Pennsylvania

Raised Eyebrows in Pa. as Judge, Judge-Elect Hire Wives as Secretaries

A judge and judge-elect in Montgomery County, Pa., have created a stir, but haven’t broken any nepotism rules by hiring their wives to serve as their secretaries. The positions pay $52,721 a year. According to a Philadelphia Inquirer story on the hiring, Judge-elect Gary Silow hired his wife to start…

Dec 11, 2009 11:22 AM CST

2 Lawyers Among 5 Charged in Alleged $14.6M Mortgage Scheme

Two partners in a Pennsylvania law firm have been federally indicted along with three other defendants including two mortgage company owners in a wide-ranging alleged real estate fraud scheme. Jeffrey Bennett and Stephen Doherty of Doylestown-based Bennett & Doherty are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and…

Dec 8, 2009 8:56 PM CST

Judge Says Hausfeld and His Former Firm Both Violated Settlement

A federal magistrate judge in Philadelphia says lawyer Michael Hausfeld and his former law firm both violated an agreement on the distribution of class-action attorney fees and the return of capital contributions. U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Rice refused to award attorney fees in the litigation over the settlement to either…

Dec 4, 2009 2:54 PM CST

Fired Prosecutor Sues, Claims Ex-US Atty. Humiliated Him Over Sleepiness

A former assistant U.S. attorney claims in a federal lawsuit that he was banished to a job writing immigration briefs and then fired in retaliation for filing a discrimination complaint. The former prosecutor, Paul Mansfield, claims he was humiliated and marginalized while suffering from sleep apnea and taking heart medications,…

Dec 3, 2009 12:37 PM CST

Malingering Juror With ‘Swine Flu’ Sentenced to 3 Days Watching Trials

A juror in a medical malpractice case in suburban Philadelphia over the summer apparently hesitated to ask for time off because he was feeling ill. So instead Anthony DiCicco said he had just been diagnosed with the swine flu, causing a mistrial and creating worry among fellow jurors who thought…

Nov 19, 2009 11:47 PM CST

Indicted Pa. Jurists Now a Case for Reduced Judicial Immunity

Since 1872, the U.S. Supreme Court has held the line on judicial immunity, essentially ruling that jurists should be protected from civil litigation over their decisions on the bench no matter how wrong they might be. But a pair of former Pennsylvania judges facing federal corruption charges in the so-called…

Nov 12, 2009 9:00 PM CST

Powell Law Firm Dropped as Defendant in Kids-for-Cash Case

The law firm of Robert J. Powell has been dropped as a defendant in a federal tort claim brought over the so-called kids-for-cash case involving $770,000 in kickbacks admittedly paid by Powell to two former judges in Luzerne County, Pa. In exchange, the two judges, Mark Ciavarella Jr. and Michael…

Nov 9, 2009 7:46 PM CST

Troubled Pa. Court Asks Lawyers to Volunteer to Reduce Trial Backlog

Faced with a shortage of two judges, in the wake of misconduct charges, and a backlog of 1,382 cases that are supposed to be tried by January, a Pennsylvania court is calling for seasoned practitioners to volunteer as special trial masters. With the parties’ permission, they can oversee jury trials,…

Nov 7, 2009 12:15 AM CST

Top Pa. Court Axes $3.5M Libel Verdict Due to ‘Judicial Impropriety’

Because of questionable conduct of the Luzerne County judges who oversaw the case, a Pennsylvania newspaper must get a new trial in a defamation lawsuit that resulted in a $3.5 million bench verdict in 2006, the state’s top court ruled today. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court did not find that lawyers…

Nov 5, 2009 12:38 AM CST

Law Firm Partner Loses Lawsuit Over Pay & Alleged Strip Club Outings

A federal judge has dismissed a suit filed by a female partner of a Pennsylvania law firm over alleged pay discrimination and sexually explicit work-related activities. U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab ruled that plaintiff Alyson Kirleis, a 46-year-old partner of Dickie McCamey & Chilcote, can’t continue with her 2006 action…

Nov 3, 2009 7:45 PM CST

Top Pa. Court Vacates 6,000+ Juvenile Rulings By Ex-Luzerne County Judge

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court today issued an order vacating all juvenile rulings between 2003 and 2008 by former Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella. The order, which bars retrial of all but a tiny fraction of the rulings, is expected to affect up to 6,500 cases, reports the On Deadline…

Oct 29, 2009 11:32 PM CDT

Jury Awards Punitives in Hormone Case Against Wyeth, But Amount Is Sealed

A Philadelphia jury awarded punitive damages yesterday in Connie Barton’s case over the Prempro hormone replacement therapy marketed by Wyeth. But the amount of the award won’t be known for at least a month, because a judge in the Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court case agreed that the amount would be…

Oct 27, 2009 6:31 PM CDT

Federal Judge Still Working at 95

Senior U.S. District Judge Malcolm Muir of the Middle District of Pennsylvania turned 95 last week and is still on the job. One of Muir’s earlier memories is the end of World War I, an occasion he remembers because church bells and sirens commemorated the victory, the Williamsport, Pa., Sun…

Oct 26, 2009 6:47 PM CDT

Paralegal Fights Search of His Home Over Tweets About Police Activities

While at least arguably participating in the protests of the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh in September, Elliott Madison was arrested and spent some time in a local jail. But that wasn’t the worst of it. On Oct. 1, federal authorities raided his home in the Queens borough of New York…

Oct 26, 2009 5:13 PM CDT

Pa. Jail Taped Inmate Calls to Counsel, Sent Some to Feds, Lawyer Says

Adding another jurisdiction to those in which defense lawyers have previously accused officials of improperly recording inmate phone calls to their legal counsel, Federal Public Defender Lisa Freeland says in an e-mail this week to the Allegheny County defense bar that this has been happening at their local jail, too.…

Oct 23, 2009 10:14 PM CDT