Michigan

Retired Judge to be Tried for Perjury, Admits Letting Witness Lie to Protect Paid Informant

A retired Michigan judge has been ordered to stand trial along with two Detroit-area police officers and Wayne County’s former chief drug prosecutor, who has also retired, for allegedly encouraging witness lies in a 2005 trial in a major cocaine case. Allegedly told by the prosecutor, Karen Plants, that false…

Oct 13, 2010 7:57 PM CDT

Judge Upholds Health Insurance Mandate; Case Is ‘Set Up Nicely’ for Appeal

A federal judge in Michigan has upheld the health insurance mandate in the new health care law in a challenge brought by the Thomas More Law Center. The ruling by Judge George Caram Steeh of Detroit is the first to reject a challenge to the law on the merits, rather…

Oct 8, 2010 12:59 PM CDT

Asst. AG On Leave After Blog Tirades Against ‘Radical Homosexual’ Student Leader

Updated: A report in the Detroit News this morning said Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox had reversed course and decided to suspend a lawyer in his office who attacked a student leader as a “radical homosexual activist” in his blog. The newspaper has now published a revised story that says…

Oct 1, 2010 11:36 AM CDT

Taking Their Pains to the Clinic

Legislators punish law school clinics for suing community businesses

Oct 1, 2010 7:50 AM CDT

Prosecutors Drop Charges in Death of Michigan Lawyer

Prosecutors have dropped a second-degree murder charge against the wife of Michigan lawyer Lloyd Johnson after an autopsy indicated that an unhealed wound from an old boating injury contributed to his death. The autopsy also attributed Johnson’s death to other ills, including diabetes, heart problems and obesity, the Detroit Free…

Sep 30, 2010 3:55 PM CDT

Assistant AG Defends Blog Tirades Against ‘Radical Homosexual’ Student Leader

An assistant attorney general in Michigan is asserting his First Amendment right to criticize an openly gay student leader in blog tirades, despite misgivings by his boss. Appearing on CNN’s AC 360, assistant attorney general Andrew Shirvell said he has a constitutional right to criticize the University of Michigan student…

Sep 29, 2010 3:48 PM CDT

Lawyer Asks Public to Come Forward with Info About Her Missing Husband, a Bank CEO

On Monday, attorney Anne Widlak expected her husband of six years to give her a 4 a.m. wake-up call, as she was out of town on a business trip. But it never came and later that day she heard from someone at the Macomb County sheriff’s office, wanting to know…

Sep 23, 2010 11:16 PM CDT

Court Reporter Tossed in Jail for Missing Transcript Deadlines, Fleeing Courthouse

A court reporter in Detroit is serving a 30-day contempt sentence based on accusations she repeatedly missed deadlines to produce a transcript and then left the courthouse when she was ordered to do the work. The Detroit Free Press has the story. “Paulette Martin, an official reporter for Detroit’s 36th…

Sep 23, 2010 5:01 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge Cites ‘Insubordination,’ Says Cooley Had Right to Fire Tenured Law Prof

A law school had a right to fire a tenured faculty member for “insubordination,” a federal judge has ruled, in a decision that the plaintiff’s lawyer contends should send shock waves through the nation’s law professor ranks. Lynn Branham had argued that she was improperly fired, without a hearing, after…

Sep 14, 2010 12:24 AM CDT

Lawyer Who Represented Ex-Mayor of Detroit to Get 179-Day Law License Suspension

In the latest penalty assessed in an ongoing series attorney discipline cases resulting from a controversial secret settlement in a Detroit police whistleblower case, the lawyer who represented then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was given a 179-day license suspension today by the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board. However, such penalties are normally stayed…

Sep 10, 2010 9:31 PM CDT

Mich. AG Questions Timing of Lap Dance Allegation

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox is questioning the timing of an affidavit that claims he received a lap dance at a party at the mayor’s mansion. Cox is campaigning for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and he says he wasn’t at any party, and has never even been to the mansion,…

Jul 29, 2010 12:32 PM CDT

Ex-Detroit Mayor Pleads Poverty, Gets PD, in New Federal Tax Fraud Case

Accused in the past of living too lavish a lifestyle, an ex-lawyer and ex-mayor of Detroit has now apparently run out of money. Appearing today in jailhouse orange and shackles at his Detroit arraignment on 19 federal tax and fraud charges, Kwame Kilpatrick, 40, pleaded not guilty, claimed poverty and…

Jul 13, 2010 7:19 PM CDT

Rude Law School Applicants Beware: You Are Not That Anonymous

Rude callers to the admissions office at the University of Michigan Law School are now forewarned: The school has your number—literally. The warning was posted on the school’s blog A²Z by Sarah Zearfoss, the assistant dean and director of admissions. “I have some bad news for the recent spate of…

Jul 7, 2010 2:39 PM CDT

Cancer-Stricken Walmart Worker Sues over Firing for Medical Pot Use

A Walmart employee who has an inoperable brain tumor and sinus cancer alleges in a lawsuit that the retailer violated Michigan law when it fired him for using medical marijuana. Joseph Casias says he was fired from the Battle Creek store even though he had registered with the state as…

Jun 30, 2010 4:51 PM CDT

Judge Tosses Suit by Detroit City Lawyer Ousted over ‘Ghetto Court’ Remark

The former top lawyer for the city of Detroit plans to appeal a judge’s ruling throwing out her suit that claims she was forced to resign because of a “ghetto court” remark. U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow said the remark by former interim corporation counsel Kathleen Leavey was not protected…

Jun 29, 2010 10:29 AM CDT