Challenging Contempt: Patty Stemler, chief of the Appellate Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, is challenging a judge's contempt order that stems from Stemler's role in the post-trial litigation phase of the Ted Stevens case, The BLT reports. Stemler, represented by Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr's Howard Shapiro and Mary Gardner, filed a motion Wednesday before Judge James Robertson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Emmet Sullivan in February held Stemler and three prosecutors in contempt for violating court orders compelling Justice lawyers to turn over documents to the Williams & Connolly defense team.
Gaming It Out: A controversial ruling on property rights could spell trouble for Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor, according to two D.C. lawyers who spoke on a panel at Georgetown University Law Center, The BLT reports. Conservative bloggers have already drawn attention to the case, Didden v. Village of Port Chester, which involves condemnation within a village "redevelopment area." Sotomayor was part of a panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit that upheld a taking. Panelist Roy Englert Jr. called Didden "the sleeper case" for Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination. On the Sotomayor news front, The Connecticut Law Tribune has this Q-and-A with Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi, who offered his insight on Sotomayor's character and abilities. Today, The Washington Post examines Sotomayor's first job as a prosecutor in Manhattan.
Game On: A sports equipment maker in Michigan is suing a Detroit law firm, Dickinson Wright, in a dispute about a lacrosse stick patent, The National Law Journal reports. The $33 million legal malpractice suit claims Dickinson Wright is liable for the actions of two patent attorneys who let the stick's patent lapse in 2004 after failing to pay a required maintenance fee on time. The suit says, among other things, that competitors entered the market with similar lacrosse sticks.
Deportation Target: Just because the government's terror charges failed doesn't mean a smooth ride for some immigrants swept up as potential threats, The New York Times reports. The Times examines the case of a Florida resident, Youssef Samir Megahed, who was acquitted in federal district court on charges that he transported explosives. But immigration authorities are now accusing Megahed of violating his legal residency in the United States for being engaged in—or likely to engage in—terrorist activities. Megahed, according to the report, is at least the third Florida defendant in three years to be charged with immigration law violations after the government's terrorism case failed.
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