Ethics

Paris Hilton Prosecutor on Hot Seat Now

It isn’t just Paris Hilton who’s recently learned that the media spotlight can cast an unwelcome light on personal failings. Now the prosecutor in her case is taking his turn in the unpleasant glare. Rocky Delgadillo was tough on crime when he was attacking the two-tiered justice system that allegedly…

Jun 25, 2007 9:06 PM CDT

Disbarment Unusual for Prosecutors

Michael Nifong sought the limelight when he charged three Duke lacrosse players with rape. All that attention may be a reason an ethics body gave him an unusually harsh penalty for misconduct in the case. Discipline is “light or nonexistent” for prosecutors who fail to disclose evidence, even in death…

Jun 25, 2007 2:25 PM CDT

Lawyer Makes Amends for ‘French Fries’ Remark

The lawyer who told a bankruptcy judge she was “a few french fries short of a Happy Meal” has been ordered to take an online professionalism course. Chicago lawyer William P. Smith voluntarily stepped down as head of the bankruptcy practice at McDermott Will & Emery after making the remark,…

Jun 21, 2007 1:07 PM CDT

Fee Suit Scores Own Goal: $7 M to Client

It’s a common belief among attorneys that suing a client over unpaid fees is a dangerous practice, and a recent decision by a New York jury shows why. Filing suit to collect unpaid legal fees from a client partnership cost a now-defunct New York law firm a $7 million judgment,…

Jun 20, 2007 9:48 PM CDT

State Farm Seeks Trial Lawyer’s Ouster

State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. maintains high-profile trial lawyer Richard Scruggs violated ethics rules and should be removed from at least one case seeking coverage for homeowners’ Hurricane Katrina claims. In a filing yesterday with the federal court in Gulfport, Miss., the insurer says Scruggs relied on stolen documents…

Jun 20, 2007 6:41 PM CDT

$1.25 M Sanction for Law Firms, Client in WTC Insurance Coverage Case

Trying to conceal an insurer’s agreement to provide coverage for the World Trade Center before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is costing two law firms and a client insurance company a cool $1.25 million. A federal judge yesterday sanctioned the firms, Wiley Rein and Coughlin Duffy, and their client,…

Jun 19, 2007 9:42 PM CDT

Judge: Duke Rape DA Must Go Now

After working for almost 30 years in the Durham County, N.C., District Attorney’s office, disbarred DA Mike Nifong thought he could take one more month to wind up his work there. But a local judge disagreed. Nifong, who was disbarred Saturday due to the way he handled the rape prosecution…

Jun 19, 2007 9:03 PM CDT

Plaintiff is Top Judge; Who Hears Appeal?

It’s a basic premise of constitutional law that litigants are entitled to a fair trial. Thus, when a judge is even peripherally involved in a lawsuit, he or she routinely steps aside and lets another jurist hear the case. But what happens when all the judges in the system are…

Jun 19, 2007 12:05 AM CDT

Duke Settles With Players in Rape Case

The fallout continues over three former Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of rape. A settlement agreement, in an undisclosed amount, was announced Monday by Duke University concerning its treatment of three former men’s lacrosse team members. Meanwhile, litigation is likely and there could even be criminal sanctions against the…

Jun 18, 2007 10:32 PM CDT

Judge: Phil Spector’s Lawyer in Contempt

After a month of behind-the-scenes negotiations not heard by the jury in the ongoing Phil Spector murder trial, the judge indicated today that he plans to hold a defense lawyer in contempt. Because Sara Caplan refuses to testify before the jury about seeing a famous criminalist pick up a small…

Jun 18, 2007 9:35 PM CDT

Duke Lacrosse Prosecutor Disbarred

The Durham, N.C., prosecutor who came under intense fire for his rape prosecution of three former Duke University lacrosse players was disbarred today after a state ethics panel found he violated numerous professional conduct rules. Mike Nifong tearfully testified during disciplinary proceedings on Friday that he intended to resign no…

Jun 17, 2007 12:19 AM CDT

Judge: Scruggs in Criminal Contempt

A federal judge in Alabama is asking the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute a high-profile trial lawyer for criminal contempt, contending that Richard Scruggs brazenly violated a court injunction by sharing documents concerning Hurricane Katrina-related insurance claims with the Mississippi attorney general. In an order, Dist. Judge William Acker asks…

Jun 16, 2007 1:16 AM CDT

Duke Lacrosse Rape Case DA to Resign

Regardless of what happens at his ongoing trial for allegedly violating attorney ethics rules, the Durham, N.C., district attorney who prosecuted the rape case against three former Duke University lacrosse team members says he is going to resign from office. “It is my intention,” testified a teary-eyed Mike Nifong today,…

Jun 15, 2007 9:54 PM CDT

Lawyers Charged in Fen-Phen Case

A federal grand jury has indicted three Kentucky attorneys on charges they defrauded clients out of $65 million in settlement money. Shirley Cunningham, Melbourne Mills Jr. and William Gallion of Lexington, Ky., were indicted yesterday on a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the Courier-Journal reports. They are accused…

Jun 15, 2007 7:58 PM CDT

Lawyer Suspended for Client Loans

A prominent personal injury lawyer has been suspended for loaning money to his clients through intermediaries. A New York appeals court ordered an 18-month suspension for James J. Moran of Moran & Kufta in Rochester, N.Y., the New York Law Journal reports. The court ruled the loans circumvented lawyer disciplinary…

Jun 15, 2007 1:24 PM CDT