Trials & Litigation

Weiss, Lerach: No Deal to Plea Deal

Updated: Famed plaintiff securities lawyers Melvin Weiss and William Lerach reportedly have said no deal to a plea deal offered by federal prosecutors in a criminal kickbacks case against the New York City law firm Weiss founded and two partners there. The rejected plea deal, offered weeks ago in the…

Jun 28, 2007 9:14 PM CDT

Is Libyan Innocent in Lockerbie Case?

A “miscarriage of justice” may have resulted in the conviction of a Libyan intelligence agent in the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing, requiring that he be granted a new appeal by Scotland’s High Court, an independent review board reported today. Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was found guilty in 2001 of the bombing,…

Jun 28, 2007 7:14 PM CDT

Lawyers Advise, Clients Strategize on New ‘Issue’ Political Advertising

Lawyers who advise advocacy groups are busy this week, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday opening the door to more “issue”-oriented political advertising. The question: How far can these groups go in pre-election advertising that discusses issues but at least arguably also promotes political candidates? The Federal Election Commission,…

Jun 28, 2007 6:18 PM CDT

Disgraced Duke Rape DA to Quit Monday

Mike Nifong, the Durham, N.C., attorney disbarred for his handling of the rape prosecution of three former Duke lacrosse players later determined to be innocent, will quit his job Monday. However, that still isn’t the end of the road for Nifong, as far as his legal career is concerned–he faces…

Jun 28, 2007 5:44 PM CDT

No Bond for GA Youth in Child Sex Case

There will be no bond for a young Georgia man sentenced to a 10-year term in a controversial child sex case, despite an offer by 11 entrepreneurs to pay $1 million on his behalf. Although Genarlow Wilson’s habeas petition was recently granted by a federal judge who said the prison…

Jun 28, 2007 1:16 AM CDT

Law-and-Order Libby Judge Under Fire

The product of a strict childhood under an authoritarian father, U.S. Dist. Judge Reggie Walton expects those who do the crime to do the time. And that includes Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney. But his two-and-a-half-year sentence for Libby in an obstruction…

Jun 27, 2007 11:20 PM CDT

Big, Big Bucks at Issue in ‘Big Dig’ Case?

Attorneys on both sides are still jockeying for position in the so-called Big Dig tort case in Boston. But plaintiff lawyers reportedly could be seeking a settlement in the neighborhood of $500 million in a tort claim over a woman crushed to death when the ceiling of the ill-fated tunnel…

Jun 27, 2007 10:06 PM CDT

CIA Documents Show U.S. Dirty Deeds

From an unsuccessful government plot to have a Chicago mobster assassinate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro to a failed effort to bug the Las Vegas hotel room of comedian Dan Rowan and a sidelines role in the Watergate scandal, recently released CIA documents show a plethora of dirty deeds committed by…

Jun 27, 2007 8:18 PM CDT

3 Not-So-Little Pigs’ Upscale Home Saved

Three not-so-little pigs living in the upscale Chicago suburb of Lake Forest didn’t, of course, have to worry about a wolf huffing and puffing and blowing their rickety house down. But their owner and her children were plenty concerned about a judge’s potential ban of the 200-pound porkers from their…

Jun 27, 2007 7:25 PM CDT

Padilla Jurors See Bin Laden Interview

Jurors in the terrorism trial of Jose Padilla saw a 10-year-old video of an interview in which Osama bin Laden condemned the United States. In the edited, seven-minute tape, the al-Qaida leader praised recent terrorist bombings that killed U.S. soldiers and warned that American civilians could also be targeted. U.S.…

Jun 27, 2007 4:36 PM CDT

Conrad Black Case Moves to Jury

Jurors are expected to begin deliberations today in the trial of media baron Conrad Black, accused of diverting noncompete payments from Hollinger International. Black is on trial along with two co-defendants on charges they defrauded investors of about $60 million and lied to investigators. About 50 witnesses testified, but the…

Jun 27, 2007 2:01 PM CDT

Suit Claims Restaurant a Copy

A New York chef has sued a competitor for copying the look and feel of her restaurant. Rebecca Charles, who owns the Pearl Oyster Bar in the West Village, says the competing restaurateur has copied her white marble bar, gray trim and straw-back chairs, the New York Times reports. She…

Jun 27, 2007 1:03 PM CDT

Convicted Governor Blames Karl Rove for Recommended 30-Year Prison Term

The controversy over alleged White House politicization of the federal prosecution process has moved beyond concern about the perhaps politically motivated dismissals of nine U.S. attorneys to a new issue–the cases they did, or did not, pursue. Now Don Siegelman, a former Democratic governor of Alabama, is contending that he…

Jun 27, 2007 1:46 AM CDT

Doctor, Soldier Among Plaintiffs Suing Feds Over Delayed Background Checks

A 30-year physician in Texas and a former member of the U.S. Army National Guard might seem to be unlikely national security risks. But they are among thousands whose background checks have been delayed for months or even years, reports the Houston Chronicle. As a result, families have been separated…

Jun 27, 2007 1:22 AM CDT

Did Missouri Execute an Innocent Man?

A dozen years after Larry Griffin was executed, despite his continuing proclaimations of innocence, by the state of Missouri, there are major unanswered questions about whether he was actually guilty of the 1980 drive-by shooting he was convicted of committing. After a University of Michigan law professor brought to light…

Jun 26, 2007 8:35 PM CDT