Trials & Litigation

20931 ABA Journal Trials & Litigation articles.

Psychopath Test Determines Fate of Some Criminals

A psychopath checklist developed by a Canadian psychologist is determining the fate of criminals in America. Robert Hare developed the test based on his study of psychopaths that began in the 1960s, NPR reports. At the time, he tells NPR, the conventional wisdom was that environment, not inborn personality, made…

May 31, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Honors Grad Working as Doc Reviewer Sues Law School, Says She Was Misled by US News Stats

A woman who says she graduated with honors from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 2008 and passed the California bar exam but cannot find a decent legal job has sued the institution, contending that she was tricked into attending by employment statistics TJSL provided for the annual U.S. News…

May 27, 2011 10:38 PM CDT

Lawyer Wins $900K Wage-and-Hour Suit But Loses $515K Fee Due to Lack of Time Entries

A lawyer who won a $900,000 wage-and-hour case against New York City in 2009 on behalf of 16,000 police officers reportedly won’t be getting a payday. Thomas Puccio had sought $2 million in the Fair Labor Standards Act case and was awarded $515,000 by U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin. But…

May 27, 2011 7:20 PM CDT

Sending Brochure to Potential Clients re Ex-Partner’s Prosecution Costs PI Lawyer $35K and Reprimand

An acrimonious relationship with a lawyer for whom he formerly worked, decades ago, is costing a Wisconsin personal injury lawyer $35,000 and a public reprimand. Although it dismissed two of three counts of a legal ethics complaint against attorney Michael Hupy, a divided Wisconsin Supreme Court concluded today that a…

May 27, 2011 6:55 PM CDT

Author Gets 6-Week Contempt Term for ‘Jolly Hangman’ Book re Singapore Justice System

A British author’s appeal of a contempt finding and six-week jail sentence for writing a book critical of the Singapore justice system has been unsuccessful. After the Singapore Court of Appeal’s affirmation of the sentence today, which also includes a fine of about $16,000 in U.S. dollars, author Alan Shadrake…

May 27, 2011 5:24 PM CDT

Judge Sanctions Law Firm $15K for Allowing Job Bias Client to Hide New Employment

A federal judge in Manhattan is requiring a law firm to pay $15,000 for allowing a client suing her employer for discrimination to hide that she had accepted a new job offer. U.S. District Judge William Pauley said the law firm Thompson Wigdor & Gilly harmed “the judicial process itself”…

May 27, 2011 3:39 PM CDT

Former Law Partner of Scott Rothstein, 3 Others Face Wire Fraud Conspiracy Charges

A former partner in convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein’s law firm has been charged in an alleged wire fraud conspiracy, along with three other individuals. Ex-partner Howard Kusnick worked on a civil case in which client car dealer Ed Morse and his wife sued a kitchen designer. Rothstein, who operated…

May 27, 2011 3:01 PM CDT

Allegedly Frisked Attorney Sues Over NY Taxi-Search Policy

An attorney allegedly frisked by the New York police under a policy that he says officers use to illegally search taxi passengers under the guise of checking on driver safety has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union. Munir…

May 27, 2011 2:39 PM CDT

Revised and Less Controversial Loser-Pays Bill Approved by Texas Legislature

Texas lawmakers have approved a bill requiring civil plaintiffs to pay the attorney fees of their opponents after a meritless lawsuit is dismissed. The compromise bill is less controversial than the original loser-pays proposal, the Dallas Morning News reports. After the House approved the revised bill on Wednesday evening, three…

May 27, 2011 2:22 PM CDT

Former Lawyers for Courtney Love Claim She Libeled Them in a Tweet

Courtney Love is facing a second libel lawsuit over a tweet. This time the suit was filed by former lawyers for the rocker, report the Wrap and the Hollywood Reporter’s Hollywood, Esq. Lawyers Frederic Gordon and Rhonda Holmes of San Diego say they had been hired to represent Love to…

May 27, 2011 11:36 AM CDT

3rd Circuit Says Lawyers’ Involvement in ‘Crude’ Film Wasn’t a Subject-Matter Privilege Waiver

By allowing a filmmaker access to attorney-client meetings for his Crude documentary about a megabucks environmental case in Ecuador, lawyers for the plaintiffs did not create a subject-matter waiver for all privileged communications, a federal appeals court has ruled. Reversing a lower court decision that the attorneys involved would have…

May 27, 2011 12:01 AM CDT

Kidnapped by Mistake, Pet Store Owner Wins Concealed Carry OK, Based on ‘Urgent’ Need, a Year Later

In January 2010, a pet store owner in New Jersey was kidnapped at gunpoint by suspects who mistook him for another man with the same name who reportedly owed them $500,000 in a business deal. Today, the New Jersey man obtained a court order authorizing him to carry a concealed…

May 26, 2011 9:31 PM CDT

Blago Takes Stand, Discusses ‘Almost Catastrophic’ 1L Year, Initial Bar Exam Failure, ‘Disco’ Hair

Impeached former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich took the stand today in his second political corruption trial, telling a federal jury in Chicago the story of his life. In hours-long testimony before he struggled to retain his composure as his wife began to weep in court and the judge declared a…

May 26, 2011 8:13 PM CDT

Jury Mulls Money-Launder Case Against Ex-Clark Thomas & Winters Partner Charged re Billing Practices

A Texas jury is beginning deliberations in a money-laundering case against a former partner at Clark Thomas & Winters who is accused of padding law firm bills to conceal improper payments to individuals related to members of the client’s executive board. Walter Demond is also charged with theft and misapplication…

May 26, 2011 7:30 PM CDT

Lawyer Accused of Using Topless Photos as Leverage Is Shielded from Liability, Appeals Court Says

A New York appeals court has ruled that a lawyer has no liability for using topless photos as leverage in his client’s sexual harassment suit against the president of a hedge fund. The court sided with lawyer Thomas Wigdor of Thompson Wigdor & Gilly, who represented the hedge fund leader’s…

May 26, 2011 2:11 PM CDT

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