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May 12, 2012 -- May 15, 2012

GENERAL

The Lawyer You Refer Cases To May Be a Cannibal

Posted by Michael A. Stratt,  InjuryBoard Blog Network  

05-15-12 -- Is the law firm you refer complex PI cases also your competition for client business? Many referral based law firms want it both ways. These firms attempt simultaneously to develop a referral business from other lawyers while advertising directly to those potential referrers’ customers. Effectively, these firms are treating their referral base as their competition. They are cannibalizing their referrers! . . . This behavior appears to be a new trend. For instance, a well-known Hartford firm, after having built its business for decades through word of mouth lawyer referrals is now directly advertising on radio and TV for clients. The ads are apologetic but impactful. To paraphrase a recent ad running during morning rush hour, the spokesperson in a deep and authentic sounding voice says, “We are uncomfortable advertising but if we don’t you may go to a less qualified lawyer.” Well, that less qualified lawyer is probably one of the folks who refers them cases.


Ripples From Dewey Collapse Swamp Lawyer Job Market

By Christine Simmons, New York Law Journal  

05-15-12 -- The collapse of Dewey & LeBoeuf, which once had more than 1,000 lawyers, has caused what a senior legal recruiter calls a "massive disruption" in the job market for attorneys in New York. . . . Recruiters were hearing from Dewey partners and associates months before rising costs and falling revenues prompted the firm to replace chairman Steven Davis in April. . . . "There were junior partners who were getting paid very little and we were hearing from them last year," said a senior New York recruiter who wished to remain anonymous and was not authorized to discuss partner concerns. Some Dewey partners said they weren't getting paid much more than associates, the recruiter added.


As Dewey Partners Find New Homes, Questions Mount About Old One

By Petra Pasternak, The Recorder  

05-11-12 -- What had been a steady exodus at Dewey & LeBoeuf turned into an avalanche this past week, bringing the total number of departed partners to more than 180. Silicon Valley M&A star Richard Climan is taking his team to Weil; IP litigator Henry Bunsow and his group will form a boutique as they assess options. Most of the firm's staff and associates have been laid off or will be in the next couple of days. . . . But with the show clearly over, why hasn't the curtain come down? There's been no call for a dissolution vote, and the firm's management hasn't publicly laid out how — or if — it will attempt to avoid bankruptcy. . . . "The partnership agreement requires a vote for dissolution and that hasn't happened that I know of," said one former California Dewey partner. "It probably means they're closing the offices, they're going to stop the necessity to pay employees, but technically the business will continue until they can wind it up and then they'll ask the [remaining] partners to vote to dissolve."


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CALIFORNIA  

Attorney accused of accepting kickbacks

By Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal  

05-11-12 -- An attorney has been indicted on charges of accepting kickbacks from associates who received work from his client, an Indian tribe in California. . . . Gary Edward Kovall, a graduate of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, who now lives in Ely, Minn., has been licensed to practice in California since 1976. He voluntarily became inactive on Jan. 9 of this year, according to the State Bar of California. . . . Kovall, 66, was legal counsel of the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, whose reservation includes land in the Mojave Desert. The tribe receives hundreds of thousands of dollars from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to the May 9 indictment.


DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA  

Pardon Attorney Torpedoes Plea for Presidential Mercy

by Dafna Linzer. ProPublica   

05-13-12 -- A version of this story [1] was co-published with The Washington Post [2].

Clarence Aaron seemed to be especially deserving of a federal commutation, an immediate release from prison granted by the president of the United States. . . . At 24, he was sentenced to three life terms for his role in a cocaine deal, even though it was his first criminal offense and he was not the buyer, seller or supplier of the drugs. Of all those convicted in the case, Aaron received the stiffest sentence. . . . For those reasons, his case for early release was championed by lawmakers and civil rights activists, and taken up by the media, from PBS [3] to Fox News [4]. . . . And, ultimately, the prosecutor's office and the sentencing judge supported an immediate commutation for Aaron. . . . Yet the George W. Bush administration, in its final year in office, never knew the full extent of their views, which were compiled in a confidential Justice Department review, and Aaron's application was denied, according to an examination of the case by ProPublica [5] based on interviews with participants and internal records.


ILLINOIS  

Senate confirms Oak Park lawyer as new Chicago-based federal judge

By Bob Goldsborough Special to the Chicago Tribune  

05-14-12 -- The U.S. Senate today voted 86-1 to confirm Chicago lawyer and former federal prosecutor John J. “Jay” Tharp Jr. to a vacant judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. . . . Tharp, 51, becomes the fifth federal trial court judge that President Barack Obama has gotten confirmed to the Chicago-based federal court since taking office.  Obama nominated Tharp in November to replace Judge Blanche M. Manning, who had taken senior status, which is a form of semi-retirement, in early 2010.


KANSAS  

Former Attorney General Kline Wants Justices Off Case

by John Holt, Fox4kc   

05-14-12 -- Former Attorney General and Johnson county D.A. Phill Kline will file a motion on Tuesday to have two Kansas Supreme Court justices removed from his appeal to keep his law license. . . . Kline’s attorney Tom Condit of Cincinnati says his filing will demand justice Carol Beier be removed from hearing Kline’s ethics appeal–citing among other things-a 2008 opinion she authored. Condit says the opinion relied on falsehoods about Kline’s handling of abortion records–and was critical of Kline based on those falsehoods. . . . “She showed her bias,” Condit tells FOX 4 news. “Her opinion dressed down Phill based on falsehoods.” . . . Condit claims Beier has also revealed herself as a feminist and abortion supporter in outside writings. Some of her writings the motion will claim–suggest she is a feminist who supports using the media to affect culture shifts.


MARYLAND   

'Fowl Play' in E-mails Between Maryland Governor and Perdue GC?

By Sue Reisinger, Corporate Counsel  

05-14-12 -- The general counsel of poultry giant Perdue Incorporated learned a hard lesson this week—that if the governor is an old law school chum, then watch out for those e-mails that can be subject to public information requests. . . . A Washington, D.C.-based environmental group called Food & Water Watch has accused Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Perdue GC Herbert Frerichs Jr. of having a “cozy relationship,” after the group made a Public Information Act request for all correspondence between the governor’s office and the poultry company. . . . In some 70 pages of e-mails, dating from July 2010 through November 2011 and reproduced on the group’s website, the GC and the governor discuss various issues relating to Perdue, such as proposals to generate energy from burning poultry manure.


MASSACHUSETTS   

Barry P. Wilson, fiery defense attorney, begins serving 90-day jail sentence

By Travis Andersen, Boston Globe Staff  

05-15-12 -- Fiery defense lawyer Barry P. Wilson surrendered today at Suffolk Superior Court to begin serving a 90-day jail sentence, after being found in contempt of court last year for his behavior during jury selection in a murder trial. . . . The 62-year-old Wilson -- who wore jogging pants and a windbreaker -- walked into Courtroom 704, where he was met by court officers and led away as about 20 supporters applauded. . . . Wilson, whose former clients include ex-Boston city councilor Chuck Turner, said earlier outside the courthouse that he would not resume his law practice when he is released from the Suffolk County House of Correction at South Bay.


Harvard grad sues to revoke plagiarism finding

By Karen Sloan, The National Law Journal  

05-11-12 -- A 2009 Harvard Law School graduate has sued her alma mater and two former classmates, claiming that their false accusations of plagiarism cost her a promising legal career. . . . Megon Walker has struggled to find legal employment since graduating because her academic record includes a reprimand for plagiarizing a law review article draft, the suit alleges. . . . Walker filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on May 4, naming as defendants the president and fellows of Harvard College; law school dean of students Ellen Cosgrove; and professor and college administrative board chairman Lloyd Weinreb. Also named are two former student editors-in-chief of the law school's Journal of Law and Technology, Bradley Hamburger and Lindsay Kitzinger. . . . "By the false allegation of plagiarism resulting in unfair branding of plaintiff as a cheat and as academically dishonest, defendants have destroyed everything plaintiff has worked so hard to achieve and what she deserves, and the plaintiff is left daily with that shame, no job, alone with only the knowledge that unless she has relief from the court, she will never obtain what she has worked so hard to achieve and what she deserves," the complaint reads.


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MICHIGAN  

Appeals court: Lawyer in pornography case shouldn't have to pay $2,000 as ordered by judge in Detroit

The Associated Press | The Republic 

05-15-12 -- A federal appeals court says a lawyer for a Michigan school official caught with child pornography at the New York-Canada border shouldn't have to pay a $2,000 penalty in the case. . . . A three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a ruling Tuesday reversing the sanction against attorney John Freeman.


MINNESOTA   

St. Paul lawyer who trashed judge loses appeal on fines

By David Hanners, Pioneer Press, Twincities.com   

05-15-12 -- It was OK for a bankruptcy judge to fine a St. Paul attorney for putting a string of religious slurs in her legal filings, a federal judge has ruled. . . . Ruling in an appeal filed by Rebekah Nett, U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen said the bankruptcy judge did not abuse her discretion when she sanctioned Nett $5,000, and that the lawyer never showed remorse for her actions. . . . Nett "stuck her head in the sand" and filed a memorandum written by her client without first checking to see if the statements it contained were based in fact, Ericksen wrote. . . . U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Nancy Dreher had fined Nett for bigoted and anti-Catholic slurs in a filing for a client she represented in a bankruptcy case.


State board accuses Minneapolis lawyer Peter Nickitas of bullying opposing attorney

by Ed Stych, Web Producer, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

05-11-12 -- Lawyers have been known to get verbally aggressive with each other in the courtroom. But a state board is saying one Minneapolis attorney went too far and wants him publicly disciplined for "harassing and bullying" another lawyer. . . . The Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, which monitors attorney ethics, has asked the Minnesota Supreme Court    to suspend Minneapolis attorney Peter James Nickitas, partially for insulting statements he allegedly made to lawyer Michelle Hurley. . . .Nickitas said in an interview Friday that "the allegation of bullying is false."


NEW YORK  

Cops: Lawyer bought stolen flat-screen TV

By Bryan Fitzgerald, Times Union 

05-15-12 -- A 57-year-old village attorney was on the other side of the courtroom this weekend. . . . Lee Hartjen was arraigned in Cobleskill Village Court Saturday for allegedly buying a stolen 60-inch flat-screen television earlier this year, State Police said. . . . Hartjen allegedly bought the TV from John Giakoumakis. Giakoumakis stole the TV from a home in Delaware County, troopers said.


Lawyer couple get $360,000 payout from city over false arrest by NYPD sergeant

Incident stemmed from couple complaining about cops' treatment of suspect

By John Marzulli / New York Daily News  

05-14-12 -- The city will pay a $360,000 settlement to a civil rights lawyer and his wife who claimed they were falsely arrested by cops after objecting to the beatdown of a drug suspect on a Brooklyn street. . . . Michael Warren and wife Evelyn, who is also a lawyer, claimed vindication in their lawsuit, which was scheduled for civil trial Monday. . . . The couple were stopped at a red light on Vanderbilt and Atlantic Aves. on June 21, 2007, when they observed cops tackle a man. The suspect was handcuffed when Sgt. Steven Talvy allegedly kicked the man in the head. . . . The Warrens got out of their vehicle and Michael Warren told the sergeant what he was doing was wrong and illegal. The couple alleged they were punched in the face before being charged with disorderly conduct. They spent about six hours in police custody.


Lawyer Held In Lieu of $2M Bail re Claimed Conspiracy to Help Clients Avoid Tax on Offshore $10M

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

05-14-12 -- A lawyer who has been federally indicted on accusations he participated in a conspiracy to help relatives of a retired Fidelity Investments executive avoid estate and income tax on $10 million in offshore funds was still in jail at last report, being held in lieu of $2 million bond. . . . A federal magistrate judge in New York said Michael Little, 61, must post $1 million in cash or property to win his release, according to the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. . . . Attorney Elkan Abramowitz represents Little. He told the WSJ in an email: "We are studying the charges contained in the complaint. We are confident that in the end we will be able to demonstrate that there is no merit to them."


Ex-Dewey Staffers Feel 'Thrown Under Bus'

By Christine Simmons, New York Law Journal  

05-14-12 -- New York employees of beleaguered Dewey & LeBoeuf collected their belongings on May 11 and said goodbye to colleagues on their last day after the firm laid off scores of non-attorney personnel. . . . Some staffers described the mood in Dewey's offices as somber and like a "funeral." Others expressed anger at firm management, blaming them for orchestrating what is shaping up as the largest law firm failure in history. . . . "People have been thrown under the bus," a woman who described herself as a Dewey staff member said outside the firm's Avenue of the Americas offices but declined to be identified. "It's very sad." Lawyers and staff "are bursting into tears," she added.


NORTH DAKOTA  

ND attorney suspended for 6 months for case delays

North Dakota's Supreme Court has suspended a former Devils Lake attorney from practicing law for six months.

Associated Press | Dickinson Press  

05-15-12 -- North Dakota's Supreme Court has suspended a former Devils Lake attorney from practicing law for six months. . . . The court's suspension order on Monday says Rudolph Tollefson dawdled on handling some cases and lied to clients about their progress.


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PENNSYLVANIA  

Superior Court Revives $500 Million Malpractice Claim Against K&L Gates

By Gina Passarella, The Legal Intelligencer  

05-15-12 -- The Pennsylvania Superior Court has reinstated a $500 million malpractice suit against K&L Gates and accounting firm Pascarella & Wiker for their alleged failure to detect fraudulent activity at the now bankrupt Le-Nature's when the firms conducted an internal investigation of the company years before the bankruptcy. . . . A three-judge panel led by Judge John L. Musmanno overturned an Allegheny trial court's ruling in Kirschner v. K&L Gates and instead found K&L Gates did have an attorney-client relationship with Le-Nature's and not just the special committee that hired the firm to investigate allegations of fraud. The court also found Le-Nature's suffered actual damages and that they, as according to the facts pled in the complaint, were proximately caused by K&L Gates' actions.


Church lawyer testifies Cullen, other clergy lied to him

By Peter Hall, Of The Morning Call        

05-14-12 -- A former attorney for the Philadelphia Catholic Archdiocese testified Monday that top church officials including retired Allentown Bishop Edward Cullen lied to him about a list of priests suspected of sexually abusing children. . . . Tim Coyne, who served as the church's general counsel, said a prosecutor asked him in 2004, in the midst of a grand jury investigation of sexual abuse by Philadelphia-area priests, to track down the list of 35 suspected child abusers Monsignor William Lynn had produced in 1994. . . . Coyne said he contacted five church leaders including Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua; Cullen, who was the cardinal's top aide; and Bishop Joseph Cistone, who is now head of the Saginaw, Mich. diocese, but the effort was unsuccessful.


RHODE ISLAND  

Disbarred RI lawyer sentenced in mortgage fraud

Associated Press | Boston.com   

05-15-12 -- A disbarred Rhode Island attorney has been sentenced to federal prison for his role in a $1.1 million mortgage fraud scheme. . . . Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that 66-year-old James Levitt of Pawtucket was sentenced to a year in prison. He was also fined $25,000 and ordered to pay $610,500 in restitution. . . . Levitt pleaded guilty in February to three counts of bank fraud and two counts of filing false tax returns.


TEXAS  

How a Houston lawyer tracks down missing moon rocks (+video)

Attorney Joe Gutheinz, a former NASA investigator, looks for missing pieces of the moon that returned with the Apollo astronauts. 

By Michael Graczyk, Associated Press | Christian Science Monitor 

05-14-12 -- The dark suit and tie that Joe Gutheinz wore set him apart from other customers inside a Texas eatery where the usual attire is jeans and cowboy hats. . . . An appetite for down-home cooking wasn't what brought the former NASA investigator to the Pitt Grill recently. He was on a quest to identify and maybe recover some of the rarest treasure brought to Earth and then lost: moon rocks. . . . "We're educating the states and countries of the world about how much they're worth on the black market and we need to increase the security in museums and need to put them back on display," Gutheinz said.


Rachel Brown's lawyer accused of harassment, being "sexually

inappropriate" in Hand Center doc divorce

By Sarah Rufca, CultureMap Houston 

05-14-12 -- Michael Brown, the prominent founder of the Brown Hand Center, is not exactly known for his good track record with women, with a felony conviction (from beating his third wife in 2002), a herpes lawsuit and another assault trial (where he was found not guilty) on the books. . . . But this time it's another Brown who is accused of bad behavior. Two female attorneys representing Michael Brown and his relevant corporate entities in the divorce from Rachel Brown have filed a motion for sanction against Rachel's lawyer, Marshall Davis Brown, Jr. (no relation), calling his statements and conduct "extreme, outrageous and sexually inappropriate." . . . The comments described by attorneys Jeanne Caldwell McDowell and Mary-Olga Lovett include "referring to a female attorney as a 'cunt,' a 'flat-chested bitch' and a 'dumb shit'," telling a female attorney he "has never been so embarrassed by a white woman," offering to examine an attorney's breasts for lumps, suggesting to an attorney that they share a hotel room, describing an attorney as working for an "escort service" and, perhaps creepiest of all, describing an attorney with "Daddy like."


VERMONT  

Lawyer is suspended over rules of conduct violation

Josh Stilts, Brattleboro Reformer| Bennington Banner   

05-15-12 -- A local lawyer has been suspended for what is being called "violation of the rules of professional conduct." . . . On Tuesday, William M. McCarty Jr., of Brattleboro, an attorney for 45 years, had his license to practice law suspended for six months by the Vermont Professional Responsibility board after his actions led to the wrongful eviction of a Vermont woman and a civil suit against his client, according to official documents. . . . McCarty told the Reformer that there’s no basis for the complaint or the conduct board’s ruling and said he has filed an appeal to the Vermont State Supreme Court.


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May 9, 2012 -- May 11, 2012

GENERAL

Dewey Hit with WARN Suit as Partner Departures Suggest Merger Didn't Take

By Brian Baxter, The Am Law Daily   

05-10-12 -- The gradual demise of Dewey & LeBoeuf continued on Thursday as more partners defected for Am Law 200 shops and a spin-off boutique. Plus, the struggling firm found itself hit with its first suit under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN), and federal regulators moved to take over its underfunded pension plans. . . . Vittoria Conn, whose LinkedIn page identifies her as a document specialist who has worked at Dewey since 1999, filed an 11-page complaint against the firm in U.S. district court in Manhattan. She accuses Dewey of failing to abide by state and federal laws requiring employers to provide between 60 and 90 days' notice of a mass layoff of more than 100 employees.


More Than Half of Bias Plaintiffs in ABF Study Deemed Their Lawyers Incompetent

By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

05-10-12 -- An American Bar Foundation study finds that neither side believes employment discrimination cases are fair, but plaintiffs’ dissatisfaction often extends to their lawyers. . . . The study is based on a random sample of 1,788 cases and 100 interviews with plaintiffs, defendants and lawyers, according to a press release. Plaintiffs start out optimistic, the study found, until they encounter significant obstacles. Costs are high, conflicts develop with lawyers, and personal lives are affected. They rarely get a final ruling on the substantive merits of their case. . . . Many of the plaintiffs cried during their interviews. Out of 41 plaintiffs interviewed, 27 reported their lawyers were incompetent or worked against them, according to the study published in Law & Society Review. A quarter thought their lawyers were corrupt. Some complained their lawyers failed to make them equal partners in the litigation.


Iranian lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah sentenced to nine years in jail

Posted by Saeed Kamali Dehghan, The Guardian Blog  

05-08-12 -- Thursday 3 May 2012 Dadkhah has defended several people on death row in Iran, including pastor Yusuf Naderkhani who is jailed for apostasy. . . . A prominent lawyer who worked on the case of a Christian pastor on death row in Iran for apostasy, which made headlines around the world, has been sentenced to nine years in jail. . . . Speaking to the Guardian from Tehran, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah said he had also been banned from teaching at universities or practicing law for an extra 10 years. . . . "I have been convicted of acting against the national security, spreading propaganda against the regime and keeping banned books at home," he said. Iranian authorities have used such vague charges to incriminate activists and lawyers in recent years. . . . Dadkhah has represented several political and human rights activists jailed in the aftermath of the country's 2009 disputed elections. He has also been the lawyer of the 32-year-old Yusuf Naderkhani, whose sentencing to death for apostasy triggered an international outcry.


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CALIFORNIA  

Attorney for Twentynine Palms tribe indicted on federal charges

Written by Keith Matheny, The Desert Sun  

05-11-12 -- An attorney for the Twentynine Palms Band of Mission Indians was among four people indicted Wednesday on federal bribery and money-laundering charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles announced Thursday. . . . The charges relate to tribal attorney Gary Edward Kovall, 66, of Ely, Minn., who prosecutors claimed steered to associates construction work related to expansion at the tribe's Spotlight 29 Casino. . . . The associates then overcharged the tribe and then steered kickbacks to Kovall, said Joseph N. Akrotirianakis, an assistant U.S. Attorney in the agency's Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section.


COLORADO   

Woman represented by fake lawyer asks court to toss murder-for-hire conviction

By Felisa Cardona, The Denver Post  

05-08-12 -- Ever since Gwen Bergman learned the lawyer who represented her during her murder-for-hire trial was a fake attorney, she has been fighting to have her conviction tossed out. . . . Over the last two days, U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez held an evidentiary hearing to decide whether Bergman's Sixth Amendment right to counsel was violated. . . . Following a bench trial, Bergman was convicted in May 2008 of trying to hire a hit man to kill her son's father. . . . She and her family had hired Howard O. Kieffer to represent her not knowing he was an ex-con with a record of fraud who never attended law school. They paid him about $70,000. . . . In June 2008, a Denver Post investigation uncovered Kieffer's true identity and notified Bergman that he was a fake. Kieffer was later convicted of various fraud-related charges and sentenced to nine years in federal prison. . . . A mistrial would seem a likely outcome for Bergman who didn't have a real lawyer, but the government is arguing she had adequate representation during the trial, because Kieffer brought in a licensed attorney to help him with the case.


FLORIDA  

Lippman guilty plea: “He drank the Rothstein Kool-Aid”

by Paul Brinkmann, South Florida Business Journal Reporter

05-11-12 -- Steven Lippman, former partner in Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein’s law firm, pleaded guilty to a one-count conspiracy charge Friday morning in Fort Lauderdale federal court. . . . “I think he drank the Rothstein Kool-Aid,” said Lippman’s defense attorney Bruce Zimet, after the hearing. “But he made several mistakes and is apologizing for those mistakes.” . . . Lippman is cooperating with authorities and expects to be a witness in the widely expected “big indictment”, expected later this year for several Rothstein associates.


Casey Anthony Won't Profit from Her Lawyer's Book, Says Jose Baez

People Magazine  

05-10-12 -- Jose Baez, the attorney who represented Casey Anthony, has written a tell-all book about the trial – and says his controversial client won't make any money off of it. . . . The 352-page book, titled Presumed Guilty: Casey Anthony: The Inside Story, will hit bookstores in July – a year after Anthony was acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. . . . "Casey will not financially benefit from this book in any way, shape or form," Baez tells PEOPLE. "This is my story, not hers."


GEORGIA  

Attorney's husband waives extradition

By Alexis Stevens, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution  

05-10-12 -- The man accused of shooting his wife eight times outside of their Sandy Springs apartment has waived extradition and will be returned to Georgia, police said Thursday. . . . Michael Parson, who was arrested in Texas over the weekend, is accused of shooting Adina Parson, an attorney for the state Department of Public Health, three times in the head April 20. In the days following the shooting, friends and relatives have said Michael Parson was among those at Grady Memorial Hospital hopeful for the woman's recovery. . . . After spending more than two weeks in critical condition at Grady, Adina Parson was transferred Tuesday to the Shepherd Center, where she is expected to remain indefinitely, doctors have said. She still has a bullet lodged in her chest, but has made significant progress, doctors said Monday.


Ga. Attorney Facing Felony Theft Charges For Failing to File Client Cases Is Disbarred

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

05-10-12 -- A longtime Georgia practitioner has been disbarred for taking clients' money without performing agreed work and closing his law office without notifying them. . . . However, an attorney who formerly shared an office with Robert Bach, said he believes the nearly 80-year-old attorney was suffering from age-related forgetfulness rather than simply being, as the state supreme court found, "willful" and "dishonest" in failing to perform work for which he had been paid, the West Cobb Patch reports.


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MICHIGAN  

Grand Rapids attorney is in prison on tax evasion; wife is released to care for child

By Barton Deiters | The Grand Rapids Press

05-11-12 -- As part of a plea deal worked out in federal court, former attorney Charles Rominger Jr. is serving his 15-month prison sentence while his wife, Nancy Dilley, is free to take care of their child. . . . Dilley, also a former lawyer, recently finished her eight-month prison sentence for failing to file a tax return in 2007. As part of her plea deal, she agreed to pay $86,703 to the government. . . . Dilley will now care for their 8-year-old son, whom her husband took care of during her prison stay.


NEW JERSEY  

Lawyer Is Suspended from Law Practice for Taking Quest for a Promotion Too Far

By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

05-10-12 -- An assistant corporation counsel accused of threatening a lawsuit against his boss unless he got a promotion and some cash has been suspended from law practice for a year. . . . The lawyer, Neil Howard Braunstein of Fanwood, N.J., pleaded guilty to attempted criminal coercion for the threatened lawsuit, according to the Legal Profession Blog and a decision (PDF) by the state Disciplinary Review Board. In a May 9 order, the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered the suspension.


NEW YORK  

Lawyer Little Charged With 11-Year Swiss Tax-Fraud Scheme

By Patricia Hurtado, Bloomberg    

05-11-12 -- The U.S. charged Michael Little, an attorney, with participating in an 11-year conspiracy that defrauded the Internal Revenue Service using Swiss bank accounts and sham mortgage transactions. . . . Little and unidentified co-conspirators, including five members of an U.S.-based family, first met at a New York hotel in August 2001, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a criminal complaint filed today. . . . During the meeting, Little advised family members, identified in court papers as the “S Family,” on how they could bring back to the U.S., without paying taxes, $10 million in overseas accounts that belonged to the family’s recently deceased patriarch.


Soccer Mom Madam Anna Gristina trying to add Daniel Geller, son of famed spoon-bender, to her legal team

British barrister has only been licensed to practice in New York for six weeks

By Helen Kennedy / New York Daily News

05-10-12 -- You’d have to be psychic to divine what legal maneuver Soccer Mom Madam Anna Gristina will try next. Maybe that’s why she’s trying to add the son of famed spoon-bender Uri Geller to her legal dream team. . . . Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan will decide next week whether Daniel Geller, 31, a British barrister who has only been licensed to practice in New York for six weeks, can join Gristina’s defense. . . . Merchan was skeptical about Geller’s lack of experience, given that Gristina wants to team him with her previous lawyer — Peter Gleason, an eccentric, Elvis-obsessed attorney who has never handled a felony case — and Norm Pattis, a Connecticut civil rights lawyer who is not licensed to practice law in New York. . . . But Geller’s father — the world’s most famous psychic and chum of mega-celebrities like Michael Jackson — predicted his son would be the British-born Gristina’s best hope.


OHIO  

Scam suspect relents, gets lawyer in Ohio court

By Thomas J. Sheeran, Associated Press | MiamiHerald.com  

05-10-12 -- A former fugitive charged with identity theft and running a $100 million scam collecting donations for Navy veterans tried representing himself in court Thursday before changing his mind and accepting an attorney. . . . The defendant goes by Bobby Thompson, but authorities don't think that's his real name and have been unable to identify him. . . . He told Judge Annette Butler in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court that he isn't an attorney but wouldn't say if he has a law school background because that relates to the issue of identity theft. . . . Authorities believe he defrauded donors of up to $100 million in 41 states, including $2 million in Ohio. A fraction of the money has been found. . . . He was arrested last week in Portland, Ore.


SOUTH CAROLINA   

Charleston attorney suspended following allegations of punching, biting Utah state trooper

By Glenn Smith, Post and Courier  

05-10-12 -- Charleston attorney Michael DuPree has been suspended from practicing law while officials investigate allegations that he punched and bit a Utah state trooper during a vacation traffic stop. . . . DuPree, 49, is accused of attacking a trooper who pulled over a car in which DuPree was riding in Park City, Utah, shortly after midnight March 22, according to a police report. The trooper stopped the car because it was traveling 5 mph over the speed limit and failing to stay in one lane, the report said. . . . When a trooper tried to question the driver, 48-year-old Rande Lane of Charleston, about how much he had a to drink, DuPree repeatedly interrupted, swore at the officer and refused to identify himself, troopers said. A trooper ended up shocking DuPree with a stun gun after he repeatedly refused commands to get out of the car, the report said.


TEXAS  

Texas DA Says He Won’t Step Down Despite His Indictment in Federal Racketeering Case

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

05-09-12 -- Urged to resign as a Texas prosecutor following his federal indictment in an unusual criminal racketeering case that accuses him of bartering prosecutorial discretion for cash, Cameron County's District Attorney is reportedly determined to stay in office. . . . Armando Villalobos, 44, who is also a Democratic candidate for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, insisted Monday, after his indictment was announced, that he would neither resign nor drop out of the Congressional race, according to the Brownsville Herald and the Houston Chronicle.


WASHINGTON   

Accused pencil-stabber guilty of murder

By Diana Hefley, Herald Writer 

05-09-12 -- Seconds after a Snohomish County jury convicted Joshua Monson of first-degree murder on Wednesday, corrections officers swiftly moved in to shackle his one free hand to a chair. . . . Monson, 28, didn't resist. . . .He faces more than 50 years in prison for the shooting death of Brian Jones, 30 on Jan. 2, 2011. . . . Jurors were told that Monson shot Jones, of Everett, in the back of the head at close range as Jones talked on a cellphone. In the hours leading up to the shooting, the men had been smoking methamphetamine in a south Everett apartment. . . . Some witnesses believed there was bad blood between the two over a woman. . . . Monson, who took the stand earlier this week, denied shooting Jones.


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May 5, 2012 -- May 8, 2012

GENERAL

Dewey Puts Employees on Notice For Termination; Banks Take Step to Secure Interest

By Sara Randazzo, The Am Law Daily 

05-04-12 -- Though Dewey & LeBoeuf leaders spent much of the week publicly denying that they are poised to shut down the struggling firm, Friday ended with the clearest signal yet that the end is in fact drawing near. . . . Dewey's recently instated executive partner, Stephen Horvath, sent a notice to all U.S. personnel at close of East Coast business hours alerting them that "it is possible that adverse developments could ultimately result in the closure of the Firm," according to a copy of the memo obtained by The Am Law Daily. The bulk of the letter includes disclaimers related to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires companies to give 60 days' public notice (and 90 days in New York) if a mass layoff is planned.


CALIFORNIA  

Former Perkins Coie Attorney Sues Firm Over Paycheck Deductions, Seeks Class Action Status

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

05-08-12 -- A corporate attorney who formerly worked in the Menlo Park, Calif., office of Perkins Coie has sued the law firm in federal court in California, contending that it improperly made deductions from his pay and did not provide an accurate, itemized statement of his wages as required by state law. . . . Harold DeGraff contends that Perkins Coie improperly deducted from his pay business expenses, unemployment insurance, Medicare and Social Security costs, among others, that should have been paid by the law firm, according to Courthouse News Service. . . . "These practices have been uniformly applied to dozens of attorneys classified as W-2 employees at Perkins Coie offices throughout California," the suit (PDF) alleges. It was filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco and seeks class action status on behalf of all attorneys who have worked or are working in the law firm's offices in California.


Attorney accepts disbarment for misappropriation of $1.1 million

By Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal  

05-03-12 -- In one of the largest misappropriation cases brought by the State Bar of California, a Los Angeles attorney has accepted disbarment for taking $1.1 million from 10 clients who retained him to solve their mortgage problems. . . . Vafa Allan Khoshbin, 52, of the Law Office of V. Allan Khoshbin in Los Angeles, who was admitted to practice in California in 1993, will be placed on inactive status on May 5 until the California Supreme Court approves his anticipated disbarment, according to bar officials.


 

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COLORADO   

Denver Lawyer Loses Liability Over Medical MJ Practice

Associated Press | Insurance Journal   

05-08-12 -- A Denver lawyer has lost her liability insurance because part of her practice involves representing medical-marijuana businesses. . . . The Denver Post reported the Hanover Insurance Group told Ann Toney last month it wouldn’t renew her malpractice coverage. It sent a notice saying Toney’s practice doesn’t meet current underwriting guidelines because she has an area of practice involving medical marijuana, which it said was a risk factor.


DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA  

Defense lawyer calls for coverup

By Gary Buiso,The New York Post  

05-06-12 -- This legal eagle has made herself over into the draped defender. . . . In a pandering fashion choice, Washington-based lawyer Cheryl Bormann showed up in the Guantanamo Bay terror courtroom yesterday in a traditional Muslim woman’s head garb (left). . . . Bormann, 52, who is representing Yemeni terror suspect Walid bin Attash, appeared before a judge clad in a black hijab, or traditional head covering, and long black robe. . . . She also suggested other women in the courtroom should follow her fashion example, so bin Attash and the other male defendants can look at them without “fear of committing a sin under their faith.”


FLORIDA  

Law class discussion raises questions about day care operator's manslaughter conviction

Curtis Krueger, Tampa Bay Times Writer

05-05-12 -- It's normal for Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin to visit law classes and teach students how autopsies are used in murder cases. . . . It's not so normal for a law student to relay one of Thogmartin's comments to a defense attorney, who then uses said comment to seek a new trial for a woman convicted of manslaughter. . . . But that's what happened Friday when a judge delayed sentencing for Stephanie Spurgeon, a Palm Harbor woman who was convicted of manslaughter in the death of a 1-year-old child.


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GEORGIA  

Wounded attorney moves to Shepherd Center

By Alexis Stevens, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution    

05-08-12 -- The attorney who survived being shot eight times outside her Sandy Springs apartment was transferred Tuesday to the Shepherd Center from Grady Memorial Hospital, where she had been since the April 20 shooting. . . . Adina Parson, 40, was shot three times in the head while in the breezeway of her apartment. Her husband, Michael Parson, has been charged in the shooting and is in custody in Texas, according to police. . . . The Texas Highway Patrol arrested Michael Parson just before midnight Saturday, one day after police announced an arrest warrant had been issued. . . . He has been charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and giving false statements in writing concealing the facts of a felony, Capt. Steve Rose with Sandy Springs police has said.


ILLINOIS  

Ethics Complaint Against Ex-PD Includes Allegation She Used the S-Word in Court

By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

05-08-12 -- An ethics complaint against a former assistant public defender in Cook County includes allegations that she yelled and said the S-word in court. . . . Therese Cesar Garza is accused of failing to communicate plea offers and disclosing confidential information about her clients to the judge, the Legal Profession Blog reports. In one case, she is accused of telling the judge, before a plea was entered, that the client stole baby formula to feed his 8-month-old child. . . . The ethics complaint also targets courtroom conduct deemed to be disruptive, including alleged use of the S-word.


Candidate for judge faces trial, charged with stealing rival's campaign signs

Would-be judge denies any wrongdoing

By Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune reporter  

05-08-12 -- Carl Boyd won the Democratic nomination in March for a subcircuit judge post in Cook County and is a shoo-in for the November election because he is running unopposed. But first he must deal with a trial late this month — his own. He faces a misdemeanor charge of allegedly stealing the campaign signs of a primary rival in the middle of the night. . . . Boyd, a veteran Chicago attorney, was arrested by Chicago police about 2 a.m. the day before the March 20 primary while allegedly in the possession of a dozen signs promoting the campaign of primary rival Chester Slaughter. . . . The arrest garnered no public attention, and the next day Boyd won in a landslide over Slaughter and two other candidates with more than half the vote.


Western Springs trial lawyer Robert Feldmeier dies

By Lloyd Nelson, La Grange Suburban Life

05-08-12 -- Robert C. Feldmeier, a Western Springs resident, trial lawyer and partner at Schiff, Hardin LLP, died Sunday at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago of cancer, his law firm said. . . . Feldmeier was 46. . . . A father of four, Feldmeier graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1987 and from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1990.


LOUISIANA   

La. Attorney Accused by Former Firm of Misusing Client Assets Has Given Up Law License

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

05-07-12 -- A prominent Louisiana attorney has given up his law license after being accused in a civil suit by his former law firm of misusing or misappropriating a seven-figure sum of client assets, including tax credits. . . . James M. “Tres” Bernhard III, who formerly served as an associate of Crawford Lewis, agreed to resign in lieu of discipline, the Louisiana Supreme Court announced on Friday. The agreement bars him from seeking admission in the future in Louisiana or any other jurisdiction, the Advocate reports.


NEBRASKA  

Disbarred Lawyer Gets 30 Days for Over a Decade of Unauthorized Practice of Law

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

05-07-12 -- A Nebraska lawyer who continued practicing law for over a decade after he was suspended in 1998 for failing to pay state bar dues has been criminally convicted of two misdemeanor counts of unauthorized practice of law and sentenced to 30 days in jail. . . . David M. Walocha, who is now 43, was disbarred earlier this year for the same conduct. . . . Prosecutor Katie Benson said the convictions represented just two of the 65 cases in which Walocha represented defendants in Douglas County Court between 1998 and 2011, reports the Omaha World-Herald.


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NEW YORK  

Lawyer Faces Possible Discipline Over Epic Christmas Poem About Neverending Divorce Case

By Staci Zaretsky, Above the Law 

05-07-12 -- If you’ve been representing someone in a knock-down, drag-out, decade-long divorce action, with no end in sight, it’s understandable that you’d be a little pissed off. And while some attorneys prefer to write “not so sincere” letters calling opposing counsel “a**holes,” others find more creative ways to channel their anger for the sake of poetic justice. . . . And while poetry may be the best way to make passive-aggressive complaints about your case, the next time you’re considering writing a four-page, 60-line email riffing on a classic holiday poem, you might want to consider your audience. Some people might not be fans of your rhyme scheme…. . . . A. Todd Merolla, of Merolla & Gold, may soon be facing disciplinary action from a New York court thanks to an epic poem sent right before Christmas via email to opposing counsel and a special referee on the case. . . . Click to read Merolla’s Christmas Poem


Patterson Belknap Wins More Pages in Line Spacing Spat

By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

05-07-12 -- Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler has won the right to include five extra pages in its brief opposing a dismissal motion after arguing that an opposing law firm benefited from a change in line spacing. . . . Patterson Belknap claimed its opponent did not follow requirements for double spaced briefs, resorting instead to 1.75-line spacing, according to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and Law 360 (sub. req.). As a result, Patterson Belknap argued, the opposing law firm was able to squeeze in about four extra lines per page, which amounted to about four extra pages in the opponent's 25-page dismissal motion.


PENNSYLVANIA  

Law License of Pa. State Senator Is Suspended Following Conviction in Political Corruption Case

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

05-08-12 -- The law license of a Pennsylvania state senator has been suspended after her March conviction in a political corruption case, the Legal Profession Blog reports. . . . Sen. Jane Orie was acquitted on 10 counts but found guilty of 14, including theft of services, forgery and conflict of interest, the Associated Press reported at the time.


TEXAS  

Jefferson County lawyers behaving badly: Lamb on the lam, Engle indicted again

By Marilyn Tennissen, Southeast Texas Record  

05-08-12 -- One local attorney appears to be on the lam after being indicted last week for allegedly taking a client's money, while another lawyer already in jail faces more charges of illegal conduct. . . . Kevin "Kip" Lamb, 56, was indicted May 3 on misapplication of fiduciary funds, a first-degree felony. . . . Criminal District Court Judge John Stevens issued a warrant for Lamb's arrest on Thursday after he was indicted. Law enforcement officers have been unable to locate the attorney and Lamb still is at large. . . . He is accused of taking more than $200,000 that was held in trust for a client.


Texas DA accused of racketeering urged to resign

Associated Press | Fox News 

05-08-12 -- The top elected official in a South Texas county called for the district attorney to resign Tuesday after he was indicted on federal racketeering charges. . . . Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos said District Attorney Armando Villalobos should step down and focus on defending himself against charges of extortion and honest services fraud. . . . "The concern is obvious: to try to effectively and efficiently run and manage his office under a cloud of indictment," Cascos said. "It's hard enough with the everyday challenges that that office encounters."


Villalobos, former partner charged with bribery, fraud

Brownsville Herald

05-07-12 -- A federal indictment has been returned against Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos and his former law partner Eddie Lucio, according to court documents. . . . Villalobos and Lucio – no relation to the state senator or state representative – are charged with racketeering. . . . Villalobos and Lucio pleaded not guilty to the charges after being arraigned on Monday afternoon. They were each released on an unsecured $50,000 bond. They also waived the reading of the federal indictment, which is 34 pages long. . . . John Blaylock, who serves as Lucio’s defense attorney, said a portion of the federal indictment has to do with the Amit Livingston case. / Read indictment against Villalobos, Lucio


 EVIDENCE OF MISCONDUCT

Specials / Evidence Of Misconduct

By David Boeri, A WBUR Series

02-19-10 -- When Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Auerhahn joined Boston’s war on organized crime, he turned his focus to an up-and-coming mobster named Vincent Ferrara. The operation was called “Tunnel Vision,” fitting for a case in which prosecutors were willing to break the rules to bring down their target. Auerhahn thought he had a smoking gun in a witness who testified that Ferrara ordered a hit. Problem is, the witness lied. Worse, a judge ruled Auerhahn knew he lied — and covered it up. . . . The case raises troubling questions from critics — including judges — who worry that withholding evidence has become a tactic of some federal prosecutors. Those critics question whether Justice can police itself. In three parts, WBUR’s David Boeri examines the case, the actions of the Boston prosecutor and how it was handled by the Department of Justice.


Part I: A Prosecutor, Mobster, A Witness Who Lied

In 2003, a judge found that a federal prosecutor for the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston, Jeffrey Auerhahn, intentionally withheld evidence that could have cleared two men charged in a murder case. In the first report, we consider the crucial evidence that Auerhahn never turned over. Full story »

Part II: ‘The Smokingest Gun’

The Department of Justice has never taken public action to discipline Auerhahn. Now the chief federal judge here has set local proceedings in motion to do what Justice hasn’t: publicly punish him. In the second report, we dive into the misconduct case against Auerhahn. Full story »

Part III: The Judges’ Rebellion

In the third report, we consider how the Department of Justice dealt with Auerhahn, and how it’s come to the point that federal judges in Boston could suspend or even disbar him. Full story »


The Courts:

Rochester resident puts American justice on trial

By Tim Louis Macaluso, rochestercitynewspaper

11-25-09 -- In the opening pages of "Ordinary Justice: How America Holds Court," Amy Bach recounts the story of a Texas defense lawyer, Joe Frank Cannon, who literally fell asleep during the trial of his client, Calvin Burdine. . . . After being convicted of murder for shooting a man during a convenience-store robbery, Burdine was sentenced to death. But in a sadly comical turn of events, a panel of federal appellate judges vigorously debated whether Burdine's attorney had violated the Constitution by repeatedly falling asleep, chin-to-chest, during his client's trial. . . . Burdine's death sentence was overturned and he was granted a new trial. But the real question, Bach says, is how did a defense lawyer sleep through a murder trial without a single objection from the judge, prosecutor, jurors, or courtroom witnesses? . . . After eight years of research, Bach found that such cases are not extraordinary. Instead, she says, they occur with disturbing regularity in courtrooms across the country, and require surprisingly little effort to find.


Missing: Ray F. Gricar Centre County, PA District Attorney

http://www.raygricar.com/ FBI MISSING PERSON

RAY GRICAR

 If you have information regarding the disappearance of Centre County, Pennsylvania District Attorney Ray F. Gricar, please contact the Bellefonte Police Department at (814) 353-2320 or your local law enforcement agency.

Please direct all media inquiries to
Tony Gricar at (937) 287-3841

RAY GRICAR

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INAUGURATED ON: September 6, 2004
Updated 05/16/2012