Last week, after the Federal Communications Commission finalized "open Internet" rules for the sharing of broadband resources, observers began awaiting the expected lawsuits from wireless carriers. But now supporters of the so-called net neutrality that the FCC is establishing have filed suit, contending that the new rules, which are to take effect Nov. 20, aren't strong enough, reports the Law & Disorder blog of Ars Technica. It provides a link to the complaint (PDF) filed yesterday in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals case. IDG News and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) also have stories. An earlier Law…

As federal authorities were checking commercial airline passengers with controversial scanning devices and body pat-downs this year, a United States citizen with a physics degree was allegedly modifying cell phones to use with small remote-controlled drone planes filled with plastic explosives in a planned attack on the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, was arrested Tuesday and charged with attempts to destroy national defense premises; to damage and destroy U.S. government buildings; and to provide material support and resources to al-Qaida, reports Bloomberg. The five- or six-foot long planes that Ferdaus allegedly planned to use…

Law firms headquartered in the United States continue to top the Global 100 list compiled by American Lawyer of the world's top-earning law firms over the most recent fiscal year. Baker & McKenzie remains in the number-one spot on the 2011 list, with gross revenue of $2.265 billion, followed by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, also number-two last year, which brought in $2.1 billion. After that, the firms mix it up a bit, compared to their 2010 rankings. Clifford Chance drops to the number-five spot, with $1.884 billion, down from number three last year. It is replaced by DLA…

Exercising its extraordinary jurisdictional powers, as it was urged to do in a petition by a nonprofit Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court yesterday appointed a judge to hold hearings on the adequacy of the legal fees paid to court-appointed attorneys in Philadelphia capital murder cases. The group says the attorney's fees--$2,000 for pretrial preparation of the case and no more than $400 per day at trial--are so low they violate a defendant's constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. An earlier Philadelphia Inquirer story published in June when the group filed…

It wasn't just concerning the most recent incoming law school class that the University of Illinois initially published inaccurate Law School Admission Test and grade point average data on its website and in promotional materials. In addition to now-corrected LSAT and GPA information for the law school class of 2014, the U of I has also determined that one or both figures were also inaccurately reported for the three prior years, it announced in a press release today. It provides a handy chart of what was originally reported by the U of I and the new figures. "Reporting erroneous data…

Convinced that a convicted rapist exonerated by DNA evidence in two cases, after serving 27 years, is also innocent in two other cases, Virginia's top law enforcement official has personally apologized and is trying to persuade a state appeals court to clear Thomas Haynesworth's record completely. And Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has also given the 46-year-old Haynesworth a job in his own office, reports the Washington Post. Yesterday, Haynesworth sorted mail at the AG's office before Cuccinelli went with his employee to make a passionate argument on his behalf to a state appeals court. Then the two returned to…

In a highly unusual trial development, a Michigan defense attorney is personally facing a potential criminal contempt charge at the same time that he attempts to defend his client in a related murder case. Edward M. Czuprynski was targeted for potential prosecution by Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran yesterday after it came out during a hearing that the defense lawyer may have, at least as the judge saw it, concealed information from the court, the Bay City Times reports. Czuprynski is seeking a psychological evaluation for his client Jeffrey A. Julian II. But Sheeran said Czuprynski stated or…

As Michael Jackson's personal physician went on trial in Los Angeles this week for involuntary manslaughter in the pop icon's death from a drug overdose, observers around the globe suddenly knew a lot more about him. A photo, apparently of Jackson lying dead on a hospital gurney, and a recording of the singer's slow, slurred, seemingly sedated voice as he talked about a comeback concert tour painted a sad picture of a world-famous celebrity as the trial began yesterday. The central question, according to the Telegraph, is whether the toxic mix of a fast-acting intravenous anesthetic and other drugs found…

In this appeal by a Maryland attorney convicted of multiple crimes arising from a scheme to launder drug proceeds he obtained from a client, the 4th Circuit affirms the lawyer’s money laundering convictions and denial of his motion to sever counts for failure to file income taxes, but reverses the lawyer’s conviction for obstruction of [...]

Claims filed by four Iraqi citizens seized by the U.S. military in the Iraq war zone, against a government contractor who allegedly conspired to torture claimants during interrogations, are preempted by federal law and displaced, and the case is remanded for dismissal by the district court. The contractor filed a motion to dismiss on numerous grounds, [...]