A Pennsylvania lawyer who was jailed 14 years for contempt of court was ordered to be released from prison today.

“H. Beatty Chadwick, who has been jailed in suburban Philadelphia since 1995 for a charge stemming from a contentious divorce will be released today.”

That is a long time to jail a productive member of society for a contempt of court charge.

“The septuagenarian Chadwick was jailed in November 2004, accused of hiding the whereabouts of $2.5 million from his ex-wife during divorce proceedings. Chadwick maintained he lost the money in bad investments. In 2006, before the economic downturn, experts estimated the money would be worth more than $8 million.”

Ohhhhhh ok more to the story now. You can’t mess around with the state when it comes to money. You know that Mr. Chadwick.

“After repeated attempts to have himself freed, Chadwick’s request was granted by Delaware County Judge Joseph Cronin, who determined his continued incarceration had lost its coercive effect and would not result in him turning over the money.”

H. Beatty Chadwick and his former wife, Barbara Jean “Bobbie” Crowther, got married in 1977 and got divorced in 1992.

Check out the original article: Pennsylvania Lawyer Jailed 14 Years For Contempt of Court Freed.

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com. SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

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A Hartford, Connecticut lawyer by the name of Nancy Tyler was held hostage by her former husband yesterday for 12 hours, in what will hopefully be the last episode in their messy divorce case. Before the standoff was done, the advertising executive ex-husband set flames to the home they built together.

“An advertising executive who snatched his ex-wife from a parking lot, held her hostage for hours during a standoff with police and then refused to leave their burning family home finally surrendered when flames made their way to the basement where he was hiding, authorities said. “

Richard Shenkman  was transported by ambulance from the fire-gutted remains of his and his ex-wifes’ home, to the police station where he will be charged with at least kidnapping and arson. More charges could follow.

“The dramatic ending came more than 12 hours after police said Shenkman missed a Tuesday morning court hearing in his contentious divorce and abducted Tyler from a lot in downtown Hartford.”

“Shenkman kept police at bay for hours by saying he had booby-trapped the house with explosives. Tyler escaped Tuesday night, and police cut power to the suburban Hartford neighborhood of well-maintained homes amid several dozen gunshots and explosions. A fire ignited and quickly engulfed the house as police urged Shenkman to come out.”

I’m never getting married.

Check out the original article: Fiery Standoff Ends with Husbands Surrender.

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com. SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

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Larry Wilder, a once-respected Indiana lawyer, resigned today over an event that somehow slipped under my radar.

“On June 17th, Jeffersonville attorney Larry Wilder was found asleep by police in his neighbor’s overturned city garbage can after neighbors called police when they woke to find their trash strewn on the ground and a man inside the receptacle.”

Good times.

“Although police records describe Wilder as “10-47” — police code for intoxicated — upon officers’ arrival, no breath alcohol or sobriety test was administered. It’s an officer’s discretion on what actions to take in such situations, the chief said. Typically, if someone is that close to their home, they would just be escorted to their residence.”

Sounds like the dude had a serious night on the town.

The night before he and some friends were celebrating one of his colleagues’ advancement with dinner and drinks with friends in nearby Louisville, Ky. He was driven home in a client’s limousine and, get this……

remembers little of what happened after that. YOU DON’T SAY?? lol

A neighbor found Wilder sleeping inside the can when walking out of the house that morning.

As a result, Wilder has been the butt of many jokes on law blogs and has taken a some harsh criticism from city officials, including the mayor, who called him an “embarrassment”.

I don’t think embarrassment is the right word… driving home and getting popped would have been an embarrassment, this was just a good time that got a little out of hand.

But as a result, the Indiana lawyer has quit all of his public jobs.

“In 2008, he was the highest paid of Jeffersonville’s six city attorneys, receiving $107,000 in tax dollars. That’s four times more than the next highest-paid city attorney.”

Larry Wilder says he also has told the Greater Clark County School Board that he won’t seek to renew his annual contract when it expires June 30.

Click the link to see the article about the Indiana Lawyer Found in Trash Can Quits  Public Jobs the original article of the Indiana Lawyer Found Sleeping in a Trashcan.

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com. SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

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A Southern California man is accused of impersonating a lawyer while on supervised release from a prison for….. wait for it…. wait for it….. pretending to be a lawyer.

“Harold Goldstein, 64, of Newport Beach, Calif., posted an ad on Craigslist claiming to be a retired attorney looking for lawyers to do contract work. When someone responded, Goldstein asked for the attorney’s letterhead and business cards, federal authorities said.”

Goldstein was arrested on June 7th, which was about one month following his release after serving the majority of a seven-year sentence. The seven year sentence was for lying in court. Goldstein stated in court that he was a licensed attorney, “stealing the identity of a real lawyer in Northern California, and sending letters to inmates advertising his legal services.”

“He was taken into custody based on information received by agents that he had violated the terms of his supervised release,” said Laura Eimiller, spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles. She said Goldstein was being held without bond in downtown Los Angeles.”

Goldstein arrives back in court on June 22nd where he faces another two years in prison if convicted on these charges.

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com. SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

Popularity: 7% [?]

In attempts to dodge the bullet fired against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Jesse Jackson has turned to a Chicago personal injury lawyer, James D. Montgomery Sr. His firm is affiliated to the late Johnnie Cochran Jr.’s firm, and Montgomery stated that Jackson is the “Senate Candidate 5″ referenced in the criminal complaint lodged against Blagojevich. However, Jackson denies it all!

Stating that he never offered any favors to Blagojevich as part of his interest in being appointed to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, Montgomery is now going to make sure that people are aware of that.

As reported in The National Law Journal, “Montgomery teamed up with Cochran in 2000 to form the Chicago firm of Cochran, Cherry, Givens, Smith & Montgomery, which handles wrongful death as well as personal injury cases. He has represented families of victims who died in the 2003 E2 nightclub fire in Chicago, the family of a woman who was killed when scaffolding fell from the 100-story John Hancock building in Chicago and a Northwestern University football player who died during a summer practice session.”

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What if you went to a doctor for a migraine and ended up with gangrene so bad in your arm that it had to be amputated? That’s what happened to Diana Levine, a Vermont guitarist with headaches. Injected with the Wyeth drug Phenergan by means of one intravenous method that was “discouraged but not forbidden” by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), the drug went into an artery instead of a vein.

The result was gangrene and the loss of her right forearm, which has ended the guitarist’s career. On Monday, the Supreme Court “appeared torn over whether a federal law on drug labeling should pre-empt a jury’s $7 million verdict against Wyeth…,” reported The National Law Journal. “The case, Wyeth v. Levine, has been billed as a major milestone in the effort by the pharmaceutical and other industries to free themselves of unpredictable state court tort litigation by embracing instead a single federal regulatory regime — in short, federal pre-emption.”

Solicitor General Seth Waxman told justices that the FDA took into account the possibility of gangrene? Wait, what? They went on to say that after balancing it with the benefits of the drug, they let it pass their inspection.

Justice Samuel Alito Jr. responded, “How could the FDA conclude that IV-push was safe and effective when the benefit was relief of nausea while the risk was gangrene?”

“No matter what benefit there was, ” added Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “how could the benefit outweigh that substantial risk?”

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The National Law Journal’s Erwin Chemerinsky wrote about Dennis Jacobs, the chief judge of the 2nd Circuit, who is very vocal about his poor opinions of pro bono work. In Chemerinksy’s eyes, Jacobs is disgraceful. Pro bono work is a way to help the community. However, Jacobs refers to it as an “antisocial” and self-serving activity that law firms use to recruit and “give solace” to associates.

According to Chemerinsky, a law professor, he pushes his students to do pro bono work, which helps people who cannot afford legal services. Without the work of lawyers giving to those in need, so many people would fall victim to the law itself. Money is power and without the green, anything can happen. Pro bono work, in my opinion, is highly admirable. It is definitely needed and I, too, feel that calling it “antisocial” is dead wrong. Giving is getting and I commend all lawyers who have given back, especially in today’s economy.

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One of the trickier agreements that companies must deal with is the non-compete agreement, simply because the document needs to strike the right balance between protection and freedom. The non-compete agreement is a written understanding in which one party, usually a departing employee or partner, agrees not to compete in the same field or profession as the second party, usually a company or partnership, for a specified length of time and within a certain geographic area. Typically, a company will conclude a non-compete agreement between itself and one of its employees. This may occur upon hiring the employee (and the “agreement” may in fact be a clause in the employment contract); or it may occur at the employee’s termination with the company, either in a formal agreement or, again, as a clause in a separation contract.

Consideration plays an important but overlooked role in non-compete agreements. The employee, it must be remembered, is agreeing not to compete with his former employer in the field in which he ostensibly has certain valuable knowledge. For the employee to give up this right, even briefly, the company must offer something of worth in exchange. The promise of a job may suffice (for the new hire), as may continued employment or the prospect of a raise (for the existing employee).

Meanwhile, the company must also be protected. The point of the non-compete agreement is to safeguard a company’s sensitive business information or trade secrets. Courts have determined that a certain level of protection, albeit at the expense of terminated employees, is merited. The key is reasonableness. Companies may protect their legitimate business interests. Thus, a non-compete that is overbroad-denying the employee the right to work anywhere in the state or the country, or for a period of time going into the years-likely will be struck down. At the same time, it should not be forgotten that some companies have secrets that warrant very broad non-compete agreements.

Many states courts-and the law differs in this area of the law from state to state-will strike down overbroad non-compete agreements in their entirety. Others will “blue line” them-eliminating only the invalid parts. California leads the way in banning non-compete agreements altogether, except in the case of the sale of a business. In this instance, the new business owner should not be denied the company’s existing goodwill.

Another aspect to consider is how the employee left the company. If he was let go through no fault or design of his own, then a court may be less likely to enforce a non-compete agreement, especially a highly restrictive one. Conversely, if he quit or was terminated for cause, then the balance tips in favor of the company.

Sometimes, companies understand that the agreement they place before one of its employees is not likely to be enforced. For these organizations, it is enough to have the employee intimidated and wary about ever crossing the company.

All in all, the non-compete agreement is a valuable tool for companies. But for it to be most useful, its drafters must find that proper equilibrium between the company’s legitimate interests and the employee’s right to work.

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Chucking the old phrase, “just tell em’ what they want to hear” right out the window is famed Wyoming trial lawyer Gerry Spence. Having begun his own blog, Spence is brutally honest with his readers, questioning the law, speaking out about the unfairness of the legal system and referring to law school and the bar exam as a “fraud.” According to Spence, it costs $100,000 to get through law school but a “law school graduate doesn’t know enough to pass the Multi-state Bar and has to spend another $5,000 or more to prepare for that.”

And what makes the exam a fraud?

Spence writes: “The exam does not help the law profession to determine those who will fight for people, who are honest and who have courage-the most fundamental requirements of a lawyer for the people. The bar exam only tests the applicants ability to play their mostly silly word games.”

Spence goes on to say that he’d prefer a nurse than most lawyers fresh out of law school to assist him in trial. “Lawyers know little about listening,” said Spence. “The nurse chose her profession because she cares about people. Lawyers are not taught to care.

“They are engorged with the rare niceties of legal gymnastics often taught by ponderous-headed professors who have never looked into the painful eyes of a client and who have never tried a single jury trial for a human being.”

Spence writes that in law school, professors remind their students that they don’t teach justice, they teach the law. Being able to teach an eighth-grader in twenty minutes how to brief a case, explained Spence, a law student’s education doesn’t prepare him to actually walk the walk in the courtroom.

“The matriculating young lawyer is as qualified to represent a client with the education he has suffered through as a doctor who has never seen a patient, who has never held a scalpel in his hand and who learns surgery by having read text books about it and becomes skilled in surgery, if ever, after having stacked up piles of corpses who represent his pathetic learning process.”

Spence continues by emphasizing the importance of art and literature and how it strengthens the lawyer within. Self-expression, communicating through poetry and painting are a few examples of how he suggests learning to better connect with clients and jurors. Unlike what lawyers are taught, which is to “shield” themselves against their feelings, Spence thinks that they start to find it almost impossible to get in touch with them. And without that, it is also impossible to connect with jurors who “make their decisions based on their feelings.”

“Little wonder that lawyers,” said Spence, “disabled by all of the stifling, mostly useless mental exercises they have suffered, have trouble relating to jurors much less to the rest of mankind.”

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It’s the newest thing…lawyers are turning to social networking sites for incriminating evidence against their “opponent” and it is working. Although sites such as Facebook and MySpace seem innocent enough, if you have a head on collision with the law and are due in court, stay clear of them. What seems like fun and games will be used against you in a court of law.

Case in point: Joshua Lipton was charged in a drunken driving crash that injured a 20-year-old college junior. Two weeks after the incident, photos of him in a “Jail Bird” costume for Halloween, holding a beer, were pasted on his Facebook page and later used as a slideshow to prove that Lipton didn’t deserve anything less than a prison sentence. Ouch!

One of the many images of Lipton in his jail costume had him standing beside a young woman in a sorority T-Shirt. Above it, prosecutor Jay Sullivan wrote: “Remorseful?”

Like I said…ouch!

Superior Court Judge Daniel Procaccini responded, “I did feel that gave me some indication of how that young man was feeling a short time after a near-fatal accident that he thought it was appropriate to joke and mock about the possibility of going to prison.”

Therefore, the judge made the pictures become a reality and sentenced Lipton to two years in the big house.

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