Thomas Scheffey

May 28, 2002 | Connecticut Law Tribune

According to New Haven lawyer R. Wynne Bohonnon, there`s a hole in the law that prevents lawyers from helping clients with a recurrent problem.

By THOMAS SCHEFFEY Law Tribune Staff Writer

4 minute read

April 17, 2001 | Law.com

A profession being tested by technological changes became the central theme at the annual meeting of the nation's oldest bar association April 11. Connecticut Supreme Court Justice William J. Sullivan, the keynote speaker at the Hartford Bar Association meeting, spoke about the rapid technology-driven changes in the work of lawyers. In particular, he saluted the advent of computer word-searching for precedent.

By Thomas Scheffey

3 minute read

September 08, 2000 | Law.com

The Connecticut jury that refused to find Microsoft a dangerous monopolist 14 months ago was way off -- by a factor of a million to one, ruled U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in a stunning decision on punitive damages.

By Thomas Scheffey

4 minute read

April 05, 2002 | Connecticut Law Tribune

One of the highest tests of attorney professionalism is the rule that a privileged document, accidentally released to opposing counsel, must promptly be returned unread.

By THOMAS SCHEFFEY Law Tribune Staff Writer

4 minute read

November 29, 1999 | Law.com

He's got a ring through his nose, but what's going through his head? That's what trial lawyers wonder about jurors aged 25-34, or Generation X-ers. And whether you're a defense lawyer or a plaintiffs' lawyer, the news may not be good. Although litigators old enough to remember D-Day or the Kennedy assassination have a pretty good idea of how to read people who grew up during the Depression or Vietnam, Gen-Xers are another thing entirely, says Elizabeth Foley, who just wrote a book on the subject.

By Thomas Scheffey

6 minute read

December 20, 2000 | Law.com

When Hartford, Conn.'s John I. Haymond and Philadelphia's Marvin Lundy teamed up to launch a five-state personal injury practice, they envisioned a steady stream of work. They never foresaw how much of it would come from suing each other. Starting with Lundy's objections to Haymond's telemarketing plans, the strife between the lawyers has snowballed to include fraud, ethics, and RICO charges.

By Thomas Scheffey

5 minute read

October 06, 2000 | Law.com

Seven Catholic priests won the right to intervene in a contentious sex abuse case, to fight disclosure of their personnel files. A Connecticut Appellate Court panel allowed the "John Doe" priests to intervene for the limited purpose of defending their own reputations, employing a broader interpretation of the term "interest" than the state's 1879 intervention rule permits.

By Thomas Scheffey

4 minute read

February 05, 2000 | Law.com

Last year, attorneys general across the country watched state lawmakers snatch up $207 billion in settlement money from the tobacco industry for potholes and tax refunds, often with less than 10 percent of the cash actually going to the anti-smoking programs they advocated: campaigns to discourage underage smoking, encourage smokers to quit and snuff out costs of tobacco use. Now a new wave of lawyers is attempting to wrest the billions from lawmakers, and pay the funds directly to poor Medicaid recipients.

By Thomas Scheffey

6 minute read

January 05, 2001 | Law.com

Employment defense lawyers sometimes admit feeling a distinct disadvantage before a jury since any employers on a jury are likely to be outnumbered by employees. In the case of secretary Peggy Farrior, this bias pattern was first affirmed, then soundly refuted. In the decade it took for Farrior's case to play out -- including two trials -- she turned from victim to culprit.

By Thomas Scheffey

5 minute read

September 17, 2001 | Law.com

Wilbert Shaw may have been clever and greedy, using a descrambler to get free pay-per-view movies from his cable TV company, Charter Communications. But Charter turned out to be a bit cleverer -- and a whole lot greedier -- when it made a federal case of it. If Charter Communications' estimate of descrambling damages was right, said the judge, Shaw has apparently accomplished the task of finding more than 24 hours in a day.

By Thomas Scheffey

3 minute read