Thomas Scheffey

April 22, 2002 | The Legal Intelligencer

Mining products liability and First Amendment law, a district judge in Connecticut found no grounds to sue the makers of the Mortal Kombat video game in the stabbing death of 13-year-old Noah Wilson four-and-a-half years ago.

By Thomas Scheffey

4 minute read

August 18, 2000 | Law.com

The aggressive settlement-buying industry -- those folks who advertise on TV to turn an income stream into cash -- just scored a narrow victory in Connecticut's top court. In the latest battle of an ongoing national war between insurers and factors, both sides have declared victory.

By Thomas Scheffey

4 minute read

August 09, 2000 | Law.com

The music industry is scared of pirate ships, the best-known of which is Napster. But just a few years ago, the VCR was vilified as a tool for pirates, as Napster is today. Determining who pays, and how, is the critical question of such technological breakthroughs. And the challenge of designing a new legal and commercial model is intriguing, say the experts.

By Thomas Scheffey

4 minute read

September 12, 2000 | Law.com

In their wills Charles and Kelly Silk said they wanted Chad and Sara Prigge to raise their children. But after the Silks and two of their children died in a grisly murder-suicide, a series of "clearly improper" actions by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families intervened to undo their desire to have the Prigges raise their remaining children.

By Thomas Scheffey

5 minute read

March 21, 2000 | Law.com

Eight of the nation's major movie studios, battling the spread of a computer program which removes DVD copy-protection, have the creator of a computer hacking Web site in their crosshairs. Paramount, Disney, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, MGM, Tri-Star and Time-Warner are joining in a concerted federal court action in Hartford, Conn., to keep the Web site designer from offering downloads of a recently-discovered "key" to the DVD's encryption.

By Thomas Scheffey

8 minute read

October 08, 2001 | Law.com

Alleging that he shouted at students and was derelict in his duties, Connecticut school authorities demanded that Thomas O'Connor, a high school teacher, submit to a mental health exam by a school-chosen doctor. O'Connor's attorney, Leon Rosenblatt, is seeking a federal injunction against what he calls an "overbearing bureaucracy which is ... downright hostile to the constitutional right of privacy."

By Thomas Scheffey

5 minute read

January 15, 2002 | Connecticut Law Tribune

When they think they`re right, the Good Hands folks can be an Iron Fist. That`s what Bridgeport Superior Court Judge A. William Mottolese found when he tried to press an Allstate Insurance adjuster to go up $400 to meet a claimant`s $2,450 demand in an minor auto case.

By THOMAS SCHEFFEY Law Tribune Staff Writer

5 minute read

January 18, 2002 | Connecticut Law Tribune

Seven men named John Doe who wanted to establish a drug and alcohol recovery residence in a West Haven single-family neighborhood were told they couldn`t for lack of kinship.

By THOMAS SCHEFFEY

4 minute read

December 08, 2000 | Law.com

Not long ago, the expression "see you in court" was a hollow threat, especially in Connecticut's urban centers, where a backlog of 24,000 civil cases created a delay of three to four years between filing and trial. Now, due to more judges, bigger budgets and new ideas, that trend is reversing.

By Thomas Scheffey

6 minute read

February 15, 2001 | Law.com

Friends counseled William J. "Tocco" Sullivan that as chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, he might want to lose the nickname. No way. Before the legislative Judiciary Committee last month, he opened with "I'm Tocco Sullivan." The story behind the name is a quirky tale, but Sullivan would rather focus on his plans to demystify the supreme court for everyone from schoolchildren to trial judges.

By Thomas Scheffey

6 minute read