Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
For 52 years, Ed Tomko was a mainstay in the white-collar criminal practice. He served as a state and federal prosecutor. He was the head of the Houston office of the SEC when it closed 30 years ago. His last big trial was last year when he defended a former administrators of the Forest Park Medical Center. Tomko died last Wednesday. He was 76.
An Austin lawyer stole a client's 401(K) funds. A lawyer from Tyler bounced checks from his IOLTA settlement account. A Waxahachie lawyer failed to fully account for funds from a family's estate. In all, 13 lawyers were disciplined. Here are the details.
U.S. Judge Lee Yeakel has rejected a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of mandatory bar dues charged by the State Bar of Texas. The Austin jurist ruled that the mandatory dues and the activities they pay for are well within the official responsibilities authorized by the Texas Legislature and do not violate the First Amendment. Allen Pusey has the details.
Semyon Narasov, 55, pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiracy to commit money laundering at NextHealth and conspiracy to pay and receive bribes and kickbacks while at Forest Park Medical Center.
The Texas Railroad Commission rejected a motion by Pioneer Natural Resources and Parsley Energy to order statewide production cuts. But the commissioners instituted a number of alternative measures intended to provide temporary relief to the Texas oil and gas industry. This article has the details.
North Texas is ground zero for flying car innovation. Last September, Uber Elevate announced plans to situate the first test site for its fleet of all-electric flying taxis at Frisco Station, one block north of the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facilities. But as is often the case, the speed of technological innovation has outpaced legal regulation. Attorneys at Carrington Coleman examine the emerging legal questions.
The State Bar of Texas reported disciplinary actions against 15 lawyers, two of them judges. A judge from San Antonio was disciplined for her Facebook posts about lawyers in her court and an Austin lawyer, previously suspended for a marijuana charge in Arizona, was disbarred for defrauding a client's account and generally neglecting another client's litigation.
In the first video teleconference sentencing in federal court in Dallas since the COVID-19 crisis began, U.S. District Chief Judge Barbara Lynn this week sentenced a medical mask-wearing white-collar criminal defendant to nearly four years in prison for her role in a $1.4 million real estate title insurance scheme.
The State Bar of Texas has made its April update on disciplinary actions. Violations include an injudicious quarrel, a judicial threat and a lawyer with an apparent penchant for forging official documents.
U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary ruled Monday that requests by Forest Park Medical Center doctors and officials for a new trial are "meritless." The seven defendants were convicted last year of taking part in a massive insurance fraud scheme. The judge also criticized trial tactics employed by one of the prominent lawyers during the trial as "dirty and nasty" and a "cheap stunt." The Texas Lawbook has complete details.
Clearing out their report on disciplinary actions for 2019, the State Bar of Texas reported one disbarment, one resignation, nine suspensions and three public reprimands, including one for a South Texas county judge.
In a unanimous verdict, a Dallas federal jury found Thomas Selgas and John O. Green guilty for one count of conspiracy to defraud the federal government. Separately, jurors found Selgas guilty of tax evasion for tax years 1998-2002 and 2005.
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