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The son of a partner in a Pittsburgh law firm has pleaded guilty to bank fraud for embezzling $827,000 from the firm while he served as office manager.Anthony Calaiaro, 34, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to forging a partner’s name on about 500 checks payable to himself, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. In the check register, he listed the checks as payable to vendors, prosecutors said. He was also accused of preparing checks to transfer money from the firm’s trust account to its business account so he could forge more checks to himself.The scheme took place between June 2014 and April 2016 when Calaiaro worked at the bankruptcy law firm Calaiaro Valencik. His father is partner Donald Calaiaro.At a hearing on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Cercone asked Anthony Calaiaro whether he agreed with a prosecutor’s description of his crimes. Calaiaro and his lawyer said Calaiaro was on drugs at the time, and he wasn’t sure how much money he had taken.The law firm … [Read more...] about Partner’s son admits embezzling $827K from law firm, says details are fuzzy because of drug use

An Oregon man has filed a $4 million lawsuit against Verizon Wireless that claims his fiancée’s nude photos inexplicably ended up on the phone of another person.Plaintiff Jeff Smith of Canby says Verizon promised that personal photos would be stored on protected and secure servers, but those assurances were false. And when he went to a Verizon store in Molalla to complain, the worker said nothing could be done unless Smith hired a “big shot lawyer” to take on Verizon, according to the suit, filed on Valentine’s Day.Smith’s family photos, including the nude photos, had somehow migrated to a grandmother’s new phone when her grandson downloaded photos she had stored in the Verizon cloud, Oregon Live reports. The grandson recognized Smith’s fiancée because she was a former co-worker.The suit alleges violation of Oregon law banning unlawful trade practices and a negligent data breach.Smith is represented by Michael Fuller, a partner at … [Read more...] about Verizon worker told customer to hire ‘big shot lawyer’ over his nude photo migration, suit says

A Guantanamo judge has ordered prosecutors to draft writs of attachment for two civilian defense lawyers who quit the USS Cole terrorism case over a classified issue involving compromised attorney-client privilege.Air Force Col. Vance Spath issued his order on Wednesday after the lawyers, Rosa Eliades and Mary Spears, did not comply with Spath’s subpoena to appear at the military commissions headquarters in Virginia for a video link hearing to explain their reason for quitting, the Miami Herald reports. The writs are essentially arrest warrants, the newspaper explains.Eliades and Spears had represented Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is accused of orchestrating the al-Qaida attack on the USS Cole. They quit in October and were released from the case by the chief defense counsel for the military commissions at Guantanamo, Marine Brig. Gen. John Baker.Spath had ordered Baker to reinstate Eliades, Spears and a third defense lawyer who quit the case, and Baker refused. Spath found Baker … [Read more...] about Arrests are a possibility for two defense lawyers who quit USS Cole case over classified issue

Lawmakers in some states are taking a combative approach as they try to punish and even impeach judges for their decisions.The impeachment crusade is taking place in Pennsylvania where Republican State Rep. Cris Dush is circulating a petition to impeach five Democratic justices who tossed a congressional map, the New York Times reports.Impeachment threats have become more common in the last 10 years, according to Bill Raftery, a senior analyst at the National Center for State Courts. He tells the Times that, during the 2011 to 2012 legislative session, lawmakers in seven states sought to oust judges.Elsewhere, the battles are taking other forms. After the Iowa Supreme Court issued an order banning guns in courthouses, some Republicans introduced bills to cut judges’ pay and to charge judges rent for gun-free courtrooms. In North Carolina, Republicans are seeking changes to rein in state courts that have struck down or undercut their laws.In Pennsylvania, the redistricting battle … [Read more...] about Lawmakers in some states target judges over their decisions; Pennsylania lawmaker seeks impeachment

“While the country needs to protect its borders, enforce laws and ensure the safety of citizens, such callous treatment of individuals, whose only transgressions are immigration violations, undermines the nation’s values,” the statement says. “Taking people off the street, refusing them the opportunity to say goodbye or inform their families about why they have disappeared are not the actions of a democratic society and do not represent the values of most Americans.”The statement cites several high-profile cases in which immigrants who don’t have legal status, but who have otherwise not broken any laws, have been treated punitively by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection, the two agencies that handle immigration law enforcement. One of those is the case of Jorge Garcia, who came to the United States at age 10 and was deported to Mexico a month ago at 39 despite having no criminal record.In another case, a Jamaican … [Read more...] about ABA president says callous treatment of noncriminal immigrants undermines American values