Top editors at Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World knew their reporters were hacking phones in search of stories, a former reporter there says. Onetime journalist Paul McMullan, testifying in a public inquiry on the phone hacking scandal that has rocked Great Britain, says the practice was so widespread that the tabloid's editors sometimes listened in on intercepted messages. McMullan named former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who went on to become an adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron, and Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief executive, as being among those who were aware of…

George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf has lost his case contending same-sex dorms at the Catholic University of America violate discrimination laws. The D.C. Office of Human Rights dismissed Banzhaf's complaint in an order issued Tuesday, according to a Catholic University press release and the Associated Press. Banzhaf had contended the policy violated Washington, D.C.’s Human Rights Act, which bars discrimination in employment, housing, commercial space and public accommodations. The order says the D.C. Human Rights Act “does not forbid colleges and universities from making sex-based distinctions between students. We agree that to follow complainant’s reasoning would include a…

The Norfolk U.S. District Court grants plaintiff life insurance company motion for interpleader and orders the carrier to deposit the proceeds of Arthur C. Jones’ life insurance policy of $100,000; the court will treat a letter from decedent’s daughter as an informal pro se pleading and set aside the default judgment entered against her. A life [...]

A Greensville County judge has awarded $7,000,000 to a correctional officer who suffered extensive injuries when his Harley-Davidson motorcycle was struck by a drunken driver. Brandon Rawlings, who was 20 at the time of the accident, had a lifelong ambition to be a Virginia State Trooper, according to his attorney, John C. Shea of Richmond, [...]

The role of business counsel is complex. The lawyer has to not only produce a legal and enforceable negotiated agreement, but also must try to get the best deal for clients while conducting the negotiation in a way that reflects positively on them. The most ethical and effective approach to negotiation is not one that is [...]

A convicted kidnapper in Kansas has filed a pro se lawsuit against his victims alleging they breached an oral agreement to hide him from police in exchange for an unspecified amount of money. Jesse Dimmick is seeking $235,000 from Jared and Lindsay Rowley in a counterclaim to their suit against him for trespass, intrusion and infliction of emotional distress, the Topeka Capital-Journal reports. “As a result of the plaintiffs breech [sic] of contract, I, the defendant suffered a gunshot to my back, which almost killed me," Dimmick wrote. The Rowleys have responded that there was no agreement, and even if…

A defense lawyer alleges in an ethics complaint that Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood “unjustly condemned” his client in a campaign ad. Lawyer Brian Alexander filed the complaint based on a campaign ad that pictured his client, Jeremy Manieri, report the Biloxi Sun Herald, WLOX and the Associated Press. The ad showed Manieri’s photo while a narrator said Hood’s election opponent had let a “child molester” out of jail who later “murdered a 70-year-old priest in cold blood.” Manieri has been arrested on a charge of murdering a Louisiana priest, but he has not been tried for the crime. Hood’s…

Associates given stipends in 2009 to defer their start dates at Ballard Spahr developed advocacy skills and an interest in poverty law, according to the law firm’s pro bono counsel, Mary Gay Scanlon. Deferred associates are “in-house experts and in-house advocates for a variety of different pro bono opportunities,” Scanlon tells the Legal Intelligencer. Scanlon says she is a “big proponent” of deferral programs, but the challenge is making the deferrals "a regular part of the diet” without deferring all associates at once. The law firm has sent a few associates at a time to work for a couple months…

Sheriff’s deputies and movers sent to evict a 103-year-old Atlanta woman and her 83-year-old daughter on Tuesday refused to do the job after television crews arrived. The woman, who turns 104 in December, has lived in the home for 53 years with her daughter, who is now 83, report WSBTV.com and CBSAtlanta.com. WSBTV.com identified the woman as Vita Lee, while CBSAtlanta.com says she is Elvinia Hall. The daughter was taken to the hospital with breathing problems after the deputies and movers arrived. The older woman’s grandson, Ali Muhammad, told CBSAtlanta.com that the home went into foreclosure after he missed several…

Trial lawyer J.B. Spence has died at a Florida hospital at the age of 89. Spence was known of the dean of torts for his large verdicts, the Miami Herald reports. Spence’s daughter, Martha Spence, told the newspaper that her father was semi-retired from the Cochran law firm. He had co-founded his prior firm with Roland “Buddy” Payne Jr., who died just days before Spence. The former firm closed in 1995. According to the newspaper, “Both men gained unwanted notoriety in their personal lives in the 1990s: Spence for assaulting his then-wife—the charges were dropped—and Payne for being shot and…