Recent Updates

  • SC trial lawyer Ron Motley dies at age 68

    SC trial lawyer Ron Motley dies at age 68

    Legal Events 08/26/2013

    Celebrated South Carolina lawyer Ron Motley has died at the age of 68, law partner Joe Rice confirmed Thursday. No cause of death was given for the trial lawyer, and funeral arrangements have not been announced. Motley served as lead counsel in lawsu...

  • Federal court officials fear budget cuts

    Federal court officials fear budget cuts

    Legal Events 08/06/2013

    Federal courts officials in Minnesota say they're worried automatic spending cuts will jeopardize the justice system's smooth operation, with layoffs likely in both the U.S. attorney and public defender's offices. The cuts are part of what's known as...

  • Iowa top court: Firing of attractive aide is legal

    Iowa top court: Firing of attractive aide is legal

    Legal Events 07/13/2013

    The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday stood by its ruling that a dentist acted legally when he fired an assistant because he found her too attractive and worried he would try to start an affair. Coming to the same conclusion as it did in December, the all...

  • US Supreme Court orders 6 death row cases reviewed

    US Supreme Court orders 6 death row cases reviewed

    Legal Events 06/04/2013

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sent the cases of six Texas death row inmates, including one of the infamous "Texas 7" gang of escapees, back to a lower court for reviews of whether attorneys in earlier stages of appeals let the men down. The decisi...

  • Court dismisses lawsuits in power plant deaths

    Court dismisses lawsuits in power plant deaths

    Legal Events 05/14/2013

    The Colorado Court of Appeals has dismissed lawsuits against three companies in the deaths of five workers at a power plant in 2007. The appeals court agreed Thursday with a judge that there was no evidence that the companies violated duties or faile...

  • Lawyer questions memory of Philadelphia accuser

    Lawyer questions memory of Philadelphia accuser

    Legal Events 01/18/2013

    A longtime heroin addict whose complaint helped imprison a Philadelphia archdiocese official came under attack Wednesday, as jurors in a priest-abuse trial learned that he had given three different locations for one alleged rape.Defense lawyers quest...

  • Court weighs warrantless blood tests in DUI cases

    Court weighs warrantless blood tests in DUI cases

    Legal Events 01/09/2013

    The Supreme Court is considering whether police must get a warrant before ordering a blood test on an unwilling drunken-driving suspect. The justices heard arguments Wednesday in a case involving a disputed blood test from Missouri. Police stopped a ...

  • Fla. to execute mass killer after court lifts stay

    Fla. to execute mass killer after court lifts stay

    Legal Events 10/27/2012

    A convicted mass killer from the 1970s is again scheduled for execution Tuesday after an appeals court lifted a last-minute stay that was based on his mental illness. His attorneys sought a last-minute reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court. The execut...

  • Supreme Court views not 'liberal or conservative'

    Supreme Court views not 'liberal or conservative'

    Legal Events 10/19/2012

    U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday that people shouldn't think the high court's justices make decisions in terms of a liberal or conservative agenda. Roberts told a crowd of nearly 4,800 people at Rice University in Houston ...

  • Ex-NFL WR Hurd pleads not guilty to new charges

    Ex-NFL WR Hurd pleads not guilty to new charges

    Legal Events 10/08/2012

    Former NFL receiver Sam Hurd pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new indictment accusing him of trying to obtain cocaine and marijuana while he was out on bond awaiting trial on charges of trying to start a drug ring in the Chicago area. The indictment...

  • Federal court upholds Texas open meetings law

    Federal court upholds Texas open meetings law

    Legal Events 09/29/2012

    A federal appeals court has upheld Texas' open meetings law as constitutional, rejecting a lawsuit that argued it stifled free speech for government officials. The 1967 Texas Open Meetings Act prohibits a quorum of members of a governmental body from...

  • MacDonald goes to court in 'Fatal Vision' case

    MacDonald goes to court in 'Fatal Vision' case

    Legal Events 09/20/2012

    Jeffrey MacDonald, a clean-cut Green Beret and doctor convicted of killing of his pregnant wife and their two daughters, is getting another chance to try proving his innocence — more than four decades after the nation was gripped by his tales of Char...