If you work with municipal governments, listen up. The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in Filarsky v. Delia, and its pending decision may affect the way you do your job.
The justices were asked to decide whether a private lawyer hired to conduct a municipality's internal affairs investigation is entitled to the same immunity as government employees.
The Court's reception to the premise was mixed.
It seems more American couples are pursuing legal separation agreements these days as they consider divorce. Savvy attorneys may want to take note.
Case in point: Colorado, where 72% of divorcing couples filed legal separation agreements last year, up from 60% in 2007, The Denver Post reports.
The sluggish economy means more couples are seeking separation agreements instead of racking up costs in contentious court battles, the Post suggests. Even in an era of do-it-yourself legal forms, that could mean a lot more work for attorneys.
Despite the possibility being years off, there are already questions about whether Justices Ginsburg and Breyer will retire if President Obama wins a second term in November. Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSblog has even added to the speculation.
He thinks Justice Ginsburg is the more likely candidate, and predicts she'll retire during the second term's third year. He also thinks Kamala Harris, California's Attorney General, is the most likely to replace her.
Will the justices of the Supreme Court need to get ready for their close-up? Cameras may soon be allowed in the nation's highest court, if a bill gains approval.
Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-7 in favor of a bill that would televise Supreme Court proceedings. The bill has now been sent to the full Senate for approval.
It has been a contentious issue from the start.
Thinking about ditching your legal career? A little bored with what you've been working on? Perhaps it's time to renew your passion for the law.
Take Heather Peters, for example. She recently opted out of a proposed Honda hybrid class action settlement and took the car manufacturer to small claims court. A California judge awarded her $9,867 -- a windfall in comparison to the $200 and nontransferable new car credit being offered by Honda.
Peters hasn't practiced law in 10 years, but now she's thinking about reactivating her license.
A New York lawyer's bilingual skills and 20 years of experience in personal injury law led him to uncover an international scam by some phony survivors of the Costa Concordia disaster.
Attorney Peter Ronai traveled to Budapest, Hungary, to represent six real-life survivors of the Italian cruise ship disaster. Soon a Hungarian woman contacted him, claiming her daughter and 5-year-old granddaughter were among the missing, the New York Daily News reports.
The Hungarian woman's story grabbed headlines in Europe, because she suggested her missing kin were stowaways. But then the woman said something -- in Hungarian -- that raised Peter Ronai's suspicions.
It's not every day that a man proposes through his girlfriend's lawyer. This strange scenario unfolded in a New York court last week.
Theodore Murphy proposed to girlfriend Nicole Osbourne by relaying a message through her defense attorney Aurora Flores. Yes, the newly engaged woman was in court that day facing criminal charges.
Would you go the extra mile for your client?
White powder was found in a letter sent to a Florida state attorney's office.
Three individuals were hospitalized after being exposed to the substance last week. They were taken for treatment after suffering from headaches and vomiting.
Officials are unsure what the powder was. Preliminary testing was inconclusive. The substance was sent to a FBI lab for more testing.
Parts of the building were evacuated. Some were reopened after an air duct was sealed off. Authorities have declined to release information about the intended recipient of the letter and the sender.
Attention immigration lawyers: Judges are watching you, and in about half of all cases, they don't like what they see.
A newly released survey of immigration judges in and around New York City finds immigration lawyers are often good at helping their clients avoid deportation. But about half of immigration attorneys are "inadequate" and often irresponsible, the judges say.
Immigrants facing deportation "are easy prey for ambulance-chasing-style lawyers who do not adhere to the highest standards of responsibility," federal appellate Judge Robert A. Katzmann, who spearheaded the study, told The New York Times.
An Illinois lawyer is pursuing an interesting strategy to cut down on the time he spends waiting for court. He's filed a federal lawsuit claiming unconstitutional discrimination against out-of-county lawyers.
Attorney Gary Peterlin of LaSalle County, Ill., claims courthouse procedures in Will County -- about 50 miles east -- violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, Courthouse News Service reports.
Peterlin alleges that attorneys who are not members of the Will County Bar Association are forced to wait in long security lines and subjected to search just like members of the public.
Members of the Will County bar, however, are treated differently -- allowed to skip security screenings and enter the courthouse through a separate entrance, Peterlin's out-of-county lawyer lawsuit claims.
