Law Firm News, Legal Information and Marketing Blog

Dallas Lawsuits Question Labor Demands of Email and Cellphones

2009-08-10T15:22:00.000-07:00

The use of pagers once raised similar issues. The Labor Department has said that workers generally don't have to be paid for carrying pagers, unless they get buzzed so often they can't use on-call time for "personal pursuits." Ms. Mross said there have been few significant court rulings on the issue, said Weinberg Law Firm, Labor Lawyer Dallas.

Judge denies challenge to Los Angeles DUI breath-test results

2009-08-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

“In addressing this issue, this court is vigilant in its responsibility to protect the citizens of Brevard County by closely scrutinizing claims that breath testing instruments utilized in this jurisdiction fail to conform to the governing statutes and administrative rules,” the ruling said.

A successful court challenge could have lead to reduced charges, or even dismissals, in numerous cases of driving under the influence, legal experts said, because prosecutors then would have to rely on other evidence. That includes officers' testimony about field sobriety tests or police video, said Michael Bialys, Los Angeles DUI lawyer.

Porch catastrophic injury: New York says it's up to you

2009-08-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

Tonya Laramore watched in horror last August as her granddaughter Jermarih Cook, then 2, lay crying on the floor beneath the porch landing behind her West Town apartment. The child's mouth was full of blood after a rotted step collapsed under her weight and she fell 6 feet, Laramore said.

"Her tooth went up through the top of her lip and left a big hole," Laramore recalled. Before the accident, "We had called [the building property manager] to complain that the steps were loose and that some were missing and they never did anything."

City inspectors came out a few days after the accident, but a new porch wasn't installed until last month, she said.
In May, Douglas Ames was using the porch steps behind his second-floor apartment in Portage Park to take out the garbage when a landing plank gave way and he fell partially through, said John Q. Kelly, a New York catastrophic injury lawyer.

Northrop Grumman-TRW whistle-blower case settle

2009-08-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

In the TRW-Northrop whistle-blower case, the settlement ended a seven-year legal fight initiated by Robert Ferro, a Newbury Park resident who was awarded $48.7 million. But instead of it being paid by Northrop, it will be paid by "Treasury's fund," the whistleblower lawyer Los Angeles said.

Northrop said that because the settlements offset each other, they would have no material impact on its finances.

Huron Consulting's attractive saga quickly losing its feel-good aspect

2009-08-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

David Greising
August 4, 2009

The Andersen expatriates should have been expert in both areas. After all, Sarbanes-Oxley arose in large part out of the ashes of the Enron/Andersen debacle, and wrongheaded e-mail messages figured prominently in an obstruction-of-justice conviction that doomed Andersen.

The Supreme Court eventually threw out the conviction, but by then Andersen was out of business. Its partners had fled to places such as KPMG, Deloitte LLP -- and
litigation lawyer Chicago.

The ironies keep rolling in now that Huron's board of directors is restating more than three years of financial results and ousting Holdren and other executives.

The adequacy of accounting is at the heart of Huron's troubles. Yet Huron has fashioned itself as an expert on accounting standards, notably chiding finance giant Fannie Mae for "grossly inadequate" accounting systems.

Pittsburgh Monroeville woman in fatal Turnpike crash had history of DUI arrests

2009-08-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

Monroeville woman in fatal Turnpike crash had history of DUI arrests

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Records also show she had been arrested in April 2007 in Springdale Township, and in November 2005 in York, Pa., on similar counts.

Charges were dismissed in both these cases by magisterial district judges, according to court records.

Last night, state police said, Ms. Baker drove head-on into the path of an eastbound tractor-trailer truck driven in the left-hand lane by Patrick H. Miller, 63, of South Euclid, Ohio.

Mr. Miller told police a pickup truck that had been driving ahead of him swerved suddenly to the left and the rig crashed head-on with Ms. Baker's Ford Escape.

Her car careened into the path of a second truck, driven in the right-hand lane by James A. Balmer, 60, of Port Orange, Fla.

Neither truck driver was injured, police said.

Hire a DUI Lawyer Pittsburgh

Los Angeles Accident Law Firm Ringler Kearney Alvarez LLP

2009-07-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles wrongful death law firm Ringler Kearney Alavarez LLP have established themselves as a premier law firm by providing clients with consistently excellent service. They pride themselves on their intellect, creativity and tenacity.

These Los Angeles accident lawyers have achieved victories in over 100 trials with total verdicts in excess of $250 million.

Ringler Kearney Alvarez LLP achieves their verdicts by utilizing their substantial financial resources to obtain the best result possible for each of their clients. This California accident specialist law firm fights tirelessly for their clients, no matter the cost and no matter the foe.

Nicole Brown Simpson Attorney John Q. Kelly

2009-01-08T14:10:00.001-08:00

Nicole Brown Simpson Attorney John Q. Kelly is pleased to announce the launch of his new website for The Kelly Group P.C.

The website can be viewed at http://www.kellygrouppc.com and features notable cases and clients of Mr. Kelly.

About John Q. Kelly
One of the most renowned litigators in the country, Mr. Kelly has a proven track record in complex civil and corporate litigation nationwide.

His clients include some of the most widely publicized victims in recent times, including:

- Estate of Nicole Brown Simpson
- Parents of Natalee Holloway
- Estate of Kathleen Savio, ex-wife of Drew Peterson
- Estate of Heiress Anne Scripps Douglas
- Former Yankee great Joe Pepitone

Ringler Kearney Alvarez, Chatsworth Train Crash Lawyers

2008-09-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

www.rkallp.com

Train Accident Attorney Jerome Ringler - Special Message for Chatsworth Metrolink Victims

2008-09-18T11:42:00.001-07:00

Special Message for Victims of Chatsworth Metrolink Disaster

On September 12, 2008, an unprecedented tragedy occurred in Chatsworth, California when Metrolink Train #111 struck a Union Pacific freight train which was traveling on the same tracks. Our hearts go out to the victims. But this tragedy should not have happened. It happened because of human error on the part of Metrolink employees. Unfortunately, as the lawyers of RKA know well, human error by railroad engineers is not at all unique as a cause of commuter rail disasters.

Jerome L. Ringler has greater experience in representing victims of commuter rail and fright train disasters than any other lawyer in the State of California, if not the country. He has served as lead counsel in every one of the largest commuter rail disasters which have occurred in Southern California in the past 10 years.

In the Placentia Commuter Rail Disaster of 2003, Mr. Ringler was appointed by the Court as lead counsel for all of the Plaintiffs. He was requested by all of the lawyers representing individuals injured or killed in that incident to try the first case. That case resulted in the largest verdict for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ever rendered by a jury in the United States. That verdict, which was for $9 million, is detailed below in the multimedia section.

In the Burbank Commuter Rail Disaster, which also occurred in 2003, Mr. Ringler was again appointed by the Court to serve as lead counsel. In that capacity he was given the responsibility to try the entire liability (i.e., fault) case for all of the victims. In other words, every one of the dozens of lawyers who represented individual victims in that disaster trusted Mr. Ringler to try the liability phase for them, knowing that their clients would only recover if Mr. Ringler was successful. He was. In fact, Mr. Ringler not only obtained a favorable verdict for all of the plaintiffs, he obtained a $12 million verdict for his own client as well. This verdict was the largest in the State of California for a person with the type of injuries Mr. Ringler's client had suffered. This verdict is detailed below in the multimedia section.

Mr. Ringler is currently lead counsel for all plaintiffs in the Glendale Metrolink Derailment Disaster of 2005. This incident was, before September 12, 2008, the largest Metrolink disaster in history. Interestingly, in that case (which involves 11 deaths and dozens of serious injuries), Mr. Ringler has, against all odds, developed testimony proving that, even though a mentally-ill person placed a jeep across the tracks that the Metrolink train was traveling upon, human error on the part of the Metrolink engineer prevented him from stopping the train before hitting the jeep, which caused the train to derail. In other words, while the jeep certainly never should have been on the tracks, the Metrolink engineer would have been able to stop the train before ever striking the jeep had he only been paying proper attention. That case is scheduled to go to trial on June 8, 2009, with Mr. Ringler as lead counsel.

The verdicts detailed on this page all relate to railroad litigation. However, Mr. Ringler has achieved enormous, record-breaking monetary awards across California in a variety of complex areas. Those accomplishments are detailed elsewhere in this website. To see them, click here.

If you or a loved one has suffered injury or death as a result of the horrific Chatsworth Metrolink Disaster, we are available to discuss your rights with you confidentially and at no charge.

Please feel free to contact us at your convenience. Ask for Mr. Ringler,or any of his partners, at (213) 473-1900.

www.rkallp.com

Jerome Ringler - Metrolink Train Crash Attorney Interviewed on FOX 11

2008-09-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

Breaking Legal News Names Roth Law Featured Firm

2008-06-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

The Roth Law Group has been named a Breaking Legal News Featured Law Firm for its outstanding achievements in Business law and contract law in the Chicago area. Below is a little bit about the firm.

About Roth Law:
Business owners know that it takes hard work and dedication to make it in today's competitive marketplace. And choosing a law firm that understands the needs of small business is essential if you want to get a leg-up on the competition. You expect that your law firm will provide you with practical solutions and attentive individualized service. At the Chicago-based business law firm of the Roth Law Group, that's what you get.

At the Roth Law Group, we understand the concerns of small business owners like you and we have experience working in industries ranging from construction to chemical manufacturing. Our lawyers know that you need to remain focused on business and legal issues often detract from this goal. When the Roth Law Group represents you, we concentrate our efforts on resolving matters efficiently and economically and seek to reach the best business outcome in the least amount of time whenever practical. From contract negotiations to commercial litigation, we offer a full-range of business legal services specifically tailored to meet your needs.

If your small business is in the market for business legal services in Cook County or throughout Illinois, contact the Chicago-based Roth Law Group for a Free Initial Consultation. We offer practical solutions to your small business legal challenges at affordable rates.

A Few Representative Matters

-Obtained six-figure settlement on behalf of an Italian-based Manufacturer of wood veneer products in a breach of contract action against U.S. based distributor.

-Obtained judgment in favor of a Commercial Landscaping Contractor involving breach of contract.

-Negotiated nuisance value settlement on behalf of a Multi-Media Company sued for violation of Non-Compete Agreement, thus avoiding business interruption and an injunction.

-Successfully prosecuted foreclosure and other actions on behalf of a Colorado-based Mortgage Company.

www.rothlawgroup.com

Court Overturns Ohio Death Sentence

2008-04-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the death sentence of a double murderer, agreeing with defense lawyers who said the man shouldn't be executed because he is mentally retarded.

The court ruled unanimously in favor of convicted killer Clifton White of Akron, citing the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that executing the mentally retarded violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

The decision comes as a court elsewhere in Ohio considers the constitutionality of lethal injection. Lethal injection executions are on hold nationally while the U.S. Supreme Court considers a challenge in a case from Kentucky.

White was sentenced to death for the Christmas Eve 1995 murder of Deborah Thorpe in Akron. He also killed Julie Schrey in the same attack and wounded Thorpe's 19-year-old son, Michael.

Prosecutors say White was angry over his breakup with Schrey's daughter.

The court rejected lower court rulings that said White did not meet the U.S. Supreme Court's three-prong test for mental retardation.

That test requires a low IQ generally under 70, a person's lack of basic skills such as communication or living by himself, and the onset of mental retardation symptoms before age 18.

No evidence was presented "to suggest that White's current impairments could be explained by anything that happened after he turned 18, such as a brain injury," wrote Justice Robert Cupp. "Nor does anything in White's history indicate that he functioned at a higher level before age 18 than he does today."

Messages were left for the Summit County prosecutor's office and the state public defender, which represented White.

White's case will return to the trial court for resentencing.

Schrey was the mother of White's former girlfriend, who broke up with White because he was abusive, according to a summary of the case by the Ohio attorney general's office.

When Deborah Thorpe and Schrey went to White's house to pick up belongings, White shot them. White then went to the workplace of Schrey's daughter and tried to attack her, shooting Michael Thorpe in the head when he intervened, according to the attorney general's office and Wednesday's court ruling.

High School Free Speech Case Thrown Out

2008-04-10T11:10:00.002-07:00

A high school student won't be allowed to proceed with a lawsuit against his school district for instituting a policy that barred him from expressing his opposition to homosexuality, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 vote, said Boyd County High School student Timothy Morrison failed to show that he was harmed by the policy that was later changed. Judge Deborah L. Cook, joined by Judge John R. Adams, also said Morrison didn't show how winning a lawsuit seeking only $1 in damages would rectify his situation. Judge Karen Nelson Moore dissented.

"This case should be over," Cook wrote. "Allowing it to proceed to determine the constitutionality of an abandoned policy — in the hope of awarding the plaintiff a single dollar — vindicates no interest and trivializes the important business of the federal courts."

The ruling is a reversal of a previous ruling that held Morrison should be allowed to pursue the lawsuit.

Morrison, a senior at Boyd County High School, sued the Boyd County school district over a policy that required students to undergo anti-harassment training. He claimed the policy threatened him with punishment for expressing religious beliefs in opposition to homosexuality. Morrison is a professed Christian who believes his religion requires him to speak out against what he sees as behavior that doesn't comport with his understanding of Christian morality.

Morrison was never punished under the policy, which was later changed to exempt speech that would normally be protected off campus.

The school district adopted the policy and established the anti-harassment training as part of a 2004 legal settlement that ended a lawsuit between the school district and a now-defunct gay-rights group that wanted recognition as an extracurricular group.

Members of the Boyd County High School Gay Straight Alliance argued that the school district violated their constitutional rights by refusing to allow them to meet on campus.

Joel Oster, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian law group that represents Morrison, didn't immediately return a telephone message left at his Scottsdale, Ariz., office. Winter Huff, an attorney representing the school district, didn't immediately return a call to her Somerset office.

Sharon McGowan, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which supported the Alliance Defense Fund in arguing that Morrison should be permitted to pursue his case, said the ACLU was disappointed by the decision.

The European Union is Asking Google & Yahoo! to speed it up

2008-04-10T11:10:00.001-07:00

A European Union privacy panel wants Internet search engine providers like Google and Yahoo to delete data taken from users after six months, even when they operate abroad.

The new report from the EU-funded privacy watchdog recommended that search engines follow European data protection rules regardless of their headquarters' location.

Although the watchdog has no policy powers, its report could lead to stricter privacy rules. The EU's executive, the European Commission, is currently redrafting data-protection rules for the 27-nation bloc.

The panel's report said search engines fall under EU laws if they collect users' numeric Internet Protocol, or IP, addresses or track search history using a unique ID on small data files called cookies installed on users' computers.

Most search engines, including Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, do so to gather insights on usage.

Germany's data protection commissioner Peter Scharr said in January that IP addresses should generally be regarded as personal information.

IP addresses consist of a string of numbers that identifies individual computers on the Internet so that a search engine would know where to return results.

Search engines have generally regarded IP addresses as anonymous information because they aren't necessarily linked to personal data about individuals. However, they can reveal the individual's location or service provider, from which a company or government agency armed with a subpoena can track down the individual.

2 Men Convicted for Helping NH Tax Evaders

2008-04-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

A federal jury has convicted two men accused of helping a New Hampshire couple avoid arrest for tax evasion last year.

Jason Gerhard of Brookhaven, N.Y., and Daniel Riley of Cohoes, N.Y., were found guilty Wednesday of conspiring to prevent U.S. marshals from arresting tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown. The two men were also convicted of charges accusing them of providing the Browns with guns to help prolong a standoff with authorities.

Defense lawyers argued that while the men visited the Browns and shared some of their views, they did not conspire together.

The Browns were arrested in October after a nearly nine-month standoff at their home. They are serving 63-month sentences for their tax crimes.

Columbus Man Accused of Threatening High Court

2008-04-10T11:07:00.002-07:00

Columbus-A Pepper Pike man was indicted Wednesday on charges that he threatened to blow up the U.S. Supreme Court building and attack an associate justice.

David Tuason, 46, targeted black men known to affiliate with white women, well-known white women who had relationships with black men, and children of mixed-race parents, federal authorities said.

Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg confirmed that Justice Clarence Thomas, the only black justice, was threatened in the case but she declined to comment further.

According to the indictment, Tuason sent a letter to the Supreme Court building in July 2003 addressed to an associate justice of the court referred to as "CT."

In the letter, which contained several racially charged remarks, he threatened to blow up the building, and claimed "CT" would be "castrated, shot or set on fire. . . . I want him killed," the indictment says.

According to the indictment, one of the letters referred to an "LN" and mentions the Cleveland Cavaliers and was sent last year to Revere High School in Richfield, where the daughter of former Cavaliers star, Larry Nance, is a student and accomplished athlete.

Also targeted was a well-known black singer who performed at Cleveland's Severance Hall, home of the city's orchestra, about the time a February letter was sent, U.S. Attorney William J. Edwards said.

The letter sent Feb. 4 addressed an "AJ," according to the indictment, and Grammy-award winning jazz and R&B artist Al Jarreau was on the schedule on Feb. 8.

FBI spokesman Scott Wilson declined to name those targeted, citing privacy issues.

He said the threats began in Cleveland and branched out across the nation. He would not specify whether Tuason attempted to carry out attacks, but said he acted alone.

Feds May Appeal Bio Tech Patent Ruling

2008-04-10T11:07:00.001-07:00

The federal office that regulates patents is considering whether to appeal a court decision this month that threw out proposed rules that would limit how many times companies can resubmit patent applications. The biotechnology industry vociferously opposes the changes.

A U.S. district court in Virginia on April 1 ruled against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, agreeing with international pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, which argued that proposed changes to the patent process would prevent the industry from protecting new inventions.

Last fall, the patent and trademark office approved regulatory rule changes that limited the number of times a patent application can be resubmitted. The rule changes also limited applications to 25 claims -- the items named in a patent that define the diseases a new drug will treat, and the scope of the intellectual property. In the past, claims and continuations have been unlimited, allowing the biotech industry to protect a wide range of clinical applications.

The biotech discovery process is very different than designing a machine or computer program where the intent and use of the invention is known from the beginning. Patent applicants often add information to an application as new clinical data comes in. While a drug cannot be modified after the application, the scientist may collect additional clinical data, conduct a literature search to provide new findings from the field or dig through old lab notebooks for evidence that their drug will hit the specific disease targets named in the application.

The Khouri Law Firm Provides Professional License Defense

2008-04-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

The Khouri Law Firm provides aggressive defense and legal representation of medical and other licensed professionals in criminal defense, administrative licensing matters, professional license defense, health law and the defense of criminal cases which impact professional licensure status.

We have successfully represented vast numbers of physicians, dentists, podiatrists, chiropractors, pharmacists, board and care home administrators, and psychologists in all licensure matters. In addition, The Khouri Law Firm has successfully defended criminal defendants in cases charging drug conspiracy, alien smuggling, bank robbery, organized crime violations, Medi-Care & Medi-Cal fraud, counterfeiting, organized prostitution conspiracies, immigration fraud and more.

We have even represented groups of physicians in partnership disputes designed to oust doctors disciplined by the Medical Board or convicted of a crime.

License Defense Attorney Michael Khouri's Website