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Colo. court weighs energy leases near Utah parks
Areas of Focus |
2012/01/20 18:09
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A federal appeals court must decide if the Obama administration gave energy companies sufficient notice that it was scrapping oil and gas leases auctioned off near national parks in Utah in the closing days of the Bush presidency.
The sale near Arches and Canyonlands national parks and Dinosaur National Monument was protested by environmentalists, including Robert Redford, and prompted an act of civil disobedience by a University of Utah student who entered the bidding and drove up prices.
Energy companies are trying to win back the leases and asked the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Thursday to reconsider whether a news conference by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar soon after President Barack Obama took office counts as public notice of his final decision.
The government argues that the Feb. 4, 2009, announcement and an internal memo two days later served as notice. The energy companies claim that the new administration didn't follow typical notification procedures and that the decision wasn't final until the Bureau of Land Management carried out Salazar's decision on Feb. 12, 2009. |
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Court lets telemarketers be sued in federal court
Areas of Focus |
2012/01/18 18:06
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The Supreme Court is keeping telemarketers and other businesses on the hook for nuisance phone calls, letting those annoyed by the disruptions sue in federal as well as state courts.
The high court's decision Wednesday involves a lawsuit claiming a debt collector harassed a man with repeated recorded calls.
Marcus Mims of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said he kept getting the calls from Arrow Financial Services LLC, which was trying to collect a student loan debt for Sallie Mae. He sued for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, passed by Congress to ban invasive telemarketing practices.
Mims' lawsuit was thrown out by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said that Congress did not explicitly give permission for federal lawsuits in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, although the law does say people can file in state courts. Other federal courts ruled differently and let lawsuits move forward.
The high court said in a unanimous opinion that federal lawsuits are allowed under the law. |
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Pacman Jones pleads guilty to disorderly conduct
Headline Legal News |
2012/01/18 18:05
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Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones pleaded guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.
Jones entered the plea in Hamilton County Municipal Court just as his non-jury trial was scheduled to begin. A second misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest was dismissed in a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Judge Brad Greenberg ordered Jones to serve a year of probation, complete 50 hours of community service and pay a $250 fine plus court costs. Jones could have received a maximum jail sentence of 30 days.
Jones, 28, was accused in court documents of being disorderly, shouting profanities and trying to pull away as officers arrested him at a downtown bar in July.
At the time, Jones was on probation in Las Vegas in connection with a 2007 no contest plea to a strip club melee that left three people wounded. He was ordered in November to perform an additional 75 hours of community service for violating that probation with the Cincinnati arrest. |
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Court rejects appeals in student speech cases
Headline Legal News |
2012/01/17 20:10
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The U.S. Supreme Court has passed up a pair of cases for the online age — whether schools may censor students who are at home when they create online attacks against school officials and other students.
The justices on Tuesday rejected appeals from Pennsylvania and West Virginia involving questions about the limits on criticism from students and where the authority of school officials ends.
The high court decision left standing lower court rulings that two Pennsylvania students cannot be disciplined at school for parodies of their principals that they created on home computers and posted online.
In the West Virginia case, an appeals court upheld the suspension of a student who created a web page that suggested another student had a sexually transmitted disease, and invited classmates to comment.
Lawyers on both sides were disappointed the high court chose not to step into the fray over student speech posted online, as federal court judges have issued a broad range of opinions on the subject. |
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Michigan Law Firm Adds Top Rated Malpractice Attorney
Attorney News |
2012/01/16 17:30
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The Michigan personal injury law firm of Buckfire & Buckfire, P.C. is proud to announce the addition of medical malpractice attorney Randall M. Blau to our team of already award winning, experienced Michigan medical malpractice lawyers!
Partner and attorney, Lawrence J. Buckfire stated, “We could not be more pleased to add such an extraordinary medical malpractice lawyer to our law firm. Randall Blau was a perfect fit for the law firm, meeting the highest standards and quality that not only we, but our clients, require and expect to be a part of our team. Randall is a respected and highly reputable attorney throughout the State of Michigan and we are proud to have Randy join our law firm as our Michigan medical malpractice lawyer.”
Mr. Blau has obtained millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for his injured clients. He specializes in medical malpractice, birth injuries, nursing home neglect, wrongful death, and automobile negligence cases. He is a member of the Michigan Association for Justice, the Oakland County Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan. Randy has been an invited speaker at a variety of legal seminars, an invited member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and has been consistently listed in Who's Who in Law throughout his career.
Randall M. Blau earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Kalamazoo College in 1993 and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Detroit School of Law in 1996. He is admitted to practice law in state and federal courts throughout Michigan and has handled cases in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Minnesota and Florida. He has obtained numerous settlements that have been listed in the Top Ten Settlements of the Year for the State of Michigan multiple times during the last decade.
Prior to joining Buckfire & Buckfire, Randall was a partner with Neuman Anderson, P.C. and senior litigation attorney with Southfield-based Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth & Heller, P.C. He is an active member of a number of charitable and nonprofit organizations, and currently resides in West Bloomfield with his wife and two sons.
Buckfire & Buckfire, P.C. handles all accident and injury cases, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, wrongful death cases, medical malpractice lawsuits, nursing home neglect cases, slip and fall cases, dog bite attack cases, and all other personal injury matters throughout the State of Michigan. Our Michigan personal injury attorneys are known for their meticulous case preparation-an approach that results in major verdicts and settlements for their clients. For more information on our personal injury law firm, please feel free to call our office, toll free at (800) 606-1717. |
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Perry appeals judge's ruling on Va. primary ballot
Legal Topics |
2012/01/16 17:30
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Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Sunday appealed a federal judge's refusal to add him and three other candidates to Virginia's Republican presidential primary ballot.
In a filing with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Perry's attorneys requested that the court order his name be placed on the ballot, or order that ballots not be printed or mailed before his appeal is considered.
Perry sued last month after failing to submit enough signatures to get on the Mach 6 ballot. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman joined Perry's lawsuit after also failing to qualify.
Only former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul qualified for the primary ballot.
Virginia requires candidates to obtain the signatures of 10,000 registered voters, including 400 from each of the state's 11 congressional districts, to get on the ballot. State law also allows only Virginia residents to circulate petitions. |
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Court orders new psychiatric review of Breivik
Areas of Focus |
2012/01/13 18:10
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A Norwegian court on Friday ordered a new psychiatric evaluation of confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, after an earlier report found him legally insane.
Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen said in Oslo the new evaluation is necessary considering widespread criticism of the initial findings, which suggested Breivik should be sent to psychiatric care instead of prison.
The 32-year-old Norwegian has confessed to a bomb and shooting spree July 22 that killed 77 people and traumatized the peaceful Scandinavian country.
Breivik denies criminal guilt, saying he's a commander of a resistance movement aiming to overthrow European governments and replace them with "patriotic" regimes that would deport Muslim immigrants.
Investigators have found no sign of such a movement and say Breivik most likely plotted and carried out the attacks on his own.
Arntzen said two Norwegian psychiatrists — Agnar Aspaas and Terje Toerrisen — had been appointed for the new evaluation.
However, Breivik doesn't want to talk to them because he doesn't believe they will understand him any better than the experts who interviewed him for the first assessment, defense lawyer Geir Lippestad, told reporters after speaking to his client in prison.
Lippestad also said that the defense team is skeptical toward a new evaluation because the first assessment was leaked to Norwegian media. |
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