ABA Journal Daily News

Blogger Says GOP Questioned Him About Sotomayor’s Solo Practice

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:55:38 -0500

A blogger who wrote about a potential ethics issue connected to Sonia Sotomayor’s solo law practice says he has been questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s minority legal staff as they prepare for hearings next week on the federal appeals judge’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Blogger Eric Turkewitz believes his questioners were exploring several issues, including one he raised about the solo law practice called Sotomayor & Associates: Why did Sotomayor tack “& Associates” onto her firm’s name if she had no associates? And was the name consistent with advisory ethics opinions? He speculates about the GOP’s interest…

Locke Lord Partner to Run for Ill. Gov; Meanwhile, Blago Aide Pleads Guilty

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:17:17 -0500

On the same day Lisa Madigan announced that she will run for re-election as Illinois attorney general and not for governor, Locke Lord partner and Illinois state senator Kirk Dillard threw his hat into the ring. "I'm glad she's not going to be my opponent in the general election," Dillard, a Republican, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I believe my chances are much better [vs.] Pat Quinn or someone else than Lisa Madigan." The Am Law Daily points out that current Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has a BigLaw connection: His brother Thomas, is head of the general litigation group at Schiff…

Shooting Victim Asked if She Was a ‘Mental Patient’ Can Sue 911 Operator

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:16:40 -0500

A Michigan Supreme Court split 4-3 issued a one-sentence order allowing a woman who called 911 after being shot to sue the operator who thought the woman was making a false report and chastised her. Lorraine Hayes of Detroit, who is being represented by Geoffrey Fieger, is suing operator Kimberly Langford for intentional infliction of emotional distress, the Associated Press reported. Hayes called 911 twice on Jan. 12, 2005 after being shot in the head. In the first call, she asked for an ambulance and gave her address, but mistakenly told the operator she was a male when asked and…

Witnesses Line Up to Testify at Sotomayor Hearings

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:40:49 -0500

Sonia Sotomayor will make her opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday as it begins its first day of hearings on her nomination to replace retired Justice David H. Souter. Sotomayor received a unanimous rating of “well-qualified” from the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary based on its analysis of her integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., says the rating should rebut critics who say Sotomayor has been harsh or bullying on the bench. ABAJournal.com will have live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the hearings beginning Monday. That coverage and related nomination…

U of I Law School Got Scholarship Cash for Clout Admissions

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:34:21 -0500

The University of Illinois law school got $300,000 in university scholarship money in exchange for admitting politically connected applicants, according to newly released documents obtained by a Chicago newspaper. The law school got the discretionary funds over four years to lure better qualified applicants to attend the school, the Chicago Tribune reports. Law school officials sought the money to counteract the negative drag on the school's ranking by U.S. News & World Report that would be caused by admitting applicants with lower grades and LSAT scores. Former Law Dean Heidi Hurd testified during a hearing probing clout-based admissions that Chancellor…

Orrick’s ‘09 Summers to Have 2012 Starts; Campus Recruiting Pushed to Late Fall

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:57:27 -0500

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has confronted the "unfortunate bottleneck of talented law students" caused by deferring the start dates of class of 2008 associates by stating early in the game that its current summer associates who are ultimately hired will not start work until January 2012 "after completion of an Orrick-coordinated fellowship program." In a memo sent to law deans and obtained by Above the Law, Orrick hiring partner Stephen Venuto also said that Orrick's on-campus recruiting would take place between Nov. 15 of this year and March 2010. "We will not know how many spots will be available in…

SEC Official Says Her Resignation Isn’t Tied to Madoff

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:34:03 -0500

The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s examinations division is resigning after 14 years in the position, but she says the reason for her departure is not Bernard Madoff. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), Lori Richards denied that the controversy over the SEC’s failure to detect Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was the reason she is leaving. Richards said she has "been thinking for some time of taking on some new challenges in my career." The newspaper says the resignation comes amid a broad reshuffling in the agency. The enforcement division has a new director and…

D.C. Lawyer Gets New Kidney in Historic Domino Transplant

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:41:01 -0500

A Washington, D.C., lawyer who is chair of an ABA committee on postal matters received a new kidney in an unusual eight-way transplant thought to be the largest chain of donations to date. Lawyer Bob Brinkmann was one of eight transplant recipients and his wife, Lisa, was one of eight donors. The surgeries spanned four cities: Baltimore, Detroit, Oklahoma City and St. Louis, the Washington Post reports. Chain transplants are arranged when willing donors are matched with transplant recipients with whom they are compatible, even those whom they don’t know. Brinkmann received the new kidney from donor Theresa Watson—whose sister…

Nev. High Court Allows ‘Hoe’ License Plate, Despite DMV’s Misgivings

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:33:05 -0500

The Nevada Supreme Court says a Las Vegas man should be able to get the word “hoe” on his license plate, despite an Urban Dictionary definition that says it is slang for “whore.” Plaintiff William Junge obtained the Hoe plate in 1999 for his Chevy Tahoe after he was told “Tahoe” was not available. He told the Associated Press the word referred to his car model, not prostitutes. But in 2006, a supervisor in the Department of Motor Vehicles consulted the Urban Dictionary and decided the plate was not appropriate. Administrative hearing officers agreed. The Nevada Supreme Court noted Junge’s…

Indiana Law School Seeks 24.5% Tuition Boost

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:58:52 -0500

Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law is proposing a tuition hike of 24.5 percent for in-state students. Tuition would increase from $19,988 to $24,000 a year if the idea is approved, the Indianapolis Star reports. The newspaper notes that the higher tuition is still a good deal, since the school is one of the cheapest among the country’s top-ranked schools. The law school was ranked 23rd in April by U.S. News & World Report. Tuition is more than $40,000 at all of the schools ranked in the top nine by the magazine. Dean Lauren Robel cited three reasons for a…

Conservative 4th Circuit Chief Judge Retires Due to Illness

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:34:53 -0500

A federal appeals judge once regarded as a contender for a spot on the U.S. Supreme Court is retiring due to an illness. Chief Judge Karen Williams of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals told the White House of her retirement in a letter yesterday, the Times and Democrat reports. The Richmond, Va.-based 4th Circuit, long regarded as a conservative bastion, could tilt further to the left with Williams’ retirement. President Obama now has five vacancies to fill on the appeals court. Williams has served since 1992, when she became the first female judge on the 4th Circuit after…

Ginsburg Defends Sotomayor, Calls ‘Wise Latina’ Flap Ridiculous

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:56:03 -0500

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg thinks it’s ridiculous for critics to make a big deal about the “wise Latina” comment by Sonia Sotomayor, the federal appeals judge nominated to join Ginsburg as a second female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. In a New York Times interview, Ginsburg delved into the controversy over a 2001 appearance by Sotomayor in which she said, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” Interviewer: “Did you think that all the…

Sotomayor’s Nomination: Today’s News

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:42:39 -0500

ABAJournal.com: "Law Prof Backing Sotomayor Offers Explanation for Short Ricci Opinion" ABAJournal.com: "Study: Sotomayor Not an 'Outlier' in 2nd Circuit Voting" CNN: "Analysis: Sotomayor quietly prepares for hearings" The Ninth Justice: "Profs: Criminal Law Creds Are Safe And Strong" The Word on Employment Law with John Phillips: "Questions for Sotomayor" The Southeast Texas Record: "Sotomayor missed opportunities to define views on civil rights law" Albany Times-Union: "Law professor critiques Sotomayor's Rulings"

Study: Sotomayor Not an ‘Outlier’ in 2nd Circuit Voting

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:40:15 -0500

A study of the 1,194 rulings handed down by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals while Judge Sonia Sotomayor served aimed to show where the U.S. Supreme Court nominee fell on the bell curve. What did it find? “Far from being ‘extreme’ or an ‘outlier,’ Judge Sotomayor’s decision-making in constitutional cases closely comports to the decision-making of other members on the Second Circuit bench,” the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School reported. The goal of the report—a draft of which is set to be released Thursday—was to bring hard data to the debate over her…

Texas Lawyer Remembers Stint in Jacksons’ Backing Band

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:44:49 -0500

There's no shortage of lawyers who can reminisce about rocking out to the Jacksons back in the late 1970s. But how many can say they were actually on stage with them? Eliot D. Shavin, a private practitioner in Dallas and a lecturer in the civil clinic at Southern Methodist University, told Texas Bar Blog about the month he toured with Michael Jackson and his brothers. Shavin said the backing band traveled in a separate bus from the Jacksons, so he and his brother—a musician who got him the monthlong touring gig—didn't interact with them much, although he does remember tossing…

Quintuple Murder Charges Dropped Against Men Imprisoned 20 Years

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:25:02 -0500

Marvin Reeves and Ronald Kitchen walked out of a Chicago courthouse free men yesterday after the Illinois Attorney General's Office dropped the quintuple murder charges against the men, who have spent the last 20 years in prison. Assistant Attorney General Richard Schwind told Criminal Court Presiding Judge Paul Biebel on Tuesday that it couldn't "sustain its burden of proof," the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Clinching Kitchen's conviction in the drug-related 1988 murders was his confession, which he says was forced from him after hours of beating by an underling of disgraced Chicago Police Detective Cmdr. Jon Burge. "If you're getting whooped…

La. Judge Suspended 30 Days Over Remarks at Domestic Abuse Hearing

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:27:30 -0500

A Houma, La., judge has been suspended over comments he made at a hearing in which a woman was seeking a temporary restraining order against her husband, including calling her petition "crap." The Judiciary Commission of Louisiana suspended Judge Timothy Ellender Was for 30 days without pay and fined him $185, WWL-TV reported. Ellender asked the couple at the hearing, which was recorded on audiotape, why they didn't divorce rather than "go through this crap." He then told them how they could file for divorce without an attorney. The woman was denied the TRO, and later filed a complaint. Ellender…

Al Franken Had ‘SNL’ Role in Thomas’ Confirmation Hearings

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:02:38 -0500

Even though Al Franken has been a U.S. senator and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee for barely a day, he's only days away from helping to run hearings on the U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. And while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Franken "extremely smart" when asked why he was placed on the judiciary committee, he didn't mention a role Franken had in relation to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearings. Franken, of course, was a writer and performer on Saturday Night Live in the 1970s, '80s and '90s, and USA Today's On…

Mass. AG Files Suit Challenging Defense of Marriage Act

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:09:57 -0500

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. The Boston Globe reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the United States itself were named in the lawsuit. The lawsuit states that by enacting DOMA, "Congress overstepped its authority, undermined states' efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus toward gay and lesbian people." Before DOMA was enacted in 1996, each state could define marital status as it wanted, Coakley told the Associated Press. But DOMA denies…

Law Prof Backing Sotomayor Offers Explanation for Short Ricci Opinion

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:54:23 -0500

New York University law professor Arthur Miller has offered a possible explanation for a controversial short opinion joined by Judge Sonia Sotomayor in which the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision by the city of New Haven, Conn., to throw out a fire department promotional exam because no blacks got top scores. The short opinion by the New York-based appeals court in Ricci v. DeStefano may have been part of an effort to achieve consensus in the case, Miller said in a conference call covered by SCOTUSblog. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the 2nd Circuit in an…

DLA Piper Lays Off 21 Associates, 100 Staffers

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:13:08 -0500

DLA Piper will lay off 21 associates and 100 staffers in a second round of cuts at the firm’s U.S. offices this year. A memo distributed today announced the layoffs. “During the last year, we have experienced the worst economic period in generations,” said the memo provided to the ABA Journal. “Unfortunately, economic weakness has continued, demand across the legal sector remains soft, and it is increasingly clear that major improvements in the U.S. and global economy will not occur before 2010.” The memo says the firm's economic picture remains strong, but the soft economy requires a second round of…

Do You Expect to Learn Anything From the Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings?

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:11:59 -0500

Endorsements and protests of Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor are pouring in as Senators ready their opening statements and strategic questions for the woman who President Barack Obama has chosen to replace retired Justice David H. Souter. The hearings, which tend to run between four and five days, are rare enough that they will be a spectacle even if you buy Tom Goldstein's argument that "it's all over but the swearing in." Note: We'll provide gavel to gavel highlights from the hearings and snippets from the blogosphere here at ABAJournal.com. All this lead up and political posturing got us to…

Dreier Seeking 12½-year Sentence for Fraud Scheme; Prosecutors Want Life

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:07:48 -0500

Updated: Marc Dreier, who pleaded guilty in May to eight felony charges related to his bilking of investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars in a scheme involving fake promissory notes, submitted a memo today asking for a sentence of no more than 12½ years in prison. However, the prosecution says they're asking for 145 years. Dreier's sentencing is set for 5 p.m. Monday, the National Law Journal reports. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan R. Streeter puts Dreier's fraud total at $740 million, the amount of money that went through Dreier's accounts or through escrow counts over which Dreier had…

Fan Kicked Out of Ballgame for Timing of Bathroom Break Gets $10K

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:01:43 -0500

New York City, without admitting liability, will pay a $10,000 settlement to a fan who was ejected from a New York Yankees game in August after attempting to leave his seat during the playing of "God Bless America." In April, the Yankees, the New York City police department—which the team pays to provide security—and several individual officers were hit with a federal lawsuit from Bradford Campeau-Laurion of Astoria, Queens—"Mets country, no less," the American Chronicle points out. The Chronicle also mentioned that Campeau-Laurion is a Red Sox fan. Campeau-Laurion said that when he tried to leave his seat during the…

John Grisham to Write Norfolk Four Screenplay

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:38:55 -0500

Legal novelist John Grisham is writing a screenplay about the “Norfolk Four” who were convicted in the rape and murder of a Virginia women based on confessions they said were obtained by coercion. Grisham is known for bestsellers such as The Firm and The Pelican Brief, but he is also a board member of the Innocence Project and the author of a nonfiction book about a wrongly convicted prisoner. Grisham, a lawyer, hopes to complete the screenplay by this fall, the Washington Post reports. The Innocence Project is seeking clemency for the Norfolk Four, sailors who were prosecuted even though…