Recent Updates
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Gonzales outlines new DOJ efforts to counter crime
Legal News Center 06/02/2007US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Friday announced draft legislation to combat violent crime that would increase penalties, extend the statute of limitations for prosecution, and create separate statutory prohibitions against violent crime by ille...
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Top Lawyer, Under Fire, May Depart
Legal News Center 06/01/2007[##_1L|1217562115.jpg|width="90" height="119" alt=""|_##]William S. Lerach, one of the most powerful securities class-action lawyers in the nation, is considering plans to leave the law firm he founded three years ago. In a hastily called meeting thi...
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US immigration courts inconsistent in asylum cases
Legal News Center 05/31/2007US immigration courts are inconsistent in granting asylum to applicants, according to a new study by three law professors to be published in the Stanford Law Review. The professors found that factors that contributed to the outcome of applications fo...
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Politics at heart of law firm dispute
Legal News Center 05/30/2007An unusual vote on an issue perceived by many to be intensely political has once again sparked controversy over who the District 209 Board of Education turns to for legal advice.During its regular monthly meeting on May 21, the board voted to dump th...
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DOJ expands investigation into politicized decisions
Legal News Center 05/25/2007The US Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility has expanded its investigation into whether department aides illegally made hiring decisions based on consideration of applicants' political beliefs, the Los Angeles Times reported Th...
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Supreme Court Ruling Splits Anti-abortionists
Legal News Center 05/24/2007[##_1L|1117273147.jpg|width="131" height="91" alt=""|_##]A supreme court decision on abortion widely seen as the most important legal victory for the religious right in years has opened up a rift within the anti-abortion movement. In a full-page adve...
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Supreme Court Takes Municipal Bond Case
Legal News Center 05/22/2007[##_1L|1395414137.jpg|width="131" height="91" alt=""|_##]The Supreme Court Monday said it will consider a case that could have big implications for the $3 trillion municipal bond market. The issue is whether states can exempt their muni bonds from ta...
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N.C. Court of Appeals Hears Lottery Lawsuit
Legal News Center 05/21/2007[##_1L|1285254922.jpg|width="130" height="92" alt=""|_##]Is the North Carolina Education Lottery a tax, and was the law making it legal in the Tar Heel state passed unconstitutionally? State Superior Court Judge Henry Hight, in March 2006, ruled agai...
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CA Supreme Court turns down stem cell research case
Legal News Center 05/18/2007[##_1L|1160712464.jpg|width="131" height="91" alt=""|_##]The California Supreme Court denied review of a lower court ruling Wednesday, effectively allowing the continuation of a state-sponsored program for stem cell research operated by the Californi...
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Lawyer arrested for allegedly defrauding client
Legal News Center 05/16/2007[##_1L|1333465148.jpg|width="130" height="90" alt=""|_##]A lawyer who is a former Washington County public defender was arrested Tuesday on a charge he stole $12,000 from a client, State Police said. Joseph H. Oswald, 52, of Main Street, Fort Edward ...
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Connecticut high court considers same-sex marriage
Legal News Center 05/15/2007[##_1L|1405409012.jpg|width="130" height="90" alt=""|_##]The Connecticut Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in the case of eight gay couples who are unhappy with Connecticut's civil unions law and are seeking full marriage rights. Gay & Le...
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Supreme Court refuses to hear Enron appeal
Legal News Center 05/14/2007[##_1L|1236972862.jpg|width="104" height="138" alt=""|_##]The Supreme Court refused Monday to review a former Merrill Lynch executive’s convictions for perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with fraud by the former energy giant Enron Corp....