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Supreme Court: drugs can be forced on defendant
Topics |
2010/11/27 21:06
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pA case involving ATamp;T that goes before the U.S. Supreme Court this week has sweeping ramifications for potentially millions of consumers./ppIf the court rules for the telecom, any business that issues a contract to customers, such as for credit cards, cell phones or cable TV, could prevent them from joining class-action lawsuits./ppThis would take away one of the most powerful legal tools available to consumers in such cases, particularly those involving relatively small amounts of money. Class-action suits allow plaintiffs to band together in seeking compensation or redress, giving more heft to their claims.
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Court Appoints Lawyer for Bernard Kilpatrick
Law Firm News |
2010/11/02 23:19
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| pIt's the ongoing public corruption investigation that's led to charges against numerous city officials, including former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. It now appears his father could soon be at federal court, as well./ppThe case looks like it's at a point where decisions have to be made both by the prosecutors and by Mr. Kilpatrick, said Peter Henning, a former federal prosecutor./ppThis time that Mr. Kilpatrick is Bernard Kilpatrick, the father of the disgraced former mayor./ppKwame Kilpatrick is already facing charges related to raiding the Kilpatrick Civic Fund, but now his father has asked for a federal defender - a sure sign he's in trouble, too./ppA target letter is often viewed as an invitation to someone to make contact with the government and explore the possibility of resolving the case, Henning said./ppHe said it's not clear what the charges would be against the elder Kilpatrick, who is long suspected of orchestrating pay-to-play deals involving city contracts. However, whatever money he might have made appears to be gone. Bernard Kilpatrick had to sign an affidavit of indigency to qualify for a court appointed attorney./p |
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WA voters say no to state income tax Initiative 1098
Topics |
2010/11/02 13:19
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| pEarly returns show voters rejected Initiative 1098 being rejected with about 65 percent of the vote to 35 percent in unofficial returns./ppInitiative 1098 would institute a new state tax on the top 1 percent of incomes to pay for education and health programs while trimming state property and business taxes. The campaign follows January’s overwhelming decision by Oregon voters to increase taxes for corporations and wealthier households./ppI'm particularly gratified the way Initiative 1098 is going down to defeat. I don't think we're going to see that kind of initiative back anytime soon, said former Senator Slade Gorton./ppInitiative 1098 campaign was referred to as the battle of the billionaires./ppMicrosoft co-founder Bill Gates and his father are among the wealthy Washingtonians who joined labor unions and other traditional Democratic allies to support the tax-the-rich ballot measure. Opposing 1098 were Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Boeing, Russell Investments, Paccar Inc., software billionaire Charles Simonyi and members of the Nordstrom family./ppAnd, big money was thrown into the fight. Supporters of the initiative spent more than $6.1 million, while the campaign against it spent more than $5 million of the $6.4 million raised./p |
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Idaho Supreme Court lifts hold on refinery haul
Court Watch |
2010/11/02 13:18
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| pThe Idaho Supreme Court on Monday lifted a lower court order that prevented ConocoPhillips from moving giant refinery parts along a rural highway across the state./ppIn a 3-2 decision, the court said that Judge John Bradbury of Idaho's Second Judicial District Court and the Supreme Court itself, had no authority to rule on a permit issued by Idaho's highway department allowing the movement of giant coking unit parts along the U.S. Highway 12./ppThe district court lacked jurisdiction, as does this Court, to consider respondents' petition for judicial review, wrote Justice Warren Jones in the court's opinion announcing the decision./ppResidents along Highway 12 had sought to block a contractor for Conoco from moving giant coking unit drums, weighing up to 323 tons (293 metric tons) and stretching 225 feet (68.58 meters), from the port of Lewiston, Idaho, to the state's border with Montana./p |
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Bird v. Regents of New Mexico State University
Marketing |
2010/10/25 13:24
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pLas Cruces, is The City of the Crosses, the second largest city in New Mexico and the home of New Mexico State University (NSMU), founded in 1888, New Mexico's only land grant university. New Mexico State University began as an agricultural college and now it is a comprehensive institution dedicated to teaching, research, and service at the graduate and undergraduate level. The university also has an extensive international student population from countries in Central America, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The Total enrollment for NMSU main campus and branch campuses is 26,391. Minority enrollment at the main campus is more than 48 percent (41.4 percent Hispanic, 2.9 percent American Indian, 2.7 percent African-American and 1.3 percent Asian-American)./ppObviously, NMSU and Las Cruces have a long and proud history of ethnic traditions; and one would never, ever think that this university – the only research-extensive, land-grant, USA-Mexico border institution classified as Hispanic serving by the federal government – would become a battlefield of racial discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination. But it has, because of the actions and racist attitudes of a very small group of former NMSU faculty and regents – a place where five plaintiffs, Drs. Yelena Bird, Robert Buckingham, John Moraros, Satya Rao and Freedom Cheteni, received anonymous hate letters calling them the N-word or N-lover and warning them to leave NMSU or else. Other racist comments included threats to oust these Bird and Moraros from the university because the academy is not the place for your kind of people and that few wetbacks and n*****s have your kind of education. This blatant discrimination against four faculty members and one graduate student has resulted in many major changes at the University: The university president resident is gone; the president of the Board of Regents, too; as well as two other regents and a former associate dean.
Today, The Insider Exclusive goes behind the headlines concerning this incredible story of racism and retaliation at one of America's and the Southwest's most prestigious schools as Christopher Moody and and Julie Fritsch, at the firm at Moody amp; Warner, P.C., fight for social justice for Drs. Yelena Bird, Robert Buckingham, John Moraros, Satya Rao and Freedom Cheteni./ppChristopher Moody is a founder of the employment and labor law firm of Moody amp; Warner, P.C. He has been practicing employment and labor law since 1983 and represents management in labor relations matters, including collective bargaining, unfair labor practice cases, representation proceedings and grievance arbitrations. Christopher is a frequent presenter on employment law topics. He is a graduate of Duke University School of Law and is licensed to practice law in New Mexico, Colorado, and California. He accepts cases in those states and in other states throughout the United States, where he is able to participate in cases by associating with attorneys admitted to practice in the relevant state./ppJulie K. Fritsch is an associate attorney at Moody amp; Warner, PC. She is a 2003 graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School. She holds a BA from the University of Notre Dame where she received the Notre Dame Scholar Award. After graduating from law school, Julie clerked for three years with United States Magistrate Judge Leslie C. Smith in Las Cruces, NM. She regularly volunteers to mentor current law students and has been active in assisting with mock trial programs, both at the law school and high school levels, in conjunction with the Center for Civic Values./ppMoody amp; Warner, P.C. provides thoughtful and aggressive representation in all areas of labor and employment law. The firm has had significant success representing classes of employees, large groups of employees who work or worked for the same employer, who are victims of discrimination on the basis of race, sex or other prohibited bases, or who have been improperly denied overtime or minimum wage compensation. Moody amp; Warner also represents individual employees and small groups of employees who are victims or discrimination, wrongful termination or improper pay practices. Moody amp; Warner represents clients around the nation. The firm's attorneys are licensed in California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma and represent clients in other states by associating with attorneys in those states./ppYou can contact Christopher Moody, and Whitney Warner at 505-944-0033, or a href=http://www.nmlaborlaw.comwww.nmlaborlaw.com/a/p |
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Lawyers compete for big payoff, control in BP case
Headline News |
2010/10/07 15:37
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pMore than 100 lawyers are battling for the biggest chunks of what is likely to be a multibillion-dollar settlement for Gulf of Mexico oil spill victims, jockeying for spots on the elite team that will control the plaintiffs' cases./ppA judge will pick 12 to 15 lawyers to take the lead in lawsuits against BP PLC and other companies filed by thousands of fishermen, restaurateurs, hotel operators, property owners and many others over the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history./ppCompetition is fierce: The candidates include a former Cabinet secretary and the lawyer who represented Al Gore in the 2000 presidential recount case. The team could get up to 15 percent of a multibillion-dollar settlement from more than 300 lawsuits that have been consolidated in New Orleans federal court. And that's on top of the typical 30 percent fee that lawyers charge their individual clients./ppThis is a very lucrative position, said Brian Fitzpatrick, a Vanderbilt University law professor who has studied how attorney fees work. You not only control the case but you get a big percentage off the top. This will attract all the big fish./ppApplications from 112 attorneys have been filed with U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who will announce his choices in the coming weeks. Top trial lawyers from around the nation are represented, many of them veterans of similar high-profile cases such as Toyota's sudden acceleration problems and the troubled painkiller Vioxx.
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