IN THE MATTER OF KINDLON–Decided September 27, 2012.

Respondent’s misconduct arose out of his representation of a criminal defendant. During a recess in the trial and while the prosecutor was outside the courtroom, respondent viewed, handled and photographed a document that was on the prosecution’s table. Respondent did not seek, nor was he ever granted, permission by the prosecutor to examine, handle or photograph the document.

Read full text of decision here.

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Superior Replacements to the Boring Stock iPhone Apps-Lifehacker

 Thorin Klosowski

With every iteration of iOS, Apple tweaks their software a little, but for the most part, the default lineup of apps remains unchanged since launch. For a lot of us, these apps just aren’t cutting it anymore. Here are the best apps to replace them.

The design and function of many of Apple’s apps is beginning to feel a bit stale, and many people are growing dissatisified with the experience as a whole. On top of that, many of the apps lock you into Apple’s data ecosystem and iCloud. However, plenty of superior replacements exist for Apple’s stock apps. From Maps to Notes, we’ve got you covered regardless of where you’re looking for better options.

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Congress.gov | Library of Congress

Congress.gov makes federal United States legislative information freely available to the public. Launched Sept. 19, 2012, this version of the site is an initial beta release of Congress.gov, created as a successor to THOMAS.gov, the current public site for legislative information. The Congress.gov beta site contains legislation from the 107th Congress (2001) to the present, member of Congress profiles from the 93rd Congress (1973) to the present, and selected member profiles from the 80th through the 92nd Congresses (1947 to 1972). Over the next two years, Congress.gov will be adding information and features, eventually incorporating all of the information currently available on THOMAS.gov.

(To compare the scope of legislative information available on THOMAS.gov and the scope of legislative information on the beta site, see Coverage Dates for Legislative Information.)

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Ethics Advisory Panel Finds Judges Can Use Special License Plates-NYLJ

Read entire NYLJ article by John Caher

A judicial ethics panel has concluded that there is nothing illegal or unethical about judges displaying license plates identifying their office, but whether use of the plates are appropriate or advisable is a matter still under study by the Commission on Judicial Conduct.

The Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics last week issued Opinion 12-141 in response to an inquiry on whether it is ethically acceptable for a judge to have a specialty license plate that identifies his or her occupation. It noted that in a prior opinion (see 07-213) the committee advised that judges can display a license plate that identifies him or her as a member of a judge’s association.

 

R.E., M.E., et al v. NYC Dep’t of Education

“ In resolving a central question presented by these appeals, we hold that courts must
evaluate the adequacy of an IEP prospectively as of the time of the parents’ placement
decision and may not consider  ”retrospective” testimony regarding services not listed in
the IEP.  However, we reject a rigid “four-corners rule” that would prevent a court from
considering evidence explicating the written terms of the IEP.”

R.E., M.E., et al v. NYC Dep’t of Education

View this document on Scribd

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Florida judge disqualified in a case over Facebook friendship with prosecutor

Domville v. Florida, No 4D12-556 (Fl. Ct. App.; Sept 5, 2012)

View this document on Scribd

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Lippman Unveils Rule Detailing Bar Admission Pro Bono Mandate- NYLJ

Read entire NYLJ report by Joel Stashenko & Christine Simmons

Details of the new 50-hour pro bono requirement for applicants to the New York bar were unveiled yesterday by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman.

Specifics of the program announced in May were eagerly awaited by law schools, public interest groups, bar associations and other members of the bar. They were announced by Lippman at a press conference at New York University School of Law.

The first-in-the-nation requirement will take effect immediately for first- and second-year law students, who will have up to 34 months to fulfill the mandate. Current third-years are exempt.

Read the new rule on pro bono practice.

 

 

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• Law school deans express concern about New York rule requiring grads to log 50 hours pro bono work before admission (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
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Logitech BCC950 ConferenceCam Review-Sam Glover

The Logitech ConferenceCam is a unique HD webcam for video conferencing. Its “eyestalk” raises the camera high enough to avoid unnecessary double chins, and it comes with a remote control that you can use to tilt, pan, zoom, and adjust the volume from across the conference room.

Read Sam’s complete likes and dislikes at lawyerist.com.

Price:  About $200.00 US.

 

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60 Apps in 60 Minutes for Judges – iPhone J.D.

Last week, Jeff RichardsonI teamed up with Judge Dan Hinde fromHarris County, TX (269th Civil Court) to give a presentation at the Texas Center for the Judiciary‘s Annual Conference.  They did a “60 Apps in 60 Minutes” session recommending apps that might be of interest to Texas judges, but most of the apps that they discussed would be of interest to others as well so Richardson thought it might be useful to share the list on his blog,  iPhone J.D.  Here is a link to the apps that they recommended

State Judges Lose Bid For Retroactive Pay-NYLJ

“The Court of Appeals has spoken.” Braun wrote in Larabee v. Governor of the State of New York, 112301/07. “If it wants to speak differently, upon another appeal, the Court will do so. However, this court cannot speak differently than the Court of Appeals.”

***

Braun observed that Justice Edward Lehner had initially ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor inLarabee v. Governor of State of New York, 20 Misc 3d 866 (2008), and ordered that judges receive retroactive pay. But Braun said that the Court of Appeals’ ruling onLarabee and two other cases had superseded that holding (NYLJ, Feb. 24, 2010).

He quoted the Court of Appeals as saying that “whether judicial compensation should be adjusted, and by how much, is within the province of the Legislature.”

Braun was assigned to the case after Lehner retired.

 

Read entire NYLJ report by Joel Stashenko here.