The Legal Intelligencer Blog

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Thursday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

The top story this morning is the state Supreme Court granting allocatur in a case in which it has been asked to stop a scientific debate over whether shale is a “mineral” before the debate even begins. As reporter Zack Needles writes, this could potentially lead to “chaos” according to one Pennsylvania lawyer, if it is determined that shale is in fact a mineral.

Also above the fold on Page 1, reporter Gina Passarella writes that Stevens & Lee and one of its partners have rebutted a lawsuit filed against them by Elliott Greenleaf over alleged theft of client files through remote software. Stevens & Lee have said the lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt to interfere with client relationships the partner took with him when he left Elliott Greenleaf to join Stevens & Lee.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel details the graphic testimony heard yesterday in the priest sex-abuse trial.

In more Regional News on Page 3, Dan McCormick writes about a new scholarship initiative created by Archer & Greiner to award scholarships to diverse Temple University law students and allow them to work in the City of Philadelphia Law Department as well as at the firm.

Also on Page 3, reporter Ben Present writes that a defamation suit filed by Daniel D. McCaffery has been allowed to move forward. McCaffery claims that the Philadelphia Board of Ethics and its executive director defamed him days before he came in second in the race for Philadelphia district attorney three years ago.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In an Asset Management column on Page 5, Michael A. Gillen and Stanley V. Todd write that parallel IRS investigations have returned after a 35-year hiatus.

As it is Thursday, this week’s Young Lawyer column is on Page 7, as Martha “Frannie” Reilly writes about reasons to join a nonprofit board and concerns to address before doing so.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Wednesday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

Today’s top story is the defense verdict being challenged in a hotly contested Philadelphia asbestos case. As reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel writes, the plaintiffs’ counsel has filed a post-trial motion claiming that the verdict sheet was developed because of alleged ex parte contact by the defense lawyers with the leadership of Philadelphia’s civil courts.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Zack Needles writes that the state Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday on the question of whether messages posted on a Myspace page could be considered communication with a specific group of people. In Commonwealth v. Scott, lawyers disputed whether defendant Khalil Scott’s postings on Myspace were enough to constitute a probation violation. In one of the postings he appeared to identify himself as a gang member and referenced two apparent gang members in another.

In more Regional News on Page 3, Amaris Elliott-Engel writes that the Philadelphia District Attorney aims to reduce homicides by raising bail in gun cases. More than 300 people were murdered in Philadelphia in each of the past five years.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In an Intellectual Property column on Page 5, Eric G. Soller and Martha S. Helmreich write about the potential high cost of losing an infringement case.

As it is Wednesday, this week’s GC Mid-Atlantic column is on Page 7, as Martha “Frannie” Reilly writes about the ABCs of general counsel issues for nonprofit organizations.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Fairness Commission Calls for Improvements in Indigent Defense

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

The Pennsylvania Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness has asked the state Supreme Court to work with the commission to increase diversity among the lawyers who are appointed to represent indigent criminal defendants not represented by public defenders, according to the commission's annual report released today.

Six committees of the commission work on policies and procedures to eliminate racial, ethnic and gender bias in the judiciary. The commission was created in 2005 after the state Supreme Court commissioned a study to examine the prevalence of racial and gender bias in Pennsylvania courts; that study was released in 2003.

Philadelphia Chief Defender Ellen Greenlee, who is serving on a state commission examining the issue of indigent defense in Pennsylvania, said during a meeting of the commission today that Pennsylvania is the only state in the United States that does not provide state funds for indigent defense.

The indigent-defense commission, which will release its report in the next few months, wants to "move it off the blackboard and onto the agenda of the state legislature."

Once the report is launched, Lisette M. McCormick, who is both the director of the commission for fairness and a member of the indigent defense commission, said that a statewide coalition will be formed to educate the public and legislators about how the lack of state funding for indigent defense results in deficient legal representation for defendants.

Speakers at the meeting today included Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Rudolph Garcia, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams and Greenlee.

Williams said many Philadelphians of color feel that the criminal justice system is an oppressor of their communities, not protectors of them.

But in order to achieve fairness in the courts, criminal justice leaders have to focus on victims, Williams said.

But many victims are young black men who are just as likely to be shot as to be the shooter, Williams said. There is overlap between assailants and victims on the "Venn diagram" of crime in the city because the number one cause of death for young black men is homicide, Williams said.

Eight people were killed last weekend in Philadelphia, he said, which did not make headline news. But if eight tourists from Sweden had been killed while visiting Philadelphia, the city would be thrust into lockdown in order to solve gun violence, Williams said.

"When we think about fairness and justice we have to think that -- those men in that diagram -- that their lives are just as important," Williams said.

The Legal will have more coverage of the latest report from the commission in an upcoming section of its Pennsylvania Law Weekly section.

Amaris Elliott-Engel is a reporter for The Legal. She can be contacted at 215-557-2354 or aelliott-engel@alm.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AmarisTLI.

Phila. OIG Reports Recovering & Saving $9.1 Mil. in 2010

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

Because of investigations that resulted in city employees being terminated, suspended, making restitution, paying fines or forfeiting their pensions, Philadelphia's Office of the Inspector General reported this week that the office was able to save city taxpayers, or recover on behalf of them, $9.1 million in 2010. 

The OIG is "the only entity in the city of Philadelphia that can do administrative investigations like this," said Inspector General Amy L. Kurland in a press conference. "While we have a great relationship with the District Attorney's Office, their focus, as it should be, is on crime."

The majority of complaints made to the office were made by city employees, according to the office's 2010 report released Thursday. "Most city employees are honest," Kurland said. "We're very proud that most of our complaints come from city employees."

The report also noted that no city employee has successfully appealed an OIG-recommended termination in the last three years, while the Civil Service Commission used to frequently reverse OIG-recommended terminations on appeal.

Kurland said that statement in the report was not a comment on Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, who was the city's first inspector general before Kurland. Williams would have had the same kind of results if he had worked for a mayor as supportive as Mayor Michael A. Nutter in providing the office the resources to conduct thorough investigations to procure airtight evidence, Kurland said.

Contact reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel at aelliott-engel@alm.com.