The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling's appeal. Now we'll see if there is any prospect that reason and fairness will prevail in the Enron witch hunt.
Category Archives: Appellate issues
Episcopal Church Takes a Kick in the Teeth in South Carolina Property Case
The South Carolina Supreme Court gave the national Episcopal Church ("TEC') a good kick in the teeth last week when it ruled that one of the former parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, All Saints Church on Pawley's Island, is the rightful owner of its church buildings and other real property. All Saints, ...
Supreme Court OK’s Individual Lawsuits By 401(k) Participants
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that individual participants in the most common type of retirement plan can sue under a pension protection law to recover their losses. The unanimous decision has implications for 50 million workers with $2.7 trillion invested in 401(k) retirement plans. James LaRue of Southlake, Texas, said the value of his stock market holdings ...
Key Hearing for Mumia Approaches. So Does Death
The Inquirer reported in yesterday's paper on a critical argument that will be held in the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals this Thursday in the long running case of convicted cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal (and truthfully, have there been more than a handful of hot Broadway shows that have run longer than ...
Bernie Ebbers Will Likely Die in Prison
The United States Supreme Court yesterday refused to hear an appeal from former Wordcom CEO Bernard Ebbers, which means that, unless Ebbers is pardoned, he will serve most, if not all, of the rest of his life in prison. I've said it before and will say it now again ...
California Dog Mauling Homicide Case Reaches State High Court
The California Supreme Court is set to consider whether an intermediate appellate court properly reinstated a second degree murder conviction in the California pit bull presa canario (NB: Thank you, Rachel). mauling/murder case from a few years back. I remember this case when it was tried. Watched most of it on Court Tv. ...
High Court Throws Out Award Against Philip Morris
On a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court yesterday overturned a $79.5 million jury award against tobacco company Phillip Morris, holding that the damages award violated the company's due process rights because, the punitive damages award was intended, at least in part, to punish Phillip Morris for harm allegedly cause to persons other than the ...
Will the Supreme Court Review the 5th Circuit’s Divided En Banc Arbitration Opinion?
The Next Supreme Court Arbitration Case? Common law judges expressed a negative view toward arbitration, apparently based on a belief that such alternative dispute resolution ousted the court’s jurisdiction. In the United States, the legal landscape fundamentally changed with the passage in 1925 of the Federal Arbitration Act. The ...
Note to Client: Keep Your Tongue in Your Mouth
I wish I had a dime foir every time I have thought "I wish he didn't say [or do] that." If I had been the defense lawyer, Ronnell Wilson's gesture of sticking out his tongue on hearing a federal jury's decision to sentence him to death would have been one of those times. Now, ...
Tax Court Upholds Ruling Against Dead Lawyer
The New York Times reports that the United States Tax Court has reaffirmed a ruling finding that a once prominent tax lawyer, now deceased, had engaged in atax evasion scheme. The case has a long and tortured history, having been once to the Supreme Court already, and likely headed there for a second time. ...