States

Scruggs Stays on State Farm Case

A federal judge has refused to disqualify lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs from representing dozens of Mississippi homeowners suing State Farm for denying Hurricane Katrina claims. U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. said State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. waited too long to file a motion seeking Scruggs’ ouster, the Associated…

Sep 14, 2007 4:10 PM CDT

OJ Simpson to AP: No Guns Involved

Updated: Former football superstar O.J. Simpson is considered a suspect in a possible armed robbery involving sports memorabilia taken from a hotel room in a Las Vegas casino, according to news reports. But Simpson, in an interview today, insists that no crime occurred and says there were no guns involved,…

Sep 14, 2007 4:03 PM CDT

Lawyer Cruises From Main Drag to UN

President Bush has chosen a lawyer from Southfield, Mich., to be an alternate delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. Rodger Young resigned from his firm, Young & Susser, to take the position, but will return as managing partner in early 2008, Crain’s Detroit Business reports. Young, a native of…

Sep 14, 2007 3:23 PM CDT

Foreclosure Sale Nixed Over 142 Stinky Pets

A New Jersey judge has allowed the winning bidder in a foreclosure auction to cancel the deal because of 142 foul-smelling pets, both dead and alive, found on the property. Bergen County Judge Peter Doyne allowed the buyer to rescind the $2.6 million purchase under a 70-year-precedent that allows foreclosures…

Sep 14, 2007 2:32 PM CDT

Judge Slashes Fees Using Contingency Standard

A federal judge has rejected an attorney’s fee request that would have consumed nearly two-thirds of a $100,000 settlement for a man wrongly accused in a drug case. Judge David Hurd of Utica, N.Y., slashed fees from $63,000 to $29,000, the New York Law Journal reports. The lawyer and his…

Sep 14, 2007 1:21 PM CDT

Qualcomm Drops Day Casebeer—Again

The fallout over a finding that Qualcomm Inc. and its attorneys committed “aggravated litigation abuse” continues. Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder represented Qualcomm in two cases. One is a patent dispute with Broadcom that led to the abuse finding and a request for sanctions. The second is a patent dispute…

Sep 14, 2007 12:07 PM CDT

Threat to Sue Ethics Grievant Held Improper

A lawyer’s strongly worded letter to a client who filed an ethics grievance against him has resulted in a recommendation for a reprimand. The New Jersey Disciplinary Review Board says Harry Levin of Levin & Cyphers in Toms River, N.J., violated ethics rules requiring courtesy to participants in the justice…

Sep 14, 2007 11:46 AM CDT

Armed Cop Assailant Killed

Updated: After a massive hunt, police shot and killed a man suspected of killing one Miami-Dade cop and wounding three others with a high-powered rifle. Shawn Sherwin LaBeet was armed and wearing body armor when police surrounded him at a pool in a Miami condo complex and shot him dead,…

Sep 14, 2007 10:35 AM CDT

‘Justice’ Mule Mascot Found ... In Pieces

There is a sad ending to the story of “Justice,” a life-size fiberglass mule holding the scales of justice dangling from its mouth that has served as a mascot to a Scranton, Pa., law firm for the last four years. Stolen over the weekend from the front porch of Scartelli,…

Sep 14, 2007 2:11 AM CDT

Chemerinsky Controversy Heats Up

Outrage over a decision by the University of California’s newest law school to hire as dean—and then fire, before he ever took office—a prominent academic it now reportedly deems too liberal is seemingly at white heat. However, easy to miss in this firestorm is a claim that this isn’t what…

Sep 14, 2007 12:24 AM CDT

Street Legal Lawyers Look for Adventure

The deep aggressive roar of a Harley engine generally isn’t the first association that comes to mind concerning an attorney. But it’s a familiar sound to the founding members of the western Wisconsin chapter of Street Legal, a motorcycle club for attorneys and other legal professionals, writes the Pierce County…

Sep 13, 2007 11:08 PM CDT

Did Power of Attorney OK $180K Gift?

A power of attorney authorized its holder to give herself $180,000, a defense attorney contended yesterday in a fraud trial over money allegedly stolen from an elderly woman. Because a clause in the document authorized Cheri Drick to spend money on gifts, including gifts to herself, it was legal for…

Sep 13, 2007 10:43 PM CDT

$350K Legal Bill in Closed-Meetings Case

A town in Washington state has racked up $340,000 in legal fees to defend litigation over allegedly illegal closed-door meetings of the municipal council. And that amount could rise by another $250,000 if the plaintiffs win their case against four current and former members of the Shoreline City Council, and…

Sep 13, 2007 9:15 PM CDT

Law Profs Back Embattled Ave Maria Faculty

Updated: A continuing faculty controversy at Ave Maria School of Law that has become focused, in part, on a planned campus move from Michigan to Florida is heating up. Faculty say they have been treated outrageously by the current administration, and Christian legal academics are rallying in their support. In…

Sep 13, 2007 7:05 PM CDT

NY to Rewrite Calorie-Posting Rule

New York’s health department will go back to the drawing board to craft a regulation able to withstand judicial scrutiny that will require restaurants to post calorie counts. At the same time the city is considering an appeal of a federal judge’s ruling on Tuesday that the regulation conflicted with…

Sep 13, 2007 6:52 PM CDT