ABA Journal Top Stories

Ticket-Fixing, Disrobed Mich. Judge Now Faces Criminal Charges

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:22:54 -0600

A Michigan judge, booted off the bench last month by the state supreme court for a slew of transgressions, was charged this week with four felonies for some of those actions. Former Jackson County district judge James Justin now faces as much as 20 years in prison and $40,000 in fines in the case brought by the Michigan attorney general’s office under the state’s “Misconduct in Office” statute. The criminal matters concern then-Judge Justin’s dismissal of four traffic tickets issued to his wife–a kind of self-enrichment by a public official. The Judicial Tenure Commission, which recommended his removal from the…

ABA Files Motions to Dismiss, Stay Duncan School of Law Litigation

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:32:38 -0600

The ABA moved Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Tennessee law school in December after it was denied provisional accreditation by the association's law school accrediting arm. Lincoln Memorial University's Duncan School of Law is suing the ABA for alleged antitrust and due process violations over a Dec. 20 decision (PDF) by the governing council of the association's Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar to deny its bid for provisional accreditation. The ABA's motion, filed Wednesday in federal court in Knoxville, where the suit is pending, says Duncan's antitrust claim should be dismissed because the…

Power Lunches Go on a Diet: Big-Firm Lawyers Are Cutting Back on Such Meetings

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:30:04 -0600

The “power lunch” has lost some of its punch for most big-firm lawyers, according to a recent survey. But while the majority of those surveyed said they now engage in less bread-breaking interaction with colleagues and clients than just three years ago, they’re still averaging a couple of business lunches each month. The survey was developed by the staffing firm Robert Half Legal and conducted by an independent research firm, using responses from 200 lawyers at big firms and companies. They were asked: “In your opinion, are ‘power lunches’ more or less common than they were three years ago?” The…

Judge Doesn’t Buy Expanding 13th Amendment Argument in PETA Suit over Enslaved Whales

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:27:20 -0600

PETA has lost its bid to get a federal judge to hear its lawsuit contending that SeaWorld is holding five killer whales in violation of the 13th Amendment. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller dismissed the suit on Wednesday, saying the 13th Amendment applies only to human beings and offers no redress for the plaintiffs, five orca whales represented in part by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals as next friends. “As plaintiffs lack standing to bring a 13th Amendment claim, the court dismisses the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction,” Miller wrote. The Los Angeles Times and the…

SEC Set to Warn Banks of Impending Suits over Bundled Subprime Mortgages

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:00:07 -0600

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly planning to warn several banks of impending civil lawsuits over bundled subprime mortgages. The targeted banks aren’t known, but several are being investigated, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. They include Ally Financial, Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. “The move would mark a stepped-up regulatory effort to hold Wall Street accountable for its sale of bonds linked to subprime mortgages in 2007 and 2008,” the story says. “At issue is whether the banks misrepresented the poor quality of loan pools they bundled and sold to investors.”

$26B Foreclosure Settlement Announced After Holdout AGs Join Pact

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:44:30 -0600

Updated: State and federal officials have announced a $26 billion foreclosure settlement with five of the nation’s largest banks that was reached after two holdout attorneys general supported the deal. The pact announced today is the largest since a multistate tobacco settlement was reached in 1998, the Washington Post reports. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and California Attorney General Kamala Harris initially indicated they were reluctant to support a settlement, but they are now on board, according to the Post and the New York Times. The settlement applies to five banks: Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Ally…

Could Deaths of Two Boys in Supervised-Visitation House Fire Have Been Prevented?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:05:10 -0600

In the aftermath of a terrible tragedy, observers are wondering what, if anything, could have been done to prevent two boys, ages 5 and 7, from dying along with their father after his Washington state home erupted in flames during a supervised visit on Sunday. Little, it seems, likely could have circumvented the deaths after Josh Powell shut the door on the caseworker assigned to come inside and supervise the visit, Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Ed Troyer told the Seattle Times. However, Troyer said the sheriff's department it is unhappy about the approximately seven minutes a dispatcher spent…

Top Texas Criminal Court OKs Use of Defendant’s MySpace Pages to Convict Him in Slaying

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:19:50 -0600

Despite an absence of forensic evidence, Ronnie Tienda Jr. was convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison in the slaying of a 23-year-old man in a 2007 Dallas freeway shootout. The guns that were fired in the incident were never recovered, nor was there a bullet match. However, Tienda, who was present at the crime scene, according to evidence presented at his Dallas County trial, was convicted after the judge allowed in evidence of postings on Tienda's MySpace account. Today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Tienda's conviction concerning the death of David Valadez, finding that the trial…

2 Former TSU Law Students Sue Over ‘Arbitrary and Capricious’ D Grade in First-Year Contracts Class

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:50:32 -0600

Updated: Jonathan Chan and Karla Ford expected to be second-year law students at Texas Southern University this year. Instead, the two are making headlines after filing an unusual federal lawsuit in the Southern District of Texas last week. It contends the D grades they got from an adjunct professor teaching a first-year contracts class were "arbitrary and capricious," intended to "curve them out" of the class rather than objectively assess their performance, reports the Houston Chronicle. Naming as defendants the school and the then-adjunct, Shelley Smith, the suit asserts claims for alleged breach of contract, defamation, and intentional and negligent…

Goldilocks Avoids Criminal Sanction When Sotomayor Judges Dispute on Sesame Street

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:58:17 -0600

Justice Sonia Sotomayor took on more of an arbitrator role when she appeared on Sesame Street and heard the case of Goldilocks v. Baby Bear. Sotomayor began by explaining her role for young viewers. “A Supreme Court justice is a judge who solves arguments by giving his or her opinion,” she said. The justice was able to demonstrate when Baby Bear complained that Goldilocks came into his house uninvited, sat on his chair and broke it. Goldilocks responded that she was tired and she didn’t intend to break the chair. When prompted by Sotomayor, she offered to use some glue…

What SCOTUS Decision Would You Like to See a Documentary or Feature Film About?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:30:49 -0600

As reported in the February issue of the ABA Journal, HBO will premiere The Loving Story, a documentary about Richard and Mildred Loving of the U.S. Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, on Valentine's Day. The documentary includes historical and current interviews with the couple's lawyers, Bernard Cohen and Philip Hirschkop. The film was on the shortlist to be nominated for an Academy Award this year, but ultimately didn't make the cut. So this week, we'd like to ask you: What SCOTUS decision would you like to see a documentary or feature film about? Give us your pitches. Or, if…

Gunman Who Fired Shot Outside Upstate NY Courtroom Is Killed

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:14:25 -0600

Updated: A gunman who opened fire near the entrance to city court in Middletown, N.Y., has been shot and killed, according to local news reports. The Times Herald-Record identifies the slain gunman as Tim Mulqueen, a former Middletown landlord with a grudge against Mayor Joe DeStefano. MidHudsonNews.com also reports the gunman was killed, though the Associated Press says the shooter was wounded. Eyewitnesses said the gunman rode his motorcycle to city hall in Middletown at around 9 a.m. and fired his 12-gauge shotgun by the door of Middletown City Court. Court officers by a metal detector outside the court entrance…

Ariz. Supreme Court Affirms Decision Keeping Candidate Off Ballot Because of Poor English Skills

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:17:49 -0600

The Arizona Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court ruling keeping a local candidate off the ballot because her English language skills are lacking. The two-page order by the Arizona Supreme Court didn’t detail reasons for the decision, report the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, the Yuma Sun and Reuters. The order was issued on an expedited basis; a written decision will be released later. A Yuma County judge had banned Alejandrina Cabrera from the March 13 primary ballot for the San Luis city council in a Jan. 27 ruling. Cabrera had maintained her English ability was sufficient to…

Top-Tier Law Schools Report an Increase in Summer Associate Hiring

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:58:16 -0600

Students at top-tier law schools are securing more summer associate positions, though the job numbers still fall short of levels before the recession. Reuters collected summer hiring statistics from top-tier law schools and found: • At New York University, about 70 percent of incoming third-year law students got summer associate positions in 2011, up 15 percentage points from the previous year. • At the University of Chicago, about 77 percent of 3Ls obtained summer associate positions last year, up eight percentage points from the previous year. • At Yale, about 75 percent of 3Ls obtained summer associate jobs, up three…

Domestic Defendant Freed on Orders to Undergo Counseling, Take His Wife to Red Lobster

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:24:03 -0600

A Florida man charged in a domestic incident was freed without bond on orders that he undergo marriage counseling with his wife and treat her to a night out at Red Lobster and the bowling alley. Joseph Bray of Plantation was accused in an incident that allegedly began when he failed to acknowledge his wife’s birthday, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Bray was accused of pushing his wife on the couch, holding his hand to her throat, and clenching his hand in a fist as if to hit her. Bray’s wife attended the bond hearing and told Judge John “Jay” Hurley of…

Law Prof’s Donation Gets Him Naming Rights to Harvard Law School Restroom

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:01:47 -0600

Berkeley law professor William Falik has obtained naming rights to a restroom at Harvard Law School with a $100,000 donation. Falik told Above the Law and the Daily Californian blog that he obtained naming rights after discussions with the school’s dean at the time—Elena Kagan. Outside the restroom in Harvard’s new Wasserstein Hall is a plaque identifying the “Falik Men’s Room” as a result of a gift by Falik, a 1971 alum. “I have a name that doesn’t go many places,” Falik told the Daily Californian. “I think it’s somewhat humorous to have my name outside of a men’s room.”…

Hedge Fund Suit Accuses Minneapolis Law Firm of Aiding Criminal Enterprise

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:19:59 -0600

A hedge fund that lost money with a convicted Ponzi schemer has sued his in-house counsel and outside law firm. The suit accuses Minneapolis-based Fredrikson & Byron of materially aiding the criminal enterprise of convicted businessman Tom Petters over a 10-year period, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The suit by Ritchie Capital Management also names as defendants former Petters executives and Petters himself; his former in-house lawyer, David Baer; and Fredrikson lawyer Simon Root, according to a story by the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Petters was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 2010 for collecting money from investors that…

Brazil Sues Twitter in Bid to Ban Speed Trap and Roadblock Warnings

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:34:13 -0600

The attorney general of Brazil has filed a lawsuit against Twitter in a bid to block accounts that warn drivers of police speed traps and roadblocks. The government argues the tweets interfere with police efforts to fight drunk driving, reduce accidents and uncover evidence of crime, report CNN, PC Magazine, The Next Web and BBC News. The suit, which seeks $290,000 for each day that Twitter or its microbloggers fail to comply, claims the warnings violate criminal and traffic laws. One Twitter account that had disseminated tips about police activity has voluntarily shut down since the suit was filed on…

9th Circuit Strikes Down California Ban on Gay Marriage

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:03:25 -0600

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that California's voter-approved ban on gay marriage, known as Proposition 8, is unconstitutional. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling (PDF), said Proposition 8's limitations on access to marriage took away rights from a vulnerable minority without benefiting parents, children or the institution of marriage. "Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples," Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote…

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Life Sentences for Child Porn Trafficking, Nixes Restitution

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:17:42 -0600

A federal appeals court has affirmed the life sentences given to seven participants in an international child pornography trafficking ring, but it has vacated a $3.3 million restitution award against one of the defendants on behalf of one of the victims. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a lengthy opinion (PDF) Monday, said it didn't find the life sentences so "grossly disproportionate" to the defendants' crimes as to violate the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. But it did order the trial court to reconsider whether the actions of the one defendant against whom the…

A CPA, Not an Attorney, Is Named New CEO at Pepper Hamilton

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:34:50 -0600

Corrected: A Harvard Business School graduate who is a certified public accountant rather than a lawyer will be the new CEO of Pepper Hamilton. The 500-attorney Philadelphia-based law firm has announced that it is bringing in Scott Green to oversee its business strategy and operations, according to Forbes and the Philadelphia Business Journal. The 49-year-old Green formerly worked in banking and for Weil Gotshal and WilmerHale, where he has been executive director since 2007. All legal department heads, practice group leaders and office managing partners will report to Green, along with the leaders of nonlegal management entities within the firm.…

Popularity of Once-Much-Emulated US Constitution in Foreign Countries Now in ‘Free Fall,’ Study Says

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:20:14 -0600

Only a quarter of a century ago, a Time magazine article on the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution found that the founding document of this country had influenced the national charters of 160 of the 170 countries then in existence. Today, a study by by David S. Law of Washington University in St. Louis and Mila Versteeg of the University of Virginia has determined that the document is far less influential, reports the New York Times (reg. req.). “Among the world’s democracies,” the study concludes, “constitutional similarity to the United States has clearly gone into free fall. Over the 1960s…

ACLU Suit Seeks Lawyers and Competency Hearing for Mentally Ill Immigrants

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:44:58 -0600

Unrepresented by an attorney during an immigration court hearing, Ever Martinez Rivas, 32, turned out to have another formidable advocate in the San Diego, Calif., courtroom: His mom. After Maria Elena Felipe finally interrupted the hearing and gave the judge his medical records, which showed he had been in and out of hospitals and treatment centers for nearly 15 years, the judge found he was incompetent and terminated his removal case, reports the Los Angeles Times. But the judge, Renee L. Renner, pointed in a written opinion to systemic problems dealing with such individuals that remain unaddressed: "The Attorney General…

Grand Jury Indicts Document-Prep Company for Alleged Forgery re Foreclosure-Filing Paperwork

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:38:04 -0600

In a rare prosecution of a document-preparation company, amidst widespread reports of improprieties in mortgage foreclosure filings by lenders, a Missouri grand jury has indicted DocX and its president on forgery charges. The Boone County case will be prosecuted by the state attorney general, who says an investigation is continuing, reports the New York Times (reg. req.). “The grand jury indictment alleges that mass-produced fraudulent signatures on notarized real estate documents constitutes forgery,” said AG Chris Koster in a written statement. “Today’s indictment reflects our firm conviction that when you sign your name to a legal document, it matters.” A…

Federal Judge in Texas Says Requiring Sonograms Before Abortions to Go Forward

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:59:23 -0600

A Texas federal judge ruled today that he would not block a state law requiring women to have a sonogram before having an abortion, following a directive by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the statute is constitutional. Previously U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks had ruled that parts of the law, which also requires doctors to play fetal heartbeats out loud and describe the fetuses' features at least 24 hours before an abortion, violated doctors and patients’ First Amendment rights. The law has exceptions for cases of rape, incest and fetal deformities, the Associated Press…