States

Judge Calls for End to Lawyers’ Obfuscation, Suit’s ‘Madness’

A federal judge in New York has called for an end to the “madness” caused by lawyers arguing over a contract to buy shares in a marketing company that installs supermarket kiosks. U.S. District Judge William Pauley III ruled that a Hong Kong investment company breached a contract to buy…

Jan 28, 2008 2:52 PM CST

Burglar Breaks in to Tennessee Supreme Court

A burglar who broke into the basement of the Tennessee Supreme Court stole an employee’s debit card but apparently took no court files or computers. The burglar also overturned a video security monitor, damaged an X-ray machine and stole the video recorder from the security system, the Jackson Sun reports.…

Jan 28, 2008 2:14 PM CST

Lawyer Misses Client’s Murder Trial, Says He’s on Sabbatical

A Las Vegas personal injury lawyer known for his colorful commercials failed to show up last week to defend a client accused of murder, telling a prosecutor he was on sabbatical out of state. Glen Lerner left a voice mail with a county prosecutor saying he wouldn’t return to defend…

Jan 28, 2008 1:56 PM CST

Celebrity Witnesses Could Appear in Wesley Snipes Trial

The defense will begin to present its case this week in the trial of actor Wesley Snipes, accused of tax fraud, conspiracy and failure to file tax returns. The witness list includes some celebrities. On the star-studded list of potential witnesses are Sylvester Stallone, Muhammad Ali, Spike Lee and Tom…

Jan 28, 2008 1:29 PM CST

Dallas DA Hires Defense Lawyer to Help Free Wrongly Convicted

The district attorney of Dallas County, the first African-American to be elected prosecutor in Texas, is focusing on freeing the wrongly convicted. D.A. Craig Watkins is only a year into the job, but he is already changing the culture of an office that had a national reputation for playing hardball,…

Jan 28, 2008 1:14 PM CST

Negative Vytorin Study Prompts Lawsuits

Reports that Vytorin is no more effective than generic drugs in battling cholesterol have already generated lawsuits. The suits claim drug makers Merck & Co. Inc. and Schering-Plough Corp. delayed release of the negative study while touting the drug’s benefits, the National Law Journal reports. Lawyer Steve Berman of Seattle…

Jan 28, 2008 12:28 PM CST

No Discipline Case for Judge Facing Environmental Charges

As his lawyer proclaimed the innocence of a longtime Maryland judge charged in a criminal environmental dumping case, bar authorities said there is no immediate plan to pursue disciplinary charges against Baltimore District Judge Askew Gatewood Jr. Attorney John Dougherty says that Gatewood is innocent of the charges against him,…

Jan 26, 2008 12:38 AM CST

Facing Prison, Prominent Fla. Lawyer Still Has Many Friends

Disbarred and facing a prison sentence, a once-prominent member of Palm Beach County’s political structure still had a significant team of well-wishers in his corner as he was sentenced today to a two-year federal prison term in a corruption case . William Boose III, 63, kissed his former law partner,…

Jan 25, 2008 11:00 PM CST

Reading Men’s Magazine in Court Costs Attorney $300

A North Carolina judge held an attorney in contempt this week after spotting him reading a copy of Maxim that featured a scantily clad Heidi Montag (headlined as “The Hills’ Hottest Bad Girl”) on the cover. Although attorney Todd Paris protested that the men’s magazine is not pornography and that…

Jan 25, 2008 6:57 PM CST

N.Y. Judge Lost Election Case, But Won Sympathy for Her Cause

The New York judge who mounted an unsuccessful challenge to the state’s method of selecting judges wasn’t optimistic about its chances. “I wasn’t happy when the U.S. Supreme Court took the case, and after sitting through the oral arguments in October, I didn’t have the feeling that we were going…

Jan 25, 2008 6:47 PM CST

Judge Requires Report on Destruction of Interrogation Tapes

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the Bush administration to issue a written report explaining why videotapes of harsh interrogations of two terrorism suspects were destroyed. U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts said yesterday the report should disclose whether other evidence was also destroyed in violation of his order…

Jan 25, 2008 6:26 PM CST

Heartless Jailhouse Call Rings Up Maximum Prison Term

A twice-convicted drunken driver got the maximum prison term for her latest offense—a little over 10 years—after a jailhouse phone call in which she laughed about driving into and killing a bicyclist while intoxicated was played at her sentencing hearing in Arizona. Characterizing the conversation as “breathtaking in its inhumanity,”…

Jan 25, 2008 6:03 PM CST

Lawyer for ex-N.Y. Police Chief Kerik Disqualified From Case

A judge has barred lawyer Kenneth Breen from representing former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik because of a conflict of interest. U.S. District Judge Stephen Robinson of White Plains, N.Y., said the conflict is “so severe that no remedial measure will cure it,” the New York Times reports.…

Jan 25, 2008 4:42 PM CST

Texas Bar Awards Three $2,500 Prizes in 10-Entry Video Contest

The odds of winning the State Bar of Texas’ YouTube video contest were fairly good. The bar got 10 entries and awarded three prizes of $2,500 each. The bar required the videos to be less than three minutes in length, on the topic of the importance and value of the…

Jan 25, 2008 4:14 PM CST

Suit Claims Dannon Overstates Yogurt Health Benefits

A proposed class action lawsuit contends that Dannon overstates the health value of its Activia and DanActive yogurts. The suit filed in Los Angeles federal court says Dannon’s own studies contradict its ad claims that the yogurts’ probiotics have been clinically proven to regulate digestion and improve the immune system,…

Jan 25, 2008 3:26 PM CST