Posts on ‘November 19th, 2009’

A man accused of conspiring to bomb U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998 will not be allowed to keep the military lawyers assigned to him when he was imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the rights of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani — the first Guantanamo detainee to be transferred to the civilian justice system for trial — were not violated by the Secretary of Defense’s decision to reassign the two lawyers designated to represent him when he was preparing for trial before a military commission.

In the last year, several Am Law 100 firms have announced that they have shifted to, or will shift to, a performance-based compensation program for associates. Dan DiPietro, Lisa Keyes and Laura Saklad write that designing and executing a successful performance-based system aligned to a particular firm’s strategy takes time, and the changes can require major cultural shifts and can even run the risk of costing, rather than saving, the firm money. Still, for many firms the benefits will outweigh the costs.

A former law firm manager has been sentenced to three years and five months in prison for embezzling approximately $1.3 million from Diepenbrock Harrison in Sacramento, Calif. Regina Schenck used firm checks to pay off personal credit card expenses totaling more than $1 million and dipped into the firm’s client trust account to buy five horses and a $40,000 horse trailer. Schenck also changed records in the firm’s computer system to boost her own salary, award herself bonuses and increase her insurance benefits.

A New York appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a county worker who helped organize an on-the-job “club,” dubbed the “I Hate Teena Club,” to show her disdain for a co-worker. The panel found that a hearing officer reasonably concluded that Penny Sindoni had created a “hostile, intimidating, disruptive” and “uncomfortable” work environment by showing animosity for co-worker Christeenia Cargill. Sindoni wore a ribbon that identified her as a central figure in the “club,” according to the decision.

A federal jury on Wednesday acquitted a Georgia criminal defense lawyer on all counts of a money laundering and drug conspiracy indictment that had also charged him with the attempted bribery of an Assistant U.S. Attorney. After eight days of testimony and 12 hours of deliberation, the jury found J. Mark Shelnutt not guilty, discrediting a two-year government investigation of Shelnutt. The case had centered on Shelnutt’s acceptance of cash legal fees that were generated by illegal drug trade.

Employment lawyers say employers are unsure about how far they have to go to accommodate medical marijuana users. Many question whether they’re even required to tolerate medical marijuana use, which is now legal in 13 states. Another six states, including New York, Illinois and Massachusetts, are also considering medical marijuana bills. Adding to employers’ concerns is the Justice Department’s announcement last month that it would no longer prosecute medical marijuana users.

Besieged Florida attorney and political rainmaker Scott Rothstein is picking his battles — and trying to stay a lawyer is not one of them. The ousted chairman of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler has submitted a request of permanent disbarment on consent to the Florida Bar. The Bar confirmed Wednesday it accepted his request, which must be approved by the Florida Supreme Court. The upshot is that Rothstein would not have to defend himself against a Bar investigation for breaking any rules regulating Florida attorneys.

A procedural muddle kept Lynne Stewart out of prison for another day, but even as she prepared to surrender, the possibility remained that one or more judges on the 2nd Circuit may want to revisit her controversial sentence en banc. On Monday, a divided three-judge panel vacated the disbarred lawyer’s 28-month sentence for providing material support to a terrorist conspiracy, saying it was too light, and directed a lower court judge to re-sentence her and make a finding on whether she committed perjury at trial.

A federal judge has ordered that a former in-house lawyer at Toyota Motor Sales USA must arbitrate claims that the automobile manufacturer hid and destroyed evidence in cases involving victims of rollover accidents. U.S. District Judge George H. King of the Central District of California, citing an “inartfully pled civil RICO claim,” also dismissed racketeering claims brought by the legal consulting firm of Dimitrios Biller.

A Massachusetts federal judge has upheld a bankruptcy court ruling allowing a trustee to treat a mortgage as an unsecured claim, which strips the mortgage holder — in this case, Countrywide Home Loans — of foreclosure rights because of defective paperwork. The order affirmed a bankruptcy court order denying plaintiffs’ request to send a question of law to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. The case is Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. (MERS) v. Warren E. Agin, trustee.