Utah

JDs from middle-ranked schools in states with many public colleges may give best investment return

Between 2010 and 2014, net tuition declined the most at middle-ranked law schools, due to merit scholarship patterns associated with maintaining or improving rankings, according to a law review article by Jerome M. Organ, which looks at variable returns on investing in a law degree.

Sep 15, 2017 3:35 PM CDT

Legal aid agency serving the Navajo Nation to close 3 offices

A legal aid office serving a heavily Navajo clientele is shutting three of its nine offices for financial reasons, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported Thursday. DNA-People’s Legal Services is responding to several years in which its expenses fell short of revenues. Santa Fe City Councilor Peter Ives, a member…

Aug 21, 2017 4:00 PM CDT

Subway owners sue Utah town for defamation over cop’s false accusation of drug-spiked soft drink

Sales dropped considerably after a Layton, Utah, police officer in 2016 accused a worker at a Subway sandwich shop of spiking his lemonade with methamphetamine and THC, according to a federal court defamation lawsuit filed by the franchise owners. Crime lab results showed there were no drugs in the beverage,…

Aug 14, 2017 12:31 PM CDT

Firm sues state bar as it probes whether its ads, read on-air by DJs, are ‘celebrity endorsements’

A Utah personal-injury law firm that advertises extensively on TV and radio as “The Advocates” has sued the Utah State Bar for threatening sanctions for its use of “celebrity endorsements” from “radio personalities” in its live radio advertisements, the Salt Lake City Tribune reports. In the radio ads, a DJ…

Aug 9, 2017 3:00 PM CDT

Judge is criticized for calling ex-clergyman a ‘good man’ before sentencing him for sexual assault

A Utah judge is facing criticism for comments he made last week when he sentenced a former Mormon bishop to up to life in prison for sexual assault. Judge Thomas Low became choked up as he sentenced Keith Robert Vallejo, the Salt Lake Tribune reported in its initial story on…

Apr 17, 2017 12:33 PM CDT

Former Utah Attorney General Swallow is acquitted, praises Constitution

Former Utah Attorney General John Swallow expressed gratitude for a Constitution that protects the rights of the accused after his acquittal Thursday on public corruption charges. Jurors deliberated more than 12 hours before acquitting Swallow on nine charges, including receiving or soliciting a bribe and making false statements, report the…

Mar 3, 2017 10:45 AM CST

A midwife gets jail time in newborn’s death

A Utah midwife has been sentenced to six months in jail for a delivery that ended with the death of twin baby who was born prematurely. Vickie Sorensen, 57, was sentenced on Tuesday, report the Salt Lake Tribune and the Washington Post. She was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter and…

Feb 3, 2017 11:11 AM CST

Estate representative can sue herself for causing decedent’s wrongful death

A woman who lost control of her vehicle, causing the death of her common-law husband, is authorized as representative of the estate to sue herself for negligence, the Utah Supreme Court has ruled. The Utah Supreme Court allowed the suit in an Oct. 27 decision (PDF), the Legal Profession Blog…

Nov 1, 2016 4:11 PM CDT

Louisiana can’t withhold Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood, 5th Circuit rules

The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s injunction against Louisiana’s attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. A three-judge appellate panel said the health services provider likely would prevail at trial because plaintiffs would be denied both access to and choice of a medical…

Sep 15, 2016 4:15 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: Has the Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Fourth Amendment?

In the recently completed Supreme Court term, Utah v. Strieff was the only major decision where the conservatives prevailed in an ideologically divided case. The court held that evidence gained after an illegal police stop is admissible if the police learn of an outstanding arrest warrant and then conduct a…

Aug 2, 2016 8:30 AM CDT

Utah’s indigent defense system is underfunded and unconstitutional, ACLU suit alleges

A new lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union alleges that the state of Utah so drastically underfunds its indigent-defense system that it’s failing to meet its constitutional obligations to the state’s poor. The state ACLU and law firm Holland & Hart filed the proposed class action lawsuit Tuesday in…

Jun 23, 2016 3:45 PM CDT

Disbarment was too harsh for lawyer who caused courthouse disturbance, Utah Supreme Court says

A Utah lawyer who yelled obscenities as bailiffs escorted him from the courthouse and complained about a “sham” ethics hearing should not have been disbarred, the Utah Supreme Court has ruled. The court ruled last Thursday that a “lengthy suspension” was the appropriate punishment for the lawyer, John Ciardi, and…

Jun 15, 2016 9:15 AM CDT

Telling tenants to ‘friend’ landlord Facebook page in 5 days or lose lease was mistake, lawyer says

When tenants in a Salt Lake City apartment building discovered an unusual lease addendum taped to their doors last week, a number were irked. It said they had to “friend” the landlord’s Facebook page within 5 days, reports KSL, or be found in breach of the rental agreement with City…

Jun 1, 2016 3:35 PM CDT

Utah Supreme Court strikes down attorney fee schedule in workers’ comp cases

The Utah Supreme Court has struck down an attorney fee schedule for workers’ compensation cases and the law that authorized it. The court ruled on Wednesday in a case challenging the sliding-scale fees and a fee cap established by the Utah Labor Commission. The Legal Profession Blog has highlights from…

May 20, 2016 11:09 AM CDT

10th Circuit reverses bigamy-law win for ‘Sister Wives’ family

After a Utah family and their plural marriages became the subject of a TLC reality television show in 2010, local authorities in Lehi opened an investigation to see whether the Sister Wives family should be prosecuted for violating the state’s bigamy law. Kody Brown and his four wives (one legal,…

Apr 13, 2016 3:25 PM CDT