Legal News

Local law firm welcomes two new additions

Posted on December 03, 2010
The law firm of Cunningham, Mitchell & Rocconi welcomes two attorneys, Elizabeth "Sissy" Rankin and Roman Hankins.Rankin returns to the firm after serving as a General Sessions and Juvenile Court judge in Montgomery County. Hankins returns to his hometown after graduating from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville with a bachelor of business administration degree and a doctor of jurisprudence...

Man who targeted Iran critics skips LA court date

Posted on December 03, 2010
Mohammad Reza Sadeghnia, a purported Iranian government agent who pleaded guilty to trying to hire a hitman to kill a broadcaster critical of the Iranian regime, is a fugitive from justice after missing a Los Angeles court date.Sadeghnia, 43, was granted permission to travel to his native Iran earlier this fall to visit his ailing father and apparently never returned...

New wine case possible for US Supreme Court

Posted on December 03, 2010
The US Supreme Court, which five years ago struck down laws preventing wine makers in one state from selling directly to customers living in another, could be poised to dip its collective toe into the wine vat again.The top US court will soon decide whether to hear a challenge to a Texas law which says that wine retailers are not allowed to engage in cross-border commerce with individual consumers -- even if wine producers are...

Class action lawsuit against United Water could cost millions

Posted on November 29, 2010
Several Union City residents have filed a class action lawsuit against United Water on allegations that the company cheated customers by selling them useless warranties that do not cover repairs.The warranties, which cost about $150 a year, are supposed to cover the repair of broken water pipes, sewer pipes and other items, the attorneys for three 18th Street plaintiffs, said...

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Supreme Court: drugs can be forced on defendant

Posted on November 29, 2010
The state Supreme Court ruled on Friday that possession of more than 8 pounds of marijuana is a serious enough charge to warrant forcing medication on a defendant so he is competent to stand trial. The high court's 7-0 ruling came in the case of 30-year-old Christopher Seekins of Torrington, who authorities say has been ruled incompetent to stand trial because he refuses to take psychotropic medication for bipolar disorder...

Black farmers, Indians closer to US settlement

Posted on November 20, 2010
Black farmers and American Indians who say the United States discriminated against them and took their money for decades are a step closer to winning long-awaited government settlements.Under legislation passed by the Senate on Friday, black farmers who claim discrimination at the hands of the Agriculture Department would receive almost $1...

Lawyers Offer Free Legal Service Nationwide

Posted on November 20, 2010
For one week at the end of October, law schools, law firms, bar associations and other legal groups from Seattle to Boston and New York to New Orleans will recognize the work done by lawyers on behalf of the poor and underserved through a national pro bono celebration...

Former U.S. Marine Corps Judge Advocate Joins Tully Rinckey PLLC

Posted on November 20, 2010
Tully Rinckey PLLC is pleased to announce the addition of attorney J.E. Yancey Ellis as an Associate in its Washington, D.C. law office. Ellis joins Tully Rinckey PLLC after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps for over four years, including a year long deployment in Iraq...

Feds conducting big insider trading probe

Posted on November 20, 2010
Federal authorities are examining whether multiple insider-trading rings reaped illegal profits totaling tens of millions of dollars, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.The three-year criminal and civil investigation could result in charges by the end of the year, the Journal reported...

Idaho Supreme Court lifts hold on refinery haul

Posted on November 03, 2010
The Idaho Supreme Court on Monday lifted a lower court order that prevented ConocoPhillips from moving giant refinery parts along a rural highway across the state.In a 3-2 decision, the court said that Judge John Bradbury of Idaho's Second Judicial District Court and the Supreme Court itself, had no authority to rule on a permit issued by Idaho's highway department allowing the movement of giant coking unit parts along the U...

Calif. voters give Brown a return trip as governor

Posted on November 03, 2010
Democrat Jerry Brown was elected California governor on Tuesday in an extraordinary political encore, defeating billionaire Republican Meg Whitman and the $142 million she spent of her own fortune as he reclaimed the office he held a generation ago.The 72-year-old state attorney general's victory leaves him with the enormous task of lifting the state out of a recession and joblessness...

California marijuana legalization goes up in smoke

Posted on November 02, 2010
California voters rejected a ballot measure on Tuesday that would have made it the first U.S. state to legalize marijuana for recreational use.The "no" vote on Proposition 19 had 56 percent of the vote to 43 percent for "yes," with 20 percent of precincts counted...

WA voters say no to state income tax Initiative 1098

Posted on November 02, 2010
Early returns show voters rejected Initiative 1098 being rejected with about 65 percent of the vote to 35 percent in unofficial returns.Initiative 1098 would institute a new state tax on the top 1 percent of incomes to pay for education and health programs while trimming state property and business taxes...

Canadian at Gitmo pleads guilty to all charges

Posted on October 25, 2010
A Canadian accused of killing an American soldier as a teenage al-Qaida militant pleaded guilty Monday as part of a deal that avoids a war crimes trial for someone labeled a "child soldier" by his defenders.Omar Khadr pleaded to five charges including murder for throwing a grenade that mortally wounded the soldier during a fierce raid on an al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan in 2002...

The Zach Frith Story

Posted on October 25, 2010
Football?..is One of the most popular sports in America?..And It's also the leading cause of sports-related injuries. During the 2005-06 season, high school football players sustained more than half a million injuries nationally.And 14 year old High School Zachary Frith was one of them??...

Lawsuit claims Citizens wrongly awarded contracts

Posted on October 25, 2010
A class-action lawsuit contends that Citizens Property Insurance Corp. improperly awarded dozens of no-bid contracts worth more than $49 million.The lawsuit filed Thursday in Tallahassee seeks unspecified damages for the 1.2 million Citizens policyholders...

Court sends back Buddhist temple killing case

Posted on October 12, 2010
A man accused of killing nine people at a Buddhist temple near Phoenix as a juvenile will have the federal courts reconsider his overturned conviction.The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the lower courts to re-examine the thrown-out murder conviction of Johnathan Doody...

States aim to force changes in foreclosure process

Posted on October 12, 2010
If the attorneys general of up to 40 states have their way, mortgage companies will have to revamp the way they handle foreclosures, pay penalties for violations and expand help to homeowners on the verge of foreclosure.The top law enforcement officials of states around the country are launching a joint investigation into the problems with foreclosure documents that surfaced in recent weeks...

Justices weigh lawsuits over vaccine side effects

Posted on October 12, 2010
The Supreme Court is trying to sort out whether drug companies can be sued for claims of serious side effects from childhood vaccines without driving vaccine makers from the market and risking a public health crisis.The court heard arguments Tuesday in an appeal filed by Pittsburgh-area parents who want to sue drug maker Wyeth, which is owned by Pfizer Inc...

Court won't speed challenge to MN disclosure law

Posted on October 04, 2010
A federal appeals court has declined to fast-track a challenge against a Minnesota law requiring disclosure of corporate political spending.In an order Monday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion to expedite the case, and it scheduled oral arguments for Jan...

Reed Smith considering merger with Texas firm

Posted on October 04, 2010
Pittsburgh-based Reed Smith, which has 150 lawyers in Philadelphia, is in early merger discussions with Dallas-based law firm Thompson & Knight, both firms confirmed Friday to the Pittsburgh Business Times."We are in preliminary merger discussions with Texas-based Thompson & Knight," said Reed Smith Managing Partner Greg Jordan in an e-mail...

Armstrong Teasdale LLP New Associate Announcement

Posted on October 04, 2010
Armstrong Teasdale LLP announces the addition of attorney Angie Fletcher as an associate in the St. Louis office. Fletcher is a member of the Corporate Services practice group and focuses primarily on securities, corporate governance, and commercial and general business law...

Court urged to uphold order on immigration law

Posted on September 27, 2010
Arizona's new immigration law illegally conflicts with federal statutes and undermines the nation's foreign policy, attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice argued Friday.Assistant Attorney General Tony West argued to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that U...

Calif. inmate asks federal court to halt execution

Posted on September 27, 2010
A death row inmate has asked a federal appeals court to halt his execution and has refused to choose a method of lethal injection.Lawyers for Albert Greenwood Brown filed court papers Sunday saying he is appealing a federal court judge's refusal to block his execution, which is scheduled for Wednesday...

NY wife-killing case back in court after hung jury

Posted on September 27, 2010
The case of a New York man accused of killing his wife and incinerating her in an oil drum is going back to court.Opening arguments in the retrial of Werner Lippe of Cortlandt, N.Y., are set for Monday at the Westchester County Courthouse.Lippe confessed three times to killing his wife Faith...

Court affirms overturning Fla. gay adoption ban

Posted on September 22, 2010
Florida's strict ban on adoption by gay people is unconstitutional because no other group, even people with criminal backgrounds, are singled out for a flat prohibition by state law, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.The ruling by the 3rd District Court of Appeal upholds a 2008 decision by a Miami-Dade County judge who found "no rational basis" for the ban when she approved the adoption of two young brothers by Martin Gill and his male partner...

ANZ says to vigorously defend class action suit

Posted on September 22, 2010
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said on Wednesday it will vigorously defend a class action suit by customers for recovery of bank fees.Earlier class-action law firm Maurice Blackburn said it would file a $48 million class action suit against ANZ, with up to 11 other lenders at risk of similar suits in the future...

American Bar Association Honors Philadelphia Firms

Posted on September 22, 2010
The American Bar Association?s Death Penalty Representation Project will acknowledge Philadelphia law firms Reed Smith LLP and Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP?s role in ground-breaking, pro bono litigation of capital punishment appeals with an Exceptional Service Award on Wednesday, Sept...

Defendant pleads guilty in NJ in $880M fraud case

Posted on September 16, 2010
A Florida man known for his sports-related philanthropy pleaded guilty Wednesday to running a multistate Ponzi scheme that prosecutors say left investors with up to $100 million in losses.Nevin Shapiro pleaded guilty in New Jersey federal court to one count of securities fraud and one count of money laundering as part of an agreement that still has him facing up to 17 years in prison at his Jan...

Man who tried to fake death pleads guilty to fraud

Posted on September 16, 2010
An Indiana money manager who once led a high-flying lifestyle pleaded guilty to five securities fraud counts on Wednesday, nearly two years after he tried to fake his death in a Florida plane crash to escape the crush of financial and personal problems...

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