Detroit Close To Clearing COVID-19 Criminal Case Backlog

By Carolyn Muyskens

Michigan's busiest court is years ahead of schedule in efforts to clear a large case backlog, its chief judge said in an address, crediting the court staff and judges with performing "miracles."

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Mich. Justices Unsure New Mandate Altered Old Auto Policies

By Carolyn Muyskens

Michigan Supreme Court justices appeared divided Wednesday over whether an overhaul of the state's compulsory car insurance scheme affected pre-existing policies or applied only to policies issued after the reforms went into effect.   

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Disbarred Mich. Atty Jailed For Stealing $140K From Client

By James Boyle

A Michigan attorney will spend more time in prison than planned after failing to keep up his side of a plea agreement he made with the state attorney general when he admitted to stealing more than $140,000 from an elderly client.

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Credit Suisse Urges Mich. Panel To Reverse Biz Loss Denial

By Paul Williams

A Credit Suisse attorney pressed the Michigan Court of Appeals on Wednesday to clarify how the state's tax laws account for losses from real estate mortgage investment conduits, saying a lower court incorrectly denied its attempt to carry forward $21.3 million in losses.

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ESOP Trustee Can't Ax Suit Claiming $60M Inflated Stock Deal

By Grace Elletson

A Michigan federal judge left most of a suit intact Wednesday alleging the trustee of a steel company's employee stock ownership plan allowed it to buy $60 million in company stock at an inflated price, ruling that the worker behind the suit backed his claims with enough detail.

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Fed. Circ. Judge Troubled By Government's Visa Fraud Sting

By Britain Eakin

A Federal Circuit judge on Wednesday said he was troubled by the federal government's argument that it has no liability to foreign students who paid thousands of dollars to attend a fake university the government set up to ensnare visa fraudsters.

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NAR Magazine Subscribers Drop Data-Selling Claims

By Isaac Monterose

A proposed class has mediated and permanently dismissed claims in Michigan federal court accusing the National Association of Realtors of illegally selling, exchanging and renting the personal data of subscribers to the NAR's Realtor magazine.

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Split 6th Circ. Says Digital Media TM Case Has To Stay In Tenn.

By Andrew Karpan

The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday held that a trademark fight between two companies that digitally preserve home movies, photos and other media will have to play out in a Tennessee federal court, after the panel split over how many customers are enough to extend jurisdiction in the trademark dispute.

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6th Circ. Partially Remands Sanofi's Tenn. Lake Pollution Suit

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The Sixth Circuit on Tuesday revived parts of a Sanofi unit's lawsuit against a Tennessee landfill owner that allegedly improperly closed the dump and caused water contamination on the other company's property.

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6th Circ. Questions FERC's Moves On Ohio Utility Grid Perk

By Keith Goldberg

A Sixth Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned the role of a rate perk given to transmission companies for choosing to join a regional transmission organization as it weighed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's decision to yank the incentive for several Ohio utilities while preserving it for others.

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Series

Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

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Analysis

In Story Of Sex And Lies, Can Cohen Write Final Chapter?

By Phillip Bantz

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has told a story of scandal and scheming to the jury in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial, setting the stage for the prosecution's star witness to take the stand and wrap up the narrative.

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Ex-McElroy Deutsch CFO Cops To $1.5M Theft From Firm

By George Woolston

McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP's former chief financial officer admitted Wednesday to embezzling more than $1.5 million from the firm and failing to pay income tax, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced.

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Lewis Brisbois Atty Fatally Shot In McDonald's Altercation

By Ryan Boysen

A Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP attorney was fatally shot at a McDonald's in Houston after reportedly stepping in as a good Samaritan and attempting to calm down an irate customer who'd been arguing with staff at the fast food restaurant.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Lieff Cabraser's Kelly Dermody

By Irene Spezzamonte

A semester off from Harvard University in the late 1980s meant for reflection instead turned into a pivotal moment in Kelly Dermody's life, settling the roots for her successful career during which she has become a lighthouse for employment and discrimination cases.

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ABA Will Study Rape Questions' Necessity For Bar Applicants

By Cara Bayles

An American Bar Association commission will issue a report and recommendations by August on the practice of requiring would-be lawyers to disclose and discuss their experiences of sexual violence during the attorney licensure process.

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ABA Directs Attys To Avoid Sharing Client Info On Listservs

By Emily Sawicki

It is in the best interest of clients for their legal counsel to avoid sharing information related to representation while seeking advice in an online listserv forum, if the comments or questions could be connected to a client's identity, according to American Bar Association guidance published Wednesday.

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Ga. Appeals Court Will Review Trump DQ Bid In Election Case

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday agreed to review a judge's ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis to continue prosecuting the election interference case she brought against former President Donald Trump.

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Fani Willis Is Outraising Primary Challenger More Than 5 To 1

By Chart Riggall

Less than two weeks from the first hurdle in her bid for reelection, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis is boasting a​​ campaign war chest more than five times heftier than her Democratic challenger's, according to campaign finance disclosures filed this week.

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Biden Picks US Magistrate Judge In Fla. For 11th Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday his intent to nominate U.S. Magistrate Judge Embry J. Kidd to the Eleventh Circuit.

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Robins Kaplan File Flub Bad Look For Both Sides, Panel Says

By Rachel Scharf

A Manhattan appeals panel expressed concern Wednesday that Robins Kaplan LLP had poked through an opposing party's Dropbox database that was accidentally shared in investor litigation, while also criticizing the other side for failing to catch the error.

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NJ Justices Approve Measures For Helping Atty Well-Being

By Emily Johnson

The New Jersey Supreme Court has accepted several recommendations from its committee focused on attorney well-being, paving the way for the committee to examine how attorneys can briefly postpone court dates or possibly receive an extension to meet deadlines so they can handle pressing wellness needs.

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Legal Access Program Being Set Up For Separated Families

By Alyssa Aquino

The Biden administration has tapped the Acacia Center for Justice to manage a court-ordered legal access program to help migrant families stay in the U.S. after they were separated under a Trump-era policy to prosecute anybody caught entering the country unlawfully.

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Colo. Judges Urge Attys To Take On More Pro Se Cases

By Thy Vo

A group of Colorado federal judges tried Wednesday to recruit more lawyers to help pro se litigants, who file about a third of the district's cases each year, with the judges recounting tactical mistakes and case delays that attorneys could have prevented.

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