Personal Lives

Threats—and Response—Irk Law Students at U of Washington

Graffiti and telephone threats have prompted the University of Washington to post a full-time guard at the William H. Gates law school building and require students and faculty to show Husky student identification to enter. But in the wake of the student shooting massacre at Virginia Tech earlier this year,…

Nov 7, 2007 12:16 AM CST

25 Percent of Pakistan’s Lawyers Arrested; Fired Top Judge Urges Defiance

Under house arrest but having somehow gained access to a cell phone, the ousted chief judge of the Pakistan supreme court urged the country’s lawyers today to continue to defy a state of emergency imposed by Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, on Saturday. “The lawyers should convey my message to…

Nov 6, 2007 4:28 PM CST

Nice Work: DOJ Lawyer’s Alleged Beach Gig

As a hearing loomed in a voting rights case against the city of Boston last summer, Susana Lorenzo-Giguere, a lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice, came up from Washington, D.C., to oversee it personally. But then she allegedly spent much of the summer with her family on the beach…

Nov 5, 2007 11:51 PM CST

Pakistan Fires Top Court, Lawyers Protest There and Elsewhere

The protesters wore conservative business suits today as thousands of lawyers throughout Pakistan clashed with authorities over the suspension of the constitution and the firing of the country’s chief judge, along with numerous other supreme court and appellate judges. Many of the 17 supreme court judges, including fired Chief Judge…

Nov 5, 2007 10:07 PM CST

Pakistan Fires Chief Justice, Arrests Attorneys

Updated: Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, invoked emergency powers on Saturday, suspending the country’s constitution and firing the chief justice of its supreme court, who reportedly is under virtual house arrest. Numerous lawyers who protested the move were arrested, and some were also reportedly beaten and sprayed with tear gas…

Nov 5, 2007 9:34 AM CST

What Associates Want (It Isn’t Partnership)

What associates want varies, so it can be difficult to pinpoint all of their concerns. But, by overlooking the issues they consider important, law firms are losing out on opportunities to increase associate satisfaction and retain valued attorneys, a legal consultant says. For starters, law firm administrators need to realize…

Nov 2, 2007 9:20 PM CDT

Law License Spat: Has Ex-Judge Reformed?

Removed from the bench and eventually disbarred a decade ago for misbehavior that included what a court described as “offensive, harassing and vindictive” conduct, former Nassau County Judge Marc Mogil now wants his law license back. However, the subject of a five-year harassment campaign by the then-judge is actively contesting…

Nov 2, 2007 6:31 PM CDT

Legal Reality TV: Too Boring to Broadcast

Legal TV, a two-year-old station in the U.K., is finding the job of programming for attorneys tough going. The station has recently cancelled two “legal reality” programs. The first, which involved sending a camera crew with a lawyer to film his or her daily work, was too boring to broadcast,…

Nov 2, 2007 4:29 PM CDT

Real-Life Prosecutor Comments on Movie Portrayal

A film to be released this Friday called American Gangster features Denzel Washington as a drug kingpin and Russell Crowe as the prosecutor who put him behind bars. In real life, the people they portray are convicted drug dealer Frank Lucas and former Essex County, N.Y., prosecutor Richard Roberts, the…

Nov 1, 2007 3:45 PM CDT

Partner Sentenced in Car Vandalism Case

After over-imbibing at his mother’s 80th birthday party, a senior partner at a well-known Scottish real estate law firm went a bit wild. However, solicitor Paul Hutcheson, 43, has taken steps to make restitution to the owners of 11 cars parked outside the golf club at which the party was…

Oct 31, 2007 6:46 PM CDT

A Heartwarming Halloween for Toronto Lawyer

A 77-year-old semiretired Toronto lawyer thought he wouldn’t be able to put together his usual Halloween outdoor decorating extravaganza after he and his wife both suffered broken bones in accidents. Carl and Lila Orbach had spent hundreds of hours decorating their yard for Halloween for the last dozen years. But…

Oct 31, 2007 2:52 PM CDT

PI Lawyer’s $28K Monthly Child Support Reinstated

Florida plaintiffs attorney Willie Gary has lost an appeal that sought to cut the $28,000 in monthly child support payments he must make to support his twins. The Georgia Court of Appeals vacated a judge’s decision to reduce the amount to $5,000 a month, according to the Fulton County Daily…

Oct 31, 2007 12:56 PM CDT

Cost to Keep Ex in Health Plan: Law License

Misrepresenting himself as still married to his ex-wife for six years, so that she could continue to be covered under his health insurance, has cost a former New York state government lawyer his job and a two-year suspension from practice. Carmine Clemente, 64, also agreed under a plea deal in…

Oct 31, 2007 1:00 AM CDT

Guilty Lawyer Still Blames His Murder Victim

In his first public comment after being sentenced to 12 years in prison for breaking into a neighbor’s home and stabbing him to death, a 30-year-old Connecticut lawyer says he still believes his wife’s accusation that the victim molested their young daughter. However, police say there is no evidence this…

Oct 29, 2007 11:35 PM CDT

‘Prozac Nation’ Author Soon to Be a Yale Law Grad

An author who wrote about her own struggle with addiction, depression and self-mutilation is weighing whether to accept a job offer from WilmerHale when she graduates from Yale Law School this January. The famous grad is Elizabeth Wurtzel, who wrote the books Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America; Bitch:…

Oct 29, 2007 10:28 AM CDT