Environmentalists are citing the law of public nuisance in lawsuits that claim greenhouse gases are contributing to global warming. Fox News cites three lawsuits “pushing this agenda” and says one of them could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Two federal appeals courts ruled last year that the suits could go forward, while a third is weighing arguments. But plaintiffs face more obstacles, despite the early victories, since several courts have suggested causation may be difficult to prove, according to New Orleans lawyer Robert Redfearn Jr., writing for Insurance Journal. The cases are: • Connecticut v. American Electric Power, a…

A Pennsylvania judge appointed by the state supreme court to review cases in a troubled county in which senior judges allegedly took what amounted to kickbacks for jailing juveniles has issued a report recommending sweeping changes in the juvenile court system. Among them: Juvenile court hearings should be public, attorneys should be appointed to represent those who can't afford counsel and each county should have an ombudsman to serve as a liaison between judges, juveniles and parents, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Standard Speaker. "Although what happened in Luzerne County was in many ways an aberration, it also…

Already in the forefront of efforts to quash a so-called Red Flags Rule promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission concerning identity theft issues, the American Bar Association is now raising the alarm about another proposed FTC rule that would impact practicing lawyers. The “Mortgage Assistance Relief Services” rule again so broadly defines those to whom it applies that it would put the federal government in an oversight role concerning related legal services, according to an ABA press release (PDF). That would undermine the traditional authority of state courts to regulate the legal profession and infringe on attorney-client confidentiality, the ABA…

Rachel Zahorsky is an ABA Journal legal affairs writer. Corrected: Georgetown University Law Center’s annual symposium on the future of law firms included many of the familiar faces that have pushed for new law firm structures, compensation and apprenticeship in recent years. But where are the unusual suspects, I thought. As one lawyer put it last week at the Washington, D.C., conference: It took iTunes less time to revolutionize the music industry than for significant change to touch law practice. The fact that two managing partners of Am Law 100 firms had previously told me they had no intention of…

A federal judge in Manhattan this week sentenced a former Arnold & Porter partner to three years of probation in a tax shelter case, citing the personal and professional damage he has already suffered and his extensive cooperation as reasons for not sending him to prison. Peter Cinquegrani, 50, who also worked for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for several years in between his approximately 17 years at the law firm, admittedly helped Ernst & Young accounting firm employees create abusive tax shelters for wealthy clients backed by legal opinions, according to Reuters. He also admittedly lied under oath in…

Lovells expects to close its approximately 20-lawyer Chicago office by the end of October. The decision was made after the firm conducted a strategic and financial review in conjunction with its planned May 1 merger with Hogan & Hartson. The news follows announcements within the past month that 56 lawyers in two European offices of the Hogan & Hartson would also be departing. The Lovells office in Chicago focuses on insurance, reinsurance and related arbitration and this "is an area which has seen changes in work patterns," says David Harris, the managing partner of Lovells. He also cites "significant" conflicts…

A man who says he suffers from "electromagnetic sensitivities" has sued a neighbor and now former friend in New Mexico state court, seeking $530,000 in damages and a court order requiring her to turn off her wireless electronic devices. The plaintiff homeowner, Arthur Firstenberg, 59, says he asked defendant Raphaela Monribot, who rents a home near his, to limit her use of the laptop computer, wireless router, iPhone and dimmer switches that are causing him symptoms including nausea, vertigo and heart arrhythmia, reports the Chicago Tribune. Experts differ on whether Firstenberg's symptoms are physiological or, as physics professor Bob Park…

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a Michigan man who contended that his Sixth Amendment rights were violated because African-Americans were underrepresented in jury venires. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the unanimous opinion (PDF). The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had erred, Ginsburg said, when it found a clearly established violation of the defendant's right to a representative jury pool. An all-white jury had convicted Diapolis Smith of second-degree murder in 1993 for a bar shooting in which 37 witnesses testified, including Smith. Only two identified Smith as the triggerman. Five said Smith was not the shooter.…