The Wisconsin Supreme Court has rejected proposed rules that would have required automatic recusals if judges received contributions from litigants or law firms above certain thresholds. Instead, the court in a 4-3 vote adopted judicial conduct rules saying that contributions or endorsements alone can’t force a judge off of a case, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The court rejected one petition for a rules change that would have required automatic recusal with $1,000 in donations, and another petition that set the threshold at $10,000, according to the Wisconsin Law Journal. An editorial in the Capital Journal criticized the court’s action.…

The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s public records law requires disclosure of metadata embedded in the electronic records. The supreme court ruled in the case of a demoted police officer who wanted access to metadata to see whether notes written by his supervisor were backdated to justify the job action, according to the Associated Press and the Arizona Republic. Metadata can show when an electronic document was created or revised, and how it was altered. The ruling is believed to be the first state supreme court ruling on public records and metadata, AP says. Additional coverage: The…

Is the appointment of pay czar Kenneth Feinberg constitutional? Stanford Law School professor Michael McConnell, a former federal appeals judge, thinks not. In a Wall Street Journal opinion column, McConnell argues that Feinberg’s appointment violates the appointments clause requiring Senate approval of all officers of the United States. Feinberg was appointed to the pay czar position by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner under the law establishing the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The law authorized Geithner to require TARP recipients to meet “appropriate standards” for executive compensation. “Because he is not a properly appointed officer of the United States, Mr. Feinberg's executive…

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has rejected proposed rules that would have required automatic recusals if judges received contributions from litigants or law firms above certain thresholds. Instead, the court in a 4-3 vote adopted judicial conduct rules saying that contributions or endorsements alone can’t force a judge off of a case, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The court rejected one petition for a rules change that would have required automatic recusal with $1,000 in donations, and another petition that set the threshold at $10,000, according to the Wisconsin Law Journal. An editorial in the Capital Journal criticized the court’s action.…

The United States has recommended asylum in the closely watched case of a Guatemalan woman fleeing domestic abuse. Rody Alvarado Peña will likely win asylum because of the U.S. stance, her lawyer, Karen Musalo, told the New York Times. This “has been the iconic case of domestic abuse as a basis for asylum,” said Musalo, director of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at the University of California’s Hastings College of Law. Asylum lawyer Jayne Fleming of Reed Smith in San Francisco told the Times that the recommendation is “a giant step forward.” Alvarado, who is a housekeeper at…

California Attorney General spokesman Scott Gerber has taped reporters’ phone calls without their knowledge. California law bars the recording of a private conversation without consent, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said she believes the taping was outrageous and probably illegal. Gerber’s taping came to light after he sent a transcript of a taped conversation to an editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, the newspaper reports. Gerber was complaining that a reporter’s newspaper story did not fairly reflect the taped conversation. The taped call included Gerber, chief deputy…

Updated: In a surprise ruling from the bench today, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., agreed with the American Bar Association that the Federal Trade Commission exceeded its authority by applying its "red flags rule" to practicing lawyers. Congress did not intend lawyers to be considered "creditors" under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, held U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton of the District of Columbia, granting a partial summary judgment motion by the ABA in the declaratory judgment action. A subsequent written order (PDF) was issued Oct. 30. Under Walton's decision, the so-called red flags rule developed by the…

There's good news and bad news for incoming first-year associates at Kaye Scholer. Some will do the firm's usual corporate work at what is presumably a six-figure standard starting salary. But the rest of the class will be assigned to do the firm's pro bono work at an annual salary of $60,000. The pro bono group will qualify for full benefits and will get the same training as other Kaye Scholer associates, managing partner Barry Wilner, who also chairs the executive committee, tells Above the Law. Although the news wasn't greeted as glad tidings by several anonymous law blog tipsters,…

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court today issued an order vacating all juvenile rulings between 2003 and 2008 by former Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella. The order, which bars retrial of all but a tiny fraction of the rulings, is expected to affect up to 6,500 cases, reports the On Deadline blog of USA Today. Ciavarella, along with another former Luzerne County judge, faces federal racketeering charges for allegedly accepting $2.8 million in kickbacks from a former owner of a private juvenile detention center, as the Associated Press recounts. Critics contend there appeared to be a connection between the bribes and…

Major law firms in the United States and the United Kingdom are reportedly pondering new plans for making expanded use of contract attorneys to help keep legal costs to corporate clients under control. Among the possibilities being explored are the use by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer of a new London-based service to be launched early next year, ItsMyLaw, and the possibility of creating a formal roster of Allen & Overy alumni who are willing and able to take on contract projects for their former law firm, reports Legal Week. In addition to expanding their use of contract attorneys, these magic-circle firms—and…