Access to Justice

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2023

What does firm culture mean to you, and how does your firm fare?

Click here to take our survey.

How Church's Ch. 11 Bid Could Shut Out Abuse Victims

By Rachel Rippetoe

Anticipating a flood of lawsuits from a new state law ending the statute of limitations on child sex abuse claims, the Archdiocese of Baltimore took refuge in bankruptcy court last month to shield itself from liability as it tries to ensure its solvency. It’s a strategy that dioceses around the country are using more frequently in what some attorneys say is a bid to escape the tort system.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty's Secret Courtroom Meeting May Upend NY Murder Case

By Marco Poggio

A secret conversation held in an empty courtroom in New York’s Hudson Valley has left a judge, his clerk and a local attorney facing ethics questions that could result in a manslaughter conviction being tossed.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pro Bono Spotlight

Resolute Lawyers Help South Sudanese Dissident Win Asylum

By Jack Rodgers

Two Paul Hastings attorneys recently helped a South Sudanese peace activist and his family navigate a three-year bureaucratic odyssey to secure asylum in the U.S. following their escape from government hit squads in their home country.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY Court OKs Disclosure Of Past Police Misconduct Records

By Marco Poggio

A New York state appeals court has ruled that a 2020 state action authorizing the public disclosure of police misconduct records can be applied retroactively, opening the door to more scrutiny of police actions that have previously been hidden from the public, court records show.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pot Legalization Doesn't Always Mean Justice, Report Says

By Collin Krabbe

A report from the Last Prisoner Project, a nonprofit advocating for criminal justice reform regarding cannabis, shows that equal justice doesn't always accompany the freedom to use the drug in states that have legalized it recreationally.

Report attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Snapshot: Police Union Casts NYPD Protest Deal Into Doubt

By Marco Poggio

Approval of a settlement that could significantly change the way the New York Police Department handles protests has been thrown into doubt after the city's largest police union filed objections in Manhattan federal court last week.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Attys Spotlighted In HBO Documentary On Charlottesville Suit

By Andrea Keckley

A team of boutique and BigLaw attorneys and their clients are the stars of a documentary legal thriller that debuted on HBO this week capturing the battle they fought against the white nationalist forces that helped fuel 2017's deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY's Top Court To Decide Who Can Discipline Police

By Tracey Read

The New York State Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments this month in a case that could have statewide implications on who is entrusted to review complaints against police and impose discipline.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Wash. Tribal Board To Study State's Boarding School History

By Crystal Owens

Five members of Washington's tribal nations will lead an advisory committee aimed at studying how the state can address harms caused to Native Americans by the government's role in Native boarding schools, the state's attorney general says.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Perspectives

Civil Legal Aid Cuts Are A Threat To Justice And Prosperity

The U.S. House of Representatives' budget proposal for fiscal year 2024 includes $71 million in cuts to civil legal aid, but the measure overlooks the economic benefits of access to justice and the many ways that opening the courts to more citizens can foster both basic human rights and economic growth, says David Carter at Calloquy.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Perspectives

More States Should Join Effort To Close Legal Services Gap

Colorado is the most recent state to allow other types of legal providers, not just attorneys, to offer specific services in certain circumstances — and more states should rethink the century-old assumptions that shape our current regulatory rules, say Natalie Anne Knowlton and Janet Drobinske at the University of Denver.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Perspectives

'True Threat' Ruling May Ensnare Kids' Online Speech

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Counterman v. Colorado decision correctly held that a showing of intent is required to prosecute someone for true threats, but the amorphous standard adopted by the court risks overcriminalizing children’s use of social media and text-based communications, say Adam Pollet at Eversheds Sutherland and Suzanne La Pierre at Human Rights for Kids.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »