Lawyer - News

A federal jury in Atlanta -- sympathetic to a software firm that was unceremoniously tossed out of a national technology conference by the host firm -- has hit the conference host with $2.14 million in punitive damages for breach of contract and interfering with a contract. But the defense team expects the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last month in a case about the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill to bolster their petition to toss out the award or reduce it significantly. No comments

A Connecticut attorney found not guilty of shooting at a motorist by reason of insanity has been committed to a state mental hospital for 20 years. Eric Witlin had been charged in 2007 after he fired a shotgun at a motorist, then broke into the home of his ex-wife and entered with the gun while his young son was in his bedroom. Investigators say Witlin poses a danger to himself and others. No comments

A united front by conservative forces against same-sex marriage in California is showing signs of cracking -- or of having been an illusion all along. Last week, the proponents of Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that would limit marriage to heterosexual couples, asked the California Supreme Court to prevent another conservative group -- the Campaign for California Families -- from intervening in a suit that could determine whether that issue stays on the November ballot. No comments

The prosecutors seeking to send Brian Nichols to Georgia's death row have responded to the latest defense effort to have them removed from the case, arguing that the mixed bag of allegations of wrongdoing, bias and improper communications with the news media are not only unsubstantiated and insufficient but also call into question whether the Nichols lawyers themselves have a conflict of interest. No comments

At a court hearing Tuesday, securities class action law firm Milberg defended a pay deal with co-founder Melvyn I. Weiss, who was sentenced last month to 30 months in prison for orchestrating a scheme to pay kickbacks to individual plaintiffs in shareholder suits. Milberg partner Matthew Gluck said the agreement to pay Weiss 15 percent of fees on matters being handled by the firm had proceeded with the government's full knowledge. No comments

Craig Johnson, the Silicon Valley lawyer-entrepreneur who brought you the Venture Law Group, is on to his next big thing: a virtual law firm. Johnson and 14 other lawyers unveiled the new firm, called Virtual Law Partners, on Friday. The idea is to have more work-life balance, work from home, save on overhead, charge clients less, and forge a new model for the legal industry. They're also getting rid of minimum billable hour requirements and high-priced associates. No comments

New York state's highest court has been asked to resolve uncertainty over a law that penalizes attorneys who deceive state courts. The 2nd Circuit on Tuesday certified two questions to the New York Court of Appeals in a case involving an attorney's representation of a man who allegedly stripped his family's business of millions. A federal judge had concluded that the man's attorney had engaged in "a persistent pattern of unethical behavior." No comments

All three of this summer's interns at Berkeley, Calif.'s Disability Rights Advocates have lived with a significant disability, an experience they say has helped shape their career aspirations and steered them toward disability rights advocacy. Rebecca Williford, a University of North Carolina School of Law student with dysautonomia, a chronic neurological and cardiovascular disorder, says she would love to land a public interest fellowship in disability rights impact litigation. No comments

The National Association of Women Lawyers will urge law firms to compensate senior attorneys for promoting diversity, monitor how credit for business development is meted out and teach senior male attorneys to be less fearful of mentoring women, in a report released this week aimed at advancing women's legal careers. "The focus is on actions -- what specific actions the firms can take to advance women and enhance their own leadership structure," says Stephanie Scharf, a partner at Schoeman Updike & Kaufman. No comments

The rise of nasty political campaigns targeting elected state judges nationally, coupled with the cost of judicial elections and a potential backlash over the California Supreme Court's gay marriage decision, has prompted that state's chief justice to hold the first public forum on preserving impartial courts. The forum, scheduled for this week, will attempt to head off rancorous judicial election contests by launching public discussion of the role of judges. No comments