| |
|
Week Of Monday June 1, 2009
The Church Fights BackFREE
It’s been, quite literally, a case of church versus state.
In recent months, the Catholic Church in Connecticut has repeatedly been at odds with various branches of the state government, to the point where the church has singled out Connecticut as a place where it needs to “vigorously fight for its constitutional rights.” Now the state wants to force the Bridgeport diocese to register as lobbyists as a result of the rallies at the Capitol against the now dead parish oversight proposal. And the diocese is fighting back.
Legal Tech
Growling At GoogleFREE
How would you feel if you typed your law firm’s name into an Internet search engine and saw a competitor’s name listed first in the results? New Haven personal injury lawyers Michael Stratton and Joel Faxon were irate last week when they discovered that anyone Googling “Stratton Faxon” would find the firm’s web site listed in the second position. Just above it, shaded in yellow to indicate a paid advertisement, was a listing labeled “Defending Patients’ Rights.” Smaller type showed the URL to be www.SGTlaw.com, which belongs to the Stamford personal injury firm of Silver Golub & Teitell.
Capital Punishment Foes Gain Momentum 
Is the death penalty nearly dead in Connecticut? An issue that looked to be squarely on the back burner as Connecticut lawmakers grappled with a devastating budget crisis has suddenly bolted front and center. Consider this: In recent weeks, the state House and Senate passed bills that would replace capital punishment with life in prison without parole. The measure carried the Senate 19-17 after one Republican, Sen. Andrew Roraback, a Torrington attorney, split with his party and voted for abolition. “I can’t push the button to vote for the death penalty because I don’t feel I could push the button to extinguish the life of another,” he said.
Governor Marks More Courthouses For Closure
s part of a wide-ranging deficit reduction plan, Gov. M. Jodi Rell last week proposed closing state courthouses in Manchester, Derby, Norwalk and Putnam. That would bring to six the number of courthouses that Rell wants to shutter in an attempt to narrow a multi-billion dollar state budget gap. Earlier this year, she proposed closing courthouses in Bristol and Meriden, while leaving five judge positions vacant for the next two fiscal years.
Paying A Price For Dishonest Bail BondsmenFREE
In this tough economic climate, everyone is looking for an edge over the competition. That includes businesses that provide bail bonds to criminal defendants. But while it might be OK for furniture shops to offer sales on sofas and restaurants to offer deals on meals, public safety experts say it’s a huge problem when bail agents – often called bail bondsmen – charge criminal defendants discounted rates. The legislature is considering a measure that would increase state oversight of private bail bondsmen, a step lawmakers hope would cut down on a practice known as “undercutting.”
Defense Bar Says Bail Amounts Are On Upswing
At last month’s arraignment for Stephen Morgan, accused of killing a Wesleyan student working in the campus bookstore, Middletown Superior Court Judge Mary-Margaret Burgdorff raised his bail from $10 million to $15 million. The judge pointed to the seriousness of the crime, the fact that Morgan wore a disguise and the overall threat he posed to the community. A journal entry by Morgan made mention of a “killing spree.” But Morgan’s attorney and other criminal defense lawyers have called the amount excessive. They speculate that the judge was influenced more by the public outcry over a horrific crime than by guidelines in the state Constitution and Practice Book for setting bail.
Q&A
‘Knows Her Stuff! Has Originality!’FREE
ewer than 6 percent of the cases decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit come from Connecticut. Still, people and issues from Connecticut are likely to be highly important in the upcoming confirmation hearings of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, a Second Circuit judge for the past 12 years. Former Yale Law School Dean Guido Calabresi is a colleague of Sotomayor’s on the appellate court. He first met her at Yale, when he was a professor and she was a student, and was impressed with her legal talents and personal attributes.
The Serious Side Of Mountain BikingFREE
Last month, attorney Michael Pollack was working at his desk at the Law Offices of Jefferson D. Jelly in West Hartford when he got the emergency call on his cell phone. Four teenagers had gotten lost while hiking Case Mountain in Manchester when thunderstorms rolled in, leaving them stranded in the woods. Pollack quickly scanned his afternoon calendar and rescheduled a meeting with a client. He rushed home to Windsor and gathered his gear: cold-weather clothes, helmet light, GPS, hand-held ham radio, high-protein granola bars, water and his mountain bike. Pollack is a member of the Manchester Mountain Bike Search and Rescue team, an all-volunteer group of about 20 experienced mountain bikers of various ages and professions who assist the town’s emergency services department.
Verdicts & Settlements
Hairdresser Gets $386K After Wheel Falls Off
Debra Cutolo v. Holmgren Subaru Inc.: A woman who tore the rotator cuff in her right shoulder after one of the front wheels fell off her pickup truck was awarded more than $386,000 by a New London jury. In a three-decade career as a hairdresser and barber for the Navy, Debra Cutolo claimed that she had never had a problem with her shoulder, arm or hand that caused her to miss any work. But an unusual low-speed accident in a parking lot reportedly ended her career.
Want A Do-It-Yourself Divorce? Hire A Coach FREE
After 20 years of practicing family law, Fairfield attorney Susan Wakefield was ready to give it all up for a new career. Litigation was a grind, neither party in the divorce and custody cases was ever happy and the process left Wakefield emotionally drained.
The breaking point came last year when a client whom Wakefield went out of her way to help stiffed her for several thousands dollars in unpaid legal fees.
Stratton Sues Google Over Rights To Firm NameFREE
New Haven personal injury lawyers Michael Stratton and Joel Faxon are suing communications giant Google, claiming that it improperly sold advertising rights to their New Haven-based firm’s name to Stamford competitor Silver, Golub & Teitell.
A New Probate EraFREE
Long-debated change to the probate court system seems a done deal and 67 probate judges are likely to receive word soon that their posts have been eliminated. Reform legislation that would trim the number of Connecticut probate courts from 117 to 50 passed overwhelmingly in the state House of Representatives last week, and the Senate is expected to take up – and approve – the measure as early as Tuesday, May 26. Gov. M. Jodi Rell has said she would sign the bill into law.
New Questions About An Old Age Issue
Much has been made of the advanced ages of some U.S. Supreme Court justices. But now an attorney is questioning whether jurists who pass their 70th birthday should be writing decisions for the Connecticut Supreme Court. And that challenge could throw at least a handful of seemingly settled Supreme Court decisions into question. The state Constitution requires Supreme Court justices to retire at age 70. Up through 1999, Supreme Court justices labored – sometimes furiously – to be sure all their opinions were written and issued before their 70th birthdays.
Verdicts & Settlements
Paralyzed High School Pole Vaulter Wins $6M
Brandon White v. U.S.A. Track and Field Inc.: The sport of pole vaulting has obvious dangers, with participants, even at the high school level, flinging themselves more than a dozen feet in the air. Many young athletes have been injured and numerous lawsuits have been filed. Already, two states ban pole-vaulting in high schools, and some feel the accumulation of serious injuries and large jury awards could lead others to make the same decision.
Honors Night 2009
More than 100 members of the bench and bar gathered at the Town & County Club in Hartford to celebrate the Law Tribune’s Honors Night last week.
Gang Member Says He Wanted To Drop LawyerFREE
A defendant acquitted of murder but convicted of conspiracy to commit assault is challenging the trial judge’s decision to not allow him to dismiss his lawyer and represent himself midway through the trial.
Consumers ‘Push Back’ Against Collection AgenciesFREE
he phone calls started early in the morning and lasted until about 9 o’clock at night. It got so bad that Jeanne Lemire had to change her number twice. There also were letters showing up in her mailbox every month. About 15 companies were seeking $70,000 in credit card charges made in Lemire’s name. But Lemire, of Cromwell, never made the purchases. Her identity was stolen in 2006, which led to the calls from creditors.
Legal Tech
Try To Picture Yourself On YouTube
YouTube ranks among the top five U.S. web sites. It now contains more than 150 million videos that were uploaded by users, free of charge. But is it used extensively by lawyers? Absolutely. When I searched YouTube using the term “lawyers,” I came up with 45,500 videos. When I typed in “corporate lawyer,” I got 1,840 results. “Personal injury lawyer” gave me 6,380; “criminal defense attorney” gave me 5,360; “divorce lawyer” gave me 3,080; and “employment lawyer” gave me 1,930.
A Sharp Focus On The Celebrity Nightlife
On the weekends, Alan Barry isn’t one to just kick back and relax after a long week of practicing law. Instead, he’s likely to be found at the most exclusive and upscale parties in Manhattan or Foxwoods casino in southeastern Connecticut. For the past year and a half, Barry has used some personal connections to turn his casual interest in photography into a regular part-time gig for the paparazzi, documenting the celebrity nightlife.
Appellate Court Gives No Aye For An ‘I’
How far can prosecutors go in voicing personal opinions during closing arguments? A recent Appellate Court ruling might give a few of them something to ponder. During his closing at a May 2006 trial of a man facing charges for previously failing to show up in court, assistant state’s attorney Christian Watson offered his opinion of the defendant’s alibi. Suffice to say, Watson wasn’t buying it. “Did the defendant willfully fail to appear in court on May 5, 2006? I think he did,” Watson told the jury, before expanding on his statement.
Q&A
A Lifeline For Those Drowning In DebtFREE
When there wasn’t a glimmer of hope in the crush of foreclosures last year, debtor-creditor attorney Christopher Brown, of Westport-based Begos, Horgan & Brown, hit on a strategy to aid desperate clients. When the mortgage industry began bundling mortgages and selling them as securities, the computerized system that was supposed to keep track of everything was in disarray. Brown challenged purported mortgage holders to prove they actually held the mortgages they were attempting to enforce. Many couldn’t. Brown won substantial reprieves for homeowner clients, slowing evictions.
Looking Out For The Welfare Of Consumers
The state’s Office of the Healthcare Advocate (OHA) is an independent state agency with a three-fold mission: assuring managed care consumers have access to medically necessary health care through legal and other advocacy routes; educating consumers about their rights and responsibilities under health insurance plans; and, legislative advocacy to make systemic improvements in healthcare access and coverage. Last year, OHA saved consumers more than $5 million in reversals of denials of coverage. The agency handles 2,000 cases a year. OHA’s services are free.
A New Era Begins
Many of the lawyers who had been employed by Tyler Cooper arrived at work last Monday and settled into familiar desks in Hartford. But that was about the only thing that was normal about their week.
Aetna Engineers To Collect Millions In OT Pay
Two groups of systems engineers at Aetna Services Inc. in Connecticut have finally settled class action cases involving overtime pay after nine years, and 154 employees will split between $3 million and $11 million in settlement money.
'A Fairly Messy Unwinding'
Patricia A. McCoy has been a popular woman with the financial press of late. A University of Connecticut School of Law professor, McCoy teaches banking and securities regulation. But her résumé also includes time as a partner at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw in Washington, D.C, and a two-year term on the Consumer Advisory Council of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve.
Some Serious Charges Involving Charge Cards
Prepaid credit cards have become a common part of business transactions over the last few years. Different versions of them are even available in grocery stores and drug stores.
Another Hurdle For Affordable Housing
Farmington attorney Robin M. Pearson is a veteran of battles between developers and towns over the construction of affordable housing, battles that are often fought all the way to the state Supreme Court
Paying A Price For Dishonest Bail BondsmenFREE
The legislature is considering a measure that would increase state
oversight of private bail bondsmen, a step lawmakers hope would cut
down on a practice known as “undercutting.”
While undercutting helps bail bondsmen gain a competitive advantage,
it also lets people arrested for dangerous crimes out on the street
for relatively little money.
False Alarms Common With GPS Monitoring
Gov. M. Jodi Rell and other Connecticut officials seemed shocked to learn that global positioning system devices used to monitor movements of a released serial rapist and other sex offenders could give faulty readings. But they should not have been.
|
|
HOME
