Thomas Scheffey

October 23, 2007 | National Law Journal

After showing his students a film interview with a pimp, a controversial University of Connecticut School of Law professor will return in the spring to teach three courses, but not one on feminist legal theory. Robert L. Birmingham was asked to take a leave of absence after he used the film clip from a documentary on prostitution during a Remedies course and a later seminar. Birmingham's supporters say he often strays from conventional teaching to provoke conversation.

By Thomas Scheffey

3 minute read

April 30, 2002 | Law.com

In an extraordinary move, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has sued an agency his office represents, the Connecticut Siting Council, in the state's superior, appellate and supreme courts, attempting to stay installation of a massive underwater cable to feed electric power to Long Island, N.Y. The situation is prompting a separate power question: Does the AG have the authority to bring such a suit?

By Thomas Scheffey

3 minute read

August 07, 2002 | Law.com

In the tradition of its clinics on criminal law and civil rights, the University of Connecticut School of Law is offering students hands-on courses to aid those whom the law has largely overlooked. Aliens seeking asylum can find legal counsel at the new Asylum and Human Rights Clinic, while parents battling the state for their children will be the subject of a new appellate clinic.

By Thomas Scheffey

3 minute read

February 25, 2002 | Law.com

Most insurance litigation managers wouldn't send a high stakes personal injury auto case to a lawyer who'd never tried one before. But that's exactly what Peter Hancock of The Hartford Financial Services Group did when he recommended giving criminal trial attorney James W. Bergenn his first such trial. "It's thinking outside the box," said Hancock, whose unconventional strategy paid off.

By Thomas Scheffey

3 minute read

October 29, 2007 | Connecticut Law Tribune

University of Connecticut School of Law Professor Robert L. Birmingham agreed to take a leave of absence this fall after a video he was showing in class paused on the image of an exotic dancer. Now school officials say Birmingham will return to teach three courses in the spring semester, but not a class he has taught before: Feminist Legal Theory.

By THOMAS SCHEFFEY

4 minute read

August 03, 2000 | Law.com

When attorneys Kenneth G. Bartlett and Walter C. Bansley filed suit against insurers Progressive and Nationwide, they had no idea their two clients were just the beginning. The insurers allegedly persuaded the two to settle claims in the 15-day period after their car accidents. But it is unlawful for adverse parties to solicit releases during that time. The lawyers wondered how many more were out there.

By Thomas Scheffey

1 minute read

December 15, 2000 | Law.com

Central Connecticut's afternoon daily, the Journal Inquirer, is waging a legal battle against The Hartford Courant that evokes the classic Sunday comic "There Ought to Be a Law." The six-day-a-week JI publishes many of the same comic strips as the seven-day-a-week Courant, so why can't it secure rights to the coveted Sunday funnies? Now, a judge has ruled there is a law, and the JI deserves a day in court.

By Thomas Scheffey

1 minute read

November 02, 2000 | Law.com

A consumer who bought a computer with Microsoft Windows does not have standing to sue Microsoft for antitrust violations because he didn't buy the software directly from the company, a Connecticut judge ruled. Anthony Vacco's suit to recover the "monopoly pricing" cost of the Windows 98 software on his computer is similar to scores of antitrust and unfair trade cases around the nation.

By Thomas Scheffey

1 minute read

April 24, 2002 | Law.com

A federal judge in Connecticut found no grounds to sue the makers of the "Mortal Kombat" video game in the stabbing death of a 13-year-old boy. Noah Wilson was killed with a kitchen knife by a playmate who Wilson's mother charged was "addicted" to the gruesome interactive video game. But the judge held that the video game isn't a "product" and is shielded by the First Amendment.

By Thomas Scheffey

4 minute read

April 08, 2002 | Law.com

In litigation over Robert R. Radil's illicit cable descrambler business, cable supplier AT&T has managed to win some of the highest per-household awards ever imposed for residential use -- more than $46,000 for a single box in two cases. However, a recent 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision has construed the term "violation" to occur when a descrambler box is purchased and installed -- not every time it's used.

By Thomas Scheffey

3 minute read