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Law Deans Scramble
The crisis in legal education continues, with the number of people applying to law school declining along with the job prospects for those who graduate. In the face of these trends, some law school deans are still trying to preserve an unsustainable business model. Offering what they apparently regard as innovative ideas, they're making things worse.
Litigator of the Week: Dog Bites Man
"Dog bites man" is not a news story, the axiom goes. But when a pit bull took off part of Lonnie Burts' finger, the injured man hired Mark Anderson and Robert Kisselburgh of The Anderson Law Firm in Fort Worth. The two lawyers helped him win a May 7 final judgment against the dog's owners, who are his neighbors, for $147,000.
Harvard Law Opens Applications to Juniors
Harvard Law School has announced a pilot program under which Harvard undergraduates may apply and gain acceptance during their junior year, provided they agree to work for two years in between graduation and beginning their legal studies. |
| 5TH U.S. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS |
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CRIMINAL PRACTICE
United States v. Kelly
(5th Cir. 05/13/2013)
The district court granted a 18 U.S.C. §3582(c) motion and reduced the defendant's sentence from 121 months to 120 months after determining that it could not further reduce the sentence due to the mandatory minimum in effect at the time of his original sentencing. A §3582(c)(2) modification hearing is not the equivalent of an original sentencing hearing under Dorsey, therefore, the appellant is not entitled to retroactive application of the FSA's mandatory minimums. The trial court's judgment is affirmed. 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 12-30936, 05-13-2013.
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| TEXAS COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS |
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CRIMINAL PRACTICE
Gelinas v. State
(Tex.Crim.App. 05/15/2013)
The lower court relied on Hutch v. State in finding that the defendant suffered egregious harm from an erroneous jury instruction. Hutch is disavowed. Under an Alamanza analysis, the erroneous Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 38.23 instruction did not egregiously harm the defendant. The court of appeals' judgment is reversed and remanded. Court of Criminal Appeals, No. PD-1522-11, 05-15-2013.
CRIMINAL PRACTICE
Ex parte Perez
(Tex.Crim.App. 05/08/2013)
The doctrine of laches was used as the basis to deny applicant the opportunity to file an out-of-time petition for discretionary review based on the state's claim of prejudice to its ability to retry him. The federal laches standard is abandoned in favor of the Texas common law standard in habeas corpus cases. In light of the revised approach, the case is remanded to the trial court. Court of Criminal Appeals, No. AP-76,800, 05-08-2013.
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CRIMINAL PRACTICE
Wilson v. State
(Tex.App. Dist.1 05/09/2013)
The state prosecuted the appellant for alleged misdemeanor telephonic harassment of her former neighbor. That the neighbor acknowledged a legitimate reason for a telephone call negates any reasonable inference that the defendant left the message with the intent to harass, or that it was made in a manner reasonably likely to harass or annoy the neighbor. Four remaining messages occurred too far apart over a 10-month period to be considered part of a single episode. The trial court's judgment is reversed and a judgment of acquittal is rendered.Houston's 1st Court of Appeals, No. 01-11-01125-CR, 05-09-2013.
INSURANCE LAW
Phillips v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.
(Tex.App. Dist.5 05/10/2013)
The appellant challenges a summary judgment rendered in favor of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and the Verizon Employee Benefits Committee on her claim that MetLife, acting on behalf of VEBC, improperly withheld long-term disability benefits to which she was allegedly entitled. The record shows a reasonable basis to support the calculation of the appellant's annual benefits compensation. Lump sum pension benefits elected by a participant and rolled over into an IRA constitute benefits "received" by the participant for purposes of an offset to a monthly LTD amount. The trial court's judgment is affirmed. Dallas Court of Appeals, No. 05-11-00678-CV, 05-10-2013.
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