Browse >
Home / Archive by category 'Latest News'
Redemption through a showing of remorse is a common path in society -- but, ask Joel Cohen and Katherine A. Helm, what role does remorse play in a court of law? Can people get a second chance at being repatriated into the community if they are remorseful about their actions, after they've been caught and even convicted? Helm and Cohen examine a recent 2nd Circuit ruling that sheds some light on the issue.
Batson v. Kentucky, the U.S. Supreme Court precedent that bars discrimination against potential jurors due to their race, gender or ethnic background, can also be used to protect the right of hunters to serve on juries, a New York judge has suggested. The judge called a halt to the trial of a hunter charged with assault for shooting another hunter after the defense attorney issued peremptory challenges to six of 35 potential jurors who had identified themselves as hunters.
A New Jersey judge who subjected a pro se litigant to a tirade that an ethics tribunal calls "disrespectful and insulting" has apologized, but says he acted out of "desire to do justice to children." The judge was hearing cross-complaints by a woman and her husband for restraining orders. According to the tribunal, when the woman expressed concern about a temporary visitation schedule set for the husband and their child, the judge became irate, screamed at her, called her a bad parent and threatened incarceration.
Remember the TV reality show "Making the Band," which spawned the short-lived boy band O-Town? The show's revenue is at the center of a $60 million suit pitting the bankruptcy estate of a film production company once run by Lou Pearlman -- the infamous boy band manager now in prison for orchestrating a $300 million Ponzi scheme -- against Viacom, MTV and the Sean "Diddy" Combs-controlled companies Bad Boy Films and Bad Boy Records. A Florida federal judge has ruled the suit can go forward.
A one-man campaign against "Ladies Nights" did not get far. The 2nd Circuit has rejected Roy Den Hollander's claim that the Copacabana Nightclub and other establishments were "state actors" who violated the U.S. Constitution by charging men more for admission and drinks than women. Hollander had argued that "Ladies Nights" stem from "40 years of lobbying and intimidation, [by] the special interest group called 'Feminism' [which] has succeeded in creating a customary practice ... of invidious discrimination against men."
A California appeals court on Thursday denied the Pacific Justice Institute's petition for a writ of mandamus to force the state's governor and attorney general to defend Proposition 8 in court, killing the latest attempt by foes of gay marriage to shore up standing for the pending appeal of Chief Judge Vaughn Walker's July ruling. A motions panel at the 9th Circuit ordered the Prop 8 proponents to "include in their opening brief a discussion of why this appeal should not be dismissed for lack of Article III standing."
For the first time in more than 30 years, the U.S. military has allowed an enlisted Sikh soldier to maintain his religiously mandated turban, beard and hair while serving in the Army. A team of lawyers at McDermott Will & Emery and attorneys at the Sikh Coalition also won one-time exceptions last year for two Sikh Army officers. The teams' efforts have spurred interest in Congress; in the past year, more than 50 members have written to military officials requesting that Sikhs be accepted into the U.S. Armed Forces.
A whopper of a late summer for M&A lawyers grew even fatter Thursday, when Burger King announced its sale to investment firm 3G Capital for $4 billion. Four Am Law 100 firms -- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Holland & Knight; Kirkland & Ellis; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges -- landed key legal advisory roles on the deal, which will return the world's second-largest hamburger chain to the private sector.
A suit aiming to hold a drug maker, its marketer and a former CEO accountable for what consumers said was illegal marketing has failed even after prosecutors earlier won a criminal conviction in the matter. Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed with prejudice the class action claim brought on behalf of consumers and their insurers against defendants including InterMune and its former CEO, Scott Harkonen, who awaits sentencing in a related criminal case.
On Thursday, Southern District of New York Judge Lewis A. Kaplan addressed whether the government may call as a witness a man whose identity was revealed by the former Osama bin Laden bodyguard, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, when he was subjected to "extremely harsh interrogation methods" by the CIA. Ghailani moved to suppress the statements that led to the discovery of the witness in April. Although the witness's identity has not been released, court papers suggest he would testify regarding Ghailani's purchase of "hundreds of pounds of explosives."
« Previous Page — Next Page »
