States

Client Turns Tables on Firm in Fee Dispute

A Texas plaintiffs firm that sued to collect an attorney fee from a former client in a medical malpractice case won exactly nothing after a three-day jury trial. But a Tarrant County jury awarded the client $1.4 million last month on his counterclaim against the firm for intentional infliction of…

Sep 5, 2007 11:47 PM CDT

Sex With Client’s Mom Requires Waiver

It may be OK for a lawyer to have sex with a client’s mother—if the client approves the relationship in a written waiver of the conflict. But you can’t ethically have sex with the client, unless the relationship got started prior to the representation. That is the gist of a…

Sep 5, 2007 9:50 PM CDT

240 LA Court Interpreters Walk Out

Today was not a good day to be in Los Angeles County Superior Court with a case requiring an interpreter. Angry about skimpy pay increases since they became employees instead of independent contractors in 2005, some 240 court interpreters there went on strike today and did not show up for…

Sep 5, 2007 9:26 PM CDT

Arrest Warrant Issued for Donor Hsu

A California judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Democratic campaign donor Norman Hsu after he failed to show up for a court appearance today. Hsu’s lawyer, James Brosnahan, said he could not locate his client or his passport, the New York Times reports. “We do not know where…

Sep 5, 2007 6:19 PM CDT

Firm Survives 9/11 Attack, But Changes

It takes a lot today to create a crisis at Harris Beach. Its law offices at 2 World Trade Center were obliterated on Sept. 11, 2001, killing three lawyers, two staff members and a contractor supervising an almost-completed $4 million renovation project. Now, many among the more than 100 who…

Sep 5, 2007 6:16 PM CDT

Musician Shot in Deadly Force State

A Texas keyboardist who played in two rock groups was shot and killed by a frightened homeowner three days after a new state law took effect that expanded the rights of crime victims to use deadly force to protect themselves. Jeffrey Carter Albrecht, who played with Edie Brickell and the…

Sep 5, 2007 5:43 PM CDT

Joel Steinberg Wants $15 M Award Tossed

Disbarred lawyer Joel Steinberg, convicted of manslaughter for killing his adopted daughter with a blow to the head, is asking New York’s highest court to overturn a $15 million civil judgment against him. Six-year-old Lisa endured “at most, eight hours of pain and suffering,” Steinberg says in legal briefs filed…

Sep 5, 2007 3:47 PM CDT

Law Grad Acquitted, Relies on Polygraph

A judge’s decision to admit the results of a polygraph exam may have helped a law school graduate win acquittal Monday in an Ohio sexual battery case. Sahil Sharma had been charged for a sexual encounter with a woman after a wedding they attended in Cuyahoga Falls, the Cleveland Plain…

Sep 5, 2007 2:54 PM CDT

Dogged Argument Lands PD in Jail

A Washington, D.C., lawyer with the public defender’s office ended up in a holding cell last week after a heated argument with a judge. Judge John Bayly Jr. said he acted because the PD, Liyah Brown, argued over with him over whether her client was homeless—and kept on arguing even…

Sep 5, 2007 12:48 PM CDT

Sonnenschein Faces $9 M Suit by Ex-Lawyer

A $9 million pay dispute between Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal and a former partner may soon be scheduled for trial. Douglas Rosenthal contends Sonnenschein owes him the money for big successes in two cases, Legal Times reports in a story reprinted by New York Lawyer. Rosenthal claims the law firm…

Sep 5, 2007 12:20 PM CDT

Iraq Contractors Hire High-Profile Firms

Some big-name law firms are representing Iraq contractors under investigation for defrauding the government. The government may have lost as much as $10 billion in fraud related to Iraq contracts, the National Law Journal reports. Investigators are looking at about 80 cases of possible misconduct and have referred about 20…

Sep 5, 2007 10:46 AM CDT

FL County Fires Attorney Over Land Deal

A longtime attorney for a county on Florida’s Gulf Coast has lost her job over her involvement as a legal adviser in a controversial land deal between Pinellas County and its property appraiser. Susan Churuti, 52, admitted at a meeting today that she could have better handled the matter—in which…

Sep 5, 2007 12:21 AM CDT

Deja Vu: Same Case, New Charge

A man who served 20 years for shooting a Philadelphia police officer has now been charged with homicide in the same 40-year-old case. William J. Barnes, 71, was charged Sunday after his victim, Walter T. Barclay, 64, died last month of an infection. His family says he was paralyzed, unable…

Sep 4, 2007 10:28 PM CDT

Ballard in CA, Competitor’s MP at Helm

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll is opening an office in Los Angeles with the expectation that it will help the 500-lawyer Philadelphia-based law firm strengthen its flagship real estate and resort practice in the Southwest. In charge of the new office will be David C. Sampson, former managing partner of…

Sep 4, 2007 4:53 PM CDT

FL Lawyer to Plead in Corruption Case

A Florida lawyer whose job as Broward Sheriff made him one of the most powerful political figures in the Miami area has resigned and reportedly plans to plead guilty to federal corruption charges. Sources said Ken Jenne, 60, decided yesterday to plead guilty to tax evasion “and mail-fraud conspiracy charges…

Sep 4, 2007 4:27 PM CDT