August 21 - August 23, 2010

GENERAL

Judge Approves Less Than Half of Milberg's 'Unusual' Added Fees Request

Nate Raymond, New York Law Journal

08-23-10 -- A federal judge has slashed what he called an "unusual" request for additional fees by Milberg for a 2006 settlement of a securities class action against Nortel Networks Corp. . . . Milberg, along with its Canadian co-counsel and the settlement's claims administrator, asked for $2.77 million in fees and expenses not included in their 2007 fee applications. Southern District of New York Judge Richard M. Berman, citing the "very substantial" $38 million in fees and expenses already awarded to Milberg and Koskie Minsky, based in Toronto, approved only 41 percent of the request. . . . The settlement stemmed from lawsuits filed in 2001 over an accounting scandal at Nortel, a Canadian-based manufacturer of telecommunications equipment.

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Salmonella Outbreak Draws Litigation

Sheri Qualters, The National Law Journal

08-23-10 -- Seattle food illness plaintiffs law firm Marler Clark filed what it believes is the first lawsuit linked to the nationwide recall of 380 million eggs. . . . The firm initially filed Dzinovic v. L&K Tricoli LCC in Wisconsin's Kenosha County Circuit court on July 22 against Baker Street Restaurant and Pub, which is K&L's business name. On Aug. 18, the firm amended the complaint to add Wright County Egg, a Galt, Iowa, egg producer linked to the salmonella outbreak.

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Sonnenschein Seeks Supreme Court Review of Dispute With Former Partner

Jeff Jeffrey, The National Law Journal

08-23-10 -- Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal has filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court, asking the justices to weigh in on a breach of contract dispute between the firm and a former partner. . . . The petition stems from a 2005 suit filed by Douglas Rosenthal, a former antitrust partner at Sonnenschein, alleging that he was not fairly compensated for representing the families of those killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. That contingency work made $18 million for Sonnenschein. Rosenthal also claimed he was owed origination credit for Sonnenschein's representation of Sun Microsystems against Microsoft Corp. That work generated $20 million for the firm. . . . Rosenthal said the firm kept him at the bottom of the partner pay scale, and encouraged him to forgo the Pan Am contingency work to focus on corporate clients who would guarantee a payout.

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CALIFORNIA  

Calif. Attorney Charged in Child Sex Sting

Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal

08-23-10 -- A Los Angeles attorney was charged on Aug. 18 in an Internet child sex sting. . . . The Los Angeles County, Calif., District Attorney's office alleged that Eduardo Brito Leaton, 39, made friends with a 16-year-old girl while intending to commit a "lewd act." He was arrested on Aug. 17 after sending sexually explicit e-mails to the girl, who was in reality an undercover police detective.

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Firm Says Its Fee in Beverly Hills Divorce Will Hit $1 Million

Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal

08-23-10 -- Lawyers at a boutique family law firm in Beverly Hills, Calif., are touting a judge's award of $1 million in legal fees as one of the largest granted in a divorce case prior to trial. . . . Steven Knowles and Michael Collum, who founded Knowles Collum last year, received the fee award during a hearing on Aug. 12. Los Angeles County, Calif., Superior Court Judge David Cunningham granted more than $20,000 in temporary monthly spousal and child support to Kathrin Saadian in her divorce from Beverly Hills real estate investor George Saadian. A trial is scheduled in December. . . . "This is a large fee award by any standard, even for a large firm," said Collum, whose firm represents Kathrin Saadian. "For a small firm, I've never heard of it."

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Tenacious attorney shaking up Merced legal system

By Jonah Owen Lamb, mercedsun-star.com  

08-23-10 -- About six months ago, Mishya Rimpel Singh, a 34-year-old attorney with Merced County's Public Defender's Office, was sent to defend misdemeanor cases as part of a rotation in her office. . . . She didn't like what she found. Few cases were going to trial. More often than not, defendants weren't getting a fair shake, she recalled. The prosecutors were often not willing to budge or compromise. "The dynamic and the culture in Misdemeanor Land were changing," she said. "I went there and challenged the status quo." . . . Under her direction, more and more misdemeanor cases were taken to trial instead being settled. The usual 10 to 20 misdemeanor trails a week jumped to 70 or 80. At one point there were so many misdemeanor trials, there weren't enough jurors. Bailiffs were collecting unwitting citizens from Starbucks.

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MARYLAND   

Attorney Pleads Guilty to Failing to File Maryland Income Tax Returns

Citybizlist press release

08-23-10 -- Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that attorney Gerald I. Katz, of Potomac, pled guilty today to two counts of willful faire to file Maryland income tax return in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. Judge William Mulford scheduled sentencing for October 19th. The charge is a misdemeanor subject to a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a $10,000 fine

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NEW YORK  

Federal Judge Finds No Conflict by Alleged Mob Counsel

Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal

08-23-10 -- A federal judge has refused to disqualify on conflict of interest grounds a defense attorney with deep ties to the Gambino organized crime family. . . . Attorney Joseph R. Corozzo Jr. is defending Michael Scarpaci against a multi-felony racketeering indictment, and prosecutors attempted to have him disqualified because of four alleged potential conflicts, including that his father and uncle are top Gambino figures, and the claim that Corozzo is a Gambino family associate and serves as its "house counsel." . . . But Southern District of New York Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote in United States v. Scarpaci, 09 Crim. 1243, that "the government has not identified any actual conflict of interest arising from Corozzo's representation of Scarpaci," and any of the potential conflicts raised by prosecutors may be waived by the defendant as long as the waiver "is knowing and intelligent."

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PENNSYLVANIA  

Ex-Attorney Charged With Embezzling $1 Million From Clients, Firm

Shannon P. Duffy, The Legal Intelligencer

08-23-10 -- When former attorney Jeffrey Abramowitz was indicted last week on charges of embezzling more than $1 million from his own clients, the news almost seemed to provide a sense of relief to his former law partner, Mitchell H. Klevan, who told The Legal Intelligencer that he has spent the past 20 months working to undo the damage of Abramowitz's alleged crimes. . . . Abramowitz, 47, is accused in the indictment of stealing money from clients by lying to them about the settlements of their cases. He allegedly spent some of the funds himself and diverted the rest to a "favored client" and her family. . . . According to Klevan, the alleged improprieties in Abramowitz's cases were exposed in late 2008 when some of the clients filed lawsuits against the two-lawyer firm and others filed complaints against Abramowitz with the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

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August 19 - August 20, 2010

GENERAL

What Can Lawyers Learn From 'Othello'?

Michael P. Maslanka, Texas Lawyer  

08-20-10 -- Shakespeare's "Othello" ends badly, with several bodies on stage. The tragic scene offers a cautionary tale for attorneys. Here's the combustible stew that brought about the carnage: Iago is a Venetian soldier. Othello is his high-ranking commander, who promotes the handsome and smooth-talking Cassio, an administrative-type, as his second-in-command, instead of Iago. An angered Iago vows vengeance. . . .Because the Turks declare war on Venice, the three of them sail off to Cyprus for battle, followed by Othello's smart and attractive new wife, Desdemona. She is white and young; Othello is black and aged. The two are very much in love, but the stark contrast between them undermines Othello's confidence. . . . Iago cooks up a plan. He gets Cassio demoted. Knowing Desdemona's good nature and decency, he persuades Cassio to ask her to intercede with Othello on Cassio's behalf. She does. The more she argues for Cassio's reinstatement, the more suspicious Othello becomes of her. . . . Iago then does two things: He subtly suggests to Othello that Cassio and Desdemona desire one another, and he plants evidence of Desdemona's supposed betrayal. The result is Othello going off the deep end and taking Desdemona's life. Realizing Iago's manipulation too late, he then takes his own life, gasping that "for naught/did I hate/but all in honor ... speak of one that loved not wisely but too well." The end. . . . What are Othello's lessons for lawyers? Two focus on key facets of human behavior, neither of them pretty.

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2nd Circuit Rejects Law Firm's Role Against Client's Subsidiary

Nate Raymond, New York Law Journal

08-20-10 -- A federal appeals panel has affirmed a lower court's ruling disqualifying Blank Rome from representing a company adverse to a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, which is a client of the firm. . . . The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Blank Rome could not continue representing GSI Commerce Solutions Inc. in litigation against BabyCenter LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, which the firm represents on compliance and privacy matters. . . . In a ruling in which the 2nd Circuit addresses for the first time whether a law firm infringed on its duty of loyalty by taking on a representation adverse to a client's corporate affiliate, the circuit affirmed a decision by Southern District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who found that Blank Rome's engagement letter had not given it broad authority to accept a case adverse to a Johnson & Johnson affiliate's interest.

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Judge Won't Enjoin Fee Fight Between Firms in Cell-Phone Contract Litigation

Lakin Chapman claims it has a right to fees as damages for breach of contract by Freed & Weiss in 'Larson v. Sprint Nextel Corp.'

Mary Pat Gallagher, New Jersey Law Journal

08-20-10 -- A U.S. judge in Newark on Wednesday allowed an arbitration to proceed between two Illinois firms over a portion of $5.775 million in legal fees approved as part of a class action settlement. . . . Lakin Chapman of Wood River, Ill., claims it has a right to one-third of the fees, or $1.925 million, as damages for breach of contract by the Chicago firm of Freed & Weiss, class counsel in Larson v. Sprint Nextel Corp., 07-cv-5325. . . . The suit challenged the imposition of flat-rate, early-termination fees on cell-phone contracts. . . .U.S. District Judge Jose Linares denied Freed's motion to enjoin the arbitration on the basis that it would essentially re-litigate Linares's earlier decision approving the settlement and allocating fees.

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9th Circuit Reverses $29 Million Fee Award Over Procedural Problem

Leigh Jones, The National Law Journal

08-20-10 -- A federal appeals court has snatched away a $29 million fee award that two law firms received for serving as lead plaintiffs counsel in a California backdating securities class action. . . . The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday vacated a lower court ruling granting the fee award to New York's Labaton Sucharow and Glancy Binkow & Goldberg of Los Angeles. In a 2-1 decision, an appeals panel held that U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel denied the plaintiffs in the backdating case the opportunity to argue for reducing the fee. The panel remanded to Fogel, who sits in the Northern District of California.

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Young Lawyers Turn to Public Service

By Lisa Faye Petak,  New York Times 

08-19-10 -- In August 2008, Nathan Richardson committed to following in the footsteps of so many young lawyers before him: a summer position with a big law firm, followed by a job offer before he ever cracked open a third-year textbook. And then everything changed. . . . With offers of employment made in August 2008 and the full force of the recession hitting in October, many big law firms — like Latham & Watkins, where Mr. Richardson was a summer associate — had to re-evaluate the job offers made to members of the class of 2009. As a way to keep their costs down while holding on to promising associates, many offered the graduates the chance to take up to a year off before starting as associates, complete with a stipend of $60,000 to $75,000. They could travel, do research, or choose — as many did — to work in the public sector.

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Harvard Leads Among Supreme Court Law Clerks

Tony Mauro, The National Law Journal

08-19-10 -- With a little help from its former dean Elena Kagan, Harvard Law School has edged out Yale Law School in the race for the most Supreme Court clerks this term. The Court on Wednesday released the official list of clerks and their law schools and prior clerkships, confirming what's been available at Above the Law and elsewhere.

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ARIZONA  

Supervisor Alleges He’s Victim of County Attorney Extortion Attempt

By Terry Carter, ABA Journal

08-20-10 -- There's no shortage of legal news out of Maricopa County, Ariz., when it comes to Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas. . . . After reports of the Justice Department's threats to sue Arpaio and allegations that private investigators were tailing a court-appointed lawyer hired to investigate abuse-of-power claims, came news from CBS Channel 5 that a member of the county board of supervisors alleges that when then-Maricopa County Attorney Thomas was preparing to resign so he could run for attorney general, a deputy county attorney, Lisa Aubuchon, tried to extort him into making sure Thomas and Arpaio got their choice for Thomas’ interim replacement.

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Attorney followed by PIs

Out-of-state lawyer investigating Thomas probe says he was shadowed

by Michael Kiefer and Yvonne Wingett - The Arizona Republic

08-19-10 -- Colorado attorney John Gleason, who was appointed by the Arizona Supreme Court to investigate the ethical conduct of former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Deputy County Attorney Lisa Aubuchon, said he was tailed by private investigators while in Phoenix earlier this year. . . . Gleason, who has made several trips to Phoenix since May, told The Republic on Wednesday that he was informed of the tails by other law-enforcement officials. He declined to answer detailed questions on the matter. . . . "In spite of the difficulty, we are conducting the investigation the court asked us to conduct," Gleason said. "It has no impact on the investigation." . . . The ethics inquiries were launched after a Superior Court judge ruled that Thomas had prosecuted Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox for political reasons. The State Bar of Arizona asked the Supreme Court to look into them, and the court appointed the out-of-state attorney to avoid conflict of interest.

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CALIFORNIA  

Howard Rice Sued for Deferring, Then Dumping, New Hire

Kate Moser, The Recorder

08-19-10 -- In the summer of 2008, with the country jittery over the spreading financial crisis, Sarah Martinez found herself among the unlucky crop of bright law school graduates whose big-firm job offers were deferred. . . . Now she's suing San Francisco's Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin, the firm that her lawyer says strung her along until past the point when she could have signed on with another big law firm. . . . Martinez's attorney, Kathleen Lucas, said Martinez's plight signals a larger problem. In fact, her San Francisco firm has been contacted by two other recent graduates who were put in a bind after firms rescinded their job offers. . . . "The issue really is this deferment -- they bring some of the people on, but not all of them," Lucas said. "How are they selected?"

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA  

Trial Date Set in Discrimination Suit Against Ballard Spahr

Jeff Jeffrey, The National Law Journal

08-19-10 -- A federal judge in Washington has set a May 16, 2011 trial date in a discrimination suit filed against Ballard Spahr by a former secretary. The setting of a trial date is the first action in the case since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit remanded the case in June. . . . The case stems from the 2004 firing of Vanessa McFadden, who had worked in the firm's Washington office as a legal secretary since 1989. According to her complaint, McFadden took a leave of absence from the firm in Oct. 2002, when her husband was diagnosed with cancer. McFadden began to have health problems of her own in April 2003, the complaint said.

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FLORIDA  

Fla. Bar Website Rules Face Challenge in State High Court

Julie Kay, Daily Business Review  

08-19-10 -- Proposed Florida Bar rules for web advertising would require law firms to spend millions of dollars redoing their existing sites, could push clients to choose law firms in other states, and violate the First Amendment. . . . Those are just a few of the objections submitted by eight large law firms that banded together to fight the proposal and submitted a 66-page comment to the Florida Supreme Court. The deadline for comments was Monday. . . . The Florida Bar has until Sept. 7 to respond.

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Many Fla. GCs Collected More Last Year Than in 2008

Mike Seemuth, Daily Business Review     

08-19-10 -- Many chief legal officers collected more compensation last year than in 2008 as their companies began to recover from the economic recession. . . . A Daily Business Review survey of pay for 34 corporate general counsel at public companies based in Florida shows 23, or 67 percent, got more total compensation in 2009 than in 2008.

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Chart: Corporate Counsel Compensation

Many general counsel in South Florida had little or no change in their base salary last year but collected more bonus money and stock awards after their companies' financial performance improved. . . . For example, a larger stock award helped make Thomas W. Hawkins the highest-paid chief legal officer at a publicly traded company in South Florida. Hawkins is senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Mednax, formerly known as Pediatrix, a leading provider of pediatric physician services that has diversified into anesthesia services. The Sunrise-based company increased both its revenue and net income last year compared with 2008.

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MASSACHUSETTS   

Massachusetts Same-Sex Ruling on Hold

Marcia Coyle, The National Law Journal

08-20-10 -- A Massachusetts federal court decision striking down as unconstitutional a section of the federal Defense of Marriage Act will go on hold pending any appeal by the government. . . . The U.S. Department of Justice and parties represented by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders on Wednesday agreed to a stay of the decision issued by U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro last month in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management. . . . At the same time, the judge issued an amended judgment which described what his July decision means for each plaintiff -- seven married, same-sex couples and three widowers. That judgment was agreed to by both the group and the department.

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MINNESOTA   

Lawyer admits he had cocaine in Winona courtroom

By Nolan Rosenkrans, winonadailynews.com

08-19-10 -- Another loose end was tied in a notorious murder case Wednesday when the attorney for a convicted killer admitted possessing cocaine in a Winona courtroom. Chuck Ramsay, 43, pleaded guilty to third-degree possession of cocaine. The plea agreement calls for Ramsay to spend, at most, 30 days in jail. . . .   His lawyers will also argue at his Sept. 20 sentencing that Judge Jeff Thompson should convict him of a gross misdemeanor or misdemeanor instead of a felony. . . . After a drawn out, 19-month process — delayed by failed attempts to resolve the case, and the murder trial of Ramsay’s client Jack Willis Nissalke — Ramsay succinctly steered the case toward closure Wednesday in the courtroom. . . . “I’m not innocent, your honor,” Ramsay said.

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MISSISSIPPI  

Zach Scruggs Wants Fraud Conviction Tossed

Shelia Byrd, The Associated Press, Law.com

08-20-10 -- Zach Scruggs is asking a federal judge for a chance to clear his name in a judicial bribery scheme that toppled his attorney father and other prominent attorneys and officials. . . . Zach Scruggs -- son and former law partner of disgraced former litigator Richard "Dickie" Scruggs -- was released from a halfway house in August 2009 after serving a 14-month sentence and lives in Oxford, Miss. He has filed a motion asking the court to vacate his conviction, eliminate the terms of his supervised release and refund the $250,000 in fines or fees he paid. . . . In the documents that first appeared Thursday in federal court records, Zach Scruggs said a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision shows he didn't violate the "honest services" fraud law.

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Killer's attorney pleads guilty to having cocaine in Winona courtroom

Pioneer Press

08-19-10 -- A convicted killer's attorney has pleaded guilty to having cocaine in a Winona courtroom, a local newspaper is reporting. . . . Chuck Ramsay, 43, pleaded guilty Wednesday to third-degree possession of cocaine, according to the Winona Daily News. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 20.

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NEBRASKA  

Informant lawyer: ‘I had to do it'

By Juan Perez Jr., World-Herald Staff Writer 

08-20-10 -- Omaha attorney Terry Haddock says he knew he risked losing everything by becoming an informant in a federal drug ring investigation. . . . He would put his family in jeopardy. Mistakes in his legal career, his dimming financial picture and medical problems would be exposed, he said. . . . He expected defense lawyers to call him a liar and seek to discredit him. . . . All because Haddock, 52, would record his talks with Shannon Williams, a gang member and convicted crack dealer who once was acquitted of a murder charge. . . . “I had a personal struggle with myself whether to get involved in that,” Haddock told a federal judge Thursday after emerging from eight months in seclusion. . . . “But I could not live with the fact that this man would be walking the streets. I had to do it.”

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NEW YORK  

New York City Bar Enters Debate Over Mosque Near Ground Zero

Bar president defends construction citing freedom of religion as a cornerstone of the U.S. Constitution

Daniel Wise, New York Law Journal

08-20-10 -- The New York City Bar issued a strongly worded statement Wednesday defending the right of Muslims to build an Islamic center and mosque, two blocks from ground zero, saying "our nation is the stronger, both internally and in its standing in the world, for preserving religious freedom." . . . The statement issued by City Bar President Samuel W. Seymour placed the association in the midst of a political debate stirred by President Barack Obama's defense last week of Muslims' right to build the mosque as reflecting religious freedoms that are "essential to who we are." . . . Stewart D. Aaron, president-elect of the New York County Lawyers' Association, which is located across the street from ground zero, said in an interview yesterday that NYCLA was founded on a commitment to "inclusion" and "welcomes the mosque to the neighborhood" as an addition that would make "the area around ground zero more vibrant."

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Cuomo Cracks Down on Lawyers Offering Immigrant Legal Services

By Joel Stashenko | New York Law Journal | New York Lawyer

08-19-10 -- In Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's latest move against entities he contends are purporting to offer legal services for immigrants that are never delivered or are delivered illegally, his office said Mr. Cuomo has gotten assurances from seven companies that they will close. The latest companies include Oficina Legal Para Hispanos in Manhattan, which is run by attorney Geoffrey S. Stewart, the son of disbarred defense attorney Lynne Stewart, who is now in prison following her conviction for providing material support to a terrorist conspiracy.

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Ex-Prosecutor’s Monthly Student Loan Bill Was Unlawfully Cut From $1,030 to $400, Says IG Report

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

08-19-10 -- A former New York prosecutor benefited from special treatment by a state agency, which unlawfully arranged during the past three or four years to cut his monthly student loan bill from $1,030 to $400, an inspector general's report says. . . . Then, when Michael McDermott still didn't ante up the $400, workers at the Higher Education Services Corp. canceled over $2,000 in collection fees and protected him from wage garnishment, the IG contends in a report today. Former Albany County prosecutor McDermott is now in private practice at O'Connell & Aronowitz, reports the Albany Times Union.

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OHIO  

Report: State lawyers were moonlighting

By James Nash, The Columbus Dispatch

08-20-10 -- Two well-compensated lawyers for the state collected thousands of dollars on the side working for private clients while on government time, an investigative report concluded yesterday. . . . Inspector General Thomas P. Charles' probe found that a $110,000-a-year attorney for the Ohio Board of Pharmacy and an $80,000-a-year lawyer for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency improperly moonlighted on state time. . . . David Rowland, the chief legal counsel for the Board of Pharmacy, earned about $40,000 a year for private work on top of his state job, the inspector general said.

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OREGON  

Oregon bar suspends attorney Mark Lawrence in McMinnville bottom-slapping case

The Associated Press, OregonLive.com 

08-19-10 -- An Oregon defense attorney has been ordered suspended after releasing a confidential recording in a juvenile case to media as the case was attracting national attention three years ago. . . . The McMinnville News-Register reports that the Oregon State Bar has ordered attorney Mark Lawrence suspended from practice for 60 days over the 2007 disclosure in the case of middle school boys in McMinnville facing criminal charges for slapping the bottoms of female classmates.

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PENNSYLVANIA  

Phila. lawyer Abramowitz accused of stealing from clients, firm

by Jeff Blumenthal, Staff Writer Philadelphia Business Journal

08-20-10 -- A Philadelphia lawyer has been indicted for allegedly embezzling more than $1 million from clients and his former law firm, federal prosecutors in Philadelphia said Friday. . . . The U.S. Attorney’s Office said an indictment against Jeffrey Abramowitz, 47, of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., was unsealed Friday that charged him with five counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Abramowitz is a former partner at Klevan & Abramowitz — referred to in the indictment as “law firm no. 1” — which was located at 1515 Market St. He was arrested Thursday and will make his first court appearance Friday afternoon.

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Wyeth Wins Second Hormone Replacement Therapy
Case in a Row

Amaris Elliott-Engel, The Legal Intelligencer

08-20-10 -- A Philadelphia jury found Wednesday that the hormone replacement therapy drug Prempro was not the cause of two Pennsylvania women's breast cancer. . . . The first Philadelphia hormone replacement therapy trial to group cases of multiple plaintiffs together for one trial was reverse bifurcated, and the plaintiffs attorneys first had to prove to the jury the causation of the plaintiffs' breast cancer from their use of Prempro. . . . Judge James Murray Lynn presided over the trial. The first phase opened July 27 and continued for almost three-and-a-half weeks.

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Center City Lawyer Facing Federal Embezzlement Charges

KYW Newsradio

08-20-10 -- A now-suspended Philadelphia attorney has been indicted on charges he ripped off his clients and his law firm. . . . KYW’s Tony Hanson reports that a federal grand jury alleges that attorney Jeffrey Abramowitz stole clients’ settlement money, cash he claimed would be held in escrow, and the firm’s legal fees between 2005 and 2008.

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RHODE ISLAND  

Lawyer, developer charged in RI corruption scheme

By Eric Tucker, AP, BusinessWeek

08-20-10 -- A lawyer and a developer were indicted Thursday in a corruption investigation that has led to charges against three former North Providence town council members and that federal prosecutors say involves bribe offers totaling more than $100,000. . . . A new grand jury indictment alleges a pattern of pay-to-play government in which businesses were extorted by members of the town council, and in which zoning changes sought by developers were available for a fee of thousands of dollars. . . . The indictment charges attorney Robert Ciresi and developer Edward Imondi, alleging they acted as middlemen for bribes offered to town council members and collected a portion of the payments.

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TEXAS  

Bar Turns Over 63,000 Member E-Mail Addresses to Law Student

By Mary Alice Robbins, Texas Lawyer  

08-19-10 -- Facing allegations that they violated the Texas Public Information Act, on Aug. 16 State Bar of Texas officials released to a member of the public the e-mail addresses of nearly 63,000 lawyers. . . . Joe Crews, who represents Marni von Wilpert in her suit against the State Bar and its executive director Michelle Hunter, says the list of lawyers’ e-mail addresses clearly is subject to the Public Information Act. . . . “I don’t understand why it was an issue,” says Crews, owner of the Crews Law Firm in Austin. . . . On Aug. 14, von Wilpert filed von Wilpert v. State Bar of Texas, et al. in a state district court in Travis County. As noted in the original petition, von Wilpert seeks a declaratory judgment that the defendants violated the Public Information Act and injunctive relief to require release of the information. But the State Bar voluntarily released the e-mail addresses.

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Former Texas District Attorney Indicted

By David Lee,  Courthouse News Service  

08-19-10 -- A former district attorney of Jim Wells County is accused of taking more than $200,000 in seized money for himself. A grand jury accused Joe Frank Garza, 63, of misapplication of fiduciary property, a first-degree felony. Garza was district attorney for Jim Wells and Brooks Counties in south Texas from 2003 to 2008. . . . According to the indictment and court records, Garza took "$200,000 or more" in asset forfeitures, and spent it on himself and his employees. . . . An audit conducted after Garza left office found that more than $1.2 million had been transferred to two of Garza's secretaries and his office's head of crime victims service from 2004 to 2008, according to an Associated Press report, which cited the Alice News-Echo. . . . The money allegedly was spent on car allowances, stipends, reimbursements, advances, audits, travel and contract labor.

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Rule 11 Sanctions Vacated Against Sidley, McKool Smith in Infringement Case Gone Bad

Alison Frankel, The American Lawyer

08-19-10 -- Rule 11 sanctions are always a black mark on a firm's good name, no matter how trivial the monetary consequences. So when Fort Worth, Texas, federal district court Judge Terry Means imposed sanctions on McKool Smith and Sidley Austin, finding them liable for pursuing frivolous claims on behalf of a patent holding company called Allcare Health Management Systems, McKool and Sidley took the matter quite seriously indeed, even though Means demanded just $5,000 from McKool and $2,500 from Sidley. McKool hired Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner and Sidley brought in Baker Botts to get the sanctions overturned. . . . Last week their efforts succeeded. Means agreed, in a 52-page order, to vacate sanctions against McKool, Sidley and two other firms that had represented Allcare in patent infringement litigation against Highmark Inc., a health insurance company. "It was a very regrettable situation," Mike McKool told us. "This was the first time, to my knowledge, that I or my law firm was ever accused of misconduct."

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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 »

August 24 - August 25, 2010

FEDERAL COURTS

Is 'Private' Data on Social Networks Discoverable?

Calif. federal court ruling holds that messages and comments on social networks visible to a restricted set of users are protected

Alan Klein, John M. Lyons and Andrew R. Sperl, The National Law Journal

08-25-10 -- On May 26, a federal court issued an opinion in a discovery dispute that applies outmoded federal electronic privacy laws from the 1980s to Facebook and MySpace. The ruling could permanently change the way "social networking" sites are viewed by businesses and those involved in litigation. The decision also appears to offer the first in-depth analysis on the effect of "privacy settings" found on many social networking sites and whether information is protected from discovery by federal privacy laws. . . . The U.S. district court's decision partially reversed and partially vacated a magistrate judge's order declining to quash subpoenas for certain materials held by a third party in a copyright infringement case. See Crispin v. Christian Audigier Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. Lexis 52832 (C.D. Calif. May 26, 2010). The decision appears to be the first to apply the Stored Communications Act, enacted in 1986, to content on today's social networking sites. See 18 U.S.C. 2701-11. The plaintiff, an artist named Buckley Crispin, claimed that the defendants, Christian Audigier Inc. and its sublicensees, used his artwork in violation of their oral agreement. The defendants sought information from MySpace and Facebook, including Crispin's subscriber information and all communications by Crispin referring to any of the defendants. A federal magistrate declined to quash certain of the defendants' subpoenas, rejecting among other arguments that the information they sought was protected by the SCA.

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Televangelist's lawsuit against ABC reinstated

Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer

08-25-10 -- A federal appeals court reinstated a slander suit Tuesday against ABC-TV by a Southern California televangelist who was misleadingly shown on "20/20" as bragging about his wealth. . . . The ruling could come into play in another national media controversy - this one involving a U.S. Department of Agriculture official who was fired after a blogger posted a video that appeared to show her making racist remarks that in fact were taken out of context. . . . The Rev. Frederick Price sued ABC and its then-correspondent, John Stossel, over the news program's use of a film clip of one of his sermons in a March 2007 program. . . . It showed him telling his congregation, "I live in a 25-room mansion. I have my own $6 million yacht," a private jet, a helicopter and seven luxury cars. . . . Stossel introduced the clip by saying Price boasts of his riches, and followed it with a discussion with a watchdog about ministers who hide their church's finances. . . .In fact, however - as ABC acknowledged in a subsequent apology and retraction - Price was speaking not about himself, but about a hypothetical person who was materially wealthy and spiritually unfulfilled.

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Judge in Clemens Case Tells Parties to Keep Their Mouths Shut

Mike Scarcella, The National Law Journal

08-24-10 -- After a grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted Roger Clemens last week with lying to Congress about taking steroids, the decorated former pitcher swiftly took to Twitter to refute the allegations. . . . Clemens denied taking steroids. He denied lying to Congress. He said he looks forward to challenging the government's case. . . . All the chatter didn't sit well with the federal judge in Washington who picked up the case. Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a stern directive Monday evening to Clemens, the lawyers in the case and the potential witnesses: keep quiet.

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Feds: Supreme Court Ruling Led to Dismissal Against Westar Executives

Roxana Hegeman, The Associated Press, Law.com

08-24-10 -- A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling requiring proof of kickbacks or bribes in prosecutions involving the theft of so-called honest services left prosecutors with "little choice" but to dismiss charges against two former Westar Energy executives, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Monday. . . . "The law no longer supported our position," U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said in a statement. "We were duty-bound not to go forward with the prosecution." . . . Former Westar Chief Executive David Wittig and his top strategy officer, Douglas Lake, were charged in 2003 with conspiring to inflate their compensation from the Topeka, Kan.-based utility and taking steps to hide their actions. . . . U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson dismissed all charges against them on Friday at the request of federal prosecutors.

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Federal Judge Blocks Stem Cell Research Funding

Mike Scarcella, The National Law Journal

08-24-10 -- A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Monday issued a ruling temporarily blocking the implementation of new guidelines under the Obama administration that authorize the National Institutes of Health to fund more human stem cell research. . . . The ruling for the plaintiffs follows a victory in a federal appeals court in Washington in June that revived the challenge of the final guidelines the NIH published in July 2009. The U.S. Department of Justice said it was reviewing the ruling Monday and declined further comment.

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Feinberg Says No-Sue Rule Was His Idea, Not BP's

The claims facility run by Feinberg will take over from BP the processing of claims by individuals and businesses

Harry R. Weber, The Associated Press, Law.com

08-24-10 -- The new administrator for damage claims from victims of the Gulf o fMexico oil spill said Sunday it was his idea, not BP's, to require that anyone who receives a final settlement from the $20 billion compensation fund give up the right to sue the oil giant. . . . But Kenneth Feinberg told reporters he has not yet decided whether the no-sue requirement will extend to other companies that may be responsible for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. . . . He insisted that payouts from the claims facility he will run will be more generous than those from any court. Feinberg also ran the government compensation fund created after the 9/11 attacks, and there was a similar no-sue provision.

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2nd Circuit: Claim, Appeal Count as 2 'Strikes' Under Prison Law

Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal

08-24-10 -- A dismissed complaint and subsequent appeal on the same issue constitute two separate "strikes" against a prisoner under a federal law limiting frivolous prison litigation, a federal appeals court has ruled. . . .The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which limits "actions" brought by prisoners, divides the underlying case and appeal from the dismissal of that case into two actions for purposes of the "three-strikes" litigation rule. . . . Addressing an issue of first impression, Judges Joseph M. McLaughlin, Guido Calabresi and Debra Ann Livingston decided the appeal in Chavis v. Chappius, 07-2304-pr.

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CALIFORNIA  

Calif. Legislature OKs Expedited Jury Trials

Governor has until the end of September to act on the bill

Kate Moser, The Recorder

August 25, 2010A bill that provides for expedited, streamlined jury trials in California has cruised out of the state Legislature with a unanimous vote. . . . Insurers and both the plaintiff and defense bars are enthusiastic about the Expedited Jury Trials Act. . . . Christopher Dolan, president of the Consumer Attorneys of California, described an "unusual constellation of parties coming together" over the legislation. . . . AB 2284 (.pdf), introduced by veteran civil litigator Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, would allow litigants -- if both sides agree -- to opt for quicker, simpler trials in civil cases.

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Will Solicitor General Weigh In on Proposition 8 Case?

Possible Justice Department involvement complicated by past actions

David Ingram, The National Law Journal

08-25-10 -- Days before the 2008 election, then-candidate Barack Obama said California's Proposition 8 was "unnecessary" and "not what America's about." . . . Now, some same-sex marriage advocates are hoping Obama's Justice Department will make a similar argument in court. The federal government is not a party to the Proposition 8 itigation, which pits gay and lesbian couples against supporters of a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. But the Justice Department could weigh in as amicus curiae -- either when the case arrives at the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court or, sooner, before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Such a decision would typically be up to Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal with input from across the federal government, including the White House.

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FLORIDA  

Battle Over Smoking in Condos Catches Fire in Florida

I.M. Stackel, Daily Business Review

08-25-10 -- If you can smell it, it can hurt you. . . . That contention has churned up debate among condominium owners over the right to smoke cigarettes in one's own unit versus a neighbor's right to breathe clean air. . . . Lawsuits are being filed around the nation, and some attorneys who represent Florida condominium associations say the issue could soon be coming to a court here. . . . Coral Gables real estate agent Ana Anderson moved out of her Silver Palms condo last month because her neighbors' smoke was seeping into her walls and through her ventilation system. Minimally, Anderson wants to recoup the cost of medical bills, sealing off her apartment from smoke, and wages lost due to illness. She also wants Silver Palms to become a smoke-free building. She said she will sue if she has to and is in the process of hiring attorneys who are well-versed in the issues.

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Judge Orders Return of Some of Kim Rothstein's Seized Jewelry

John Pacenti, Daily Business Review 

08-25-10 -- Federal prosecutors and the wife of imprisoned Ponzi scammer Scott Rothstein have reached a settlement over seized jewelry and other items she wants returned to her. . . . Kim Rothstein petitioned U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn on June 18 to have the government return 304 pieces of jewelry she claimed were not associated with Rothstein's $1.2 billion scam. She said the items were not gifts from her husband, but given to her by other people.

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GEORGIA  

Ga. Death Row Inmate Failed to Prove Innocence, Rules Federal Judge

Condemned inmate's lawyers say they will appeal; case could move directly to the U.S. Supreme Court

Alyson M. Palmer, Fulton County Daily Report

08-25-10 -- A federal judge in Savannah, Ga., on Tuesday ruled against Troy Davis' claims that he is innocent of the 1989 murder for which he's been sentenced to death. . . . The decision came nearly a year after the U.S. Supreme Court granted the request Davis' supporters had been making for years: ordering a judge to review what they say is evidence showing that Davis did not murder Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail.

But after hearing two days of testimony in June, U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. declared in a 172-page order that he wasn't impressed.

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Ethics Probe to Review Cases of Judge and Lawyer Caught Having Sex in Parked Car

By R. Robin McDonald | Daily Report | New York Lawyer

08-24-10 -- The Georgia Public Defender Standards Council has retained the former president of the State Bar of Georgia to investigate whether an affair between former Griffin Superior Court Chief Judge Paschal English and Kim Cornwell, a Griffin Circuit public defender, compromised any of Cornwell’s cases that were adjudicated by English. . . . Mack Crawford, the council’s executive director, said that after consultation with Gov. Sonny Perdue’s executive counsel, Nels Peterson, and the Georgia Attorney General’s office, he asked Bryan M. Cavan to conduct an independent investigation. . . . “I felt like the agency needed to insure that defendants’ rights were not compromised,” Crawford said. “As director [of the Standards Council], I had a responsibility to our clients. … I felt like it needed to be someone who wasn’t associated with the circuit.”

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INDIANA  

Anti-Abortion Group Loses 7th Circuit Challenge to Judicial Campaign Ethics Rule

Leigh Jones, The National Law Journal

08-25-10 -- A right-to-life group has lost a second round in its challenge to an Indiana ethics rule that prohibits judges from identifying their views on abortion. . . . The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed on a technicality a lower court that upheld the state's Code of Judicial Conduct, which bars judges and candidates in judicial elections from making statements that are "inconsistent with the impartial performance of judicial office." . . . The court dismissed the case, brought by Indiana Right to Life Inc., as unripe. The defendants were the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications and the Indiana Disciplinary Commission. . . . The appeals panel left undecided whether the Indiana rule runs afoul of a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Republican Party of Minnesota v. White.

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KENTUCKY  

Judge rules against coal company that disciplined miner who shot video

By Bill Estep - herald-leader.com

08-25-10 -- A coal company improperly disciplined a Letcher County miner who used a video camera to document leaking seals in an underground mine, an administrative law judge has ruled. . . . Charles Scott Howard played the video for officials at a meeting in Lexington in July 2007, as regulators considered new rules on mine seals in the wake of explosions that killed 17 men in Kentucky and West Virginia in 2006. . . . Mine seals are meant to block off water and deadly explosive methane gas in unused parts of mines. Inadequate seals were implicated in both blasts. . . . The reaction was swift after Howard showed the footage he had shot at the Cumberland River Coal Co. Band Mill No. 2 mine. . . . Federal inspectors went to the mine that day and ultimately cited alleged safety violations related to seals. . . . In short order, the company put a discipline letter in Howard's file.

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MINNESOTA   

Minn. Bridge Collapse Victims Get $52 Million Settlement

Ross Todd, The American Lawyer

08-2-10 -- 5Attorneys for the victims of the bridge collapse that killed 13 people in Minneapolis in August 2007 announced Monday that they had reached a settlement with the engineering company responsible for inspecting the bridge. In negotiations held this past weekend, San Francisco-based URS Corp. agreed to pay $52.4 million to more than 100 people who sued the company in Minnesota state court. . . . Monday's settlement announcement concludes three years of work on behalf of the victims by a 17-firm pro bono consortium led by Chris Messerly and Philip Sieff at Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi.  The I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River on August 1, 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 145. The American Lawyer previously chronicled the pro bono efforts that led to the state of Minnesota creating a $36.64 million fund for victims in May 2008.

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NEW YORK  

After Almost 8 Years, Simpson Thacher Wins Summary Judgment Ruling Worth $420 Million for Travelers

Alison Frankel, The American Lawyer

08-25-10 -- As Manhattan state Supreme Court Judge Richard Lowe III would frequently remind United States Fidelity & Guaranty outside counsel Mary Kay Vyskocil and Chet Kronenberg of Simpson Thacher, their client's fight to recoup reinsurance payments for about half of its $987 million settlement with an asbestos policyholder has been kicking around his docket for quite a long time. Simpson filed the breach of contract suit in 2002, after USF&G's reinsurers balked at covering their share of USF&G's 2002 settlement with its policyholder Western Asbestos Co. But facts in the case stretched back all the way to 1948, when USF&G, now part of Travelers, first wrote a policy for Western Asbestos; some of the reinsurance treaties at issue in the case before Lowe were written more than 60 years ago.

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Defense Insists Informant's Tale of N.Y. Bomb Plot a 'Work of Fiction'

Before trial, defendants moved to dismiss indictment on grounds of outrageous government conduct

Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal

08-25-10 -- Calling the U.S. government's case against a suspected terrorist a "work of fiction," defense lawyer Vincent Briccetti's opening argument on Tuesday took aim at a paid informant, saying that defendant James Cromitie was entrapped into a plot to bomb Riverdale synagogues and shoot down military aircraft. . . . The alleged plot that ended with the arrest last year of Cromitie and three others, Briccetti yesterday told a Southern District jury, was really "a movie, produced, written, directed, starred in, and even edited by" the informant, Shaheed Hussain. . . . "What you will learn is that it was Hussain who [chose] what to record -- when to turn the cameras on and when to turn them off," Briccetti said during openings in United States v. Cromitie. "This movie is not a documentary. It's actually a work of fiction."

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PENNSYLVANIA  

Analysis: Pfizer Appeals Court's Recognition of New Pharma Cause of Action

Some believe action is reflective of the modern market for pharmaceutical products

Amaris Elliott-Engel, The Legal Intelligencer

08-24-10 -- In the wake of the Pennsylvania Superior Court's recognition of a new pharmaceutical liability cause of action, drugmaker Pfizer is asking the appeals court to reconsider or hold a new en banc argument on its ruling that plaintiffs can sue pharmaceutical companies for the allegedly negligent design of their products. . . . The panel of Judges Cheryl Lynn Allen, Correale F. Stevens and Susan Peikes Gantman ruled Aug. 6 that a negligent design defect claim regarding pharmaceutical drugs is distinct from a strict liability design defect claim and can be recognized in Pennsylvania. Gantman concurred in the result only.

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TEXAS  

3rd Court rules in divorce battle over Chihuahua

Miriam Rozen, Tex Parte Blog

08-25-10 -- Let the clichés flow: It’s a dog-eat-dog world. Every dog has his day. A dog is man’s best friend. On Aug. 25, the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin issued a memorandum opinion affirming a trial court’s judgment that allowed Brooke Ashley Calder to keep a Chihuahua named Clementine. Daniel Naeter Calder, who filed for a divorce from Brooke Ashley in 2009, had appealed to the 3rd Court, challenging a trial court’s judgment confirming that Clementine was Brooke’s separate property. The memorandum opinion was issued by a panel of three, including Justices Bob Pemberton and Alan Waldrop and the opinion’s author, Chief Justice J. “Woodie” Woodfin Jones. Jones writes that Clementine was purchased before the marriage took place and therefore was separate, not community, property.

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Glitter Pencils and Frisbees: DA's Spending Questioned in Class Certification Motion

Mary Alice Robbins Texas Lawyer

08-24-10 -- Plaintiffs in a civil rights suit against five officials in Shelby County, Texas, including the district attorney, have raised new allegations about the use of money seized from nonwhite motorists driving through the East Texas town of Tenaha. . . . On Aug. 16, the eight plaintiffs in Morrow, et al. v. Washington, et al. filed a motion for class certification in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Marshall, Texas. . . . In their motion, the plaintiffs allege that while one defendant claims "God 'ordained' him to patrol Highway 59" around Tenaha, "other evidence suggests Defendants were actually motivated by money."

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August 21 - August 23, 2010

FEDERAL COURTS

2nd Circuit Further Clarifies Statute on Wrongly Attached Funds Transfers

Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal

08-23-10 -- Continuing its efforts to clarify the law on the attachment of funds held momentarily in New York banks via electronic transfers, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that creditors may not reattach funds that have been found wrongly attached and sequestered by intermediate banks in a non-electronic funds transfer suspense account. . . . The ruling in Scanscot Shipping Services v. Metales Tracomex LTDA, 09-5280-cv, is the latest of several following the circuit court's precedent-changing decision last year in Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. v. Jaldhi Overseas Pte Ltd., 585 F. 3d 58.

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Sanofi-Aventis Sues FDA to Stop Generic Blood-Thinner Drug

Jenna Greene, The National Law Journal

08-23-10 -- In a closely watched case that could have major implications for the future of drug competition, Sanofi-Aventis has sued the Food and Drug Administration in bid to halt a generic version of one of its top-selling drugs, a blood thinner made from pig intestines. . . . Fights between brand-name and generic drugmakers and the FDA are nothing new. But this battle stands to set an important precedent for how the agency handles biologic drugs, which are derived from living organisms and account for more than $40 billion in annual sales in the United States. . . . Filed July 26 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the case has already attracted amicus curiae interest from the AARP, which warned in a brief that, if Sanofi prevails, the decision "could create an impenetrable roadblock for future approvals of generic biologic pharmaceuticals ... The public will never realize the benefits of generic competition in the biologic market."

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6th Circuit: Pharma Negligence Claim Not Pre-empted by FDA Approval

Alison Frankel, The American Lawyer

08-23-10 -- Mary Buchanan lived a tragedy. In 1996, soon after the Food and Drug Administration approved a new Wyeth prescription weight loss drug called Redux, she began taking it. Redux stayed on the market for less than two years; Wyeth pulled the drug in 1997, after it became clear that Redux users had a significantly elevated risk of developing primary pulmonary hypertension, a potentially fatal disorder. That was too late for Mary Buchanan. She was diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension in 2001 and died of it in 2003. . . . Her estate continued to pursue the product liability and negligence suit she had filed against Wyeth (now part of Pfizer). The case was a complete failure at the federal district court level. In 2008 Cleveland federal district court Chief Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. granted summary judgment to Wyeth, finding Buchanan's claim that Wyeth was negligent before the FDA approved Redux was pre-empted by the FDA's approval of the drug. Her post-approval claims of strict liability, he found, failed on their merits.

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Federal, State Judges Team Up to Settle Suits Over Vitamin Supplement

A Georgia state judge assisted a federal judge in Alabama to streamline deals in more than 200 suits

Andy Peters, Fulton County Daily Report

08-23-10 -- In an unusual pairing, a DeKalb County State Court judge in Georgia assisted a U.S. District Court judge in Birmingham, Ala., in mediating settlements in more than 200 suits in which plaintiffs said liquid vitamin supplements made them ill. . . . DeKalb County State Court Judge Alvin T. Wong participated in the mass mediation at the request of U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor of the Northern District of Alabama, who presides over multidistrict federal litigation involving the Total Body Formula liquid supplements. . . . In addition to the 34 federal cases over the supplement, several dozen cases in state courts across the country were also pending. Wong said Proctor asked him to get involved in the mediation because he presided over about 60 cases, the largest number of state court cases.

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GEORGIA  

Judge rejects Keeton lawsuit

ASU requirements deemed 'legitimate'

By Tracey McManus, Staff Writer 

08-20-10 -- Augusta State University's requirement that a graduate student read material about counseling gays and increase her exposure to that community after she objected to counseling homosexual clients was "academically legitimate," a federal court judge ruled Friday. . . . U.S. District Judge Randal Hall's decision enables university officials to expel Jennifer Keeton if she does not follow the remediation plan, which professors designed to "address issues of multicultural competence and develop understanding and empathy." . . . Hall said the case is not about "pitting Christianity against homosexuality," but rather the constitutionality of the school's requirement.

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ILLINOIS  

Convict claims judge should have reviewed his 'mental status' during trial

By Mark Wilson, Evansville Courier & Press

08-22-10 -- An Evansville man who insisted on defending himself and was sentenced to three years in prison is continuing acting as his own legal counsel and has filed a complaint about the presiding judge in his trial. . . . Michael J. Shepard, 34, was tried on Dec. 14. The trial lasted one day, and it took a six-member jury just minutes to find Shepard guilty of the misdemeanor charges of resisting law enforcement and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. . . . Vanderburgh Superior Court Judge Douglas Knight presided at the trial. In January he sentenced Shepard to three years in the Indiana Department of Correction.

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MICHIGAN  

Appoint, not elect, Michigan judges

Justice for sale in Michigan

Detroit Free Press Editorial

08-23-10 -- That's the most logical conclusion to draw from a report that ranks Michigan third among states in cash spent on TV ads from 2000-09. The total was $11 million, making judicial attack ads one of the few growth areas in the Michigan economy during that time. . . . If the deep-pocket interests spending that money (organized labor, business and others with private hopes and aspirations for the judiciary) didn't think they were getting something from the courts in return, well, they wouldn't spend it, would they? . . . That's one reason Michigan earns its national reputation as a judicial backwater. In 2008, a University of Chicago Law School study ranked our Supreme Court as the least independent, saying it was tied too closely with the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.

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NEVADA  

Judge orders offender to write paper about medical marijuana

by Sheila Gardner, recordcourier.com 

08-19-10 -- District Judge Dave Gamble ordered a 25-year-old drug offender to write a report on what the judge called “the nonsensical character” of California's medical marijuana program. . . . On Tuesday, Gamble told Matthew Palazzolo to submit a paper within 90 days to him and to his counselor also discussing the defendant's realization that marijuana was a gateway drug that led to use of more powerful narcotics. . . . Palazzolo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. He was arrested at a Stateline casino parking lot in February after he sold a quarter-pound of marijuana to an informant for $1,060.

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NEW YORK  

Divided N.Y. Panel Revives Lawsuit Over Arrest at American Idol Concert

Noeleen G. Walder, New York Law Journal

08-23-10 -- A sharply divided New York state appeals panel has reinstated the civil rights action of a plaintiff who claims she was falsely arrested for harassing a woman during an American Idol concert in Albany. . . . Marc Barbera, a New York state trooper and fellow concert-goer, accused 68-year-old Pauline Guntlow of striking his wife in the ribs while she was watching the concert with the couple's 4-year-old daughter. Guntlow, however, insisted that she simply tapped Ms. Barbera on the shoulder and asked her to sit down so she could have an unobstructed view. . . . The Appellate Division, 3rd Department, panel clashed over whether Albany police had probable cause to arrest Guntlow on charges that were later dropped.

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