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Last Updated: 7/2/2009 8:18:08 PM

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White Firefighters Win Reverse Discrimination CaseFREE
By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY
The U.S. Supreme Court handed white New Haven firefighters a clear-cut victory Monday, ruling that the city was wrong to throw out the results of a promotional exam in which no black applicants scored well enough to win captains’ or lieutenants’ positions. The case of Frank Ricci v. John DeStefano Jr. focuses on a seeming contradiction in federal civil rights law, which forbids race-based job discrimination, but also prohibits promotion tests that favor one race.

Decision Could Affect Private EmployersFREE
By CHRISTIAN NOLAN
Private employers with workplace diversity programs are among those who could be affected by a Monday U.S. Supreme Court ruling, according to legal experts.

Featured Columnists

June 29, 2009

Rigid World View A Recipe For DangerFREE
By NORM PATTIS
As a child I would delight in the asinine adventures of the nameless spooks in Mad magazine’s Spy v. Spy. The two covert operatives were no doubt involved in the deadly serious business of clandestine service. But they were such bungling idiots. If the world were left to them, we’d all be living in caves and dining on uncooked roots and berries.

Justice Supported Jefferson’s Wall

By CHARLES C. HAYNES
If you believe with Thomas Jefferson that the First Amendment builds “a high wall of separation between Church & State,” then you will sorely miss Justice David H. Souter when he retires from the U.S. Supreme Court this month. Few justices in recent memory have been more vigorous in defending Mr. Jefferson’s wall against increasingly successful efforts by some on the court to dismantle it brick by brick.

Verdicts & Settlements

June 29, 2009

Plaintiff Gets Nothing After Dance Floor FallFREE
By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY
Marianne Varunes v. Janet Battey, et al.: A Hamden bookkeeper who broke her ankle in a fall at a restaurant lost her lawsuit after she was unable to prove there were problems with the establishment’s dance floor.

June 22, 2009

Rear-Ended Nurse Collects $1.4M Verdict

By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY
Donna Yeager v. Maria Alvarez, et al: A licensed practical nurse won a $1.4 million jury award after a car accident in a case that was complicated by workers’ compensation law and a judge’s unusual striking of an offer of compromise. Nurse Donna Yeager was injured in a rear-end collision while she was working for Patient Care Inc. She sued the driver of the other vehicle, Maria Alvarez, who carried a $300,000 liability insurance policy. The policy wasn’t offered in settlement immediately because Yeager’s injuries were not immediately apparent. She previously had lower back injuries, and the accident complicated those problems. Yeager also sustained new injuries to the part of her spine within her neck.

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Plaintiff Gets Nothing After Dance Floor FallFREE

Public Defender Cleared Of ChargesFREE

Prosecutors Can’t Say When Suspect Hired LawyerFREE

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Taking Advantage Of Your Summer AssociatesFREE

Autism Rulings Offer Hope To Advocates

One Man’s Battle Against GM’s Bankruptcy

Student’s Vulgar Word Continues To EchoFREE

Elite List Under Scrutiny

Judging The JudgesFREE

Legal Tech

June 29, 2009

Taking Advantage Of Your Summer AssociatesFREE
Firms with summer associates have a tremendous opportunity over the next couple of months to leverage the power of the millennial generation. Today’s law students are more proficient with technology and in organic self-marketing than most organizations realize. Harness that talent and allow your summer hires to demonstrate their potential in these areas, particularly in a down market when everyone must increase their business development initiatives. A collaboration of this type between the generations is the ideal solution for law students seeking to distinguish themselves to employers and lawyers interested in raising their profile among prospects.

June 22, 2009

Judicial Web Site To List Foreclosure Sales

Looking to buy a house cheap? One might look at newspaper classified ads, visit a real estate agent or … check out the state Judicial Branch web site. In a move that could slightly ease the pain of homeowners going through foreclosure, but add to the financial woes of already struggling newspapers, the state is moving forward with plans to place free foreclosure notices on the Judicial Branch web site. In a move that could slightly ease the pain of homeowners going through foreclosure, but add to the financial woes of already struggling newspapers, the state is moving forward with plans to place free foreclosure notices on the Judicial Branch web site.

June 15, 2009

Another Hijacking On Information Highway?

Neil Ferstand was looking forward to surfing the new and improved web site for the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, of which he’s the executive director. He typed the full name in Google and up popped a map with the CTLA’s home address, 100 Wells Street in Hartford. But the link nestled at the bottom of the address had a distinctly foreign look: CTBAR.org – the site of the CTLA’s friendly rival, the Connecticut Bar Association.

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