Ethics

Lawyer Accused of Faking Judge’s Signature

A lawyer has been accused of faking a judicial order to persuade his clients that their suit over a neighbor’s pool was proceeding swimmingly. Actually, the defendants had never been served with the suit, according to an opinion last month that gave the plaintiffs more time to effect service, the…

Oct 16, 2007 12:23 PM CDT

Malpractice Suit Tossed in Recovered Nazi Art Case

A federal judge has tossed a malpractice suit against a lawyer who represented the heirs of a German art collector whose property was seized by the Nazis. The suit by nieces and nephews of Gustav Kirstein claimed they had to share their recovery with another claimant because of mistakes by…

Oct 16, 2007 12:01 PM CDT

Nifong Seeks Legal Fees in Civil Suit re Rape

Mike Nifong, the disgraced former prosecutor who is now being sued for pursuing rape charges against three former Duke lacrosse team players, has asked North Carolina to help him with his legal defense. Because the civil litigation by the exonerated defendants arose out of his work as Durham County prosecutor,…

Oct 15, 2007 11:49 PM CDT

Tips for Preventing Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment has been in the news lately, raising awareness of the issue. So now is the time to prevent problems in your own workplace, experts advise. An up-to-date written sexual harassment policy, appropriate training and encouraging discussion of the issue can go a long way to prevent it, reports…

Oct 15, 2007 5:00 PM CDT

Judge’s Joking Went Too Far

Updated: During his first four years on the bench, Baltimore County District Judge Bruce Lamdin tended to say what he thought. Some considered him a breath of fresh air, a jurist who really knew how to establish a rapport with those who appeared in front of him and make a…

Oct 15, 2007 3:24 PM CDT

Sanctions Will Deter Discovery Abuse, Qualcomm Magistrate Says

U.S. Magistrate Barbara Major made no ruling at the end of a five-hour hearing on Friday on whether to impose sanctions against lawyers for Qualcomm for discovery abuse. But her comments made clear she’s not happy with the lawyers’ failure to produce more than 200,000 electronic documents in a patent…

Oct 15, 2007 11:58 AM CDT

GA Lawyer Cooperates in Mortgage Fraud Trial

A Georgia lawyer who has pleaded guilty for taking part in a mortgage fraud ring will testify in a trial of one of the alleged members that got under way this week. Prosecutors say lawyer James Stovall III of Marietta, Ga., was supposed to represent lenders, but instead he prepared…

Oct 12, 2007 4:13 PM CDT

Judge Censured for ‘Nice Butt’ Remarks

A New York town court judge who made light of a defendant’s assertion that his lawyer was “cute” and had “a nice butt” has been censured for the “misguided attempt at humor.” Justice Edmund V. Caplicki Jr. of LaGrange Town Court in Dutchess County informed the lawyer of the remarks…

Oct 12, 2007 1:22 PM CDT

Lawyer’s ‘Bombast’ Gets Verdict Tossed

Colorado lawyer Mark Brennan is firing back at a judge who ordered a new trial in an employment case because of “boorish and unprofessional” behavior by the lawyer. U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn of Denver recently overturned a $1.2 million jury verdict for Brennan’s client in an age discrimination case…

Oct 11, 2007 6:33 PM CDT

Judge Targeted for Refusing After-Hours Lethal Injection Appeal

Twenty lawyers have filed an ethics complaint against the presiding judge of Texas’ top criminal court contending she should have kept the court open past 5 p.m. to accept an emergency appeal on behalf of a death-row inmate scheduled to die later that day. The complaint against Presiding Judge Sharon…

Oct 11, 2007 4:42 PM CDT

Anti-Porn Lawyer Wins Round in Judge Dispute

An anti-porn crusading lawyer says he is no longer at risk of being referred to a court ad hoc grievance committee for attaching gay-sex photos to a court filing. Florida lawyer Jack Thompson says the judge vacated an order to show cause why he should not be referred to the…

Oct 10, 2007 6:42 PM CDT

GA Suspends Lawyer for Drug Conviction

A divided Georgia Supreme Court decided yesterday to suspend a 20-year practitioner for two years because of his guilty plea earlier this year to a charge of cocaine possession. Two justices wanted attorney John M.B. Lewis IV disbarred, reports the Augusta Chronicle (reg. req.). One of them, Justice Carol Hunstein,…

Oct 10, 2007 3:18 PM CDT

Four NJ Judges Investigated in Parking-Ticket Probe

The New Jersey attorney general is investigating whether four municipal court judges in Jersey City fixed parking tickets for friends and family. One of the judges under investigation is Wanda Molina, who was the chief judge until she resigned last month, the New York Times reports. Officials told the newspaper…

Oct 10, 2007 1:09 PM CDT

Qualcomm Laptop Becomes Focus in Sanctions Case

The focus is turning to a Qualcomm’s engineer’s laptop in court papers filed in advance of a Friday hearing on whether to sanction the company’s outside lawyers for discovery mistakes. During pretrial discovery, lawyers at Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder failed to search the laptop to learn whether engineer Viji…

Oct 10, 2007 12:54 PM CDT

Lawyer Likely to Turn Witness in Ex-Client’s Stock Fraud Trial

The ex-lawyer for a former dot-com billionaire is expected to testify against him in his stock-fraud trial. Lawyer Preston Burton is expected to testify about allegations that Charles “Junior” Johnson pushed him to introduce fake e-mails as evidence, the Washington Post reports. Prosecutors have added a charge of obstruction of…

Oct 10, 2007 11:52 AM CDT