“An Orange County lawyer who represents clients in criminal defense cases faces federal charges of her own after being accused of conspiring to sell firearms without serial numbers, also known as ‘ghost guns.'” reports Brandi Hitt in Eyewitness News ABC 7.

“Federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives say 41-year-old attorney Melinda Romines was allegedly trying to sell the guns by acting as a broker between black market dealers and customers.”

“The weapons are referred to as ‘ghost guns’ because it is difficult to trace them.”

Read the article.

On Monday, a grand jury declined to indict Angela Elleman, a Kentucky defense lawyer, “accused of digging up shell casings linked to a murder case and keeping them in a safe for more than six years,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s Criminal Justice.

“Elleman is a lawyer with the Louisville public defender’s office… A special prosecutor had presented the case to the grand jury.”

“Elleman represented Anthony Hogan, who told prosecutors in 2018 about the shell casings when they spoke with him about testifying against a co-defendant. Hogan and the co-defendant were charged in the April 2012 killing of 15-year-old Gregory Holt.”

Read the article.

“A lawyer who led the child molestation investigation and prosecution of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky lost his law license for a year Wednesday over his handling of a grand jury witness in the case, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled,” reports Mark Scolforo in ABC 6 News.

“The justices issued a 5-1 decision to suspend Frank Fina’s license for a year and a day, agreeing with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel that Fina’s actions were improper in obtaining grand jury testimony about three top university officials by then-Penn State General Counsel Cynthia Baldwin.”

“Baldwin, who also was accused of violating professional rules for lawyers in her representation of the officials, was given a public reprimand by the high court Wednesday. Messages were left for her lawyer and at her home.”

Read the article.

“A Cleveland-area lawyer had to show his contrition with a $500 fine and a written mea culpa as a result of a judge’s order last week,” report Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s Ethics section.

“Cleveland.com describes the contempt sanction for lawyer Anthony Baker of Lorain, Ohio, as a “Bart Simpson-esque dose of punishment,” imposed for leaving the defense table as a protest during jury instructions.”

“On Thursday, Judge Nancy Fuerst ordered Baker to write 25 times, in legible handwriting, that he will not engage in conduct that violates ethics rules.”

Read the article.

“Michael Avenatti, the failed presidential candidate and lawyer who represented adult-film star Stormy Daniels in her suit against President Trump, was found guilty by a federal jury in New York on Friday of all three counts he faced over an attempt to extort Nike. The disgraced attorney could now spend a maximum of 20 years in prison, and his epic downfall hasn’t ended either, since additional trials await for other alleged crimes.” reports Chas Danner in the New York Intelligencer.

“Last March, federal prosecutors alleged that while Avenatti was representing a youth basketball coach, he and an associate threatened to publicly accuse Nike of illegally paying amateur basketball players if the company didn’t hand over millions of dollars. Avenatti was arrested in March after the FBI recorded him threatening Nike representatives.”

Read the article.

“A tip to an FBI hotline launched an eight-month investigation by the state police organized crime unit that ended this week with a Uniontown lawyer being accused of offering to launder drug money for clients.” reports Paul Peirce in TRIBLIVE’s Regional News.

“Authorities on Thursday arrested Tancredi Calabrese, 32, who is charged with dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activities, criminal attempt to deal in the proceeds of unlawful activities, unsworn falsification to authorities and tampering with public records. He is free on $50,000 unsecured bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 26.”

“The investigation began in June after the FBI received a tip about Calabrese’s alleged activity, Trooper Craig Yauch reported in court documents.”

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“A California lawyer practicing in Orange County was arrested today on a federal grand jury indictment charging her with conspiring to sell firearms without a license and distributing methamphetamine.” reports LawFuel.

“Melinda Romines, 41, of Anaheim, was taken into federal custody this morning. She is expected to make her initial court appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles.”

“Romines has been charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, one count of possession of an unregistered firearm, and two counts of distributing methamphetamine.”

Read the article.

“Federal officials on Monday arrested an Orange County lawyer accused of illegally selling firearms, including to an undercover agent.” reports Kristina Bravo in KTLA 5 News.

“Melinda Romines, a 41-year-old Anaheim resident, has been charged with conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license. She was also charged with possession of an unregistered firearm, as well as two counts of distributing methamphetamine.”

“Romines has an active attorney’s license as of Monday, state records show. Her website says she owns a Fountain Valley-based boutique law firm that handles criminal defense, business and entertainment, and child custody cases, among others.”

Read the story.

“The president of Texas Southern University may be out of a job after TSU regents alleged that he failed to promptly report information about an admissions scandal at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law.” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in the ABA Journal.

“The regents said in a Feb. 4 termination notice that Lane failed to promptly report to the board or internal auditor allegations of fraudulent and dishonest conduct by an assistant law dean.”

“The assistant law dean was accused of taking a $14,000 payoff for facilitating a scholarship and fraudulent admission for a law student. The assistant law dean was also accused of facilitating a fraudulent transfer application for a second student.”

Read the article.

“A former partner at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker has been suspended after an ethics panel concluded that he wrote himself checks from the law firm’s operating account and then lied about a gambling addiction,” reports the ABA Journal.

“Las Vegas lawyer Kym Cushing was suspended for nine months in a Jan. 31 opinion by the Nevada Supreme Court.”

“According to findings of fact in the case, Cushing wrote three checks from his law firm’s operating account and deposited them into his personal bank account. When the law firm confronted him about the checks, Cushing lied and said he was reimbursing himself for payments made to an expert witness.”

Read the ABA Journal article.

“A Houston-area attorney was arrested Tuesday after deputies accused him of bringing a loaded handgun into the Travis County Courthouse, court documents say.” reports Heather Osbourne of the Statesman.

“Lee Parker McMillian, 67, entered the courthouse at around 3 p.m. Tuesday and placed his bag on the conveyor belt to be screened by the X-ray scanner, according to an arrest affidavit filed by Travis County sheriff’s deputies.”

“A deputy operating the scanner said he saw the loaded handgun in the bag as it passed through the machine, the affidavit said. McMillian confirmed the bag belonged to him, deputies said.”

Read the Statesman’s article.

Read the LawSite’s article.

Read the Arkansas Democrat Gazette’s article.

Read WFLA 8’s article.

Read the StamformAdvocate’s article.

Read INFORUM’s article.

Charles Richard Martin, an Indiana attorney, was arrested early Thursday after an Indiana State Police trooper pulled him over. He was “arrested on drunken driving charges shortly after announcing his candidacy for the state Legislature.” reports The Tribune.

“The 50-year faced misdemeanor charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and was cited for speeding 65 mph in a 45 mph zone, among other things.”

Martin has held several positions in the Republican Party. On Tuesday the attorney sent an email to supporters and journalists announcing his bid to succeed Republican Rep.

Read The Tribune article.

“Federal prosecutors allege that a former Morrison & Foerster office operations manager spent more than $400,000 on the firm’s credit card to make personal purchases and transfer money to his PayPal account.” reports Debra Cassens Weiss of the ABA Journal.

“The former employee, Andrew Robertson, faces a preliminary hearing at the end of the month in Washington, D.C., on a federal mail fraud charge.”

“Robertson is accused of spending money on personal purchases that included designer clothing, jewelry, home furnishings, groceries, his Verizon bill and storage units for his personal items.”

Read the article.

“The judge presiding over a case which saw Johnson & Johnson hit with an $8bn jury verdict has reduced the amount the company has to pay in damages to $6.8m.” reports PM Live.

“Last October,  J&J was ordered to pay $8bn in damages to a US man who claims he was not warned that taking the company’s antipsychotic Risperdal could lead to breast growth.” A jury in Philidelphia agreed with his allegations.

Johnson & Johnson appealed the verdict arguing the size of the payout was “grossly disproportionate”.

Read PM Live‘s article.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that an African American man serving a life term for a 1989 murder is entitle to a new trial says a federal appeals court. Ezzard Charles Ellis learned, “after his lawyer’s death, that the attorney was a racist who regularly expressed contempt for minority clients.”

“After San Bernardino attorney S. Donald Ames died in 1999, his daughter and others described incidents in which he used racial slurs to refer to nonwhites, particularly African Americans. ”

The “state attorney general’s office, which represented the prosecution in Ellis’ appeal, had agreed that the conviction should be reversed.”

Read the San Francisco Chronicle’s article.