for Samsung Group has filed a legal complaint with South Korean prosecutors that alleges a bribery scheme and cover-up by chairman Lee Kun Hee. Kim Yong Chul, who worked for Samsung for seven years, claims the company kept a secret slush fund to bribe prosecutors and…

Nov 7, 2007 6:45 PM CST

ABA Ethics Opinion Approves Collaborative Law

An ABA committee has released an ethics opinion that approves collaborative law practice, a form of alternative dispute resolution in family law cases, if clients give informed consent. Collaborative law is a litigation alternative in which the parties and their lawyers sign an agreement to work cooperatively to reach a…

Nov 7, 2007 6:12 PM CST

No Client-Fraud Confidentiality Exception in Proposed NY Rules

Ethics guru Stephen Gillers says new lawyer conduct rules recommended for adoption in New York state are a “resounding” improvement. The New York State Bar Association’s House of Delegates is recommending approval of the ethics revisions, which now go to the state appellate division for consideration, the New York Law…

Nov 7, 2007 2:23 PM CST

Va. Attorney Charged with ‘Embracery’

A Virginia civil rights attorney is now defending an unusual criminal case in modern-day America. Accused of improperly attempting to influence an Albemarle County grand jury, Deborah Wyatt is charged with five misdemeanor counts of embracery, an English common-law crime that dates back to the Magna Carta and was incorporated…

Nov 7, 2007 12:41 AM CST

Law Firm Plans Real-Life Practice at Virtual ‘Second Life’ Office

Bridging the gap between a fictional 3D world on the Internet known as “Second Life” and real life, a United Kingdom law firm reportedly has opened an office there not simply to play at law practice or recruit clients but to perform real-life legal functions. “Many of our clients have…

Nov 6, 2007 11:37 PM CST

Bankruptcy Judge Properly Fired Debtor’s PI Counsel

A Manhattan bankruptcy judge properly fired a debtor’s incompetent and uncooperative personal injury lawyer, a federal appeals court has ruled. Although Manhattan personal injury lawyer Jeffrey H. Schwartz was initially retained by the debtor with the bankruptcy trustee’s permission, he subsequently hired co-counsel without seeking bankruptcy court approval and made…

Nov 6, 2007 6:27 PM CST

Joseph Jamail Denies Feud With John O’Quinn

Houston plaintiffs lawyer Joseph Jamail says any talk of a feud between him and the lawyer he sued on behalf of breast implant plaintiffs is a lot of rubbish. Jamail and Houston litigator Ronald Krist sued Houston lawyer John O’Quinn on behalf of former breast implant clients who claim he…

Nov 6, 2007 12:46 PM CST

Borrowers Facing Foreclosure Often Overpay, Study Finds

Bankruptcy court filings indicate that some lenders and loan servicers foreclosing on properties are charging questionable fees and misstating outstanding balances. University of Iowa law professor Katherine Porter analyzed more than 1,700 Chapter 13 filings from April 2006 and found that questionable fees were tacked on to more than half…

Nov 6, 2007 12:00 PM CST

Nice Work: DOJ Lawyer’s Alleged Beach Gig

As a hearing loomed in a voting rights case against the city of Boston last summer, Susana Lorenzo-Giguere, a lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice, came up from Washington, D.C., to oversee it personally. But then she allegedly spent much of the summer with her family on the beach…

Nov 5, 2007 11:51 PM CST

BigLaw Relaxing Bank Suit Standards?

As the subprime mortgage meltdown and a resulting global credit crunch have created a surge of litigation against lenders, some of the world’s major law firms are caught in a quandary. Traditionally, they have represented banks. But now that litigating against banks is a hot practice area, many are relaxing,…

Nov 5, 2007 11:18 PM CST

Plaintiffs Win Right to Lawyers’ Championship Horse

More than 400 plaintiffs who claimed their lawyers defrauded them out of money due in a pharmaceutical settlement have been awarded a 20 percent stake in champion race horse Curlin. Judge William Wehr of Kentucky awarded the plaintiffs a right to 20 percent of the proceeds from the future sale…

Nov 5, 2007 5:03 PM CST

Lawyer’s Trial Boycott Strategy Worked

Texas’ highest criminal appeals court has handed a lawyer who boycotted his client’s trial the ruling he desired. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in a 5-4 decision Oct. 17 that lawyer Christopher Hoover provided ineffective assistance of counsel, Texas Lawyer reports. The court ordered a new trial for…

Nov 5, 2007 3:45 PM CST