Free Republic

A lawyer who sent out hundreds of thousands of threatening letters demanding that alleged file-sharers pay 400 euros, has been banned from operating for 6 months. Elizabeth Martin, who had been working with Swiss anti-piracy outfit, Logistep, was condemned by the Paris Bar Council. For anti-piracy company, Logistep, life is becoming more and more difficult by the day. They have been deemed to be operating illegally in Italy and have been slammed over privacy issues in the home country, Switzerland. Now, according to a report - and to add further insult to this growing pile of misery - a lawyer...

When a legal self-help book is promoted as coming from God's legal department, you can't ask for a higher authority. That's the pitch for the new book from "Christian lawyer" Stephen L. Bloom, The Believer's Guide to Legal Issues, due out April 1. "I've seen people, including Christian believers, getting caught up in very painful legal nightmares, damaging their relationships, making themselves miserable, all by following traditional secular legal advice and values," Bloom says. "So I've written this book to empower people to rise above the mindset of greed and revenge so prevalent in the law, to draw them...

LONDON (AFP) - Heather Mills on Tuesday hit out at a judge's comments in his ruling on her divorce from Paul McCartney and admitted pouring a jug of water over the lawyer representing the former Beatle. The 40-year-old former model turned charity campaigner, who lost a bid to keep the full judgment on the divorce private, told the BBC that judge Hugh Bennett's criticisms of her as "less than impressive" were "outrageous". She also said that the decision to put the entire ruling in the public domain, including her home addresses, threatened her security and that of her daughter, four-year-old...

A crooked solicitor stole £1.25million in compensation he had won for a client paralysed in a crash. Thomas McGoldrick, 59, was facing jail last night for blowing most of the payout on "obscene extravagance". The money was supposed to fund a lifetime of care for 45-year-old Keith Anderson who had lost the use of his arms and legs. But McGoldrick, who was massively in debt, used it to continue enjoying the high life with his millionaire neighbours. The cash went on holidays to Portugal and Barbados and prep school fees for his two children. McGoldrick also spent £15,000 on a...

William S. Lerach, who won billions of dollars for defrauded investors in class-action cases, was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison, ending up on the wrong end of the justice system after a legendary legal career. The prominent California plaintiff lawyer recovered more than $7 billion for Enron shareholders before pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge last October. He will serve his time in a facility to be determined by prison officials. The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter in Los Angeles yesterday was far higher than the six months in prison and six months' home...

Ben Kuehne, a widely respected Miami lawyer whose clients have included former Vice President Al Gore and other major politicians, surrendered Thursday on federal criminal charges for his behind-the-scenes role in a complex international drug-trafficking case. An indictment, unsealed at his morning court appearance, charges Kuehne in a money-laundering conspiracy with approving tainted legal payments by an accused Colombian drug kingpin to his defense attorney in Miami. The fee payments turned out to be illegitimate because they allegedly came from drug proceeds in violation of federal law, federal prosecutors said. Kuehne, appearing in Miami federal court at 10 a.m., said:...

A former top Hollywood studio lawyer and his wife were on Monday sentenced by a Los Angeles judge after admitting to mistreating their Filipino maid in a case of "modern-day slavery," a court heard. US District Judge Dale Fischer ordered James Jackson, 53, a former vice-president of legal affairs at Sony Pictures to perform 200 hours of community service for admitting a charge of alien harboring. Jackson's wife Elizabeth, 54, was given a three-year jail term after pleading guilty to a charge of forced labor. In passing sentence, Fischer said Elizabeth Jackson had treated the victim, former schoolteacher Nena Ruiz,...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Thursday removed the lawyer for Bernard Kerik, a former New York police commissioner and protege of Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani who faces federal corruption charges. The ruling stands to postpone the start of Kerik's trial, which could help Guiliani if the potentially negative publicity of a trial is delayed past the upcoming nominating contests. Kerik has 30 days to find a new attorney. The next pre-trial hearing is scheduled for February 6, the day after "Super Tuesday" when more than 20 states will hold primary elections or caucuses. No trial...

Description of book: At its heart, this book is a comforting companion and helpful counselor for average Christians interacting with the law, perhaps feeling bewildered, overwhelmed, or uneasy about how their legal situations align with their Christian morals and beliefs. The book is comprehensive in scope, but written in a friendly, conversational tone. The legal topics addressed are carefully selected to cover those most likely to be encountered by regular folks in the course of their everyday lives. By presenting a practical Christian perspective informed by God's rich array of relevant scriptural wisdom, this book will release multitudes of Christian...

The case was called at 13:33, and the Defendant did not show up. There were 2 heavy hitter State's Attorneys here to handle it. The Judge increased his bond to $20,000.00 or 10 percent cash, and put out a warrant for his arrest. The Defendant called at 13:40 to say that he will be a half an hout late and was waiting for the media to leave. The Judge said in open court that if he does shows up he will be taken into custody, and if he doesn't he is fair game for any law enforcement agency that wants...

Sorry excuse for a lawyer: Jay Grodner of Deerfield, Illinois On December 1st, 2007, Jay Grodner, an attorney in private practice in Deerfield, Illinois, was caught red-handed defacing the car of Mike McNulty, a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. Sgt. McNulty was visiting a friend just prior to leaving on his second deployment to Iraq when Grodner apparently decided to vandalize his car by keying the paint because it bore Marine Corps. license plates and military decals on it. McNulty came out of the house and caught Grodner, who began to curse at him and utter anti-military and...

Published: January 3, 2008 Disrespecting the Military: The Proud Moonbat Tradition Continues Pam Meister Moonbat (also "barking moonbat" and "moonbat crazy") is a term often used currently in U.S. politics as a political epithet referring to anyone that is liberal or on the left. ~ Wikipedia First off, let me say that I am not overly fond of the term “moonbat,” but due to its acceptance into modern political parlance, I grudgingly use it on occasion. And this occasion definitely demands it. Milblogger Blackfive broke the story of Marine Sgt. Mike McNulty (who returned to Camp Pendleton yesterday in preparation...

<p>Which lawyer would that be? That would be Jay R. Grodner of Deerfield , Ill. I suspect his life has been made an absolute hell because of something he did a few weeks ago ... and that's the very least this prepuce deserves.</p>

Tiger Attack Victims Hire High Profile Lawyer Tuesday, Jan 1, 2008 @06:21pm CST Two brothers who were injured by a tiger during a Christmas Day attack at the San Francisco Zoo have hired a high-profile lawyer. The victims will be represented by defense attorney Mark Geragos whose previous clients have included Michael Jackson and actress Winona Ryder. ABC News reports Geragos is expected to file suit against the zoo on behalf of Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal. A friend, Carlos Sousa Jr., was killed in the same attack. According to ABCNews.com, Geragos says of the attacks, quote,"there are some very disturbing...

This ought to make your blood boil. And this Marine should receive a commendation for not kicking the living crap out of the guy...seriously. Marine Sgt Mike McNulty is on activation orders to Iraq (second tour). On December 1st, 2007, Mike went to visit a friend in Chicago before deploying to say goodbye. In order to get to his friend's residence, and keep in mind that Chicago is a myriad of diagonal and one-way streets, the front entrance (right way) to the one-way street was blocked. Mike, being a Marine, overcame and adapted by driving around the block to the...

<p>The Republican primary in Colorado will soon be upon us; and even before Iowa and New Hampshire, one thing should be eminently clear: there is only one candidate who throughout his career has been consistently Conservative and who will be able to lead a prosperous America into the second decade of the 21st century.</p>

Civil rights lawyer Stephen Yagman was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in federal prison after being convicted earlier this year on bankruptcy fraud and tax evasion. U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson ordered Yagman, 63, a partner at Venice Beach, Calif.-based Yagman, Yagman & Reichmann, to begin serving his sentence on Jan. 15. He also sentenced Yagman to two years of supervised release after his prison term and ordered him to pay the government the costs of his prosecution. Wilson said he imposed a "serious sentence" after being "shocked" by Yagman's testimony, which he called "so transparently untrue in...

LOS ANGELES Kathleen Holtz only got her driver's license two years ago. Now, at 18, she's got a law license. Holtz learned Friday that she passed the California bar exam. "It's not a big deal to me," Holtz said of her age. Eighteen is the minimum age to practice law in California but 30 is the average age of admission to the state bar. Holtz was 15 when she entered law school at UCLA, where she was a Law Review editor. "If you sat in the same class with her for a whole semester, you would never know she was...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A former children's services lawyer was in jail Thursday, a day after authorities allege he went to the Ohio Statehouse to meet someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl he had met online. Hamilton Township detective Lt. Jeff Braley had posed as the girl and arranged the meeting. Barry Mentser was arrested in the Statehouse basement minutes after Braley testified two floors above in favor of a bill that would increase penalties for sexual offenders who prey upon underage children through the Internet. "I said, 'I'm in Columbus.' He said, 'I'll meet you anywhere,'" Braley said. He...

The bride, Elana Glatt, says her florist committed a series of faux pas at her wedding on Aug. 11. In the most “egregious,” Ms. Glatt says in a lawsuit alleging breach of contract, the florist substituted pastel pink and green hydrangeas for the dark rust and green hydrangeas she had specified for 22 centerpieces.

DETROIT (AP) - The city has paid $575,000 to outside lawyers for defending Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in a case in which a jury awarded $6.5 million to two ex-police officers who said they were dismissed for probing misconduct claims against mayoral bodyguards, records show. Brown claims he was fired in 2003 because he was looking into allegations of drunken-driving accidents, falsified overtime records and a possible cover-up of incidents involving members of the security unit. He said he was investigating claims from two former mayoral bodyguards that the mayor used his bodyguards to facilitate and cover up extramarital affairs.

Spitzer hiring city lawyer on taxpayer expense in TroopergateBY JOE MAHONEY DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF Saturday, October 13th 2007, 4:00 AM ALBANY - Gov. Spitzer has lined up a Manhattan lawyer - at taxpayer expense - to help him quash subpoenas sent to his office by a GOP-controlled panel investigating the Troopergate scandal. Spitzer's office confirmed that Dietrich Snell, a former deputy attorney general, will help the administration as it seeks to block the Senate Investigations Committee's push for e-mails and other documents related to an effort by the governor's aides to discredit Senate GOP leader Joe Bruno. An...

ACLU Lawyer Convicted of Child Porn Possession Sentenced to 7 years in prison By Hilary White ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, September 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Charles Rust-Tierney, an attorney who served as the president of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1993 to 2005, was arrested February 23, 2007 and charged with possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography, was convicted and on September 8, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Tierney had downloaded and paid for what the judge called "abhorrent" child pornography including torture and sexual...

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - A lawyer who stabbed his neighbor to death because he thought the man had molested his 2-year-old daughter was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for first-degree manslaughter. “It’s a Shakespearean tragedy brought into the real world,” Judge Richard Comerford said at the sentencing. “Something was set into motion in this man’s mind — real or perceived. It was very real to him.” Jonathon Edington, 29, attacked neighbor Barry James in the man’s bedroom last year after his wife told him she thought James had molested their daughter. Officers said they found Edington washing the victim’s...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorAugust 28, 2007 Aurora, IL (LifeNews.com) -- The city of Aurora has hired an attorney to determine if the new Planned Parenthood abortion business there is legitimate. The abortion center has seen thousands of protesters after pro-life advocates discovered Planned Parenthood used a separate name to get its construction permits.Planned Parenthood got around public knowledge and opposition by calling the building the Gemini Health Center in all of its building plans and documents.Now, responding to the controversy that generated, the city has hired an outside law firm to review the approval process and make sure the city...

Couple Receives over $21 Million Dollars for "Wrongful Birth" of Handicapped Son Florida Right to Life says, "now we're holding doctors responsible to deliver a perfect baby" By Elizabeth O'Brien TAMPA, Florida, July 24, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A judge has awarded over $21 million dollars to a couple for the "wrongful birth" of their second handicapped son. The couple would have aborted the child if they had known about his disability, the Tampa Bay Tribune reports. Daniel and Amara Estrada have two sons who are both physically handicapped with the same genetic disorder, Smith-Lemli-Opitz, which does not allow them to...

The Legislature's lawyer has issued an opinion concluding that the new sources of revenue proposed in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambitious health care plan are taxes, rather than fees. The opinion could make it a lot more difficult to pass the plan. Any new tax requires approval from two-thirds of the Legislature, which would require Republican votes. Republicans have vowed to oppose any taxes. If the new revenue sources are deemed to be fees, they can be approved by a simple majority vote, which would allow passage with only votes from Democrats. As part of a plan to cover 6.5 million...

Univision snags top honors in media awards competition WLTV-TV 23 (Univision) in Miami has taken top honors in the 2007 Florida Bar Media Awards competition for its series of news reports, interviews, and legal segments on immigration rights and reform. The awards will be presented in conjunction with The Florida Bar’s June 1 Media Law Conference, to be held at the Stetson University College of Law, Tampa Law Center. The Media Awards are presented annually in recognition of excellence in reporting that highlights the system of law and justice as it affects the people of Florida. WLTV’s 2006 “Alerta al...

ATLANTA (AP) - The honeymooner quarantined with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis was identified Thursday as a 31-year-old Atlanta personal injury lawyer whose new father-in-law is a CDC microbiologist specializing in the spread of TB. Bob Cooksey would not comment on whether he reported his son-in-law, 31-year-old Andrew Speaker, to federal health authorities. He said only that he gave Speaker "fatherly advice" when he learned the young man had contracted the disease. The CDC had no immediate comment. "I'm hoping and praying that he's getting the proper treatment, that my daughter is holding up mentally and physically," Cooksey told The...

May 13, 2007 -- First he helped Al Gore fight George W. Bush. Now, he's helping Michael Moore do the same thing. High-powered attorney David Boies - chief counsel in Gore's recount battle against Bush in the 2000 presidential election - has been hired to help the filmmaker fight a federal probe into his new film "Sicko," according to The Weinstein Company. Moore landed in hot water when he took ailing 9/11 responders to Cuba seeking health care as part of the documentary, which highlights problems with the American health care system and HMOs.

A Washington D.C. dry cleaners says its their business a long-time customer is taking to the cleaners. A $10 dry cleaning bill for a pair of lost trousers has ballooned into a $67 million civil lawsuit.

Millionaire attorney Paul Minor and two former judges face sentencing on June 14 after being convicted of bribery late Friday. .... Minor, a past president of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association and member of The Association of Trial Lawyers of America’s board of governors... Minor accumulated a fortune primarily through personal injury litigation and is well known in legal circles. He was a lead lawyer in suits against Ford and Firestone, in which faulty tires were blamed for causing accidents..

A disabled access attorney who has sued entire towns over alleged access violations has been rebuked by a San Diego federal court judge for his conduct in a recent case, told to pay legal fees and take ethics classes.San Diego attorney Theodore Pinnock, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, was ordered to pay more than $15,000 in legal fees incurred by a business owner who was sued over alleged access violations at a convenience store that wasn't even open for business. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller also imposed sanctions against Pinnock, ordering the attorney to complete four...

MIAMI, March 16 (Reuters) - Defense lawyers want the word "terrorist" banned as too inflammatory in the U.S. trial of Jose Padilla and two other men charged with conspiring to aid Islamist extremists overseas. The word conjures up visions of someone with a bomb belt blowing up himself and others in a crowded cafe, Jeanne Baker, an attorney representing co-defendant Adham Amin Hassoun, said during a hearing in the high-profile case on Friday. "The word terrorist has nothing to do with this case," Baker said. "The word terrorist is used to label an enemy." U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, who...

GREENSBORO, N.C. | Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Tuesday his campaign would seek to eliminate its contribution to global warming by becoming "carbon neutral." Speaking to a crowd of college students at Bennett College, the former North Carolina senator urged all Americans to help reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. "It's time for the president of the United States to ask Americans to be patriotic about something other than war," Edwards said. "This is an emergency. This requires action now." Edwards said his campaign will consult with experts to calculate its total carbon emissions -...

HUTCHINSON ISLAND – A Palm Beach County prosecutor cried for help and struggled in the water Sunday after getting attacked by a shark while surfing on Tiger Shores Beach. Adam McMichael, of Boynton Beach, suffered deep cuts on his right forearm by an unknown species of shark and was taken to Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart, witnesses said. Late Sunday, the assistant state attorney was undergoing surgery to save tissue in his shoulder, said Michael Edmondson, spokesman for the State Attorney's Office. There was a sensation in his fingers indicating no immediate sign of paralysis, he said. Several witnesses...

MORRISTOWN, N.J. -- A bicycling doctor is suing a roller-skating child neighbor for pain and suffering, claiming the youngster caused a collision that left the doctor with a broken collar bone. It happened on a Chester Township street in October 2003. Dr. Alexander Dlugi, a prominent endocrinologist, approached Lauren Ellis, then 11, from behind, shouted "watch out" and rang his bicycle bell. As the girl turned around on her in-line skates, the two collided, and the doctor tumbled from his bike. This week, a seven-member jury in the civil trial is hearing the doctor's claim that the girl was negligent...

DEDHAM, Mass. -- The man who stabbed his own lawyer at his rape trial earlier this week returned to court Thursday under heavy security, where he aggressively asked the attorney: "You still breathing?" Lawyer John Courtney has withdrawn from the trial of Che Sosa, who allegedly stabbed him with a sharp, makeshift weapon made out of plexi-glass Tuesday. Superior Court Judge Charles Grabau also excused himself from the case because he witnessed the attack.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A male lawyer who appeared in court dressed in women's clothes as a protest against what he said was New Zealand's overly masculine judiciary was suspended Wednesday after being found to be in contempt of court. The High Court found Rob Moodie, a 68-year-old, balding man who appeared in court in dresses and toting a handbag, was in contempt for circulating suppressed documents outside the court in one of his cases. Moodie officially changed his name to "Miss Alice" as part of his protest against the "old boys network" that he said runs the nation's...

Rudy Giuliani is in. Suggested campaign slogan: "He dealt with Brooklyn. He can handle Baghdad.'' He's not a sure thing; he has enough baggage to fill the cargo hold of a cruise ship. His sundry personal-life issues bother social conservatives; the gun control stance dismays the Second Amendment wing of the party; the pro-choice opinions alarm the evangelicals. That leaves about 47 Republicans, right? After all, it's just a party of cousin-marrying yahoos who'd sooner shoot up Planned Parenthood than vote for one of those fish-on-Friday types. Right? No. Voters are more flexible and forgiving than you might expect. And...

Why I defend "terrorists" An open letter to Cully Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, from a lawyer representing five men at Guantánamo. By Anant Raut Jan. 17, 2007 Cully Stimson Deputy Assistant Secretary for Detainee Affairs Department of Defense Washington, D.C. Dear Mr. Stimson, I am an associate in the Washington office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, a New York-based, international firm with 1,100 lawyers. I practice general corporate litigation. I also represent, on a pro bono basis, five men who are being held as "enemy combatants" at the U.S. detention center in Guantánamo Bay,...

PHILADELPHIA — A criminal defense lawyer was arrested after a sheriff's deputy found him naked with a 14-year-old girl in a courthouse conference room, authorities said Tuesday. Larry Charles, 49, has been charged with solicitation, attempted statutory sexual assault and related counts, said Lt. Dan Bagnell of the police department's Special Victims Unit. A sheriff's deputy making his rounds in the Criminal Justice Center on Monday afternoon looked into a lawyers' conference room on the third floor and discovered Charles and the girl, Bagnell said. Click here for more Crime news. "He had asked for sex. But there was no...

Federal Court Sanctions Against Attorneys Under 28 U.S.C. §1927 — The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Attempts to Divide the Standard for Multiplying the Proceedings in Bad Faith by Glenn J. Waldman Page 16 It is becoming increasingly common for a prevailing party in federal court to seek attorneys’ fees from the losing party’s attorney under a combination of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, 28 U.S.C. §1927, and the court’s companion “inherent powers.� Unlike Rule 11, though, “awards pursuant to §1927 may be imposed only against the offending attorney; clients may not be saddled with such awards.�1 Rule 11...

Amid confusion of a new Seminole County Courthouse, 11 citizens were directed to sit in the wrong courtroom to respond to traffic citations. Next door in an adjoining courtroom, an angry Judge John Sloop signed warrants for their arrest for failing to show. The citizens were handcuffed and chained by 15 officers who took them to jail, where they were strip-searched and sat locked up nine hours until 9 that Friday night. On the following Monday, when Chief Judge James Perry asked why he didn’t solve the problem when two judges and a bailiff first alerted him to the mistake...

JEDDAH, 28 December 2006 — A two-day conference organized by the Makkah-based Muslim World League yesterday called for a consultative commission in order to take legal action against those who abuse Islam and its Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Islamic sanctities, at local and international courts of justice, the Saudi Press Agency said. The conference titled “In Defense of the Prophet” called upon Islamic countries and governments to stand united to defend the Islamic faith and its Prophet. It denounced the smear campaigns to tarnish the image of the Prophet and urged Muslims to make all-out efforts to...

John Edwards Says He's Running for President in 2008 Wednesday, December 27, 2006 E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION WASHINGTON — Former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards' campaign says he's running for president for a second time.

Manufactured for Money How slick lawyers have turned a genuine health crisis into a ripoff you won't believe. Dr. George (snip) Martindale's name was on several thousand documents claiming people suffered from an incurable work-related respiratory disease. (Attorney Daniel) Mulholland asked Martindale if he had ever intended his work to be used as an official diagnosis in a lawsuit or for any other purpose. "No, sir," he replied. (snip) Martindale went on to explain his role in what a federal court concluded was a massive legal scam. He had expanded his radiology practice by becoming a certified "B-reader," which meant...

Longtime defense attorney Ellis Rubin, originator of such defenses as television intoxication leading to murder and nymphomania as prostitution's cause in a frequently unorthodox five-decade legal career, died Tuesday at 81. His law firm said he died early Tuesday at his Miami home. Rubin had battled cancer for more than six years, recently issuing a farewell statement from a Miami Beach hospital bed. But he remained active in his legal practice until nearly the end, winning his last case when he got a judge to rule that a Reform Party candidate for governor should be permitted in a gubernatorial debate....

Thanks to all those who contributed to the collective outrage piled upon the Port of Seattle and the Rabbi's over-reaching lawyer.

A man playing golf at a Lemont, Ill., country club claims he received a concussion from a ball hit by a prominent personal-injury lawyer. Edigio "Gino" Berni claims in a lawsuit filed against Chicago attorney Michael Goldberg he was struck in the temple by a ball hit by the lawyer in August, the Chicago Daily Southtown reported Friday. Berni's attorney, Mario Palermo, said his client saw Goldberg hit the ball, which the suit claims bore the name of the attorney's law firm, Goldberg, Weisman and Cairo. "(Goldberg) has a reputation for helping people like Gino," Palermo said. "He hasn't taken...