January 21, 2012 -- January 24, 2012

GENERAL

Microsoft's GC Makes a Business Case for Gay Marriage

Brian Glaser, Corporate Counsel 

01-24-12 -- Earlier this month, Microsoft general counsel and executive vice president of legal and corporate affairs Brad Smith took to the company’s official blog with a post titled “Marriage Equality in Washington State Would Be Good for Business,” in which he outlined the business case for the company’s support of same-sex marriage legislation in Washington, where Microsoft is based. . . . His core argument centers on the idea that in order “to be successful, it’s critical that we have a workforce that is as diverse as our customers. . . There simply is no substitute for their diverse backgrounds, perspectives, skills, and experiences. Inclusiveness is therefore a fundamental part of our values, and is integral to the company’s business success.”

ALASKA  

2 plead guilty to harassing Sarah Palin's lawyers

By Rachel D'Oro, Associated Press | Boston.com 

01-23-12 -- A 20-year-old Pennsylvania man and his father pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges of harassing Sarah Palin's Alaska attorneys by phone. . . .Shawn Christy and his 48-year-old father, Craig Christy, appeared in U.S. District Court in Anchorage to enter their pleas to one count each of making harassing telephone calls. A sentencing date was not set. . . . U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess last week denied a motion by the McAdoo, Pa., men to reassign the case to another judge. Their only options were to go to trial or plead guilty. . . . Burgess rejected binding plea deals in December that would have allowed the men to avoid prison time, citing what he described as a disturbing pattern of threats. Without the plea deals, the Christys are facing up to two years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

CALIFORNIA  

SF prosecutor, spouse released in domestic dispute

Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer  

01-24-12 -- The husband of a San Francisco prosecutor arrested over the weekend during a domestic dispute was also taken into custody, authorities said Monday. . . . Both Faysal Nuri, 38, and his wife, Assistant District Attorney Sanaz Nikaein, 34, were booked Saturday at County Jail in San Francisco on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic battery before being released on $10,000 bail each, authorities said.

Lawyer Who Failed Courthouse Breath Test When She Arrived for Client Hearing Now Faces Criminal Case

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

01-24-12 -- A California lawyer has been criminally charged after allegedly appearing at court to represent clients at hearings in a drunken state. . . . Michelle Winspur is accusing of blowing twice the legal limit on Oct. 7, when she was given a breath-alcohol test as she entered Kings County Superior Court in Hanford, reports the Visalia Times-Delta. . . . She was tested because a court clerk said she sounded drunk when she called to say she was going to be late for trial.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA  

Rep. King calls for DoJ to identify journalists, lawyers in Kiriakou CIA leak case

By: Mark Rockwell, Government Security News

01-24-12 -- As the Department of Justice moves to prosecute an ex-Central Intelligence Agency officer for leaking the identities of fellow CIA operatives to the press and to terror detainees’ lawyers, the leader of the House Homeland Security Committee wants the identities of the journalists and lawyers involved made public. . . . Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, who is also a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a Jan. 23 statement that he wants to know how CIA operatives’ identity information ended up in the cells of al-Qaeda detainees at Guantanamo.

Report: Client Conflict Leads Hogan Lovells Partner Bennett to Drop Megaupload Assignment

Posted by Brian Baxter, AmLaw Daily

01-23-12 -- A prominent trial lawyer who said last week that he would defend the operators of file-sharing Web site Megaupload against charges that they had violated federal copyright and online piracy laws has reportedly dropped the case due to a client conflict involving his firm. . . . Hogan Lovells partner—and well-known Beltway litigator—Robert Bennett told The Associated Press on Friday that he would represent Hong Kong–based Megaupload, which was indicted January 19 in federal district court in Alexandria, Virgina, for allegedly reaping more than $175 million by unlawfully distributing copyrighted content. (The 72-page indictment names two corporations, Megaupload Limited and Vestor Limited, as well as seven individuals.) . . . "We intend to vigorously defend against these charges," Bennett told the AP. Two days later, though,  Reuters reported that a conflict with at least one unidentified Hogan Lovells client would preclude Bennett from taking the case.

FLORIDA  

Ex-Prosecutor Who Took 200 Oxycodone Pills as Legal Fee Agrees to 3-Year Plea Deal

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

01-23-12 -- A former Florida prosecutor has agreed to a plea deal concerning more than 200 oxycodone pills he admittedly took as a legal fee while working as a private practitioner in Largo. The supposed client who gave him the prescription narcotic turned out to be a police informer. . . . Aaron Slavin, 34, agreed in a court hearing today to plead guilty to trafficking in the pills, in exchange for a three-year prison term followed by five years of probation, reports the Tampa Bay Times. He had faced a maximum of 30 years.

IDAHO  

Idaho redistricting-a-rama: GOP goes lawyer shopping, Democrats decry 'purge'

Submitted by Kevin Richert, Voices, Idaho Statesman blog

01-23-12 -- Dissatisfied with the opinion they received from the office Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, a fellow Republican, state GOP chairman Norm Semanko and House Speaker Lawerence Denney engaged in some lawyer shopping. . . . And they say they got a favorable opinion from Boise attorney Christ Troupis, who told them they have the authority to fire their appointed members of the state redistricting commission. . . . The Idaho GOP issued a news release Monday, quoting Troupis’ opinion. “The Idaho Attorney General’s conclusions are contrary to Idaho law settled over 45 years ago, and completely unsupported not only in Idaho, but every other jurisdiction that has addressed this issue.” . . . Troupis has represented a range of GOP and conservative interests in recent years, including the Republicans who successfully went to court to close their party’s primary elections, and the Keep the Commandments Coalition, which fought unsuccessfully to block Boise’s attempts to move a Ten Commandments monument from a city park.

ILLINOIS  

Peterson lawyer: Lifetime movie could affect jury

By Associated Press | pantagraph.com

01-22-12 -- A Lifetime Television movie depicting Drew Peterson's life until his 2009 arrest in his third wife's death could affect potential jurors and make it difficult if his defense decides to ask to have the trial moved, Peterson attorney Joel Brodsky said. . . . Peterson watched the movie starring Rob Lowe on Saturday in the Will County Jail, according to the Chicago Tribune (http://trib.in/wYUMAl). . . . The cable television movie is called "Drew Peterson: Untouchable" and depicts the former suburban Chicago police sergeant killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, and causing the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson. . . . Peterson, 58, is jailed on $20 million bail in the death of Savio, whose body was found in a dry bathtub in 2004. Her death had been declared accidental. But after Stacy Peterson went missing in 2007 the case was reopened, Savio's body was exhumed and her death was ruled a homicide. Peterson is also suspected in the 2007 disappearance of Stacy Peterson, but hasn't been charged. Investigators presume she is dead.

IOWA  

Whole lotto pre$$ure on NY attorney

By Tim Perone, AP | NY Post  

01-24-12 -- A Westchester County lawyer who has been tied to a stock-manipulation scheme has been ordered by Iowa lottery officials to prove that a multimillion-dollar winning ticket he tried to cash under strange circumstances wasn’t stolen. . . . Crawford Shaw, of the upscale town of Bedford, sent in the winning ticket — worth $7.5 million in cash or $10.3 million over 25 years — last month, with just two hours to go before the deadline was up. . . . Shaw, 76, didn’t travel to the Hawkeye State to claim the winnings, which he said were the property of an entity called Hexham Investments Trust, but instead sent it in signed with Hexham misspelled via FedEx to his lawyers in Des Moines.

Deadline given in mysterious Hot Lotto jackpot case

Identify yourselves by Friday or lose the prize, Iowa Lottery tells winners

Written by Daniel P. Finney, DesMoinesRegister.com 

01-24-12 -- No names? No money.

Those behind a trust trying to claim a Hot Lotto jackpot worth as much as $14.2 million have until 3 p.m. Friday to reveal themselves to state lottery officials or they’ll forfeit their claim to the prize, Iowa Lottery Chief Executive Officer Terry Rich said Monday. . . . The move is unprecedented in the Iowa Lottery’s 26-year history and came after a day of meetings between lottery officials and representatives from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller’s office. . . . “The citizens of Iowa deserve to know the story,” Rich said in a news conference at lottery headquarters in Des Moines. “We haven’t received the information our security team needs to verify the claim. It has never taken this long to get this information before, and we felt a deadline was appropriate.”

NEVADA  

Potential Crash Defendant Sues Plaintiff Law Firm, Seeks TRO Banning Letter to Possible Witnesses

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

01-23-12 -- A company facing potential litigation concerning a fatal auto accident has filed an unusual lawsuit against a Nevada law firm representing others involved in the wreck. . . . NV Energy is asking a judge for a temporary restraining order banning Jolley Urga Wirth Woodbury & Standish from continuing to send out mass mailings seeking information about the accident, the Las Vegas Sun reports. . . . The company contends the mailings contain editorial comments about the accident that could prejudice the jury pool and put its right to a fair trial at risk.

NEW YORK  

Occupy Wall Street lawyers drop legal challenge, judge says no camping at Zuccotti

By Dareh Gregorian, NY Post 

01-23-12 -- The occupation of Zuccotti Park is officially over.

Lawyers for the Occupy Wall Street movement have dropped their legal challenge to a court ruling barring their clients from camping out in the park, The Post has learned. . . . The attorneys notified the judge who'd been hearing the case that they were voluntarily withdrawing their suit this past Friday, which was the day they were due to file an amended version of their legal action against the city and the owners of the park, Brookfield Properties. . . . The protesters had effectively camped out in the park for almost two months with tents and other structures when cops cleared them out in November. The movement answered with a court filing charging that their First Amendment rights were violated. . . . Justice Michael Stallman ruled against them, finding “the [protesters] have not demonstrated that they have a First Amendment right to remain in Zuccotti Park along with their tents, structures, generators,” and that city officials were entitled to “to promote public health and safety.”

No bail for lawyer accused of stealing client funds and fleeing to Hong Kong

Thomson Reuters 

01-21-12 -- Douglas Arntsen, the former Crowell & Moring lawyer accused of stealing client funds and fleeing to Hong Kong to avoid arrest, was arraigned Friday night on charges of grand larceny and ordered held without bail. . . . Arntsen, 34, allegedly fled the United States last September after being charged by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office with embezzling $2.5 million in client funds that had been placed in escrow for his client, Regal Real Estate. The amount he is accused of stealing has since risen to $7.4 million. Meanwhile, at the arraignment, prosecutors said Arntsen is under investigation for stealing an additional $21 million. . . . At Friday’s bail hearing at about 9:00 p.m. in Manhattan criminal court, Arntsen, the father of a 5-year-old daughter, stood expressionless in a black Adidas sweatshirt with his hands cuffed behind his back. His wife and parents sat in the back of the courtroom during the 30-minute hearing.

TEXAS  

Class of Paralegals Certified to Sue Firm

By Bonnie Barron, Courthouse News Service  

01-23-12 -- A federal judge has conditionally certified a class of paralegals who demand overtime pay from the Texas law firm that negotiated a huge insurance settlement for hurricane victims. . . . Lead plaintiff Sherri Davis says the Mostyn Law Firm denied overtime pay to paralegals who worked more than 40 hours in a week, as mandated by the Fair Labor Standards Act. . . . Texas Monthly included the law firm's founder, Steve Mostyn, as one of the most influential people determining the fate of Texas in 2011. The article states that "Mostyn, who made his fortune representing home-owners devastated by Hurricane Rita (2005) and Ike (2008), contributed nearly $10 million to Democratic causes in the 2010 election cycle."

WISCONSIN    

Law firm knee deep in state's many hot-button issues

Clay Barbour | Wisconsin State Journal

01-22-12 -- The news last month that a conservative Supreme Court justice had received two years of free legal service while fighting an ethics charge was just the latest indication of an increasingly cozy relationship between the Republican Party and one of Wisconsin's most prominent law firms. . . . The state is going through a particularly litigious period in its history, with nearly every piece of major legislation facing some kind of legal challenge. . . . As a result, the most influential three names in state politics, outside of Walker, Fitzgerald and Fitzgerald, just might be Michael Best & Friedrich. . . . Collective bargaining. Mining. Redistricting. Recalls. Recounts. John Doe. Ethics charges. Michael Best & Friedrich has become the go-to law firm for all of the big issues facing Republicans.

January 18, 2012 -- January 20, 2012

GENERAL

Around the Blawgosphere: Does Lawyer Who Offered Groupon Have Regrets?; Digital Death Plans

By Sarah Randag, ABA Journal

A Groupon Pioneer Looks Back

01-20-12 -- On Jan. 19, 2011, when An ethics subcommittee of the North Carolina State Bar was deciding whether a lawyer in the state could ethically offer a Groupon deal, Craig Redler talked to the ABA Journal about his 2010 Groupon offer of a will and durable power of attorney for $99 (which he cleared with Missouri ethics regulators ahead of time). . . . On Jan. 19, 2012, Debra Bruce posted her own interview with Redler at Solo Practice University about how, a year later, he felt about his decision to offer a Groupon. Would he do it all again? . . . Probably not, Redler told Bruce. Not because he lost money, or because the Groupon clients were any less desirable than his clients paying full price. He has even gotten repeat business and referrals from his Groupon clients. But, Bruce wrote: "He just wouldn’t want to experience all the brouhaha from the legal community again. Besides the flurry of activity from new clients, Redler’s office was inundated with about 150 phone calls and emails from lawyers wanting to know how it worked. On top of that, some of the online commentary was not very charitable towards him. (Lawyers, please don’t contact him as a result of this post. He doesn’t have time for responding.)" . . . Read More Such As: / Updates from the Great Beyond / STRIP Their Badges / Bully for You

Judge pares down fees for attorneys in BP case

Associated Press | CBS News 

01-20-12 -- A federal judge has ruled that people pursuing their Gulf of Mexico oil spill claims against BP outside of federal court do not have to pay fees to hundreds of lawyers working on behalf of about 120,000 claimants fighting the oil giant in court. . . . U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier issued the ruling Wednesday to clarify a previous ruling that left everyone still seeking damage payments from BP having pay 6 percent of their claims to lawyers suing BP and other companies involved in the nation's largest offshore oil spill. Now, people attempting to settle out of court won't have to pay the trial lawyers. . . . Also, Barbier approved this week an agreement between plaintiffs' attorneys and the states of Louisiana and Alabama to set aside 4 percent of damage payments to pay for attorneys' fees. The states are seeking damages for lost tax revenues, overtime and other costs to their treasuries that resulted from the spill.

When a Company Sounds Suspiciously Like a Law Firm

By Joe Palazzolo, Wall Street Journal (blog)

01-19-12 -- Legal staffing companies, hired by law firms to provide temp lawyers to review documents in huge pieces of litigation, have dramatically expanded the scope of their services. It’s not just about rounding up bodies anymore. . . . Take Atlanta-based Excelerate Discovery, which describes its services this way: “Simply put, our experience in running your project –whether simply consulting or managing a soup-to-nuts document project from process to production is unparalleled.” ******Other companies boast of their employees’ legal backgrounds: “led by seasoned attorneys”; “significant in-house corporate legal experience”; “team of attorneys is highly skilled and experienced.” . . . All that is great, except these companies are not law firms. And if they’re not law firms, then the question is this: What services can they provide without violating regulations that prohibit them from practicing law? . . . A regulatory committee of the D.C. Court of Appeals (the District’s equivalent of a state high court) thought the question sufficiently vexing to draft an opinion, meant to give guidance to companies on the ”permissible scope of services that may be performed without engaging in the practice of law.”

SEC Suspends Aiken General Counsel for 5 Years

Sue Reisinger, Corporate Counsel 

01-18-12 -- The Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday suspended general counsel of casket company Aiken Continental Chalmer Detling II from appearing or practicing before the commission for five years. . . . The SEC alleges that Detling made material misrepresentations and omissions in connection with the 2006 offer and sale of $2.96 million of industrial development revenue bonds on behalf of Aiken Continental. Detling couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. . . . The Commission’s order said Detling, 35, of Marietta, Georgia, is currently general counsel of a different, unnamed company in Georgia.  

Study of law schools' job placement disclosures raises a 'red flag'

Karen Sloan, The National Law Journal  

01-17-12 -- Law schools on the whole have not done a great job of providing comprehensive job placement data for the class of 2010, Law School Transparency reported on Jan. 17. . . . The group looked at the Web sites of 197 American Bar Association-accredited law schools in early January to assess the amount and quality of the job placement data provided. More than a quarter of those schools — 54 — offered no meaningful information, including 22 that offered no information at all and 32 that used "consumer-disorienting behavior" — for example, citing figures for the kinds of workplaces in which graduates found jobs but nothing about the types of jobs, the organization reported. . . . "Our findings play into a larger dialogue about law schools and their continued secrecy against a backdrop of stories about admissions fraud, class action lawsuits, and ever rising education costs," the organization wrote. "These findings raise a red flag as to whether schools are capable of making needed changes to the current, unsustainable law school model without being compelled to though government oversight or other external forces."

ARIZONA  

Federal prosecutor to take 5th Amendment in Fast and Furious probe

By Josh Gerstein | Politico (blog)  

01-20-12 -- A senior federal prosecutor in Arizona intends to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights rather than testify before a House committee next week looking into the Justice Department's handling of the Fast and Furious gunrunning investigation, the prosecutor's attorney told Congress in a letter on Thursday. . . . On Wednesday, House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa issued a subpoena to Patrick Cunningham, the chief of the criminal section at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona. The deposition subpoena came after a plan to have Cunningham appear for a less formal interview fell apart. . . . Sources say Cunningham is concerned that he's caught in a pincer of sorts between senior Justice Department officials in Washington eager to shift blame to lower-ranking staffers and Congressional investigators eager to see heads roll over the investigation, which allegedly allowed more than 1000 weapons to cross the border into Mexico despite suspicions they were destined for drug cartels.

CALIFORNIA  

Visalia attorney pleads not guilty to being drunk in court

Written by David Castellon, Visalia Times-Delta 

01-20-12 -- Nearly two weeks after she was barred from practicing law in California, a lawyer for Visalia attorney Michelle Winspur entered not-guilty pleas for her Thursday on criminal charges that include a count of being under the influence of a controlled substance. . . . The charges stem from accusations that Winspur was drunk twice when she showed up for court hearings. . . . The first incident, according to Larry Crouch, chief trial deputy district attorney for Kings County, was on Oct. 7 in Kings County Superior Court in Hanford when she failed a sobriety test when she entered the building. Crouch said she had a blood-alcohol level about twice the legal limit. . . . In the second incident, on Dec. 8, she failed a sobriety test after she left the courtroom.

Healdsburg soccer mom an attorney for porn industry by day

By Paul Payne, The Press Democrat  

01-19-12 -- A Healdsburg attorney and soccer mom has emerged as a top legal adviser to the multi-billion dollar adult film industry in its fight to retain a signature feature that is politely referred to as the 'money shot.' . . . Karen Tynan, an employment law specialist who counts local wineries among her clients, represents Los Angeles-based porn stars, producers and talent agencies in their bid to make sexually explicit movies without using condoms. . . . The frequent-flier from Sonoma County's small airport jetted off Thursday to the industry's annual convention in Las Vegas, where she was on a panel discussing workplace safety issues.

COLORADO   

Former Montrose County DA Myrl Serra sentenced to one year in prison and four years of sex offender probation

By Nancy Lofholm, The Denver Post

01-19-12 -- Disbarred former Montrose County District Attorney Myrl Serra today was sentenced to a year in prison and four years of sex-offender probation related to charges that he demanded sex from three women who worked in his office. . . . The women told authorities that he threatened their jobs, frequently exposed himself, grabbed them and forced them to provide sexual favors — crossing a line from harassment to assault — during a three-year period. . . . He pleaded guilty to a felony extortion count and a misdemeanor count of unlawful sexual contact, along with charges related to bond violations.

CONNECTICUT  

Lawsuit Over 2005 Shooting Outside Middletown Courthouse Is Settled

Lawyer Injured When Client's Estranged Husband Kills Wife, Self

By Shawn R. Beals, The Hartford Courant

01-18-12 -- A lawyer shot outside Middletown Superior Court in 2005 by her client's estranged husband, a retired state trooper who then killed himself, has settled her lawsuit against the city of Middletown. . . . Terms of the settlement weren't disclosed. . . . Porzio and her client, Donna Bochicchio, were shot in the parking lot outside the courthouse on June 15, 2005, by retired trooper Michael Bochicchio Jr., who then shot himself in the head with a handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets. The shooting happened during the Bochicchios' divorce trial. . . . Donna Bochicchio was killed, and Porzio, 48, was shot four times. The gunshot wounds resulted in multiple fractures, bone loss in her hand, facial scarring, hearing loss andpost-traumatic stress disorder, according to the lawsuit.

DELAWARE  

Edwards Wildman Taps Proskauer to Fight Claim Managing Partner Put Fling Before Firm's Interests

Posted by Brian Baxter, AmLaw Daily 

01-18-12 -- In a suit filed Friday in Delaware's Chancery Court, former Edwards Wildman Palmer partner Lawrence Cohen claims a romantic affair between his wife—also an Edwards Wildman partner—and the firm's soon-to-be-former managing partner, Walter Reed, cost Cohen and a colleague their jobs. . . . But Cohen's 19-page civil complaint also alleges that the affair led Reed to put his romantic pursuits ahead of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge's interests amid merger talks last year with Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon. (The firms, which confirmed those discussions in July, officially merged operations on October 1.)

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA  

Insight: Top Justice officials connected to mortgage banks

By Scot J. Paltrow, Thomson Reuters News & Insight  

01-20-12 -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer, head of the Justice Department's criminal division, were partners for years at a Washington law firm that represented a Who's Who of big banks and other companies at the center of alleged foreclosure fraud, a Reuters inquiry shows. . . . The firm, Covington & Burling, is one of Washington's biggest white shoe law firms. Law professors and other federal ethics experts said that federal conflict of interest rules required Holder and Breuer to recuse themselves from any Justice Department decisions relating to law firm clients they personally had done work for. . . . Both the Justice Department and Covington declined to say if either official had personally worked on matters for the big mortgage industry clients. Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said Holder and Breuer had complied fully with conflict of interest regulations, but she declined to say if they had recused themselves from any matters related to the former clients.

Paul Clement at Center of Supreme Court's Blockbuster Cases

By Ariane de Vogue, ABC News 

01-18-12 -- Paul D. Clement is a lawyer standing at the center of three blockbuster Supreme Court cases that could make this term one of the most politically significant in years. . . . Clement, a solicitor general during the George W. Bush administration, will serve as the lead counsel for a challenge brought by 26 states to the Obama administration's health care law. He is representing Arizona as it defends its controversial immigration law, and represented the state of Texas in a voting rights case that was argued in early January. . . . While it is not unusual for a top notch Supreme Court advocate to make frequent visits to the Court in one term, it is almost unprecedented for one lawyer to handle so many high-profile, politically divisive cases. . . . By the end of this term, Clement will have appeared before the justices 60 times during his career.

Jon Huntsman a Deadbeat? Orrick Sues Ex-GOP Candidate's Campaign for Allegedly Unpaid Rent

Posted by Brian Baxter, AmLaw Daily 

01-17-12 -- Jon Huntsman's decision to drop out of the Republican presidential primary isn't stopping Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe from suing his campaign over what it claims is unpaid rent for office space leased from the firm in Washington, D.C. . . . Orrick filed its complaint against the Huntsman campaign in superior court for the District of Columbia last month, according to a report late Friday by the Washington City Paper. At issue, according to the suit, is more than $41,000 the firm claims it is owed under a one-year agreement it signed to rent space in its D.C. offices at the four-year-old Columbia Center to the Huntsman campaign.

FLORIDA  

Attorney Sibling Helps Driver Jailed for DUI Manslaughter Sue Estate of Victim in Fatal Crash

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

01-18-12 -- David Belniak is serving a 12-year sentence in a Florida prison after taking a plea in a criminal case over a fatal accident. Three people were killed in a Dec. 25, 2007 crash in which his pickup rear-ended a sports utility vehicle stopped at a red light on U.S. 19 in broad daylight. Beniak, traveling at over 75 mph, reportedly never braked. . . . He pleaded guilty to three counts of driving under the influence manslaughter last year in the Pasco County case. But now his sister, attorney Debra A. Tuomey, has filed suit against the estate of the SUV's driver, Ray McWilliams, alleging that he was at fault and calling the Florida Highway Patrol's investigation a "government-sanctioned assassination against one individual," the Tampa Bay Times reports.

ILLINOIS  

Former Chicago lawyer gets 15 years for mortgage fraud

WLS 

01-20-12 -- A former Chicago lawyer has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for running a “mortgage bailout” program that purported to rescue financially-distressed homeowners but instead tricked them into relinquishing title to their homes and declaring bankruptcy. . . . Norton Helton, 50, participated in at least 102 fraudulent mortgage bailout transactions and more than a dozen fraudulent bankruptcies in 2004 and 2005, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. He was ordered to pay more than $3.2 million in mandatory restitution to lenders and financial institutions that were not repaid by borrowers or through subsequent foreclosure sales.

McHenry state's attorney sues those who prosecuted him

Bianchi contends charges against him were fabricated as part of a conspiracy

By Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune reporter 

01-19-12 -- McHenry County's top prosecutor filed suit Wednesday against the attorneys who unsuccessfully prosecuted him on corruption charges, accusing them of a conspiracy to remove him from office. . . . The federal suit by State's Attorney Louis Bianchi and his former co-defendants claims the conspiracy was initiated by Bianchi's political enemies to fabricate charges that he used his office for political purposes. . . . The suit further asserts that the special prosecutors and their investigators concealed evidence, presented perjured testimony and engaged in "gross investigative and prosecutorial misconduct."

INDIANA  

Ind. lawyer charged with taking nearly $600,000

Associated Press | Chicago Tribune    

01-19-12 -- An Indianapolis attorney has been charged with theft and forgery after prosecutors say she took nearly $600,000 from two accounts for which she was responsible. . . . Marion County prosecutor's office spokeswoman Brienne Delaney says Stacy H. Sheedy was arrested Thursday morning. A message seeking comment was left at Sheedy's office. Delaney didn't know if Sheedy had a lawyer.

MASSACHUSETTS   

Cold Spring Harbor's malpractice suit against Ropes & Gray survives dismissal motion

Sheri Qualters, The National Law Journal  

01-18-12 -- A Boston federal judge has denied motions by Ropes & Gray and former partner Matthew Vincent to dismiss a malpractice case based on claims that they mishandled patent applications at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. . . . On Jan. 13, Judge Richard Stearns of the District of Massachusetts denied motions by the firm and Vincent to dismiss malpractice claims brought by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. . . . According to the order, Ropes & Gray was the principal outside patent counsel for Cold Spring Harbor, a biomedical research and educational institution in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., from 2001 until late 2008. . . . Cold Spring Harbor relied on the firm to patent inventions related to methods of regulating gene expressions by using synthetic RNA molecules. Vincent was the main Ropes & Gray attorney doing the work.

NEW JERSEY  

Tenafly lawyer's work with Ocean County homeless reveals a kinder side of legal profession

By Bob Braun/Star-Ledger Columnist

01-20-12 -- No question, Jeffrey Wild is a suit. Has to be. He’s a corporate litigator who deals with people and corporations who count their money in the billions. But he’s not an empty suit. Not a soulless one. In fact, if there were more suits like Jeffrey Wild, this would be a better state, a more livable place. . . . Unlike many other suits — unlike most? — he also uses his intelligence, his skills, his imaginative approach to law to help those who need but can’t afford him. . . . "I could not sleep at night just helping those who can afford the best. I also want to help those who deserve the best," Wild says.

NEW YORK  

Jacoby Brief Asserts Need for Judge with ‘Profile in Courage’ and a Cash Infusion

By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

01-19-12 -- The law firm Jacoby & Meyers is attacking the “blunderbuss of procedural arguments” raised by defendants seeking to uphold a ban on outside ownership of law firms in New York state. . . . The defendants are New York judges, and the state attorney general is asserting immunity and other procedural bars to suit, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports. The firm is fighting a motion to dismiss in a brief that makes a personal appeal to Senior U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.

Judge's Ruling in Malpractice Suit Tied to Starr Ponzi Scheme a Mixed Bag for Winston

Posted by Sara Randazzo, AmLaw Daily 

01-18-12 -- Winston & Strawn can claim a partial victory in its bid to dodge a federal lawsuit that aims to make the firm liable for the crimes of former Winston partner Jonathan Bristol, who has admitted to conspiring to commit money laundering as part of an ex-client's $33 million Ponzi scheme. . . . At the same time, a federal district court judge's ruling (PDF) dismissing most of the allegations made against Winston by Hollywood heavyweight James Wiatt in connection with disgraced money manager Kenneth Starr's massive fraud still leaves the firm facing several substantial claims. . . . In an opinion filed Tuesday in Newark, U.S. district court judge Jose Linares threw out eight of 12 claims brought against Winston by Wiatt, the former head of the William Morris Agency, and his wife, Elizabeth Rieger Wiatt, over $2 million the couple lost to Starr's well-publicized scheme. Linares let stand the Wiatts' claims of legal malpractice, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty. 

'Doubly snake bit' law firm loses fight against ex-partner

Thomson Reuters News & Insights

01-19-12 -- In a case of deja vu, a Long Island law firm has lost a fight to undo a deal to buy out a partner who was suspended from practice for violating ethics rules. . . . In a decision written by Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Ira Warshawsky, who retired last month, the court found that three partners at Glinkenhouse Floumanhaft & Queen could not rescind a contract with former partner Stephen Silver, even though Silver was suspended one day after the deal was struck. Silver was disciplined for co-mingling client funds, maintaining faulty retainer agreements and improperly loaning money to a client. . . . The plaintiffs are Alan Glinkenhouse, Philip Floumanhaft and Alan Queen. . . . Glickenhouse and Floumanhaft in 2006 tried to undo a similar deal they had struck with a different attorney, Selwyn Karp, after he, too, was suspended from practice. Karp pleaded guilty to second-degree bribery a month after he sold his portion of the partnership, and was suspended from practice two years later. A trial court ruled that Karp was entitled to compensation for his contributions to the firm prior to suspension or disbarment.

NORTH CAROLINA  

Lawyer files document to seek removal of Durham DA Tracey Cline

By J. Andrew Curliss, The News and Observer Staff writer

01-18-12 -- A Durham lawyer today filed a court document that asks a judge to determine if Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline should be removed from her office under a provision in state law that allows it. . . . Lawyer Kerry Sutton wrote in an 11-page affidavit, filed under state law for the removal of a district attorney, that ongoing attacks Cline has made against Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson are prejudicial to the administration of justice and have brought the district attorney’s office into disrepute, a standard for removal under the law. . . . The filing also alleges that Cline has met other grounds the law says requires removal, including “habitual intemperance” and causing an assistant prosecutor to take actions that also meet grounds for removal.

OHIO  

Ex-Thompson Hine Partner Gets One Year for Tax Fraud

Posted by Brian Baxter, AmLaw Daily

01-18-12 -- Leslie "Les" Jacobs, a former senior antitrust partner in Thompson Hine's Cleveland office, was sentenced Tuesday to serve a year and a day in prison in connection with his guilty plea on a federal tax fraud charge, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice. . . . Federal prosecutors had been seeking a sentence of up to 16 months in prison for Jacobs, who was charged last October with filing false tax returns and overstating his business expenses by more than $250,000.

PENNSYLVANIA  

Penn State General Counsel Steps Down, Leaving Scandal Behind

Brian Glaser, Corporate Counsel  

01-18-12 -- This week, Penn State University announced that Cynthia Baldwin, its first general counsel, is stepping down. She had held the position of PSU GC, vice president, and chief legal officer since January 2010.
According to a statement posted on the university’s Penn State Live site:

When Cynthia Baldwin accepted the position of full-time vice president, general counsel, and chief legal officer for Penn State in January 2010, it was with the understanding that she would serve in a transitional role to help establish and organize the office, manage Penn State's legal function, and pave the way for a permanent general counsel to be hired following a national search. . . Baldwin said the time has come for her to transition. The office has been up and running for some time now, and is ready to be taken over by a permanent general counsel.

TENNESSEE  

Vanderbilt administrator accused of theft; New England controller sentenced

Karen Sloan, The National Law Journal 

01-17-12 -- A former administrative manager at Vanderbilt University Law School was arrested in Arkansas on Jan. 13 on suspicion of stealing more than $600,000 from the university. On that same day, a former controller at the New England School of Law was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison for stealing more than $173,000. . . . At Vanderbilt, Jason Hunt began working as an manager at the law school in 2005. His job involved "initiating and processing financial transactions," according to a written statement from the university. . . . Authorities did not disclose the amount of the suspected theft, but The Tennessean newspaper reported that the figure exceeded $600,000.

TEXAS  

Lawyer: DFW passenger who boarded plane with gun forgot she had it

By Andrea Ahles, Star-Telegram

01-19-12 -- A 65-year-old Addison attorney with a .38-caliber revolver in her carry-on bag went through a security checkpoint at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport on Wednesday morning and boarded an American Airlines flight, which left its gate bound for Houston, authorities said. . . . During the hunt for the bag's owner, the plane was ordered to return to the terminal. . . . After searching for about 11/2 hours, officers arrested the passenger, later identified as Judith Kenney of Little Elm, in Denton County, officials said. . . . Authorities had combed Terminal D, carrying a photo of the bag's owner taken by a security camera at the checkpoint. . . . Officials said the gun was loaded. . . . The incident delayed 10 flights, and the checkpoint was briefly closed.

Dallas Firm Sues Doe Defendant Over Online Review

Angela Morris, Texas Lawyer  

01-16-12 -- A Dallas firm has sued an anonymous "Ben Doe" who allegedly wrote a negative Google Review about the firm, a case that highlights the difficulties lawyers face when trying to address online comments. . . . The Lenahan Law Firm seeks to collect $50,000 from "Ben," who wrote the review that reads, "Bad experience with this firm. Don't trust the fake reviews here," the plaintiff alleges in its petition in In Re "Ben Doe." . . . "Discovery will include an investigation into the identity of 'Ben,' " the firm notes, adding that a "subpoena will be served upon Google immediately." . . . In the petition, filed Dec. 22, 2011, in Travis County's 98th District Court, the firm alleges the review is defamatory because it "implies professional incompetence" and "alleges dishonesty and fraudulent conduct by the Plaintiff, though the 'fake reviews' were written by actual clients and are bona fide." [See the Lenahan petition.]

VIRGINIA   

Williamsburg lawyer loses driver's license for a year

By Peter Dujardin, Daily Press

01-20-12 -- A Williamsburg attorney lost his driver's license Friday on a charge of refusing to take a breath test — in a case that has triggered a still-pending investigation by the agency that disciplines lawyers statewide. . . . Stephen D. Harris — who was first pulled over in late 2010 after a police officer said she noticed him driving erratically on Richmond Road — got the state's mandatory punishment for the conviction: the loss of his driver's license for a year, without the chance for a restricted license for work. . . . Harris, 70, who pleaded guilty to the refusal charge last summer, can get his license back on Jan. 20, 2013, under the order signed Friday by Circuit Court Judge Ted Markow. . . . One man was conspicuous by his absence at Friday's hearing in Williamsburg-James City Circuit Court: Harris. His lawyer, Richard Rizk, said Harris was out of town "on a scheduled visit."

WASHINGTON   

Defying city, attorney asks Supreme Court to hear SPD tasing case

By Steve Miletich and Mike Carter  Seattle Times staff reporters 

01-19-12 -- Ignoring Seattle Police Chief John Diaz, a private attorney hired by the city to defend three officers who were sued after they repeatedly tased a pregnant woman during a 2004 traffic stop has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. . . . In an extraordinary response, the city has informed the attorney, Ted Buck, that he was not authorized to ask the high court to take the case on appeal, and that the city won't pay the costs of pursuing it. . . . Buck, a Seattle attorney with a long history of defending police officers on behalf of the city, also has been told that his action violated his duty to the city, and that, based on advice from outside legal ethics experts, a bar complaint could be brought against him.

Federal Prosecutor’s Tech-Savvy Son, 14, Helps Cops Track Down Items Taken in Home Burglary

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

01-19-12 -- When a federal prosecutor in Seattle started his day on Saturday morning and discovered his home had been burglarized, he knew what to do. . . . In addition to calling 911, assistant U.S. Attorney Harold Malkin awakened his 14-year-old son, Max. Working with the responding police officer, who suggested that they try to track a stolen iPhone that belonged to Malkin's wife, Max went online on Apple's iCloud site and pulled up a map that showed the phone's location. The site uses GPS to track products that have been registered by their owners, recounts the Seattle Times. . . . "It was fascinating to watch them work together," Malkin said of his son and the officer, Kurt Knox. "From the time the laptop was opened to the time they got this guy, it was probably 15 minutes."

WEST VIRGINIA   

Vickers sentenced for fraud

Parkersburg News and Sentinel

01-20-12 -- Jeremy T. Vickers, 36, of Summerville, formerly of Point Pleasant, was sentenced Tuesday to 21 months in prison by United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers for wire fraud. . . . Vickers pleaded guilty in October. The defendant admitted that he had submitted false and fraudulent payment vouchers for reimbursement for court-appointed defense work, federal officials said. . . . Since 2004, the defendant practiced law in Point Pleasant. Among other types of cases, Vickers represented indigent clients in state criminal matters pending in Mason, Jackson and Roane counties. At the conclusion of each case, Vickers routinely submitted a payment voucher form to the respective circuit court judge for approval, officials said.

WISCONSIN    

Former District Attorney Ken Kratz says sexting case should be tossed

Written by Todd Richmond, Associated Press | Appleton Post Crescent

01-19-12 -- A former prosecutor accused of sexual harassment asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to toss a complaint against him, lashing out at state regulators who filed it more than a year after deciding he'd done nothing wrong. . . . Former Calumet County Dist. Atty. Ken Kratz said the Office of Lawyer Regulation, which oversees lawyers in the state, is asking the high court to temporarily suspend his law license in an effort to silence criticism over its initial inaction. In his court filing, Kratz noted that a state lawmaker demanded an audit of the OLR after learning the agency chose not to discipline him. . . . Kratz accused the OLR of being biased against him, saying "actual conflict of interest is obvious." He also defended himself against the sexual harassment claims, saying he had done nothing wrong and denied most of the women's allegations, including that he made comments about oral sex and the size of women's breasts while talking with female social workers.

January 14, 2012 -- January 17, 2012

GENERAL

Female lawyers make their own tracks to success

By Cindy Krischer Goodman  McClatchy Newspapers 

01-17-12 -- On a typical day, Mindy Mora arrives at her law office about 8 a.m. and leaves 12 hours later. She will drive home, eat dinner and put in a few more hours of work, even taking client calls late at night. “Being a partner at a law firm is not a 9 to 5 job,” she says. . . . The grueling lifestyle, even with the cache of a partner title and a six-figure salary, is one Mora, a bankruptcy attorney at Bilzin Sumberg, knows young female law associates increasingly are shunning. “They want to be able to have a family and enjoy their family.” . . . In the competitive legal industry, pressure to meet quotas for billable hours, bring in business and service clients who want instant responses is creating demands on lawyers that are all encompassing. That pressure has led more women to forge their own paths — even to hang their own shingles — rather than navigate the politics of big law firms.

Military lawyers blast Guantánamo mail search as violating rights, ethics

By Carol Rosenberg, Miami Herald 

01-16-12 -- Military lawyers for Guantánamo detainees who could someday be put to death are accusing the new prison commander of censoring protected attorney-client documents, raising a new legal controversy that spotlights ongoing concern about the fairness of possible military trials. . . . The Obama administration reformed the military commissions in consultation with Congress to give accused terrorists greater rights. But an order by the new prison commander that all attorney-client mail be reviewed for contraband, including information that the commander argues the detainees shouldn't be allowed to have has attorneys crying foul.

Journalism & Justice: Did Innocence Project Student Reporters Get Too Close to Lawyers?

By Kevin Davis, ABA Journal

01-13-12 -- Last spring Monica Kim, a Northwestern University journalism student, ventured into some of Chicago’s roughest and most impoverished neighborhoods as part of a class project to investigate whether a man was wrongfully convicted of murder. . . . Kim was a little nervous at first as she knocked on doors to locate witnesses on the city’s West Side, but she pressed on because she believed she was doing important work. That work began to pay off when, one morning two blocks from where the murder took place, Kim and classmate Taylor Soppe found a woman who witnessed the crime. . . . "We just told her that we were students and that we were investigating this case and she said, 'I'll tell you all about it,' " Kim recalls. . . . In the span of 10 weeks, Kim and her classmates, along with the help of a private investigator, compiled dozens of interviews and thousands of documents that suggested Donald Watkins could not have committed the 2007 shotgun murder of Alfred Curry. Their findings were posted on a university website in June along with the documents and transcripts they acquired, much of them through Freedom of Information Act requests. . . . It was another shining moment for the Medill Innocence Project, the famed Northwestern program that has helped exonerate 11 wrongfully convicted people and was, by many accounts, instrumental in prompting Illinois’ then-Gov. George Ryan to suspend executions and clear the state’s death row. . . . The difference for Kim and her classmates was that the class was not led by its highly regarded founder, David Protess. Protess was forced into a leave of absence—and has since retired from the university—after university officials and prosecutors questioned his integrity and investigative techniques. Another professor took over the course, while Protess continues teaching at an off-campus location. . . . The case has exposed the potential dangers of mixing student journalism and legal advocacy, and raised questions about what role, if any, investigative journalists should have in assisting lawyers seeking to correct alleged injustices. . . . Click here to read the rest of "Journalism & Justice" from the January issue of the ABA Journal.

CALIFORNIA  

Disgraced journalist Stephen Glass deserves a second chance

By Dan Walters, The Sacramento Bee 

01-17-12 -- "In re Glass on Admission" is certainly not the most important case ever to be decided by the California Supreme Court. . . . However, it will be one of the most watched, and not merely in California, having already germinated a bumper crop of intense reportage and sharply worded punditry, because it involves the nation's most infamous case of journalistic fraud and intensifies the often adversarial relationship between journalists and lawyers. . . . Stephen Glass, a 20-something journalist, produced dozens of sensational articles for prestigious national magazines during the 1990s and was considered to be a budding industry superstar when it was discovered that he had fabricated almost everything he wrote and had gone to elaborate lengths to cover up his deception.

State Bar disciplines Rex Gutierrez's defense attorney

By Joe Nelson, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin    

01-17-12 -- The state Bar Association has accused attorney James Reiss, who defended former Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman Rex Gutierrez in a corruption case involving the San Bernardino County Assessor's Office, of misappropriating client funds. . . . Reiss's privilege to practice law was revoked on Jan. 1, according to the state Bar Association's website. . . . Reiss is accused of loaning a client and her husband a total of $19,850 after filing a personal injury claim on the woman's behalf in Orange County Superior Court in 2005. The loans were advances against any recovery in the legal action, according to the 13-page notice of disciplinary action filed by the state Bar of California on August 8.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA  

DOJ Collected $1 Billion-Plus in 2011 Antitrust Fines

Shannon Green, Corporate Counsel 

01-17-12 -- The U.S. Department of Justice continued to bare its teeth to criminal antitrust offenders last year, collecting more than $1 billion in fines and other monetary assessments. According to a new report issued by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, although individual criminal fines decreased in fiscal year 2011, the total amount secured for restitution, disgorgement, and other penalties skyrocketed to more than $500 million. The report also shows that non-prosecution agreements and a growing trend toward multi-agency investigations caused an overall shift away from criminal fines. . . . Lawyers at the firm called the DOJ's successful municipal bonds investigation its “crowning achievement during 2011.” In late 2010, Bank of America reported its manipulation of the bidding process within the municipal bond derivatives market. The DOJ subsequently announced successive NPAs with four financial institutions that admitted to participating in the muni-bonds conspiracy.

FLORIDA  

Lawyer in flipping case lists alleged co-conspirators

Sarasota Herald-Tribune 

01-16-12 -- Defense attorney Karen Unger represents Richard Bobka in the government's mortgage fraud case. In court documents, Unger says flipper Craig Adams duped the government into believing Bobka was the flip scheme's main orchestrator, and that Adams played a lesser role. . . . Adams has entered a guilty plea to being part of a scheme in which group members bought and resold properties at inflated values and lied to federally insured lenders to maximize the amount of money they could borrow. . . . The government charged 19 people in the scheme, and 14 have already pleaded.

Ave Maria law student accused of attempted murder of classmate, roommate

By Victoria Macchi, Naples Daily News  

01-14-12 -- An Ave Maria School of Law student is accused of attempted murder after deputies said he shot at his roommate and threatened his ex-girlfriend's life. . . . Collier deputies early Friday arrested Robert Christopher Ringley, 25, of the 10200 block of Heritage Bay Boulevard, at his Golden Gate Estates apartment. . . . One of those involved, 25-year-old Samantha Morris, told investigators she briefly dated Ringley. He invited her over late Thursday to talk. . . . Throughout the night, Ringley became increasingly frustrated by her insistence their relationship was over, according to the arrest report, which gives this account: . . . After his roommate went to bed, Ringley retrieved a silver Taurus 9mm handgun from his room. . . . "Just tell me you love me. I love you," he told Morris. He paced with the gun. "I can kill myself. I can kill you. It's simple." . . . Fearful, the woman woke the roommate to help her calm Ringley.

MARYLAND   

Sex-sting suspect claims he doesn't remember pleading guilty, wants to withdraw plea

By Amy Pavuk, Orlando Sentinel

01-14-12 -- A Maryland lawyer who also works as a children's balloon entertainer, accused of traveling to Central Florida to have sex with who he thought was a 14-year-old boy, wants an Orlando federal judge to vacate his plea agreement because he claims he doesn't remember pleading guilty and was threatened into signing the legal document. . . . Howard Scott Kalin, who faces up to 10 years in federal prison, filed a 46-page, hand-written motion in Orlando federal court Thursday, claiming he has a diminished mental capacity, ineffective counsel and malicious prosecution. . . . He signed a plea agreement last year admitting he traveled to Lake County to have sex with who he thought was a boy he found through an online personal ad. He subsequently entered the plea before a judge at a hearing. . . . A Lake County sheriff's detective put the advertisement on Craigslist under the "Men Seeking Men" section with the label "bored nephew."

MASSACHUSETTS   

Attorney sues over wife's alleged affair with firm leader

Thomson Reuters News & Insight

01-13-12 -- A former partner at a major Boston law firm has filed a lawsuit claiming that an affair between his wife and the firm's managing partner cost him his job. . . . Lawrence Cohen brought an action on Friday in Delaware Chancery Court against Edwards Wildman Palmer and its managing partner Walter Reed, alleging that an affair between Cohen's wife and Reed gave him no choice but to leave the firm in November. Cohen's wife Laurie Hall, is also a partner at Edwards Wildman. . . . A second plaintiff in the lawsuit is former Edwards Wildman partner Jay Rosenbaum, who claims he lost clients that were "inextricably linked" to Cohen and that he, too, had no choice but to resign. Rosenbaum and Cohen, both estate planning attorneys, are now partners at Nixon Peabody. . . . The lawsuit asserts that Reed's alleged affair with Hall, a partner in Edwards Wildman's estate planning practice, led to Cohen's loss of a leadership appointment and clients and to lower pay. He claims that the situation forced him to resign in November.

MISSISSIPPI  

As debate roars over Haley Barbour pardons, five released convicts vanish

Mississippi's attorney general says he may call for a national manhunt to find five pardoned prisoners, including four convicted killers, who were released by outgoing Gov. Haley Barbour.

By Patrik Jonsson, Christian Science Monitor Staff writer

01-13-12 -- Five prisoners pardoned and released Sunday by outgoing Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) have gone missing amid a burgeoning debate about whether the 200-plus individuals given clemency by the governor merited mercy under the state constitution. . . . Mr. Barbour's decision to pardon a record number of convicted Mississippians – a controversial final act of his term-limited governorship – has sparked shock, anger, and even fear. Family members of at least one victim say they're worried about their safety.

NEVADA  

Las Vegas attorney, son killed in Vermont car crash

Las Vegas Review-Journal

01-16-12 -- Veteran Las Vegas attorney Christopher Raleigh, 56, and his 10-year-old son, Travis, were killed in a head-on crash near Bridgewater, Vt., on Sunday. . . . The both were pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. . . . Raleigh's wife, Anastasia, was one of five other people injured in the accident. She was listed in critical condition with severe head and internal injuries. . . . The Raleighs' 13-year-old son suffered minor injuries in the crash, according to Vermont State Police. He was listed in good condition.

NEW YORK  

Four Lawyers over Age 65 Start a New Law Firm with a Civil Liberties Focus

By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

01-17-12 -- The former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union sees no reason to retire. At the age of 68, he has joined with his wife and two other lawyers to form a new law firm. . . . Norman Siegel and the three other lawyers have 161 years of collective legal experience, the New York Times City Room blog reports. “And now, when most of their contemporaries are contemplating retirement or have already quit, the four of them are starting a new law firm,” the story says. Their firm will have a civil liberties focus, though it will also handle commercial matters.

Cadwalader Loses Bid to End Suit by Nomura Over Loan Advice

Joel Stashenko, New York Law Journal 

01-17-12 -- A legal malpractice claim may go forward against Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft for the firm's advice to a Japanese securities company about the safety of commercial loan investments in the 1990s, a state judge has determined. . . . Acting Supreme Court Justice Melvin L. Schweitzer (See Profile) rejected Cadwalader's motion to dismiss the claim on summary judgment, ruling that triable issues of fact remain about the firm's handling of a bundle of commercial loans in 1997 worth about $1.8 billion. . . . Primarily at issue in Nomura Asset Capital v. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, 116147/06, is a $50 million loan Nomura Asset Capital made to the Doctor's Hospital of Hyde Park in Chicago in 1997 and whether the firm properly attested to the fact that the loan was adequately securitized by the value of real property held by the hospital.

PENNSYLVANIA  

Comments at Attorney Meeting Privileged; Slander Case Tossed

Gina Passarella, The Legal Intelligencer

01-13-12 -- Some harsh words shared between opposing attorneys at a meeting to discuss a case did not rise to defamation, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled, because the meeting was a privileged part of the judicial record in the case. . . . The court in Richmond v. McHale found that a meeting regarding discovery in plaintiff Kenneth Richmond's office between Richmond, defendant Joseph J. McHale and other attorneys involved with the underlying case was part of the judicial proceedings in that case, causing privilege to attach. . . . "We agree with the trial court's analysis and find [McHale's] statement was made in connection with his representation of his client in a judicial proceeding," President Judge Correale F. Stevens said. "[McHale's] response was made following [Richmond's] discovery request in the ongoing, federal proceeding and in furtherance of his client's interests."

TENNESSEE  

Ex-Vanderbilt Law School employee arrested in theft of $600,000

Written by Brian Haas, The Tennessean

01-17-12 -- A former Vanderbilt Law School manager is awaiting extradition from Arkansas on charges that he stole more than $600,000 from the university. . . . Jason Hunt, 34, was arrested in Sims, Ark., on Friday by Montgomery County deputies and U.S. marshals. Hunt worked as an administrative services manager for the law school, hired first on a temporary basis in March 2005 and then permanently in July of that year. According to the university, he was fired in November after an internal investigation.

TEXAS  

Allen Stanford’s Lawyers Can’t Quit His Case, Judge Says

By Laurel Brubaker Calkins and Andrew Harris, Bloomberg   

01-13-12 -- R. Allen Stanford’s attorneys must defend him at a $7 billion investment fraud trial that will begin Jan. 23 in Houston federal court, said a U.S. judge who rejected the lawyers’ bid to quit. . . . Stanford’s court-appointed attorneys, Ali Fazel, Robert Scardino, John Parras and Ken McGuire, asked to exit his case in a motion filed on Jan. 11, less than two weeks before the start of jury selection. They claimed they hadn’t been given enough time or resources to prepare an adequate defense against what they describe as a complicated financial fraud case.