Thomas B Scheffey

April 20, 2014 | Connecticut Law Tribune

After the 2008 economic crash, business boomed for companies that promised consumers help in addressing credit card debt. But it turns out some debt negotiation firms were much better at collecting fees than solving debtors' problems.

By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY

6 minute read

March 21, 2014 | Law.com

In the mid-1980s, it became clear to Congress that some of the worst doctors in the country were able to commit shocking malpractice in one state after another, with relative impunity. State health departments and medical boards weren't sharing their records, and negligent or incompetent doctors went undetected for years.

By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY

6 minute read

March 14, 2014 | Connecticut Law Tribune

Increasingly angry tactics have been pervading the public inquiry into family court custody reform, triggering a fight-or-flight response from top members of the family bar. Some are ready to throw in the towel, or at least take a long timeout.

By Thomas B. Scheffey

7 minute read

March 07, 2014 | Connecticut Law Tribune

Spurred by fears that images and sounds from the Newtown massacre would wind up on the Internet or in a rumored Michael Moore documentary, Connecticut lawmakers hastily passed a law last June that prohibits the release of any homicide scene photos and some audio recordings under the state Freedom of Information Act.

By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY

5 minute read

February 21, 2014 | Connecticut Law Tribune

In the Legislature, the battlefield where issues of public accountability and personal privacy clash, and where the Freedom of Information Act gains or loses strength, is the Government Administration and Elections Committee, or GAE.

By Thomas B. Scheffey

6 minute read

February 14, 2014 | Connecticut Law Tribune

Appellate lawyer Daniel Klau is like the goalie in a soccer game who's just lost a 1-0 game, with the winning goal booted in by the referee. The deciding legal issue in his case was interjected at the appeal stage by the Appellate Court itself. Since then, Klau has been asking, "Is this really possible?"

By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY

7 minute read

February 07, 2014 | Connecticut Law Tribune

By not hiring a lawyer, Rocky Hill optometrist Robert Aube might have thought he was saving a bit of time and money when, in March 2007, he wrote a letter to his optical lab manager, Norma Cruz, about her employment. What was supposed to be a simplification has become a story about the limits of labor-saving devices in employment contracts.

By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY

7 minute read

January 31, 2014 | Connecticut Law Tribune

In advance of Super Bowl XLVIII in the New Jersey Meadowlands, flight attendants were told to be on the lookout for underage girls traveling to the Northeast. The concern was that the teens were being imported by human sex traffickers to be peddled as prostitutes for those attending football's biggest game.

By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY

8 minute read

January 24, 2014 | Connecticut Law Tribune

At the Connecticut Supreme Court, a haze of smoke still hovers from the 2003 Greenwood Health Center nursing home fire in Hartford. In an insurance dispute with $9 million in the balance, there has been pivotal new voting by three justices, and an unexplained vote reversal over the past two months.

By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY

6 minute read

January 10, 2014 | Connecticut Law Tribune

The Freedom of Information Act amendment requires the police agency to provide at least one of the following: an arrest report, incident report, news release or some similar report of the arrest.

By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY

8 minute read