Louisiana

Helping Corp Sell Stock in Electricity Device Made From Used Swing Set Put Ex-GC on SEC Hot Seat

The former general counsel of a Florida energy company has had his privileges to practice before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suspended after he reportedly helped his company sell unregistered stock in an untested device that “harvested wind” to create electricity. It had been made from a swing set…

Nov 3, 2011 9:41 PM CDT

Public Defender Loses Lawsuit Over His Courtroom Scuffle with Deputies

A Louisiana criminal defense lawyer with a reputation for being feisty and abrasive has lost a federal civil rights lawsuit he filed over a December 2009 scuffle with deputies in a Orleans Parish Criminal District courtroom. Ruling yesterday after a one-day bench trial in August, U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance…

Oct 20, 2011 7:00 PM CDT

Judges Probed for Buying Insurance with Expense Fund; La. AG Unsure If It’s a Crime

Criminal court judges in New Orleans are under investigation for their use of an account funded with fees paid by criminal defendants. Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell is investigating whether is was a crime for the judges in Orleans Parish to use the money to buy supplemental health and life…

Oct 19, 2011 11:30 AM CDT

Last-Minute Call re EEOC Matter Results in New Litigation Battle for Employment Lawyer

When a would-be client called James L. Arruebarrena as a mediation conference was about to occur in her federal employment discrimination administrative complaint, the New Orleans employment practitioner says he leapt into action. Although he couldn’t attend the conference personally, which was being held in Texas, on such short notice,…

Oct 3, 2011 7:24 PM CDT

Tulane 1L Served 12 Years in Prison for Second-Degree Murder of College Prof

First-year Tulane law student Bruce Reilly has worked as a community activist and organizer, written plays and authored a blog. But he’s getting attention for his criminal past. Reilly, 38, served 12 years in prison in Rhode Island after pleading no contest to the second-degree murder and robbery of community…

Sep 16, 2011 12:59 PM CDT

Feds Blame BP Shortcuts for Gulf Oil Spill in New Report Released Today

Reaching conclusions similar to those of earlier investigators, in the most comprehensive report to date on the cause of disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill that began on April 20, 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon blew up in a fiery explosion, a joint task force today blames BP and two…

Sep 14, 2011 9:00 PM CDT

Law Firm Sues Harvard Law Grad Ex-Intern Over Article About Her Capital Murder Defense Work There

When a Harvard Law School student worked at Louisiana Capital Assistance Center as a summer intern in 2003, she presumably expected to practice law. But now she is pursuing a career as a writer instead, and has made one of the nonprofit law firm’s clients a focus of a “creative…

Aug 29, 2011 11:44 PM CDT

Nearly 5 Years Later, Most or All of Jena 6 in College; Victim Is Working and Moving On with Life

Six young black men who faced potential hefty prison sentences five years ago, as high school students, in a controversial case that led to civil rights protests and substantially reduced charges are now doing well. At least five of the so-called Jena 6 are in college, according to the Associated…

Aug 25, 2011 10:21 PM CDT

‘Casket Cartel’ Asks 5th Circuit to OK Statute Barring Benedictine Monks’ Cottage Coffin Industry

A group of Benedictine monks’ victory in a case over their cottage coffin-making industry was short-lived. After a federal judge last month struck down a Louisiana state law requiring those who sell caskets to be licensed funeral directors, the so-called casket cartel has asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of…

Aug 17, 2011 8:08 PM CDT

Benedictine Monks Win ‘Casket Cartel’ Case, Have Constitutional Right to Sell Coffins

Finding that there was no legitimate basis for a Louisiana law that makes it a crime for companies not licensed as funeral directors to sell caskets, a federal judge has struck the statute down. The Benedictine monks of St. Joseph Abbey in St. Tammany Parish make and sell simple wooden…

Jul 21, 2011 8:24 PM CDT

Warrant Issued for Ex-Prosecutor Who Was a No-Show at His Own Client-Theft Trial

An arrest warrant has been issued for a former Louisiana prosecutor who was a no-show both Monday and Tuesday at his scheduled trial on charges of client theft. Stephen Callahan, 51, allegedly took money from four women while subsequently working as a private practitioner but then did not perform promised…

Jul 13, 2011 6:41 PM CDT

Gay Couple Seeking La. Birth Certificate for Their Adopted Son Files Cert Petition

A gay couple is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a Louisiana registrar’s decision that prevented them from being listed as the parents on the birth certificate of a Louisiana boy they adopted in New York. The Louisiana registrar had refused to issue an amended birth certificate, citing the…

Jul 13, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

What Did Katrina Teach Us?

Lawyers say they’ve learned from New Orleans and they’re ready for the next disaster. Lawyers who were there say maybe not.

Jul 1, 2011 9:49 AM CDT

After 20 Years in Practice, Ohio Lawyer Starts New Gig as Louisiana College Athletics Director

Darrell Payne has no background in athletics administration. But the 20-year Cincinnati legal practitioner was a college basketball star player and has worked as a sports agent, the Town Talk reported. And also to thank for his new appointment as the athletics director at Louisiana College are his personal qualities.…

Jun 23, 2011 7:29 PM CDT

Court Gives Green Light to Stephen Baldwin Suit Against Kevin Costner Over Oil Spill Cleanup Machine

In happier days, actor Kevin Costner was winning acclaim for his reported efforts, with the help of a trial attorney, to develop a vaccum-cleaner-like machine to clean up oil spills threatening to do serious environmental damage. But news that BP was putting over $50 million into the project after the…

Jun 7, 2011 8:34 PM CDT