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Generals backed Kelley's sister in court
Law Firm Legal News |
2012/11/15 12:54
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In the latest twist of the David Petraeus sex scandal, court records show the former CIA director and Gen. John Allen intervened last September in a messy custody dispute on behalf of Jill Kelley's sister, whom a judge described as dishonest and lacking integrity.
Kelley is the woman who received harassing emails from Petraeus' biographer and paramour, according to U.S officials. She also is thought to have exchanged flirtatious communications with Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Pentagon investigators are now examining Allen's relationship with Kelley.
The new court files are significant because they provide of a fuller picture of the twins' connections to Petraeus and Allen, two powerful figures ensnared in the scandal. It also raises questions why two decorated generals would vouch for Kelley's twin sister, Natalie Khawam, who had piles of legal troubles in recent years.
Petraeus resigned Friday as CIA director after disclosures that author Paula Broadwell sent the emails to Kelley, who in turn went to the FBI, setting off a series of stunning revelations that have engulfed Washington just days after President Barack Obama was re-elected.
Both Allen and Petraeus wrote letters in September supporting Khawam in her ongoing custody fight for her son, D.C. Superior Court records show. Allen met Khawam, 37, when he was deputy commander of U.S. Central Command in Tampa, where they attended social functions. Petraeus said he met Khawam three years ago through Kelley. |
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Former US Attorney taking job at law firm in Chicago
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2012/11/06 10:50
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Former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has a new job. Fitzgerald plans to join Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher amp; Flom LLP. Fitzgerald will become a partner in the corporate law firm's Chicago office on Oct. 29.
Ads by GoogleDuring his tenure as U.S. attorney, Fitzgerald gained recognition for leading investigations into terrorism and organized crime, as well as the prosecutions of two Illinois governors. He stepped down as the top federal prosecutor in Chicago earlier this year.
Fitzgerald says he picked Skadden over other large firms because of its global reach and the opportunity to do some public-interest work.
Skadden has about 1,800 lawyers in 23 offices around the world, including about 170 attorneys in Chicago. |
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Italian court convicts 7 for no quake warning
Law Firm Legal News |
2012/10/27 13:44
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Defying assertions that earthquakes cannot be predicted, an Italian court convicted seven scientists and experts of manslaughter Monday for failing to adequately warn residents before a temblor struck central Italy in 2009 and killed more than 300 people.
The court in L'Aquila also sentenced the defendants to six years each in prison. All are members of the national Great Risks Commission, and several are prominent scientists or geological and disaster experts.
Scientists had decried the trial as ridiculous, contending that science has no reliable way of predicting earthquakes. So news of the verdict shook the tightknit community of earthquake experts worldwide.
It's a sad day for science, said seismologist Susan Hough, of the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena, Calif. It's unsettling. That fellow seismic experts in Italy were singled out in the case hits you in the gut, Hough added.
In Italy, convictions aren't definitive until after at least one level of appeals, so it is unlikely any of the defendants would face jail immediately.
Other Italian public officials and experts have been put on trial for earthquake-triggered damage, such as the case in southern Italy for the collapse of a school in a 2002 quake in which 27 children and a teacher were killed. But that case centered on allegations of shoddy construction of buildings in quake-prone areas. |
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NY court: Lap dances are not art and are taxable
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2012/10/25 13:44
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Lap dances are taxable because they don't promote culture in a community the way ballet or other artistic endeavors do, New York's highest court concluded Tuesday in a sharply divided ruling.
The court split 4-3, with the dissenting judges saying there's no distinction in state law between highbrow dance and lowbrow dance, so the case raises significant constitutional problems.
The lawsuit was filed by Nite Moves in suburban Albany, which was arguing fees for admission to the strip club and for private dances are exempt from sales taxes.
The court majority said taxes apply to many entertainment venues, such as amusement parks and sporting events. It ruled the club has failed to prove it qualifies for the exemption for dramatic or musical arts performances that was adopted by the Legislature with the evident purpose of promoting cultural and artistic performances in local communities.
The majority reached similar conclusions about admission fees to watch dances done onstage around a pole, as well as for lap dances or private dances.
W. Anderson McCullough, attorney for the club, said he and his client were bitterly disappointed by the judges' ruling. |
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Minn. Supreme Court to hear suicides case appeal
Trending Legal Issues |
2012/10/22 14:57
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The Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a former
nurse convicted of searching out suicidal people in online chat rooms
and encouraging them to commit suicide.
William Melchert-Dinkel of Faribault was convicted in 2011 on two
counts of aiding suicide. The Minnesota Court of Appeals in July
rejected his argument that he was merely practicing free speech.
In an order Tuesday, the state Supreme Court agreed to review the
case. A date for oral arguments has not been set.
Melchert-Dinkel was convicted in the deaths of 32-year-old Mark
Drybrough, of Coventry, England, and 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji, of
Brampton, Ontario, in 2008.
Melchert-Dinkel faces about a year in jail unless his conviction is
overturned. He remains free pending appeal. |
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