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The ABA Journal has this interesting thought attributed to Justice Scalia. Asked to comment on whether the quality of advocacy before the U.S. Supreme Court was too low, Justice Scalia is quoted as saying: “I used to have just the opposite reaction. I used to be disappointed that so many of the best minds in the country were being devoted to this enterprise. “I mean there’d be a … public defender from Podunk, you know, and this woman is really brilliant, you know. Why isn’t she out inventing the automobile or, you know, doing something productive for this society? “I...

IS it over between John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth? "The wedding band is missing," the Washington Post reported yesterday after covering a speech the cancer-stricken mother of two gave in DC on Monday night. Edwards, the former North Carolina senator who ran for president twice, finally acknowledged three months ago that he had an affair with campaign videographer Rielle Hunter. He denies he's the father of Hunter's baby girl, although he has been spotted visiting mother and child. A source said Edwards is no longer living with Elizabeth and that the couple have separated. But reps for Elizabeth Edwards...

WAYNE, N.J. — A New Jersey couple, whose son was struck in the chest with a line drive, is planning to sue the maker of a metal baseball bat used in the game. An attorney says Domalewski will need millions of dollars worth of medical care for the rest of his life.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Elizabeth Edwards says avoiding the "Made in China" label on toys is not exactly child's play. With millions of recalls rolling in this year because of lead in toys, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards vowed during a debate there would be no Chinese made gifts under his Christmas tree. But, the former North Carolina senator says he immediately had to check with his wife to make sure he was right. The Edwards campaign says the kids will be unwrapping U.S.-made toys, but wouldn't get into the specifics as not to spoil anyone's gifts.

Augusta, GA: A plane crash that took 10 lives in October probably could have been prevented if alleged known faults inherent with the plane had been addressed prior to the fateful flight. Two lawsuits have been launched in recent weeks at the behest of the families of two skydivers killed in the October 7th airplane crash that left no survivors. A party of nine skydivers was returning from a sky diving event in Star, Idaho when the plane went down in rugged terrain west of Yakima, in the Cascade Mountains. The pilot was also killed, and there were no survivors...

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...

Melbourne Mills' face went from shock to disbelief yesterday as he and co-defendants Shirley Cunningham Jr. and William Gallion were ordered out of a Covington federal courtroom to jail. Just seconds earlier, U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman granted the three suspended lawyers' request to delay a criminal trial until January but immediately revoked the suspended lawyers' bond. As Bertelsman walked off the bench, Hale Almand Jr., a lawyer for Gallion, began to protest as the courtroom erupted. Bertelsman cut him off. "I told you that's what I was going to do," Bertelsman said as he left the courtroom. Mills, Cunningham...

Five Democratic presidential candidates are planning to pay homage to America's leading trial lawyers' group, the American Association for Justice, by turning out at its annual convention in Chicago this weekend. Senators Clinton, Obama of Illinois, and Biden of Delaware are scheduled to speak to the lawyers on Sunday, as are a former senator, John Edwards of North Carolina, and Governor Richardson of New Mexico.

VAWA Casts a Long Shadow over the Duke Fiasco April 24, 2007 at 4:55 pm · Was prosecutor Michael Nifong simply an over-rated ambulance chaser who rose to his level of incompetence? Was he a scheming opportunist who needed to boost his flagging re-election chances? Or did his dogged prosecution of the Duke Three reflect a deeper, more systemic problem in our criminal justice system? Here’s the dirty little secret of D.A.s who prosecute sexual assault and domestic violence cases: many of the claims they pursue are as flaky as a pie crust and their chances of winning a jury...

Former vice presidential candidate John Edwards attended a corn roast for Congressman Ron Kind over the weekend, telling reporters he's thinking of running for president in 2008. The former North Carolina senator who was John Kerry's running mate in 2004 said he's hesitant to say anything for sure. "I'm seriously thinking about running for President, but I haven't made a final decision," he said Saturday night. He told the crowd of about 700 the national minimum wage should be raised and laws should be changed to make it easier for unions to organize. He joked about having sleepless nights worrying...

(AP) WASHINGTON A federal judge ruled Thursday that the nation's top cigarette makers violated racketeering laws, deceiving the public for years about the health hazards of smoking, but said she couldn't order them to pay the billions of dollars the government had sought. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler did order the companies to publish in newspapers and on their Web sites "corrective statements" on the adverse health effects and addictiveness of smoking and nicotine. She also ordered tobacco companies to stop labeling cigarettes as "low tar," "light," "ultra light" or "mild," since such cigarettes have been found to be no...

A nun who spent six months blessing human remains in the rubble at Ground Zero says she is dying of lung disease and wants her body autopsied to prove that she and her fellow 9/11 workers were sickened by the poisonous air at the site. Sister Cindy Mahoney, 54, summoned David Worby, the lawyer representing thousands of sick Ground Zero workers, to her Aiken, S.C., hospice last week and requested that he act as her guardian and fulfill her dying wish by overseeing her autopsy after she's gone. "I can still do God's work," Mahoney said Thursday in Aiken, her...

SEATTLE (AP) — The Association of Trial Lawyers of America voted during its convention this week to change its name to the American Association for Justice. Spokeswoman Chris Mather said there was overwhelming support for the change, and that the new name "reflects whose side we're on in the fight for justice." The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, a critic of the trial lawyers group, called it "an astounding admission of the unpopularity of trial lawyers in America." The 60-year-old association has 65,000 members.

An attorney specializing in suits related to aviation disasters has died after crashing his vintage plane at the Oregon International Airshow. Robert Guilford, 73, crashed his plane shortly after taking off Sunday at the airshow, the Portland (Ore.) Oregonian reported Monday. Guilford, a former federal prosecutor, was a licensed pilot and vintage airplane expert who worked at California law firm Baum Hedlund, which handles serious personal injury and wrongful death cases related to commercial transportation accidents, the Oregonian reported. The law firm was employed in the cases of more than 55 airline crashes, including the 1996 wreck of TWA Flight...

The industry's VIPs mingle at political galas and Super Bowl parties. Their product is available on cell phones, podcasts, and particularly the Internet _ there it's an attraction like no other, patronized by tens of millions of Americans. It's pornography. And if you're a consumer, John Harmer thinks you're damaging your brain. Harmer is part of a cadre of anti-porn activists seeking new tactics to fight an unprecedented deluge of porn which they see as wrecking countless marriages and warping human sexuality. They are urging federal prosecutors to pursue more obscenity cases and raising funds for high-tech brain research that...

NASHVILLE -- Despite a massive lobbying effort and doctors declaring that Tennessee faces a "crisis," legislation to put new state limits on medical malpractice lawsuits has been killed for another year. The bill backed by the Tennessee Medical Association (TMA) and a coalition of 46 other organizations was defeated in the five-member Civil Practice subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. Two members voted for it; three against. Rep. Rob Briley, D-Nashville, who chairs the subcommittee, said proponents simply had not presented any objective evidence that lawsuits have really caused a problem in Tennessee and that the proposed limits would be...

LOS ANGELES - The family of late actor John Ritter has reached a tentative settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit against Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, where the actor died, an attorney for the hospital said Wednesday. "There is an agreement in principle," attorney Rory Hernandez told The Associated Press. "But we still have to follow the legal procedure." Hearings will be held to finalize the agreement, he said, with the next court session set for Friday. Hernandez declined to disclose details of the settlement. The hospital will issue a statement in several weeks, he said. Court documents...

See for example this thread first. The Times let itself in for flame When it published that aspartame was involved in a suit but their point, it is moot: There's neither case, lawyers, plaintiff, nor blame!

Chicago February 22, 2006 - Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, in cooperation with the Cyprus law firm Phoebus, Christos Clerides, N. Pirilides & Associates, of Nicosia and Limassol, announced that families of victims of the crash of Helios Flight 522 filed a lawsuit yesterday against The Boeing Company in United States District Court in Chicago, Illinois. One hundred and fifteen passengers and six crewmembers died on August 14, 2005, when the Boeing 737-200 apparently flew without cabin pressure and then crashed north of Athens, Greece. The investigation of the crash of the Helios Airways Flight 522 has reportedly found...

See this thread first, for example.\ A jury has just now cleared Merck They said its Cox-2 drug will work Sing, "Vioxx for pain!" And here's the refrain: "A class action lawyer's a jerk"

He's quick to call George W. Bush ``the worst president'' of his lifetime and criticize Bush's lack of vision. But former U.S. senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards hesitates to put himself into the next race for president. If he does run, he'll keep a close eye on Ohio, still ``the consummate swing state,'' he said Thursday before a speech at Mount Union College. ``Had Ohio voted differently in 2004, I wouldn't be here right now -- or I'd be here with a different title,'' he said. ``... I think this is a state that will be critical for...

Finger-linger on the iPod can hurt LONDON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The latest high-tech ailment emerging from Britain is "iPod finger," a repetitive-strain injury from pressing down on the little music player's tiny buttons. "Handheld music machines are extremely popular and users are constantly using small, difficult buttons with the same finger in a repetitive motion," said Carl Irwin from the British Chiropractic Association. "The nature of modern technology means that these devices are only going to be getting smaller." Some patients have reported soreness in the hands, and in some cases even problems with moving their elbows and necks,...

Six months ago, a senior at Jonesboro High School, Arkansas, gave a graduation speech that included an invitation to audience members to use the moment to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. As you can well imagine, the ACLU of Arkansas has its knickers in a twist [see http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE ID=47572]. The ACLU is frothing at the mouth to visit the Jonesboro school district with a hefty lawsuit, probably to the tune of millions of local taxpayer dollars. There's just one thing that stands in their way. They can't find a plaintiff! It's been six months, and in all that...

10 most dangerous toys Toys ranging from a pair of oversized fists to plush ponies and energy beam blasters make the list. NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - What do dolls and ponies have in common with crossbows and energy beam blasters? They're all toys that have the potential to cause childhood injuries, or even death, according to an organization advocating toy safety. World Against Toys Causing Harm, also known as W.A.T.C.H., issued its annual 10 Worst Toys list for 2005 on Thursday. Most of the toys on the list -- which aren't ranked in a particular order -- could cause choking...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- In a major victory for Merck & Co., a jury has found the drugmaker properly warned consumers about Vioxx risks. The finding means Merck will not be held liable for the 2001 heart attack suffered by a man taking the painkiller.

Let us now try to understand the Vatican’s bizarre policy on terrorism. Recently Pope Benedict XVI condemned terrorist attacks against civilians in Great Britain, Egypt, Iraq, and Turkey. In a pregnant omission – very pregnant in light of the Vatican’s long history of silence in the face of attacks against Jews – the Pope omitted any mention of the country that has suffered the largest number of terrorist attacks against civilians since 9/11, namely, Israel. When the Israeli government understandably protested the omission, the Vatican’s position became even more troubling. It singled out Israel for criticism, saying that that beleaguered...

Andrea Levin is grateful that Broward County schools care about her daughter's safety. But this year when they posted a sign that demanded "no running" on the playground, it seemed like overkill. "I realize we want to keep kids from cracking their heads open," said Levin, whose daughter is a Gator Run Elementary fifth grader in Weston. "But there has to be a place where they can get out and run." Broward's "Rules of the Playground" signs, bought from an equipment catalogue and displayed at all 137 elementary schools in the district, are just one of several steps taken to...

Federal prosecutors here have charged a retired Palm Springs, Calif., lawyer with taking kickbacks from a prominent New York law firm in exchange for serving as plaintiff in dozens of class-action and shareholder lawsuits that earned the firm $44 million over 20 years. The indictment against 78-year-old Seymour M. Lazar, unsealed Thursday, stems from a years-long investigation by the U.S. attorney's office into the practices of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, which before splitting into two firms last year had led the largest of the investor suits against bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp. Lazar's attorney condemned the indictment Friday...

A Windsor hairstylist who suffered "recognizable psychological injury" after discovering a dead fly in a bottle of Culligan water has been awarded more than $340,000 in damages. Waddah (Martin) Mustapha, who operates two outlets of Martin's Coiffure and Spa at the Radisson Hotel and Casino Windsor, claimed "nervous shock, emotional distress and resulting anxiety, depression and physical and psychological conditions" arising from a breach of contract with Culligan. "It's long overdue," Mustapha said of the settlement. On Nov. 21, 2001 Mustapha and his wife Lynn, who was seven months pregnant, were preparing a new bottle of Culligan water to put...

Bush puts compensation lawyers in the dock (Filed: 28/03/2005) In a nation so litigious that one attorney found he was suing himself, the White House's attack on frivolous lawsuits is proving popular, reports Alec Russell Michael Cogan paces his office with the predatory panache that has won over many a jury in his brilliant career. From his ninth-floor window he has a premier view of Chicago's skyscraper skyline, a testament to his success as one of America's top medical malpractice lawyers. Michael Cogan is now defending himself against President Bush's anti-litigation policy But now his oratory and flair are facing...

WASHINGTON - Congress is close to making it easier for corporations to dodge many of the class-action lawsuits that businesses say are bankrupting them while rewarding lawyers and doing little to help victims. The measure, headed for a vote this week in the Senate and probably next week in the House, would be the first fulfillment of one of President Bush's priorities for his second term. But a fragile compromise could come unglued if senators make changes in the bill, such as giving federal judges a little more discretion to keep lawsuits alive. "If the Senate passes any amendment, then...

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The judge in the Ted Binion murder case sharply criticized a lawyer representing Montana contractor Rick Tabish for writing a letter outlining questionable legal strategies. "This is why the public hates lawyers, why lawyers have a bad rap," Bonaventure told lawyer Joseph Caramagno during a contentious hearing Wednesday. "It's because of tactics like this." Bonaventure was enraged about a two-page note Caramagno wrote to Tabish's brother earlier this month, which was contained in a motion filed by co-counsel J. Tony Serra. In the letter, Caramagno detailed a plan to hire a high-profile lawyer to goad Bonaventure...

LONDON (Reuters) - Veteran pop star Sir Cliff Richard, flamboyant singer Boy George and other British musicians plan to release a song to raise money for victims of the devastating Asian tsunami, the tune's composer said. Radio DJ Mike Read wrote the song "Grief Never Grows Old" before the Dec. 26 disaster, but said he was now getting stars on board to release it within weeks. "We've tracked down quite a few people, who have said,'Yes I would love to do a few lines on it,"' Read told Sky News television, adding that Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees and...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) President Bush plans to use his first trip of the new year to visit a little southern Illinois county with a big reputation as one of the country's best places for lawyers to file enormous lawsuits. Labeled a ``judicial hellhole'' by one group, Madison County is already a focal point in the national debate over lawsuit reform, and Bush's presence is certain to raise its profile even higher. During a visit to Collinsville Wednesday, Bush will address more than 1,000 doctors, business leaders and Republican officials on reining in lawsuits that the president says have driven up...

Democrat John Edwards lost the election for the vice presidency this week and will lose his Senate seat in January. But he's hardly going away. He's positioned himself for a full-out presidential run in 2008, a campaign that in a way he's already begun. For now, though, politics is on hold. His wife, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with breast cancer this week just after Democrat John Kerry and running mate Edwards conceded the race to President Bush. "Together, our family will beat this," Edwards said on Thursday in a statement that made clear her treatment would be the focus of his...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John Kerry has a simple strategy if the presidential race is in doubt on Nov. 3, the day after the election: Do not repeat Al Gore's mistakes. Unlike the former vice president, who lost a recount fight and the 2000 election, Kerry will be quick to declare victory on election night and begin defending it. He also will be prepared to name a national security team before knowing whether he's secured the presidency. [snip] The prospects for another contested election grow with every poll showing the race neck and neck. Gore prematurely conceded the 2000 race...

We all remember the votes that were never counted in Florida 2000. So, while we are all working hard for a positive outcome on November 2nd, we also have to be prepared for a repeat of a 2000 stolen election. Below is a pledge for people to sign, supporting efforts to mobilize and protect the vote on November 2nd and making a commitment to protest starting on November 3rd in the case of a fraudulent vote count. By signing this pledge, you will be joining with thousands of others in the November 3rd Urgent Response Network. Please sign the pledge...

Democrats got caught with their election playbook open Thursday when a leaked page was published urging operatives to lodge a "pre-emptive strike" of claiming voter intimidation, whether it's true or not. Gleeful Republicans quickly called a press conference after the page from The Drudge Report went online, in which they denounced "a new low in gutter politics" that "played the race card." "They want to rile up the minorities to denounce tactics that do not exist," said Ted Halaby, chairman of the Colorado GOP. Halaby said it was "a criminal act to falsely allege something that does not exist." He...

Jan 22, 2004 5:36 pm US/Eastern (1010 WINS) (NEW YORK) A Queens attorney has been arrested and charged with submitting $1 million in fraudulent claims using the personal information of car accident victims that he bought for $54, prosecutors said Thursday. Sergey Khaitov, 37, of Rego Park was charged with second- and third-degree insurance fraud, grand larceny and falsifying business records. Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Khaitov tried to "turn the state's no-fault automobile insurance system into a personal piggy bank." Authorities began to investigate the case when a Kemper Insurance Co. investigator found irregularities in claims filed by...

<p>LIBYA'S Colonel Moammar Khadafy has been secretly developing nuclear-weapons capability and may acquire it before Iraq.</p> <p>Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon disclosed this less-than-heartwarming news in interviews before last week's Rosh Hashanah holiday weekend.</p> <p>But he added, "Israel may be the best-prepared country in the world against the danger of a chemical or biological offensive."</p>

<p>October 3, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - The CIA officer whose cover was blown by an alleged Bush administration leak and her diplomat husband have retained a Washington lawyer to find out who they can sue and how much money they can seek. Also, the investigation, first focused on the White House and CIA, is now broadening to include the State and Defense departments, officials said.</p>

A top Al Qaeda operative plotted to smuggle weapons into New York Harbor in the shipping containers of a Garment District firm, the Daily News has learned. Days before he was captured in Pakistan in March, suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed met in Karachi with the owner of a W. 35th St. clothing importing company and his son, law enforcement sources said. Al Qaeda's No. 3 man offered to invest $200,000 in International Management Group in exchange, federal authorities now believe, for access to IMG's Port Newark-bound shipping containers, sources say. Mohammed "is obsessed with attacking the United States,...

When controversial New York attorney Stanley Cohen came to court last week seeking to represent Portland Seven defendant Patrice Lumumba Ford, the focus was on Cohen's prior representation of the spiritual leader of a Portland mosque where Ford had worshiped. How can Cohen fairly represent Ford, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones asked, when Cohen's former client Sheik Mohamed Abdirahman Kariye is being investigated for allegedly helping to finance the same conspiracy with which Ford is charged? According to an FBI affidavit unsealed Friday, Kariye may have raised $12,000, through unidentified worshipers at Masjed As-Saber in Southwest Portland, for Ford...

Sen. Bill Blocks Weight-Related Lawsuits Fri Jul 18, 7:08 AM ET Add Politics - U. S. Congress to My Yahoo! WASHINGTON - If too many burgers and fries have left your waistline super-sized, don't expect a sweet pay-off in court, senators said Thursday. A bill would prevent people from suing restaurants and food manufacturers for making them fat. "I think it's important not to blame poor eating habits on someone else," said Sen. Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record), R-Ky., and the sponsor of the bill. The measure would block lawsuits related to obesity or weight gain, but not suits...

In Washington DC today at around 1:30 PM EST a group of protestors tried to block the intersection of 14th and K street NW – one of the busiest in the city. At the front of the group of cars that were obstructed was an ambulance with sirens on full volume. Fortunately, a group of police on bikes that double the number of protestors quickly emerged and pushed the protestors aside. So this is what the protestors have resorted to – blocking ambulances at city intersections.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The widow of Steve Bechler plans to sue the manufacturer of a dietary supplement the Baltimore Orioles (news) pitcher was believed to be taking before his death. Bechler, 23, died Feb. 17 from heatstroke after collapsing during a workout at training camp. In his preliminary autopsy report, Broward County chief medical examiner Dr. Joshua Perper linked Bechler's death to a diet supplement that contains ephedra. A bottle of Xenadrine RFA-1, an over-the-counter weight-loss product containing ephedra, was found in Bechler's locker after he collapsed. "The way we see it, Steve Bechler is dead, and ephedra is...

President Proposes Major Reforms to Address Medical Liability Crisis High Point University Greensboro, North Carolina 3:00 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for that warm welcome, and thanks for coming out today. I want to thank you all for fighting through the rain -- it's part of my drought relief program. (Laughter.) I do want to thank you all for coming. I want to thank all your fellow citizens for lining the road and being so gracious in their hospitality. I love coming to North Carolina. It's a fabulous state, full of fabulous people. I'm honored to be here. (Applause.)...

<p>   John Mallon   Dr. Ken Craven   William Saunders   Vinnie Cacace   Discussion Forum   Daily Reading   From the Pulpit   Saint of the Day   The Cardinals   Church Documents   Book Review Archive   Get the best Catholic material   Bishop Gassis Sudan Relief Fund   Crisis Magazine   Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights   Friends of Bishop Sheen   Brent Society ACI Prensa Catholic League president says Church-suing lawyers deserve monitoringNEW YORK, May 10, 2002 (ACI).- The president of the Catholic League, William Donohue, said yesterday that after the public...