Stephanie Enyart isn't yet admitted in California, but the University of California-Los Angeles School of Law grad has already won what presumably is her first case. A federal judge in San Francisco ruled today that Enyart, who is blind, has a right to use the screen-reader computer software she wants when taking the Multistate Bar Examination portion of the California bar exam, the Associated Press reports. The National Conference of Bar Examiners, which administers the test in the state, said it had done enough to accommodate Enyart by giving her extra time on the Multistate and providing a human being…

In a stinging rebuke to a federal judge who sentenced a well-known former Chicago lawyer and politician to probation in a corruption case, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today not only reversed the sentence but remanded the case to a different judge. And, in an opinion (PDF) authored by Judge Richard Posner, the appeals court also offers U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur a lesson on the law and economics of real estate bid-rigging. While the five-year probation term, 2,500 hours of community service and $50,000 fine imposed on defendant Edward Vrydolyak by Shadur was lenient, "our concern is…

A Pittsburgh couple who sued Google Maps over its “Street View” feature can’t pursue their claims for invasion of privacy, but they can sue for trespass. The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (PDF) in a suit by Aaron and Christine Boring, who said Google Maps disregarded their privacy interest when it published a photo of their home and swimming pool, the Legal Intelligencer reports. The Borings claim a Google vehicle pulled into their driveway to take the photos, despite a “private road, no trespassing” sign. A federal judge had dismissed the suit. The 3rd Circuit affirmed dismissal…

After deliberating for less than an hour, a jury today found Scott Roeder guilty of murdering a Kansas doctor who provided abortions, by shooting him as he attended church in Wichita with his wife. Roeder, 51, had confessed publicly prior to trial and admitted during his testimony that he shot Dr. George Tiller. Although his defense had argued that the jury should be allowed to convict him of manslaughter because he beleived he was saving the lives of unborn children, the judge yesterday rejected that argument, saying that abortion is legal. Roeder faces a mandatory life prison term when he…

A 39-year-old partner at Haynes & Boone in Houston is donating a kidney to the son of a longtime staffer at the law firm. Labor and employment partner Matthew Deffebach was scheduled to donate his kidney in a surgery on Thursday, according to Texas Lawyer’s Tex Parte blog. He was one of several lawyers from the firm who volunteered for testing to see if they were a match for the staffer’s son, whose kidneys were damaged by Berger’s disease. Deffebach told Tex Parte he was moved to offer his kidney after learning the staffer’s son was the father of a…

Miller Canfield lawyer Hatim "Tim" Attalla lost his bid Thursday to get a drug conspiracy charge against him dismissed after a prosecutor promised more evidence to come. A racketeering indictment against 74 associates of the Highwaymen Motorcycle club accuses Attalla of acting as general counsel to the organization. U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds refused to dismiss the charge against Attalla after an assistant U.S. attorney said the lawyer had actually been a member of the Highwaymen for a brief period, according to the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press. The prosecutor, Diane Marion, said there is additional evidence from…

From a distance, former U.S. District Judge George Leighton looks to be in his 50s or early 60s. But the groundbreaking lawyer who managed to graduate magna cum laude from Howard University, despite never going to high school, is 97 years old, the New York Times reports. Arguing a case recently in Cook County court, Leighton “looks as if he jumped out of a Hugo Boss show window,” the Tribune says. “His hearing, eyesight, cholesterol—you name it—are all fine.” Leighton’s parents were Portuguese immigrants. As a youth, Leighton worked in cranberry bogs and blueberry and strawberry fields, leaving only a…

Does the U.S. Supreme Court need a cold shower? A legal journalist apparently thinks so. Linda Greenhouse, the former Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times, says the U.S. Supreme Court “lost its virginity” when it overturned campaign finance precedent in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. “There was a first-timer’s clumsiness in the way the 5-to-4 majority finished off Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, a 20-year-old precedent that the Rehnquist court had invoked just over six years ago when it upheld the McCain-Feingold statute,” Greenhouse writes at the New York Times Opinionator blog. Greenhouse recalled Justice Antonin…

A former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer was taken into custody after a Virginia jury convicted him Thursday in a “pump and dump” stock scheme. Prosecutors had claimed the lawyer, Phillip Offill Jr., conspired with 10 other men to tout the stocks of small companies and then sell them for a profit, according to the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) and the Dallas Morning News. Sentencing is scheduled for April 16. The group was accused of using faxes, e-mails and press releases to create interest in the stock. A pending SEC civil suit claims Offill used an exemption in the…

Toyota’s sudden-acceleration headaches are a boon to trial lawyers. Plaintiffs lawyers are eyeing injury claims on behalf of drivers who claim their cars careened out of control and crashed, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Class action lawyers are already filing economic loss claims on behalf of vehicle owners who say their cars are worth less. On Tuesday, Toyota stopped the sale of car eight models in the United States and Canada as it investigates claims of problems. A Washington Post article says Toyota has faced complaints of runaway cars as far back as 2004, but opted not to…