Pennsylvania

Does Wrist Flick (Gavel Bang) and Finger Pointed to Ceiling (Higher Court) Count as Due Process?

A deaf-mute defendant facing trial in Pennsylvania after allegedly being caught ferrying a load of cocaine in his car from Las Vegas to Philadelphia area in October has tested the limits of constitutional due process in Montgomery County. The problem is, Juan Jose Gonzalez Luna, 42, not only can’t hear…

Jan 12, 2011 12:57 AM CST

Death of Female Partner Puts Cozen Firm in Center of Same-Sex Marriage Comity Case

The death of a female partner of Cozen O’Connor has put the law firm in the center of a dispute over a cutting-edge same-sex marriage issue—whether a marriage that is legal in one jurisdiction should be recognized as valid in another in which the parties would not have a right…

Jan 10, 2011 6:50 PM CST

Disbarred in Pa. and Del. (Where He Wasn’t Even Licensed), Young Attorney Is Merely Censured in NJ

An inexperienced attorney, licensed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, got into trouble by helping a Delaware accountant prepare estate documents, including wills for his clients. But he didn’t violate attorney ethics rules intentionally, a Delaware tribunal found. Nonetheless, Leonard Kingsley was disbarred both in Delaware—where he was never licensed to…

Jan 6, 2011 9:45 PM CST

Ex-Lawyer Gets Time in Tax Evasion Case

Previously prosecuted for tax evasion in 1993, a Pennsylvania attorney has now lost his law license and been sentenced to 12 months in federal prison the second time around. Tim Lucas, 63, had a mild form of bipolar disorder, only recently diagnosed, that sparked the spending sprees that got him…

Jan 6, 2011 9:08 PM CST

Arlen Specter Has New Gig as Adjunct Law Prof

Arlen Specter is moving from the U.S. Senate to the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Specter lost the primary election last spring, 13 months after switching to the Democratic Party. He had served on the Senate Judiciary Committee since 1981 and was its chairman from 2005 to 2007. Specter, a…

Jan 4, 2011 4:59 PM CST

Ex-Attorney, 62, Tells Judge He Can’t Live on Social Security, Needs to Move to Find Work

Convicted in 2006 of stealing more up to $1 million or more in client settlement money, a now-disbarred personal injury attorney tells a Pennsylvania judge he can’t survive on $1,700 a month in social security and needs to move to find work. Mark David Frankel, 62, says his home is…

Dec 30, 2010 2:25 PM CST

Lawyer Suspended for Giving ‘Certain Items of Value’ to Judge

A Pennsylvania lawyer who cooperated with federal authorities in a criminal case against a former state-court judge reportedly won’t face any criminal charges himself. But Harry Cardoni has been temporarily suspended from law practice by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court based on his admission that he provided “certain items of value”…

Dec 29, 2010 6:06 PM CST

Epstein Becker Miami Office to Close As Top Attorney Leads Lawyers & Staff to Duane Morris

Epstein Becker & Green will be closing its eight-year-old office in Miami after managing partner Michael Case led most of its attorneys and staff to Duane Morris. Casey says he couldn’t pass up the chance to establish a labor and employment practice for his new firm in Miami and he…

Dec 29, 2010 1:29 PM CST

Doc Film Helped Chevron Subpoena Plaintiffs’ US Legal Files in $113B Ecuador Enviro Case

A documentary film encouraged by the lead plaintiff’s lawyer in a $113 billion case concerning alleged damage to a South American rain forest apparently didn’t achieve the result attorney Steve Donziger anticipated. Lawyers for Chevron Corp. used the documentary, Crude, to persuade a federal judge in New York both to…

Dec 23, 2010 9:09 PM CST

Parking Garage Near Miss Turns Heated, Landlord Blocks Firm’s Access to Offices

A dispute between a law firm and its landlord that began with a near miss in a parking garage has landed in Pennsylvania court. The law firm is Harrisburg-based Schutjer Boga and its landlord is the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the Patriot-News reports. The chamber tried to block…

Dec 23, 2010 3:33 PM CST

2 Law Profs Win $5.2M Verdict in Defamation Case Over Pocket Part Authorship

A pay dispute with two law professors concerning their longtime annual updating of a criminal procedure treatise they authored has proven costly for West Publishing. After a four-day trial, a federal district court jury in Philadelphia last week awarded the two profs a total of nearly $5.2 million, reports the…

Dec 20, 2010 8:49 PM CST

Forget Marble Floors: Flat Fees Fill Ex-BigLaw Partner’s Client List at New IP Shop

A former partner of Drinker Biddle & Reath credits a flat-fee billing structure for her new intellectual property boutique’s rapid acquisition of clients and a solid book of business. Many of those she now represents followed Kathryn Doyle, who formerly headed Drinker Biddle’s life sciences practice, to her new shop,…

Dec 18, 2010 12:20 AM CST

Secretary in DA’s Office Accused of Obstructing Robbery Cases Targeting Her Grandson

A longtime secretary in a Pennsylvania district attorney’s office has been indicted on charges of perjury, false swearing and obstruction for allegedly interfering with the investigation of two robbery cases involving her grandson and providing information, including potential witness lists, to his defense counsel. Vera Caroll, 59, is also accused…

Dec 15, 2010 10:00 PM CST

Now at Trial, Law Profs Win Initial Round in Pocket Parts Suit: If Defamation Is Proved, It’s Per Se

Two longtime authors of the supplementary “pocket part” to a Pennsylvania criminal procedure treatise say they were shocked when they saw they were still listed as the authors of a “sham” new version in 2008, after refusing to revise it because of a pay dispute with West Publishing Co. The…

Dec 14, 2010 8:11 PM CST

Judge Rules ‘Attorney on a Gurney’ Is Competent for Trial

A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that a lawyer rolled into a competency hearing on a gurney last month is competent to stand trial. Judge Steve Leskinen ruled last week after hearing testimony that the lawyer, Mark Morrison of Hopwood, Pa., could be faking his mental problems, according to the Associated…

Dec 14, 2010 3:53 PM CST