Friday, May 16, 2008 9:29 AM - By David Lat
* Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano convicted on 76 out of 77 counts, including wiretapping, racketeering, and wire fraud. [AP; New York Times]
* Federal indictment in the MySpace suicide case. [CNN]
* American Red Cross vanquishes Johnson & Johnson in trademark dispute. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Polar bears listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. [Washington Post via WSJ Law Blog]
* Yesterday's gay marriage ruling by the California Supreme Court returns the issue to center stage in national politics. [New York Times]
* Speaking of which -- Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are getting married! [AP]
Thursday, May 15, 2008 9:47 AM - By David Lat
* House Democrats propose new tax surcharge for upper-income taxpayers, but Senate Democrats aren't on board. [AP]
* West Virginia voters give the heave-ho to Chief Justice Elliott Maynard, in the wake of the Massey Energy scandal. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Verdict today in $1 Billion NewsCorp Spy Case. [ABC News]
* Former UVA literature major pleads guilty to charges related to her role as chief booker of the Emperors Club VIP -- and is cooperating with the government. Watch out, Eliot. [New York Times]
* SEC charges Broadcom founder and others in stock-options backdating case. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Justice Sandra Day O'Connor talks to Jan Crawford Greenburg about Alzheimer's Disease and its impact on her life and family. [Legalities / ABC News]
* KSM gets 6/5 court date. [McClatchy]
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 9:27 AM - By David Lat
* Case against one of six 9/11 detainees is dismissed (after he was subjected to “degrading and abusive" interrogation, including being forced to wear a bra). [New York Times]
* Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann isn't leaving.... yet. He didn't get the deal he was hoping for, so he's hanging in there for now. [Columbus Dispatch]
* Former UBS banker indicted on charges of helping a billionaire evade taxes. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Superseding indictment in Barry Bonds case. [Bugs and Cranks]
* Foreign university students in the United States get love letters from DHS: “I have determined that you pose a security threat.” [New York Times]
* Oh yeah, and Hillary won the West Virginia primary. FWIW. [Washington Post]
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 9:27 AM - By David Lat
* Yesterday at the Supreme Court: South Africa damages case will go forward (because SCOTUS has no quorum -- four justices recused); 8-1 ruling holds that federal magistrate judge may preside over jury selection in a felony trial, with defense counsel's express consent; cert granted to appeal by Virginia death row inmate. [SCOTUSblog]
* Clear Channel buyout being renegotiated; litigation will settle. [DealBook / NYT; WSJ Law Blog]
* Emperors Club booker expected to plead guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit interstate travel in aid of racketeering. [New York Times]
* The shady business of litigation finance. [Daily Business Review]
* Jury selection begins in R. Kelly kiddie porn case. [CNN]
* Earthquake in southwest China leaves 12,000 dead, with thousands more still buried under rubble. [New York Times]
Monday, May 12, 2008 8:43 AM - By David Lat
* Voter ID movement spreads to Missouri, which is considering a proof-of-citizenship requirement for voters. [New York Times]
* Obama ties Clinton in the superdelegate count. [CNN]
* Foxy Brown shows you how not to use your Blackberry. [New York Times]
* Counsel 'n things in the Linens ‘N Things bankruptcy case. [WSJ Law Blog]
Friday, May 9, 2008 9:20 AM - By B Clerker
* House passes mortgage bill. [Washington Post]
* Marine convicted of "wrongful sexual contact and indecent acts," but not rape. [CNN]
* Driver sues for damage to his car after hitting and killing 13-pound dog. [MSNBC]
* McCain accused of pushing legislation to benefit one of his top fundraisers. [Washington Post]
* Who benefits from filling FEC vacancies? [New York Times]
Wednesday, May 7, 2008 8:33 AM - By B Clerker
* Obama rocks NC; Clinton wins Indiana by 2%. What now for HRC? [New York Times]
* Courts in some states reexamining effectiveness of counsel in capital cases.... [New York Times]
* ... while others resume executions. [Washington Post]
* Adidas wins the largest verdict in trademark law history. Payless won't pay less than $304.6 million -- unless something happens on appeal. [Oregonian; Market Wire (press release)]
* More troubles for Ohio AG Dann. But will he actually try to fight impeachment? [Dispatch]
* Feds raid Office of Special Counsel. [Washington Post]
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 9:33 AM - By B Clerker
* Is the Supreme Court ignoring the 24th Amendment? [Slate]
* Yankees fan accused of running over and killing Red Sox fan. [SI.com]
* That sinking feeling you have that patent judges have been appointed unconstitutionally for the past eight years? You're not alone. [New York Times]
* Speaking of unconstitutionality over the past eight (ok, seven) years, detainees STILL lack jury trials. [Washington Post]
* Ohio Dems taking the lead on impeachment of AG Marc Dann. [Columbus Dispatch]
* The Uma Thurman stalking case: in the hands of the jury now. [WSJ Law Blog]
Monday, May 5, 2008 9:12 AM - By B Clerker
* Yahoo rejects Microsoft bid... What now? [New York Times; New York Times]
* FBI investigating weekend bombing at Federal Courthouse in San Diego; no injuries. [CNN]
* Drawn-out primary comes down to 30 cents a day... When will it end? [Washington Post]
* FBI and IRS to look deeper into the abyss that is the mortgage crisis. [New York Times]
* Will Ohio get two new super-lawyers? [YouTube: LeBron James and
Brady Quinn]
Friday, May 2, 2008 9:51 AM - By David Lat
* Uma Thurman gives dramatic testimony at the trial of her alleged stalker. [City Room / NYT]
* The latest on delays in judicial confirmations. [How Appealing (linkwrap)]
* Wilson Sonsini accused of malpractice in new shareholder derivative lawsuit filed against Brocade directors and officers. [The Recorder]
* More information about the apparent suicide of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the so-called "D.C. madam." [CNN]
* DOJ inspector general investigating whether U.S. Marshals were used to ferry around Fox Sports broadcasters during last year's World Series. [Boston Globe via WSJ Law Blog]
* Lots of lawyers are frequent travelers, so here's some advice for dealing with jet lag: caffeine + naps. [New York Times]
Monday, April 28, 2008 9:34 AM - By David Lat
* Sen. John McCain defends his use of his wife's private jet for campaign trips. [CNN Political Ticker]
* Mortgage industry resists greater regulation. [New York Times]
* 60 Minutes with Justice Antonin Scalia. [CBS via WSJ Law Blog]
* From the M&A front lines: Mars to snap up Wrigley's for $23 billion; Yahoo! lets Microsoft deal deadline pass; Continental ditches merger talks with United. [New York Times; AFP; New York Times]
* Dirty old man: 73-year-old Austrian confesses to holding his daughter captive in the basement for almost 24 years -- and fathering seven children by her. [CNN]
Friday, April 25, 2008 8:30 AM - By B Clerker
* Wesley Snipes gets maximum three-year sentence in tax evasion case. Civil suit continues. [CNN]
* Bill Cosby and Marvin Arrington, a recent Judge of the Day, team up. [CNN]
* FDA to get a better look at LASIK. [Washington Post]
* Verdict expected in trial of police alleged to have shot and killed man after bachelor party. [New York Times]
* Veterans' care firm ordered to pay back $100 million. [MSNBC]
Thursday, April 24, 2008 9:20 AM - By B Clerker
* Maybe new work for employment lawyers? Congress moving on genetic discrimination law. [CNN]
* But pay disparity bill stalls. [MSNBC]
* Did Rezko try to get Rove to get Fitzgerald fired? [New York Times]
* Magistrate rules against FBI's withholding of watch list names [New York Times]
* Wiseguys infiltrate international energy business. [CNN]
* A new dean for the University of Houston Law Center. [University of Houston (PDF)]
* Study confirms dangerous levels of mold in Miami courthouse. [National Law Journal]
Wednesday, April 23, 2008 9:08 AM - By B Clerker
* Clinton takes PA by about ten points, and so it goes on. [New York Times]
* American octogenarian charged with spying for Israel. [Washington Post]
* Cousin and advisor of Colombian president arrested in connection with paramilitary death squads investigation. [MSNBC]
* Justices may trim McCain-Feingold's "millionaires' amendment." [Washington Post]
* States resume executions by lethal injection. [Washington Post]
* U.S. leads other nations with over a quarter of world's prison population, and we jail them for longer too. [New York Times]
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 9:27 AM - By B Clerker
* South Carolina considers "homewrecker liability" -- "a proposed law that targets a third party member in breaking up marriages." [CNN Video]
* Do clothes make the man -- or the lawyer? [National Law Journal via WSJ Law Blog]
* Trial over veterans’ health care begins. [New York Times]
* State-level energy regulation spurs alternative energy research. [Washington Post]
* Ex-cons on the increase in the Army. [Washington Post]
* A law professor's struggle with Lou Gehrig's disease. [St. Petersburg Times; see also PrawfsBlawg]
Monday, April 21, 2008 8:28 AM - By B Clerker
* ACLU steps up for TX compound children. [CNN]
* Is crime in your genes? [Washington Post]
* Tampa borrowed $300 in 1961 1861; lawsuit against city seeks $22.7 million. [St. Petersburg Times]
* DOJ struggles with underdeveloped terror cases. [Washington Post]
* Zimbabwe election results challenged and delayed... again. [BBC]
Thursday, April 17, 2008 9:28 AM - By David Lat
* Splintered Supreme Court upholds lethal injection as method of execution. [How Appealing (mother of all linkwraps); SCOTUSblog]
* Federal government to expand its DNA database, to include samples from arrestees as well as convicts. [Washington Post]
* Dan Slater is more obsessed with Harry Potter than most 13-year-old girls. Here's his dispatch on the last day of trial. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Internet commenters go wild in China, as the government censors the web with a somewhat lighter hand. [Washington Post]
* Former Newark mayor Sharpe James convicted on federal fraud charges. Honorary Lawyer of the Day? (In 1988, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Montclair State University.) [New York Times]
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 9:30 AM - By David Lat
* If Judge Patterson had his way, he'd wave a wand and make the Harry Potter litigation disappear. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Third Circuit says nay to coach who sought to pray. [How Appealing (linkwrap)]
* Federal lawsuit exposes grave problems with foster care in Oklahoma. [New York Times]
* Speaking of foster care, two dozen adolescent boys taken from the Texas polygamist ranch have been moved into a temporary foster placement. [CNN]
* Felony charges against Greenberg Traurig dropped in Guam; GT refunds $324,000 in lobbying fees. [Daily Business Review via WSJ Law Blog]
* Hillary Clinton for Governor? [New York Times]
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 10:06 AM - By David Lat
* China and Iran lead the world in executions, according to Amnesty International's annual report on the death penalty. The U.S. comes in fifth worldwide. [AP]
* Gun control efforts build momentum at the state level. [New York Times]
* Some women return to the Texas polygamist ranch; judge seeks lawyers to represent children in upcoming custody battles. [CNN]
* Author J.K. Rowling holds her own while testifying before a crowd of Manhattan muggles. (Hopefully she won't sue us for using the word "muggle.") [WSJ Law Blog; WSJ Law Blog]
* Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a past Lawyer of the Day, remains in a bitter impasse with the Detroit city council. [New York Times]
* Supreme Court justices tap their former clerks to pick up "orphaned" arguments -- arguments in cases where "the respondent abandons the lower court decision that the petitioner is challenging." [Legal Times]
* Legal restrictions on gifts to universities can generate quirky results years later. [New York Times]
Monday, April 14, 2008 9:35 AM - By David Lat
* U.S. economy: Biglaw feels your pain. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Indeed, it's a tough job market out there -- even for a former U.S. Attorney General. [New York Times]
* Custody issues in Texas polygamist sect case are headed for court; hundreds of lawyers volunteer to represent the children pro bono. [AP]
* More exciting than a game of Quidditch: J.K. Rowling to testify in Harry Potter copyright trial. [CNN; New York Times]
* Legal aid lawyers representing victims of the subprime-mortgage crisis "are hamstrung by federal regulations that limit homeowners’ access to speedy, low-cost legal relief," writes Georgetown 3L Joseph Sant. [New York Times]
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