Lawyer Accused of Embezzling $500K From Her Own Grandmother Gets Probation

A Texas lawyer who took a plea earlier this year after being accused of embezzling $500,000 from her own grandmother has avoided a prison sentence. However, Judge George Godwin told Michelle Lorenz Valicek, 54, that he doubts she will comply with the terms of her deferred adjudication probation, the San…

Nov 21, 2012 4:35 PM CST

Lawyer Accused of Misusing IDs of Terminally Ill in $30M Investment Scheme Takes Plea

As testimony was about to resume Monday in a federal trial that had been expected to continue for months, a Rhode Island estate planning lawyer and a former employee accused of misusing the identities of dying individuals in a $30 million investment scheme both took a plea. Attorney Joseph Caramadre,…

Nov 19, 2012 6:30 PM CST

Lawyer Charged With Using Power of Attorney to Murder Her Well-to-Do Dad Loses Will Fight

Temporarily removed in September as personal representative of her well-to-do father’s estate, after she was charged with his murder in an unusual case based on an allegedly forged power of attorney for health care, a Missouri lawyer has now been permanently eliminated as his executor. Susan Elizabeth “Liz” Van Note,…

Nov 16, 2012 6:51 PM CST

4-Partner Private Client Practice Group Leaps From WilmerHale to Choate

Boston-based Choate Hall & Stewart has raided Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, announcing Tuesday that the BigLaw firm’s entire private client practice group, headed by four partners, will be joining the wealth management group at its midsize competitor. Associates and staff from WilmerHale are also expected to join Choate,…

Nov 13, 2012 7:16 PM CST

No Will, But a Way: Law Prof and Students Launch African Probate & Policy Initiative

Nov 1, 2012 9:20 AM CDT

‘Big-Shot’ Lawyer Sues His Daughter for Libel Because She Sought Trust Fund Accounting

A New York lawyer has filed a $3 million libel suit against his daughter because she filed a petition seeking an accounting of her trust fund. Richard Fischbein, 70, claims his daughter, lawyer Beth Fischbein-Bodner, harmed his reputation when she alleged his handling of the fund had given her concerns…

Oct 24, 2012 11:37 AM CDT

Heirs of Early Supreme Court Justice Win Legal Fight for His Papers

Heirs of a justice appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by George Washington are entitled to his papers, according to a ruling by the North Carolina Supreme Court. A descendant had loaned the papers of Justice James Iredell Sr. to the North Carolina Historical Commission in 1910, the Associated Press…

Oct 4, 2012 10:45 AM CDT

Lawyer Charged in Dad’s Murder Allegedly Used Forged Health Care Power of Attorney as Fatal Weapon

As more details have been reported about a first-degree murder case against a Missouri lawyer accused of killing her father, it has become clear that Susan Elizabeth “Liz” Van Note is facing a highly unusual prosecution. Her father, along with his longtime female companion, were shot to death at his…

Oct 2, 2012 2:37 PM CDT

Art Mystery: Who Owns the Tiny Renoir Purchased for $7 at Flea Market?

A small Renoir painting that was purchased in a “$7 box of junk” at a West Virginia flea market is at the center of a brewing ownership dispute now that evidence has surfaced that the work was stolen. The painting, which was set for an auction since cancelled because of…

Oct 1, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Critical of Claims Based on ‘Sheer Speculation’, Federal Judge Nixes Suit Against Billionaire Banker

A federal judge in New York has tossed a fraud lawsuit that alleged a banker conspired with others to forge the signature of a dying cousin to protect a ranch in Arizona from a creditor. U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan characterized aspects of the suit against Herbert A.…

Sep 28, 2012 11:02 AM CDT

Judge OKs ‘Modest’ $900K Fee for Each of 5 Lawyers Overseeing Estate of Hotel Heiress Leona Helmsley

Five lawyers acting as executors for the estate of deceased New York hotel heiress Leona Helmsley will each be paid $900,000 for their first year of work. Manhattan Surrogate Court Judge Nora Anderson, who approved the fees, called them “modest when viewed against the backdrop of the mammoth and highly…

Sep 5, 2012 9:40 PM CDT

Disbarred Lawyer Gets 5 Years in Federal Prison for Embezzling $1M From Elderly Clients

A lawyer for Louis M. Smith said his Parkinson’s disease is at least in part responsible for the now-disbarred Kentucky lawyer’s alleged embezzlement of over $1 million from two elderly women from his church and sought a sentence of home detention for his ailing 63-year-old client. But a federal prosecutor…

Sep 5, 2012 4:50 PM CDT

Gay Judge Contends His Dad’s Marriage Mandate in Will Violates Public Policy

A Manhattan criminal court judge is seeking approval of a settlement that would invalidate an unusual requirement in his father’s will. The will denies any inheritance to the offspring of Judge Robert Mandelbaum if the judge adopted the child while single, or if he failed to marry the mother of…

Aug 27, 2012 4:43 PM CDT

Widow, Girlfriend Square Off in Legal Battle Over Estate of Late Artist Thomas Kinkade

The widow and the girlfriend of the late artist Thomas Kinkade will square off in court next week in a nasty probate battle over who should administer his multimillion-dollar estate. Nanette Kinkade, his estranged wife, and Amy Pinto-Walsh, his live-in girlfriend, are locked in a dispute over the disposition of…

Aug 16, 2012 9:52 PM CDT

Attorney Facing Felony Embezzlement Trial Is Jailed Without Bond After DWI Arrest

A Texas lawyer scheduled to be tried next month in a felony case in which she is charged with embezzling over $500,000 from her own grandmother is now being held without bond after a drunken-driving arrest last week. Prosecutors who requested that bond be revoked for Michelle Lorenz Valicek, 54,…

Aug 14, 2012 4:14 PM CDT