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Former U.S. attorney Lampton dies at 60
Attorneys News |
2011/08/19 11:32
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Dunn Lampton, a former U.S. attorney in Mississippi who prosecuted two civil rights-era cold cases and a complex corruption case involving a wealthy attorney and state judges, has died. He was 60.
Among Lampton's best known cases was the prosecution of James Ford Seale, a reputed Ku Klux Klansman who died in prison this month. Seale was convicted in 2007 of two counts of kidnapping and one of conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the 1964 deaths of Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore, both 19.
Lampton died Wednesday evening, according to former acting U.S. Attorney Donald Burkhalter, one of the prosecutors who served after Lampton's 2009 retirement
"He was a hell of a trial lawyer and he did a good job as U.S. attorney," Burkhalter said Thursday. "I think he always tried to do the right thing."
The cause of death was not immediately released, but Lampton had been in declining health. The U.S. attorney's office said the funeral will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Jackson. Burial will be private.
President George W. Bush appointed Lampton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi in September 2001, putting him in charge of federal prosecutions in 45 counties.
Among the highlights of Lampton's career were prosecutions in two civil rights-era cases that led to the convictions of reputed Klansmen Seale and Ernest Avants. |
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Lawyer pleads guilty to $47 million Ponzi scheme
Attorneys News |
2011/08/05 13:02
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An Arkansas lawyer and businessman admitted today to staging a Ponzi scheme that netted more than $47 million, a scam that a prosecutor called the largest case of fraud in state history.
Kevin Lewis, 43, pleaded guilty today to one count of bank fraud in federal district court in Little Rock. He could face up to 30 years in prison, though U.S. Attorney Christopher Thyer said Lewis would likely receive between 10 to 13 years.
He will also have to pay restitution of almost $40 million, though that number could go down further as banks work to recover their losses.
Lewis acknowledged that he issued paperwork for fake rural improvement bonds often used by developers to defraud several Arkansas banks starting with a small bond in 1997.
That money went to maintain his business interests across the state, which range from a law firm to a clothing company. He used the money to make the payments on past fake bonds and support a personal lifestyle that included a house valued at more than $1 million, fancy cars and vacations, Thyer said.
Meanwhile, the bank that bought almost $23 million of the fake bonds, First Southern Bank in Batesville, was placed into receivership by authorities, Thyer said. Lewis had purchased majority ownership of First Southern, using a loan from another Arkansas bank that was backed by the fake bonds. |
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Mark Wahlberg to Produce MAFIA DRAMA of Chicago's Mob Lawyer
Attorneys News |
2011/08/02 08:02
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Mark Wahlberg to Produce MAFIA DRAMA of Chicago's Mob Lawyer, Bob Cooley, taking down the Mob- LBI Exclusive Interview
IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE: When Corruption Was King......comes to theaters in 2013 and stars Mark Wahlberg.Mark Wahlberg has come aboard to produce and star in the mafia drama When Corruption Was King for Paramount Pictures.The story centers on a Chicago lawyer, Bob Cooley, who rose through the ranks to become a trusted member of an organized crime family.
When he turns states evidence, he tries to take the mob downThe Nationally syndicated radio show, The LawBusiness Insider proudly presents an Exclusive Interview with former Mafia Lawyer and Chicago Cop, Robert Cooley discussing his new Bestseller, “WHEN CORRUPTION WAS KING- Robert CooleyLISTEN to an Exclusive interview with Bob Cooley now: http://lbishow.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=356:featured-guest-bob-cooley&catid=51:americas-best-selling-authors-series
Once he ran the streets like a dark prince -- bar-hopping with mob chieftains, betting as much as a million dollars a week and doling out bribes to fix murder trials. But at age 37, corrupt attorney Robert J. Cooley got a second chance at life, a shot at redemption.
Sickened by the arrogance and brutality of his mob pals, Cooley became an undercover FBI operative. For 3 1/2 harrowing years starting in 1986, he wore a hidden wire, taping crime bosses and politicians as they rigged everything from felony cases to zoning decisions even a state insurance law.
Bob Cooley was the Chicago Mafia’s “Mechanic”—a fixer of court cases. During the 1970s and ’80s, Cooley bribed judges, court clerks, and cops to keep his Mob clients—hit men, bookies, racketeers, and crooked pols— out of jail. Paid handsomely for his services, he lived fast and enjoyed the protection of the men he served
This is the story of a Mob lawyer turned mole with a million-dollar contract on his head who has clanged back and forth between sin and sainthood like a church bell clapper—a turbulent youth, a stint on Chicago’s police force, law school, and then the inner sanctum of Chicago’s leading mobsters and corrupt political officials.
With wild abandon he chased crooked acquittals for the likes of Pat Marcy, an Al Capone protégé, who had become the Mob’s key political operative; ruthless Mafia Capo and gambling czar Marco D’Amico; and notorious hit man Harry Aleman.
He dined with Mob bosses and shared “last suppers” with friends before their gangland executions. Cooley watched as Marcy and the Mob controlled the courts, the cops, and the politicians.
Then, in a startling act of conscience, he walked into the office of the U.S. Organized Crime Strike Force and, without a pending conviction or a hit man on his tail, agreed to wear a wire on the same Mafia overlords who had made him a player.
WHEN CORRUPTION WAS KING- http://www.whencorruptionwasking.com |
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Chandler steps down as head of Del. Chancery Court
Attorneys News |
2011/06/20 14:06
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William Chandler III never realized his young man's dream of becoming a university professor, yet he has managed to pass on plenty of lessons to students of American law and business.
Chandler, 60, is retiring this week as head of Delaware's Court of Chancery, which rules over corporate law in a state that is the legal home to more than half of all publicly traded U.S. companies, including about two-thirds of the Fortune 500.
Chandler's decision to join a Silicon Valley-based law firm, where he will focus on advising corporate clients and working behind the scenes on litigation strategy, comes after 26 years on the bench, including eight years as a vice chancellor on the five-member court and 14 as chancellor.
But Chandler, who also served as a Superior Court judge before being appointed a vice chancellor, never envisioned himself wearing a black robe.
After obtaining his law degree from the University of South Carolina and clerking for a federal judge in Wilmington, Chandler went to Yale University law school with his eye on a master's degree and a dream of becoming a professor. |
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Former Chicago Mayor Joins Katten Muchin
Attorneys News |
2011/06/02 10:15
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Former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who stepped down last month after serving six terms, joined the law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP.
Daley, 69, will serve as counsel at Katten and won't participate in any work involving the city or any of its affiliated agencies, the firm said today in a statement.
"I chose Katten for a number of reasons," Daley said in the statement. "They have an innovative yet practical approach to helping clients accomplish their goals, and they are expanding globally."
Daley was mayor of the third-largest U.S. city for 22 years beginning in 1989, following in the footsteps of his father Richard J. Daley, who was mayor from 1955 to 1976. Under the younger Daley's leadership, Chicago lured Boeing Corp. and United Continental Holdings Inc. corporate headquarters to the city and built Millennium Park.
"His advice and counsel will be invaluable," Vincent Sergi, Katten's national managing partner, said in today's statement.
The University of Chicago said May 24 that Daley would join as a senior fellow for five years beginning July 1 and will coordinate a series of guest lectures at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies. |
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Head of Delaware business court joining law firm
Attorneys News |
2011/05/19 13:58
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The head of Delaware's Court of Chancery, a key venue for matters of corporate law, is taking a job with a California-based law firm.
Chancellor William Chandler III will join Palo Alto-based Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati on June 18. He had announced in April that he was retiring from the bench.
In a statement released by the firm Thursday, Chandler said Wilson Sonsini has an outstanding legal practice and one of the most enviable client bases in the nation.
Chandler has served on the chancery court since 1989 and was appointed to the top post of chancellor in 1997.
He has presided over many high-profile cases, involving companies such as Walt Disney Co., Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp., News Corp., eBay Inc., Citigroup Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dow Chemical Co. |
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