Recent Updates
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New Illinois laws for 2010 include no texting while driving
Legal News Center 01/02/2010Take your thumbs off the keypad and put your hands on the wheel -- it's now illegal to text-message while driving.A state law that takes effect Friday also bans checking e-mail, updating Facebook and Web surfing while driving, though using your phone...
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Legal fees mount in Madoff liquidation
Legal News Center 12/30/2009A court-appointed trustee and a Manhattan law firm working to unravel Bernard Madoff's massive fraud have rung up another $22.1 million in legals fees. A judge approved the payment Thursday in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan. It follows initial...
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Fla. judges, lawyers must 'unfriend' on Facebook
Legal News Center 12/28/2009Florida's judges and lawyers should no longer "friend" each other on Facebook, the popular social networking site, according to a ruling from the state's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee.At least one South Florida judge warned her pals with a Faceb...
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Man gets 2 1/2 years in sale of gun that shot McNair
Legal News Center 12/18/2009A convicted murderer who pleaded guilty to selling the gun used to kill ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison.Thirty-three-year-old Adrian Gilliam, of nearby La Vergne, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court...
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Vt. court eyes value of love of man's best friend
Legal News Center 12/17/2009Vermont's highest court is being asked to decide what a dog's love is worth.The state Supreme Court on Thursday began hearing a case that started in July 2003, when Denis and Sarah Scheele, who were visiting relatives, let their mixed-breed dog wande...
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Fla. judges, lawyers must 'unfriend' on Facebook
Legal News Center 12/15/2009Florida's judges and lawyers should no longer "friend" each other on Facebook, the popular social networking site, according to a ruling from the state's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee.At least one South Florida judge warned her pals with a Faceb...
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Supreme court won't revive gun lawsuit
Legal News Center 12/14/2009The Supreme Court has turned away a new challenge to a 2005 law that gives gun manufacturers immunity from lawsuits by shooting victims.The justices on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Hector Adames Jr. to revive his lawsuit against the Beretta ...
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Justices making new push to abolish elected judges
Legal News Center 12/11/2009An old debate about whether judges should be elected or appointed is heating up again.Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and several state Supreme Court justices are planning a nationwide push during next year's state legislative sessio...
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Burglars hit offices of Blagojevich's legal team
Legal News Center 12/09/2009Burglars broke into the offices occupied by two members of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's legal defense team overnight and stole eight computers and a safe, police said Friday.The break-in occurred at the South Side offices of veteran Chicago criminal...
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Lawyer: Blagojevich would take 5th in casino suit
Legal News Center 12/08/2009Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich would claim his 5th Amendment right against self incrimination if asked to testify in a civil lawsuit spurred by his federal corruption indictment, his lawyer says.Attorney Jay Edelson told The Associated Press on...
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Court turns down Calif. death row inmate's appeal
Legal News Center 12/02/2009The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a California death row inmate who was convicted in the gruesome murders of four people in 1983.The justices said Monday they would not review an appeals court ruling that upheld the murder conviction and ...
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Court: Ky. must readopt lethal injection proto
Legal News Center 11/25/2009The Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that the state improperly adopted its three-drug method of lethally injecting condemned inmates.The court says in a ruling issued Wednesday that the state must go back and readopt the method because officials did ...