Recent Updates
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Judge revokes bail for NYC ex-police commissioner
Lawyer Blogs 10/20/2009A federal judge on Tuesday revoked bail for former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and sent him to jail to await a corruption trial scheduled to start next week.Calling Kerik "a toxic combination of self-minded focus and arrogance," J...
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Bankruptcy filing delays church sex abuse case
Lawyer Blogs 10/19/2009A sex abuse case against Delaware's Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and a former priest will be delayed after the diocese filed for federal bankruptcy protection on the eve of trial.The bankruptcy filing late Sunday delays a lawsuit that had been set ...
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Ala. court rejects $274M verdicts in drug cases
Lawyer Blogs 10/18/2009ma Supreme Court on Friday threw out jury decisions awarding the state more than $274 million from three pharmaceutical companies, ruling they did not defraud the state in pricing Medicaid prescription drugs.The court overturned jury verdicts against...
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Court decision seen as good sign for ex-Ala. gov
Lawyer Blogs 10/16/2009Attorneys for former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and ex-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy said Wednesday they see a positive sign in the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hear the appeal of former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling.Like Skilling, some of the charge...
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Court files opened in Letterman extortion case
Lawyer Blogs 10/15/2009Newly released court documents say the newsman accused of blackmailing David Letterman about his sexual affairs told the TV host's attorney that his client's world was about to collapse around him.The documents say CBS News producer Robert "Joe" Hald...
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The Supreme Court Shows Off Its Dull Side
Lawyer Blogs 10/15/2009Chief Justice John Roberts once famously and controversially described a judge's role as akin to an umpire who merely calls balls and strikes. On Wednesday, Roberts offered a new take on that argument in a Supreme Court case about whether lawyers who...
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NY court hears case against gay marriage benefits
Lawyer Blogs 10/14/2009A Christian legal group seeking to stop New York agencies from recognizing same-sex marriages performed outside the state argued in the state's highest court Tuesday that the practice amounts to a policy decision that requires approval by lawmakers.A...
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Court to decide constitutionality of bad advice
Lawyer Blogs 10/13/2009Supreme Court justices are questioning whether defendants should expect their lawyers to advise them on all the possible consequences of a guilty plea before it is submitted to a court.Jose Padilla wants his guilty plea to drug charges thrown out. Th...
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Fla. appeal court again rules against NCAA
Lawyer Blogs 10/13/2009A Florida appellate court again has rebuffed the NCAA's effort to prevent public release of documents on academic cheating at Florida State.The 1st District Court of Appeal late Monday denied the college athletics organization's motions for a reheari...
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Prison time, felony charges rare for relic looters
Lawyer Blogs 10/12/2009Sentences of probation — not prison time — for a southern Utah mother and daughter who pleaded guilty to illegal trafficking of Indian artifacts last month weren't out of the ordinary. A 10-year analysis of prosecutions under a law meant to punish ar...
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Congress to look into Vikings case
Lawyer Blogs 10/12/2009The House Energy and Commerce Committee plans to conduct a hearing next month on the case of two professional football players whose suspensions were blocked by a federal appeals court.Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is concerned that the ...
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Sharp debate at high court over cross on US land
Lawyer Blogs 10/12/2009As the Supreme Court weighed a dispute over a religious symbol on public land Wednesday, Justice Antonin Scalia was having difficulty understanding how some people might feel excluded by a cross that was put up as a memorial to soldiers killed in Wor...