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A Chinese immigrant jailed in Indiana for over a year on charges that she killed her viable fetus by eating rat poison in a suicide attempt while pregnant has lost her bid to have the controversial criminal case dismissed by the state supreme court. However, in letting stand a prior Indiana Court of Appeals order requiring a Marion County judge to set bond for Bei Bei Shuai, the court also effectuated her potential release, according to the Associated Press and the Indianapolis Star. Bail was set at $50,000 on Friday for the 35-year-old, who apparently remains incarcerated at this point. Among other defenses, Shuai's…

A San Francisco lawyer is facing a felony case concerning a fatal hit-and-run accident near his San Ramon home in which a bicyclist was killed earlier this week. Authorities said they traced car parts found at the scene of the accident to employment litigator Spencer Freeman Smith, 32. He was arrested Thursday on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and manslaughter, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "At the time of the accident, our officers responded and they collected three vehicle parts that were left at the scene," Dublin Police Lt. Herb Walters told the San Ramon Express. "Each part has a serial number on…

Describing a "regrettable" email exchange between two Melbourne law firm colleagues and friends as "a classic storm in a teacup," an Australian judge has nixed a seven-figure damages claim by a former partner who said she was undermined, humiliated and harassed after she went on maternity leave. Partner Fiona Brown, who previously headed the family law department at Maurice Blackburn Cashman, said she was unable to work after the alleged mistreatment by Lee Formica in 2003. She also contended that then-managing partner Michael Brett-Young.did nothing to stop it, the Age reports. However, County Court Judge John Carmody held in a Friday decision that Brown hadn't proven she was…

A mother who sent her adopted Russian son back to his home country on a one-way flight in 2010 must pay $150,206 damages for breach of the adoption contract, legal fees and back child support, plus $1,000 per month in child support, beginning June 1, until he turns 18, a Tennessee judge has ruled. Applying a March ruling, Bedford County Circuit Judge Lee Russell imposed these amounts Thursday on Torry Hansen, whose 10-year-old son, Artyom Saveliev, is now living in a group home in Russia, according to the Shelbyville Times-Gazette. The damages were sought in a lawsuit filed by the agency that handled the adoption, the World Association…

In the first day of a contempt hearing concerning evidence that wasn't produced in a federal civil case that resulted in a $67 million judgment against Toronto-Dominion Bank, the institution's new counsel, McGuireWoods, pointed the finger at its former counsel. Greenberg Traurig, the bank contended Thursday, had access to all documents related to a claim by investors in a venture promoted by now-convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein that TD Bank had aided and abetted fraud by the ex-attorney. Rothstein, who at the time was operating a prominent Fort Lauderdale, Fla., law firm as its managing partner, is now serving a 50-year sentence. But attorney David Mandel, who represents the Coquina…

A longtime Kansas lawyer has been suspended from practice for one year, due in part to his concurrent representation of two spouses. One (the wife) was a suspect in a criminal arson investigation concerning the couple's home and had been videotaped purchasing accelerants on the day of the fire, according to an order (PDF) Friday by the Kansas Supreme Court. Meanwhile, attorney Brian R. Johnson also agreed to represent the husband in determining whether he should make a fire insurance claim, as an innocent spouse. Johnson admittedly did not obtain written, informed consent in advance to the potential conflict from the couple, who are referred to in the…

New 2011 census estimates show that for the first time, racial and ethnic minorities make up more than half of the children born in the U.S.  For these newborns of America's first "majority minority" generation, and for all Americans under... Regina M. Leidy

The parents of two Chinese electrical engineering graduate students shot to death last month while they were sitting in a parked BMW outside the home of one of the victims have filed a wrongful death suit against the University of Southern California. Relying on theories of misrepresentation and negligence, it contends that USC misrepresented on its website the safety of the Los Angeles neighborhood surrounding its campus and the extent of the security provided there by the institution, according to the Los Angeles Times and Reuters. Courthouse News provides a link to the complaint (PDF). It was filed Wednesday in Los Angeles…

How fathers rights can be stripped and taken away from a father who is rightfully paying child support.

In a scenario that is increasingly in the news as the subject of internal investigations and legal claims, two police officers in Connecticut are set to go to trial in federal court in Hartford on Monday for killing a family pet after entering the perimeter of a home. The guardian of a 12-year-old girl who, a lawsuit says, saw her dog slain by the defendant officers after they came into the yard without a warrant is seeking compensatory and punitive damages on her behalf over the December 2006 incident, as well as attorney fees, the Hartford Courant reports. The suit alleges that the officers violated the child's…

It's ordinarily hard to prove a fire insurance fraud. But prosecutors in a South Florida case will be able to rely on photographic evidence that the claimed perpetrators reused the same thrift-store furniture in claim after claim. The Miami New Times Riptide blog includes several examples of seemingly identical furniture—and, in one case, a seemingly grouping of photos in a frame—shown in photos supporting different fire claims. Authorities, who reportedly were tipped about the claimed $1.4 million renter's insurance scam, arrested 20 people Wednesday, including a public adjuster. The group is accused of using "straw renters" to pose as legitimate occupants of homes that were allegedly filled with…

Already fired and prosecuted over his role in illegally intercepting worker emails directed to the state inspector general, the former chief counsel for the Ohio Department of Public Safety was slapped with a heavier-than-expected legal ethics sanction by the state's top court. The Ohio Supreme Court's Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline had recommended a public reprimand for Joshua A. Engel, who reportedly agreed to the penalty. But going beyond even the six-month stayed law license suspension originally sought by disciplinary counsel, a majority of the state's top court on Thursday imposed the six-month law license suspension without a stay, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Engel, who…

Add another lawsuit to the list of ongoing legal action against Dewey & LeBoeuf. In an eviction action filed this week in Washington, D.C., the firm's landlord says it owes $550,000 in rent that wasn't paid from Feb. 1 to May 12, according to the Washington Post's Capital Business Blog. Including $26,000 in late fees and utility charges, taxes and legal costs, the total amount the landlord is seeking tops $927,000. In recent weeks, the struggling firm has also been sued by employees, including associates who say their reported mass layoffs after one week…

A sole practitioner who worked as in-house counsel for companies controlled by a New York real estate developer has lost his law license for four years, because he failed to detect and stop mortgage-origination fraud by the developer that cost lenders $98 million. There is no evidence that Thomas Cusack knew of criminal activity and he didn't make any money from the scam, Reuters reports. However, "the evidence of his malfeasance is overwhelming" concerning his failure to perform standard lender's attorney functions, wrote the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division, Second Department, in a Tuesday opinion sustaining 10 professional misconduct charges against Cusack. Cusack's lawyer said he was…

In the latest salvo in an onoing dispute over the estate of civil rights icon Rosa Parks, an attorney for a foundation that was to benefit from her will has sued a Michigan probate judge and two court-appointed attorneys, contending that they conspired to loot her estate. The unusual filing alleges that Judge Freddie Burton Jr. and attorneys John Chase Jr. and Melvin Jefferson Jr. racked up over $500,000 in largely unnecessary legal fees in the Wayne County case, leaving Parks' estate in debt $88,000, reports the Detroit Free Press. Attorney Stephen G. Cohen, who represents the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute, is seeking the judge's…

Ally Financial Inc’s mortgage unit, named Residential Capital (ResCap for short), filed for bankruptcy on Monday, according to Reuters.

Ally Financial is the former lending organization for General Motors Co and was formerly known as GMAC. The auto-lender’s mortgage unit was once a large profiteer in the subprime lending field before the housing market took a nosedive in 2008.

Since then, the company has been plagued with losses due to the housing market’s slow recovery.

The bankruptcy filing was reportedly favored by some of ResCap’s creditors, according to Reuters.

Although the process will inevitably be a long and drawn out process, Ally Financial’s filing is hope to be a catalyst to paying back $12 billion in bailout money.

During the financial crisis, the US Treasury Department funneled more than $17 billion to the lender and subsequently now owns around 74 percent of the company.

Ally is the fifth-largest mortgage servicer in the United States.

The company also plans to sell some of its international operations to fund the repayment of bailout money. The overseas operations have about $30 billion in assets overall.

During the 2012 election year, the Obama administration is eager to report recoveries from the bailout-era that Obama had led to kick start the economy in a time when many had little faith in the US economy. Ally will be closely observed in this bankruptcy process in order for the company to not become the blemish on the 2012 campaign trail that Obama administration has been trying to avoid.

According to Reuters, ResCap and its advisors believe that this is the first time a financial services company with retail operations not unlike a bank has filed for bankruptcy and has been able to continue operating.

Ally Financial CEO Michael Carpenter stated that he believes ResCap will have paid back two-thirds of the bailout money after the processes have been completed or near-completed. He also stated that he expects ResCap to emerge from bankruptcy within the year, according to Reuters.

Why Bankruptcy? Why Now?

Ally Financial has been reportedly mulling bankruptcy since 2009. The filing in court on Monday signaled that the company is finally ready to start paying back the taxpayers that had lent the company billions of dollars by way of the US Treasury Department.

The bankruptcy option, which has become a popular option for many companies ranging from all different sizes, has been a light at the end of the tunnel for many institutions.

With the filling, ResCap is able to restructure its business and restore its creditor’s investments in the company.

Although bankruptcy is seen by many as an unfortunate situation, it can also be a tool to start anew and prosper in future years as company or as an individual. Whether it’s Chapter 7, Chapter 11 or Chapter 13, you as an individual (or a business in this case) must choose the right path to future financial prowess and in doing so, researching the facts is the most important step you can do.

Bullying, whether the traditional school-yard shove or by cellphone or online, knows no age limit. We came across a story out of Ireland that raises an issue not previously considered. Can you be unde…[Read More] Related Posts: Bullies too young to prosecuteGovernor takes action against ...

Bullying, whether the traditional school-yard shove or by cell phone or online, knows no age limit. We came across a story out of Ireland that raises an issue not previously considered. Can you be under the age of prosecution and therefore get away with bullying ...

Depending on your age, you can either sit down and calmly bring up the subject or ask one of your relatives or an adult you’re comfortable with to be with you. Of course, you know your parents and what you’re facing by coming out to ...

A motion for sanctions accuses a former Cozen O’Connor partner in Dallas of calling opposing counsel an “ignorant slut” and “pansy” in a string of emails over the scheduling of depositions. Above the Law published the alleged emails. “We’ve seen some heated deposition transcripts in the past,” the blog says, “but we didn’t know that simply scheduling a deposition could get so nasty. Clearly, we’ve never practiced in Texas.” The ex-partner is Martin Sweeney. His emails complained that opposing lawyer Chad Arnette of Kelly Hart & Hallman demanded artificial deposition deadlines and “whined about traveling on a Sunday.” At one point, according to the allegations published…