Retired attorney who practised for 47 years in the dark

Retired attorney looks back on a career that spans 47 years as Beaver County attorney and later as the southwestern Utah county's public defender. Not literally though, since John Christiansen has been blind since the age of four. But his blindness never interfered with his ability to practise the law. Asked how he manages to get around the town, he points out that he has had 76 years to practice and that he really never thinks about it.

Nowadays, he spends retirement like any other 80-year-old - daily trips to the post office and grocery store, working around home and helping out neighbors. He does so without a cane, a guide dog or a personal assistant. "I don't really miss being an attorney," he says. "It was time" - especially after 36 years (nine terms) as county attorney and 11 as a public defender.

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Personal injury attorney heads for trial

Following a failed attempt to stage a rodeo in Greece in 2003, the two parties involved are blaming each other for the fiasco. Demetrios Kafkas, a suspended personal injury lawyer, is accused of writing two bad checks to pay for bulls, a rodeo arena, a trailer and a mechanical bull. The total sum involved comes to $77,000 and Ken Churchill, owner of Maine-based World Cup Bull Riders is looking forward to his day in court on May 2 in Lowell District Court.

Kafkas denies liability, claiming the rodeo flopped because of bad publicity after Churchill and other cowboys got into a fight in Greece. "My family lost hundreds of thousands of dollars," Kafkas said.

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Attorney General gravely concerned about underage drinking

Attorney General Steve Rowe spoke recently of his grave concern on the subject of underage drinking. “Alcohol can permanently damage the adolescent brain and I think that this is something that young kids don’t think a lot about,” said Rowe. “It can permanently damage your brain. I know somebody very close to me whose brain was permanently damaged because of alcohol use as a young person."

“The brain goes through dynamic change during the early years and alcohol can have both short term and long term negative impacts on the growth process of the neural connections in the brain. So it’s not just that you get drunk and you go out and you do something stupid. It’s if you drink alcohol on a regular basis, it can have a life long negative impact on your brain. And I think kids don’t realize that.”

Rowe also gave staggering statistics on the negative consequences that alcohol abuse has on the economy. In the year 2000, the Office of Substance Abuse published a report that revealed the estimated cost of substance abuse in Maine was about 618 million dollars. About 70 percent of those costs were attributed to alcohol abuse. Some of those costs included such things as lost productivity due to premature death and illness, medical care, corrections and law enforcement, child welfare, motor vehicle accidents and substance abuse treatments.

Attorney General issues reminders to consumers

Attorney General Tom Corbett today issued a list of reminders to consumers who are preparing to hire contractors for home improvement projects.
Corbett said since January 2005, his Bureau of Consumer Protection has received 875 complaints about home improvement contractors. Last year, the Bureau received nearly 3,000 home repair or remodeling complaints.

In 2004, home improvement complaints ranked the fifth highest on the Attorney General's "Top 20" list of complaints for all consumers and fourth highest among Pennsylvanians aged 60 or older. The number of home improvement complaints typically increase during the spring, when homeowners are more likely to hire contractors to perform various projects.

"Typical home improvement complaints include shoddy and incomplete work or failure to start the job after receiving a deposit or payment," Corbett said. "Many of these unscrupulous contractors create a sense of urgency or offer unrealistic low rates or deep discounts to entice unsuspecting homeowners."

"Also beware of traveling contractors who come to your home and point out specific problems," Corbett said. "Others may claim to have materials leftover from another job or just happen to be 'in the neighborhood' for other work," Corbett said. "A small amount of research can eliminate big problems when hiring a contractor to perform home improvement projects."

Source: Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General

Attorney-client priviledge rejected by judge

Attorney-client priviledge was called into question recently in the case of a nine year old girl who is now believed to be dead. U.S. District Judge Walter Rice said the attorney-client defense does not prevent prosecutors from forcing the lawyer to reveal what she may know about the girl, who hasn't been seen in six years. However before the lawyer can be forced to testify, the court must determine whether she has been given permission to disclose such information by the husband of her now-deceased client. "We are pleased that Judge Rice has ruled that the attorney's claims based on federal law have no merit," said Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias Heck Jr. Attorneys for the lawyer, Beth Lewis, did not return calls seeking comment.

Real Estate Attorney jailed for fraud and embezzlement

Andre Barrett was a real estate attorney practising in Fayetteville until the day he stole money from his firm's trust account. Barrett pleaded guilty in October to one count of mail fraud and one count of embezzling from the government. He was sentenced to 76 months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $2.1 million in restitution.

The money will go to his former clients, insurance companies, the U.S. government and others whom he defrauded. Barrett made no comment after hearing the sentence and it is not clear what drove him to take the money from the trust fund. He has surrendered his law license and his career is now in ruins.

source The good Attorney Guide

Criminal defense attorney moonlights as porn star

Criminal defense attorney Ronald S. Miller does more than file briefs - he also takes them off. After he has finished his day job defending clients in front of the judge in court, he spends his evenings and weekends pursuing his second career as a porn movie star. He has appeared in more than 90 films in the past seven years.

Arthur Margolis, an ethics expert and attorney, said Miller isn't breaking any rules moonlighting as a porn actor. "There isn't anything more unethical about that than being an actor or a novelist or somebody who sells frozen yogurt," Margolis said. "The only thing you have to be careful of, as you would in any other industry, is you don't do anything criminal or unethical in the sense of dishonesty."

However a spokeswoman for the California Bar Association, declined to comment on Miller's second career but said that the bar doesn't have a policy prohibiting such activity.

It's certainly a way of getting some publicity. Even his wife agrees - she's a porn star too!

source The Good Attorney Guide

Attorney General rules on Highway Patrol Trooper

If one of the qualifications for a job is U.S. citizenship, can someone who is not a citizen be allowed to fill that job? This was the question posed to the Tennessee State Attorney General when it was discovered that a Highway Patrol Trooper who had been employed since 1998 only had immigrant status.

Steve Sakarapanee, a native of Thailand who has lived in Tennessee since childhood, said he is in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. Following an anonymous telephone call Trooper Sakarapanee was asked to turn in his badge, service weapon and patrol car as an internal investigation was launched regarding his citizenship.

Attorney General Paul Summers considered the matter and handed down an opinion saying Sakarapanee's 1998 hiring was not illegal. Sakarapanee identifies himself as a lawful permanent resident. Officials said it was not clear whether the U.S. citizenship requirement on highway patrol job applications would be changed.

Brain injury lawyer wins a $1.5 million settlement

It could happen to anyone - as they say "accidents do happen". Luckily John Penner had a good brain injury lawyer to take on his case.

Livonia, MI May 19, 2004 -- John Penner has been granted a $1.5 million settlement as a result of a traumatic brain injury received while working on a road improvement project for the Wayne County Road Commission.

But more important than the settlement is that Penner as a result of the litigation has received the necessary treatment and therapy to restore him to his family and community after living through a nightmare, says attorney Terry Cochran who represented Penner and wife Cindy.

"A traumatic brain injury often is misunderstood by victims, family members, employers and the public," says Cochran, partner in the law firm of Cochran, Foley & Associates, PC of Livonia, MI. "What happened to John Penner is a classic example of how much there is to learn about traumatic brain injuries."

Penner, 43, of Westland was working as a road field engineer on May 3, 2000, on a road improvement project on Grand River between Fenkel and Greenfield. While working Penner was struck on the back of the head by a 50-pound cement chute being lowered by an employee of Koenig Fuel & Supply Co., Inc.

Penner was knocked to the ground, momentarily lost consciousness, felt head pain, and was taken to the hospital where he received five stitches to close the external wound. He returned to work the next day, not to learn until at least a year later that the accident had caused a traumatic brain injury.

In the weeks following the accident CAT scans and MRIs were administered to Penner and the tests showed the brain was normal.

Within six months of the accident, Penner began to show signs of mood swings, behavioral disorder, and personality change in addition to headaches, nausea, ringing in the ears, forgetfulness, and sleeping problems.

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