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Updated: Justice Antonin Scalia doesn’t shy from controversy, even before a large crowd of ABA members. On Saturday during the ABA Midyear Meeting in New Orleans, Scalia answered questions posed by Boston University law dean emeritus Ronald Cass and then from the audience. Topics included abortion, religion, lawyer pay and the justice's recent opinion on police use of a GPS device to track a criminal suspect. The only topic that was off limits—and it was Cass who said Scalia couldn’t answer—was on the Constitution and same-sex marriage. Scalia didn’t hesitate when an audience member asked him whether his Catholicism influenced…

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today announced two new Justice Department programs aimed at helping to bolster indigent defense services at the state and local levels. Between them, the two programs will make up to $2.4 million in federal funding available to research projects studying the barriers that prevent criminal defendants from receiving effective legal assistance, and to support direct efforts to break down those barriers. "These initiatives represent an unprecedented level of support—from this Justice Department and from the administration as a whole—for reforming America's legal system, and improving its ability to serve those who find quality representation to…

Since the events of 2001, the intersection of law and terrorism has become one of the most volatile zones in the public square—a place where qualities of life and manners of death are deliberated against 225 years of the U.S. Constitution. Read all the articles in the Patriots Debate series: WAR POWERS • Constitutional Dilemma: The Power to Declare War Is Deeply Rooted in American History by Richard Brust • War Powers Belong to the President by John Yoo • Only Congress Can Declare War by Louis Fisher Next Topic: TARGETED KILLINGS This month we are offering the first in…

Many large corporations are making significant progress in bringing diversity to their legal departments and creating opportunities for women of color to advance, but a panel of women lawyers in corporate leadership positions told a packed audience today that women also need to take control of their careers if they want to advance up the corporate ladder. "Be bold, and let people know what you want," said Denise F. Keane, executive vice president and general counsel of Altria Group Inc., in Richmond, Va. Systems implemented at companies to help people advance "need to work really well to find you. You've…

Judge Madeleine Landrieu of Louisiana’s court of appeals was a civil trial judge in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. She was among 16 out of the civil court’s 18 judges who lost their homes in the disaster. Landrieu evacuated with her family and moved them into her sister’s crowded home. The city she left behind was devastated. Civil court records weren’t accessible. The court website was down. Communications were impossible. Lawyers were unavailable. Landrieu recounted her experiences on Friday in an ABA Midyear Meeting program that used the Katrina experience to teach about disaster preparedness. Also…

The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 still is undecided on whether it will make a recommendation on whether nonlawyers should be allowed to have some form of limited ownership interest in U.S. law firms. In recent months, the commission's work on the issue has focused on what the substance of such a recommendation might be. On Dec. 2, the commission released a discussion paper (PDF) on alternative law practice structures that outlines one possible approach to nonlawyer ownership—but it does not amount to an actual recommendation. The commission also posted initial draft proposals (PDF) on choice-of-law issues affecting fee-sharing when…

The attorney general of New York today filed suit in state court against three major banks and an electronic mortgage recording operation, contending that they circumvented legal requirements and cost the the state some $2 billion in property recording fees by keeping their own private list of property transfers and mortgage assignments. The Brooklyn Supreme Court suit seeks to ban foreclosure filings that rely on information from the Mortgage Electronic Registration System and obtain reimbursement from the defendants for lost recording fees and other damages, according to the Los Angeles Times and Reuters. Bloomberg also has a story. "The banks…

Adam Skaggs. Photo by Kathy Anderson Should law firms have to report judicial campaign contributions by their lawyers and staffers? Should they include information about nonfinancial support, such as endorsements? And how should judges use that information to decide whether to recuse themselves? Those questions were considered at a public hearing at the ABA Midyear Meeting on Friday as commenters dissected proposed amendments to model ethics rules. The need for revisions is clear, according to Adam Skaggs, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. There has been an “explosion in spending in…

The hacktivist collective known as Anonymous claims to have obtained material from a law firm's computer system concerning its defense of a controversial U.S. Marine accused of responsibility for the 2005 slayings of 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq. Anonymous says it retrieved about three gigabytes of "court mails, faxes, transcriptions etc" from Puckett & Faraj related to its defense not only of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich but other marines, Computerworld reports. The group, which also says it defaced the Puckett & Faraj website, plans to make the marine defense material public soon. "We believe it is time to release all…

If everyone in the office grumbles when there's mention of another meeting to add to already busy schedules, managers may want to take note of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Atomic Object. This software-development firm holds its mandatory company meetings first thing in the morning. Chitchat is kept to a minimum. And everyone is required to stand. "Stand-up meetings are part of a fast-moving tech culture in which sitting has become synonymous with sloth," the Wall Street Journal reports. The goal of stand-ups is to keep meetings short and focused. Stand-up meetings have been used by the military since WWI, but the…

Updated: Labor lawyers have been sounding a warning in recent years that employers could be violating the law by hiring unpaid interns to do work that ordinarily would be performed by a paid employee. And now a lawsuit seeks to put that argument to the test, contending that a 28-year-woman who says she worked up to 55 hours per week, without pay, as an intern at Harper's Bazaar last year must be treated like any other employee under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, according to Reuters. Xuedan "Diana" Wang seeks class action status for her suit, which was filed…

A three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals has revived a lawsuit that claims a girls basketball team in Indiana gets less desirable scheduling than the boys team in violation of Title IX. The Chicago-based panel held that the Franklin County, Ind., school system should face trial to determine whether an "obvious disparity" in the schedules amounts to denying equal athletic opportunities to girls, Education Week's School Law blog reports. The suit maintains that during the 2009-10 basketball season at Franklin County High School, 95 percent of the boys team's games were given prime-time spots on Friday…

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrapped up a trip to Egypt with an appearance on Egyptian TV, where in a lengthy interview she discussed the U.S. Constitution and whether it should be a model for Egypt. While urging that the U.S. Constitution be used as inspiration, Ginsburg said Egyptians should look to other countries with newer constitutions for guidance, the Huffington Post reports. "Let me say first, that a constitution, as important as it is, will mean nothing unless the people are yearning for liberty and freedom," Ginsburg said in the 18-minute interview with Al Hayat TV, which is posted on…

The Justice Department has spent nearly $1.8 million defending prosecutors accused of breaking the law during a failed corruption case against former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. The government's case against the senator crumbled three years ago when the DOJ acknowledged attorneys had concealed evidence that could have helped the defense, USA Today reports. In November, a court-ordered investigation concluded there was intentional misconduct by prosecutors, but said no criminal contempt-of-court charges should be filed. To tabulate the costs of defending those prosecutors, USA Today examined records obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request. The records show that the DOJ…

Jayne Reardon. Photo by Kathy Anderson Lawyers don't fully appreciate how much technology is changing the nature of law practice, several witnesses said today at a public hearing conducted by the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20. "Many lawyers don't understand that technology is a leading cause of the economic climate that's affecting the profession," said Jayne Reardon, the executive director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, who was one of those testifying. "Lawyers need to be enlightened to the possibilities that technology offers them." While the hearing produced no dramatic fireworks, it shed some light on how debate…

Local counsel beat the rap. But in an en banc ruling today, the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that that two other lawyers involved in the filing of a 9/11 case described by a U.S. District Court judge as a "cynical delusion and fantasy" should pay a substantial penalty for filing a frivolous complaint. The court eliminated sanctions previously imposed against local counsel Mustapha Ndanusa, who played only a minor role in the filing of a 2008 lawsuit accusing then-vice president Dick Cheney and secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld of causing the Sept. 11, 2001…

An investor in a bankrupt California-based real estate lender is suing Greenberg Traurig, contending that the law firm helped the client company, RE Loans LLC, conceal its liquidity issues and alleged violation of securities law from him and other investors, resulting in a $700 million loss. The complaint (PDF), which was filed Monday in Alameda County Superior Court, seeks class action status. It contends that the Greenberg firm brought in another client, Wells Fargo—which also is a defendant in the suit—to provide a $50 million line of credit, even though both knew RE Loans had an agreement with investors not…

With Facebook's IPO filing Wednesday came news of the law firms behind what could be the creation of the world's largest Internet company. The filing reveals attorneys from Fenwick & West and from Simpson Thacher and Bartlett are taking the lead as advisers, notes the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and the Am Law Daily. The Law Blog describes the firms' selection as "a triumph not only because of the high profile nature of the assignment, but the potential for big fees." Facebook wants to raise as much as $10 billion when it goes public in the spring, the Law…

Updated: Rather than join a class action making many similar claims, a former lawyer who owns a Honda Civic hybrid took her complaints against her car's manufacturer to small claims court and won. A Torrance Small Claims Court Commissioner ruled that American Honda Motor Co. misled the woman by claiming the hybrid could achieve as much as 50 miles per gallon, the Los Angeles Times reports. Heather Peters, who maintained she never got more than 41 miles per gallon, was awarded $9,867 in damages, just shy of the $10,000 she was seeking. "It is a victory for Civic Hybrid owners…

Denver law students representing a group concerned about canyonland drilling necessary to anchor a massive Christo public art installation "Over the River" are suing to stop the project. Christo plans to stretch fabric over the Arkansas River for two weeks in August 2014, an effort that critics who've dubbed themselves "ROAR," or Rags Over The Arkansas River, maintain is as risky as mineral development. The installation would cover some 5.9 miles of the river and require the drilling of more than 9,000 bore holes, some 35 feet deep, in a critically sensitive wildlife area, according to a suit filed by…