Posts from ‘May, 2009’

Phil Spector was sentenced Friday to 19 years to life in prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, who was shot through the mouth in the music producer’s home six years ago. Much of the case hinged on the testimony of five women from Spector’s past who said he threatened them with guns when they tried to leave his presence. A prosecutor called the case “rock solid,” but Spector’s defense attorney said an appeal will assert that the judge erred in allowing the women to testify.

After their sentencing last week, it took less than 24 hours for three of the five defendants in United States v. Holy Land Foundation to file notices of appeal with the 5th Circuit, and an attorney for one of the defendants said all five will appeal. The HLF defendants received a combined total of 180 years in prison on charges that they engaged in a conspiracy to help funnel at least $12.4 million to Hamas through a now-defunct Texas-based Muslim charity, among other things.

The coming addition of five labor and employment attorneys from Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll in Washington, D.C., is the latest indication that Eckert Seamans has been on a bit of a growth spurt. The firm has brought on 38 laterals so far this year through a combination of good timing and an environment in which it can offer parallel compensation, but a more flexible rate structure, says CEO Timothy Ryan, and it’s focusing on expanding its Washington, D.C., and Boston offices through lateral hires.

For Drew Schaffer, a recent veteran of combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and now a first-year law student, any classroom jitters are relative: “Having been in some pretty stressful situations, you realize getting a low grade on an exam is not life threatening.” The former Army Ranger applied to law school from Afghanistan, studied for the LSAT between combat patrols and took the test under threat of Taliban artillery fire. Now he’s started a group to ease the application process for other overseas soldiers.

Georgia criminal defense attorney J. Mark Shelnutt says he is “ready to fight” a federal indictment that accuses him of joining in a drug conspiracy and laundering money from a drug ring whose leader he defended in federal court. A grand jury handed down a 40-count indictment against Shelnutt after what the lawyer describes as an extended whisper campaign of rumors and grand jury leaks. “You can’t really fight a ghost,” he said, but “you can fight an indictment full of bogus charges.”