(Chicago Sun Times) — Last January, Illinois changed from 17 to 18 the age when a person is old enough to be tried as an adult in court for misdemeanor crimes. Although the change is barely a year old, its impact already has been felt. In Kane County, nine months under the new law, 17-year-olds […]
A law lessening jail time was passed in August yet prosecution persists under the old rules.
(Wall Street Journal) — Glynis Martin, a 56-year-old New York social worker, started struggling to keep up with her credit-card bills about five years ago as the mortgage on her Bronx apartment ate up most of her paycheck. Pretty soon debt-collection calls became routine for her, and in January, Midland Funding LLC sued Ms. Martin […]
(New York Times) — With litigation costs rising, many plaintiffs and their lawyers do not have the money to hire expensive experts or pay for years of trial preparation. To fill this need,specialized litigation lenders are stepping in to bankroll lawsuits — often providing millions of dollars at very high interest rates because conventional banks […]
(New York Times) — The trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani has attracted intense interest as a test of the Obama administration’s strategy to try Guantánamodetainees in civilian court. But few have as much personal connection to the case as the group of onlookers who fill several rows of the Manhattan courtroom. Some are family members of those […]
Enforcement of civil rights laws gets complicated when minorities are the agressors.
(New York Times) — A new state law signed in Albany this week will allow homeowners who win foreclosure proceedings to have the lender pay their lawyers’ fees. Supporters say the law balances what they see as the long unfair practice of lenders writing provisions in mortgage contracts that allow them to collect lawyers’ fees […]
Hasty foreclosures leave room for litigation and profit-making.
(Black Enterprise) — Divorce isn’t something that anyone hopes for, but life happens. When it does, there are steps you can take to protect yourself and potentially save a lot of money during an already difficult process. Here are five cost-cutting moves you might want to consider if you ever find yourself in this situation: 1. Photocopy your […]
(Washington Post) — A sixth-grader switches schools because she becomes overwhelmed by chronic allergies after her principal turns the cafeteria into a spay-and-neuter clinic for hundreds of cats. Transferring is only part of her cure: Her mother files a $100,000 lawsuit against the D.C. government and wins a $7,500 settlement. A visitor from Arizona trips […]
(Crain’s) — Facebook stalking has reached a new level: Both the New York State Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association issued guidelines in the past week allowing lawyers to scour the public pages Facebook, Twitter and other social networks for incriminating evidence against an opposing party in a lawsuit. What is forbidden, […]
(AJC) — After hearing from the widow of a judge who was gunned down in his courtroom, the Fulton County Commission on Wednesday approved plans to upgrade security at the courthouse. Just a week ago, the commission had removed the security upgrades from consideration, only to put themback on the agenda after top courthouse officials […]