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After a 10-year legal battle, a 1997 graduate of an Oregon law school has not only won a federal appeals court ruling that eliminates more than half of his student loan debt, but has established favorable precedent for other recent grads struggling with major debt and minimal job prospects. Finding…

President Obama is reportedly planning a bold move after winning approval for Srikanth “Sri” Srinivasan for a spot on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In a “more aggressive” strategy, Obama plans to nominate three people simultaneously to the federal appeals…

Three clients—a homeless Iraq war veteran, an aging Cuban musician and the troubled son of an assistant district attorney—are the focal points of three novels selected as finalists for the 2013 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. The three finalists were announced Tuesday…

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. emphasized the importance of persistence in a speech on Friday to graduates of the Catholic boarding school he attended in northern Indiana some 40 years ago. Roberts said Abraham Lincoln was a good example, according to the Associated Press, the

In many fields, the percentage of blacks in leadership roles is stalling, raising questions about the private sector’s commitment to affirmative action. John Page, president of the National Bar Association, tells the New York Times that the country is “at a precipice.” Says Page: “There is…

A paralegal who was dating her lawyer boss was found dead in his bathtub on Saturday morning. An autopsy is being conducted to determine the cause of death for the paralegal, 26-year-old Julia Law, report the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.…

The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Miami-Dade County public defender’s office could withdraw from a large chunk of felony cases because of excessive workloads, the Miami Herald reported. Describing what it called a "damning indictment" of representation for poor criminal defendants, the court divided 5-2…

The Institute for Justice is challenging yet another licensing regulation, this time in a suit over restrictions on teeth whitening. The complaint (PDF), filed last month on behalf of two teeth-whitening entrepreneurs, challenges an Alabama law that allows only dentists to perform such services, according to the

White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler has received little media attention since she replaced Bob Bauer in 2011, but that changed last week. Ruemmler was in the spotlight because of revelations that she was aware of a draft report indicating the Internal Revenue Service had targeted conservative…

Angered that the Internet site PayPal had ceased allowing its users to donate to the controversial online publisher WikiLeaks, 14 computer users allegedly fought back. They sent PayPal multiple communication requests, a program that hackers use to saturate networks with information and crash them. One of the programmers, Keith W.…

The Daily Business Review (sub. req.) reported that there is a pending merger vote by Carlton Fields partners to join insurance firm Jorden Burt and create a 310-lawyer firm, citing sources with knowledge of the discussions. Although Gary Sasso, president and CEO of Carlton Fields, and…

Last August, a 911 dispatcher told a distressed woman caller that authorities were unable to help minutes before the woman’s ex-boyfriend broke into her home, choked and sexually assaulted her. Despite the chilling event, two Oregon counties this week rejected property tax increases that would have funded law enforcement and…

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor got the chance to sit at the center of the bench, normally reserved for Chief Justice John Roberts, this week as she presided over the re-enactment of a case that unsuccessfully challenged the ability of baseball team owners to virtually own their players. The…

Business leaders often criticize gender discrimination at other companies without realizing they’ve also created a corporate culture that marginalizes women, Duane Morris employment partner Jonathan Segal recently wrote in a column for CNN Money. The piece mentions a $100 million sex-discrimination case filed May 9 against pharmaceutical…

A team of investigative reporters landed in hot water after finding a massive data security lapse that put hundreds of people at serious risk of identity theft. Journalists for the Scripps News Service notified Lifeline, the federal program for low-income Americans that offers a discounted phone service, within hours of…

Michael Andrew Sway, 44, fell through a roof and died Thursday while inspecting a vacant building Lancaster, Ohio, for structural damage, the Columbus Dispatch reports. The industrial building’s owner sued various insurance companies, including Sway’s client, National Fire Insurance of Hartford, regarding a disputed storm damage claim.…

Zachary Fardon, a Latham & Watkins partner who chairs its Chicago litigation department, was nominated Thursday to serve as the Northern District of Illinois U.S. attorney. Previously a federal prosecutor who worked on the corruption trial of former Illinois governor George Ryan, Reuters and…

The president of the American Bar Association has extended her sympathies to victims of the Oklahoma tornadoes and says the ABA is organizing relief efforts to provide legal help to survivors of this week's storms. “There are no words to ease the pain of the families who lost loved ones…

Citing an "unconscionable" retainer agreement, a New York appeals court has reduced an estate's legal bill from $44 million to what a lawyer for the winning side estimates will be a $3 million final tally. It also is requiring three members of Graubard Miller to return $5 million in gifts…

The Brooklyn, N.Y., district attorney’s office is reviewing 50 homicide cases after discovering that a retired police detective allegedly told witnesses who to pick out in lineups, and repeatedly used the same, crack-addicted witness in six separate cases. Louis Scarcella, a retired police detective who held the position from 1973…