Free Republic

An attorney already facing suspension of her law license for smuggling an alleged hit list out of jail for the former leader of Your Black Muslim Bakery committed other breaches of legal ethics never made public, according to interviews and documents. The state Supreme Court is considering whether to bar Lorna Brown, 66, of Berkeley, from practicing law for two years for her role for conveying a sealed envelope to one of Yusuf Bey IV's followers. Prosecutors say it contained a list of people Bey IV wanted killed to stop them from testifying in his 2011 murder trial for the...

An attorney who reportedly smuggled a witness hit list out of an Alameda County jail could soon be practicing law again after the state bar's proposed slap on the wrist and bungling by District Attorney Nancy O'Malley's office. Only the state Supreme Court can stop this travesty. In March 2010, while defending Your Black Muslim Bakery leader Yusef Bey IV in an infamous East Bay murder case, attorney Lorna Patton Brown repeatedly couriered documents for her client. She delivered one envelope to his common-law wife, who then delivered it to a parolee self-described as Bey's "number one soldier." On it,...

NEW YORK — Hundreds of millions of dollars of customer's money has gone missing from the brokerage firm run by former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, sources told The New York Times. The New York-based company, MF Global, filed for bankruptcy Monday following bad bets on euro zone debt. The discovery of the missing millions stopped a last-minute deal to sell a major part of MF Global to another brokerage firm from going ahead, The New York Times reported. Corzine, 64, who once ran Goldman Sachs before becoming a U.S. senator and then governor of New Jersey, had been trying...

When it comes to his daily takeout lunch, attorney Peter Stuart Buchanan is a man of strict routine. He likes the same salmon from the same restaurant, always grilled on one side. He likes light olive oil, no salt, no pepper. He likes generous portions of carrots and green beans, and prefers them extra steamed. And he likes four potatoes on the side. But when unforeseen factors complicate his routine, serious consequences can ensue. Buchanan, 73, was charged in Marin Superior Court this week on allegations he drove through a construction barricade outside his favorite restaurant in Mill Valley and...

Two sheriff's detectives testified in Sacramento Superior Court today about four women who said they were inappropriately touched by their divorce lawyer, who has been charged with sexual battery. Detectives James Barnes and Anthony Brantley gave their accounts based on interviews with the four alleged victims in the case against attorney Gary Appleblatt. The testimony came in a preliminary hearing for Appleblatt. He is facing 10 counts of felony sexual battery, three counts of misdemeanor sexual battery and one count of forced sexual penetration. The detectives testified that the four women said in interviews that Appleblatt told them he had...

John Edwards is done. The pretty-boy candidate always was the biggest phony at any Democratic debate. He was the $400-haircut poster boy for poverty. The 28,000-square-foot mansion owner, who preached about global warming. The candidate who demanded that other Democrats swear off accepting contributions from Fox News baron Rupert Murdoch, after he pocketed a $500,000 advance - with an extra $300,000 for expenses - from Murdoch's Harper Collins. The man who ran as the doting husband of the cancer-battling Elizabeth Edwards while he was boffing an overpaid campaign aide. If I were a Democrat, I would be spittin' mad. If...

Ashland, Ky. (AP) -- Anti-tobacco lawyer Richard "Dickie" Scruggs has reported to a federal prison in eastern Kentucky. . . .for conspiring to bribe a judge with $50,000.

Collier refuses to put Moncier's suspension on hold - A judge who ordered a prominent Knoxville defense attorney suspended from practicing federal law has issued a fresh round of criticism, accusing the lawyer of unethical behavior and outright lying.Chief U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier on Friday issued a sternly worded ruling in which he refuses to put on hold a seven-year suspension of Herbert S. Moncier's right to practice federal law in East Tennessee pending Moncier's appeal.In that ruling, Collier accuses Moncier of legal misconduct, unethical behavior and even lying - after Collier put down his April 29 order...

Chief U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier today issued a ruling barring Knoxville attorney Herbert S. Moncier from practicing law in any federal court in the Eastern District of Tennessee. Collier also reprimanded Moncier for remarks made about "opposing counsel." Moncier's courtroom opponent, in the case before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer that landed him in front of Collier, is Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Smith, but it was not immediately clear if it was Smith to whom Collier was referring. Collier issued an 80-page ruling setting out his reasoning. The order states that Moncier will be under "active suspension" for five...

In a medical malpractice case last week, plaintiff's attorney R. Sadler Bailey repeatedly called defense attorneys liars and told the judge her rulings could "set a world record for error." On Wednesday, Bailey was led from the courtroom in handcuffs after Circuit Court Judge Karen Williams held him in direct criminal contempt of court for those and other "unprofessional and inappropriate" remarks he has made over the two-year course of the case. "Much time was wasted because Mr. Bailey could not discuss issues in this case in the courteous and controlled manner that is expected of all attorneys and officers...

CHATTANOOGA - A prominent Knoxville defense lawyer who fought to shed light on back-door governmental deal-making has since January been fending off a secret move to bar him from practicing law in federal courts, the News Sentinel learned Thursday. U.S. District Chief Judge Curtis L. Collier in January filed under seal proceedings to strip attorney Herbert S. Moncier of his right to practice law in federal courts in the Eastern District of Tennessee, a move that if successful likely would take from him the ability to handle federal cases nationwide. Collier, who presides in Chattanooga, ordered every document filed in...

GEORGETOWN, Ky.—A public defender who was punched in court by a disgruntled client said Thursday he doesn't blame the man who gave him with two black eyes. The disorder in the court, captured on video, happened Monday at Scott County Circuit Court after the judge refused defendant Peter Hafer's request for a new attorney. Hafer, 30, of Cynthiana, told the judge he didn't trust his court-appointed lawyer, Doug Crickmer. As Crickmer began to tell Judge Rob Johnson that Hafer couldn't choose his public defender, Hafer landed the first punch. "I just couldn't take it anymore and I just snapped," Hafer...

A prominent Memphis lawyer has been hit with a second lawsuit by a former client accusing him of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars after gaining power of attorney. J. Richard Rossie is accused in a Chancery Court suit of writing unauthorized checks to himself from the account of client Phoebe Copeland, who had granted him power of attorney in 2001 to handle her estate, personal finances and other legal matters. According to the suit, Rossie drew at least 42 such checks between August 2000 and June 2007 totaling $346,667.43. The checks, which ranged from $1,000 to $40,000, were misappropriated...

<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>

Presidential candidate John Edwards is caught in a shocking mistress scandal that could wreck his campaign, The NATIONAL ENQUIRER has learned exclusively. Sources have come forward to charge that the "other woman" previously worked on Edwards' campaign and followed the 54-year-old candidate on trips across the U.S. A source close to the woman, whose name is being withheld by The NATIONAL ENQUIRER, says that she confessed to having an affair in phone calls and emails, saying that her work with Edwards soon exploded into romance. The shocking allegation — if proven true — could devastate the Democratic hopeful's campaign, especially...

New York (AP) -- A federal judge granted class-action status to a lawsuit alleging that Target Corp. is breaking California and federal law by failing to make its Web site usable for the blind. The plaintiffs fault Target for not adopting technology used by other companies to make Web sites accessible to the blind. The technology allows reading software to vocalize invisible code embedded in computer graphics and describe content on a Web page. Granting class-action status allows blind people throughout the country who have tried to access Target.com to become plaintiffs in the suit, which alleges violations of the...

FOR YEARS, few things terrified a Silicon Valley executive more than trial lawyer Bill Lerach. "Being Lerached" meant a courtroom showdown with the wily, ferocious lawyer, who usually extracted fat settlements from companies accused of stock manipulations. He moved mountains, collecting $7 billion for Enron shareholders. His law firm had a lineup of clients that included the UC Board of Regents and public pension funds in New York and Ohio. When a high-flying stock fell to earth, he was the go-to guy that investors used to get even. Companies caved, knowing insurance would cover much of it. Except his methods...

Los Angeles (AP) -- A New York law firm accused of paying kickbacks to plaintiffs in class-action and shareholder lawsuits said Wednesday that one of its partners will be indicted and more charges will be filed against the firm.

The federal courts are the latest to try to stop California attorneys from targeting small businesses for quick profits over minor infractions.The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently agreed with a lower court to curb the litigious ways of Jarek Molski, a disabled Woodland Hills man, and sanction his lawyer.Although this particular ruling involved a Solvang restaurant, it will affect similar cases throughout the U.S. Central District, which includes Orange County, and the Ninth District which includes seven states.Molski had sued more than 400 restaurants around California for violations of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. He objected to...