Lawyer - News

A D.C. judge has dismissed the Filegate lawsuits, ending a case that bedeviled the Clinton White House. Plaintiffs sued after the administration said it had mistakenly ordered up the FBI files of some 400 Bush I and Reagan officials. Tuesday, Chief Judge Royce Lamberth concluded, "After ... endless depositions, the fictionalized portrayal of this lawsuit and its litigants on television, and innumerable histrionics, this Court is left to conclude that with this lawsuit, to quote Gertrude Stein, 'there's no there there.'" No comments

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled last week that criminal indictments against two lawyers must be dismissed, putting to rest a case that the state's criminal defense bar worried could threaten the livelihoods -- and liberty -- of lawyers whose clients are ultimately convicted. The lawyers were accused of stealing from the estate of a murder victim by accepting legal fees from his wife, who first inherited her husband's estate but ultimately pleaded guilty to a murder-for-hire plot. No comments

A former television producer pressured by debt and riven by jealousy admitted Tuesday he tried to extract vengeance and money by shaking down David Letterman in a case that bared the late-night icon's affairs with staffers. Robert "Joe" Halderman pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny, acknowledging he tried to chisel $2 million from Letterman, threatening to destroy the TV host's reputation by airing his workplace dalliances -- using information authorities have said he mined from a former girlfriend's diary. No comments

A broad spectrum of scholars and advocacy groups agreed that McDonald v. City of Chicago presented the best -- and possibly the last -- chance to revive the argument that the 14th Amendment's "privileges or immunities" clause was the soundest way to apply individual rights like the Second Amendment right to bear arms to states and localities. And after the entire movement seemed to crash and burn in the space of a dramatic few minutes at the Supreme Court, there has been remarkably little regret or recrimination. No comments

A federal judge overseeing a big death penalty case in California has ticked off a cadre of defense lawyers by publicly questioning the need for taxpayer-funded victim outreach. Court-appointed attorneys representing alleged MS-13 gang members are fuming because their funding requests are usually kept private, so prosecutors cannot discern defense litigation strategy. But Judge William Alsup made his comments in a public order, in which the judge solicited the views of both defense lawyers and the government. No comments

At a hearing Tuesday, Houston Judge Kevin Fine rescinded his March 4 order in which he granted defendant John E. Green's motion to declare the state's death penalty statute unconstitutional, according to Alan Curry, appellate division chief in the Harris County district attorney's office. Curry says Fine now wants the parties to brief the issue that the judge believes was raised in Green's motion, which is: "Is it OK to execute an innocent person so that we can maintain a death penalty?" No comments

A central New York attorney active in defending women's and gay rights pleaded guilty Monday to a Class E felony tax fraud charge that will result in her disbarment. Bonnie Strunk admitted to fourth-degree criminal tax fraud before Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti in Syracuse. Strunk acknowledged in court that she failed to file a personal income tax return for 2008. Prosecutors contended she owed about $11,700 in taxes. No comments

"You're so lucky you work for yourself; you don't have to work with people like [fill in the blank]." Solo practitioner Paul Schorn hears this often from friends in midsize and large firms, and in his heart, he knows they're right: Part of what makes solo practice worthwhile is getting to avoid some of the people who can drain all the fun out of practicing law. Here are four types of people Schorn is happy not to face on a daily basis, along with the lessons he believes people can learn from them. No comments

Former KLA-Tencor Corp. executives have agreed to settle a lawsuit over stock option backdating after four years of torturous litigation, according to a court filing Monday. About $33 million in cash will be paid by the executives and the California company's insurer to KLA, according to lawyers briefed on the settlement, who requested anonymity because details of the deal haven't been made public. The deal has been a long time coming. No comments

A judge has ordered Mercedes-Benz USA to pay $482,000 in damages and legal fees to a Wisconsin customer who was sold a defective car and not given a refund on time. The customer's lawyer said he believes the judgment is the largest involving a single car under a state "lemon law," which protects consumers who are sold junk cars. A Mercedes-Benz spokeswoman said the company is strongly considering an appeal. No comments