We’re working to keep you up to date on the news during this time. To make sure Law Week is still accessible to our readers, we’re making much more of our content available online without a subscription. And for the content that might still be left off the website, we’re offering digital PDFs to our readers or the option to change your mailing address. Reach out to us for more information or to take advantage of any of those options. And let us know how we can do better!
Legal Lasso is Law Week Colorado’s daily roundup of legal news from around the state. Not already subscribed to the daily email? Sign up here! Not subscribed to Law Week Colorado? You can change that too!
LOCAL NEWS
Denver Lawyer Dies of Coronavirus
Denver attorney Mike Farley is among the Coloradans who died of COVID-19. Farley spent decades as an estate attorney in and as an advocate for racial equality. (Denver Post)
DA Backs Off Death Penalty Sentencing
Prosecutors have backed off of seeking a death sentence in a murder trial against a man accused of killing an Adams County Deputy.
Lawyers Appeals Disciplinary Decision
A Colorado lawyer who was disciplined for using a gay slur to describe a judge in a private communication with a client is appealing his suspension, saying his comment didn’t show bias.
Marijuana Dispensaries Get Updated Guidance
Last week, marijuana dispensaries were told to conduct their business through curbside sales, but according to a bulletin from the state Marijuana Enforcement Division, business can begin operating inside again.
Broomfield Considers Oil and Gas Operations
Broomfield officials are considering an order to temporarily stop an oil and gas operation because of coronavirus health concerns (Denver Post)
NATIONAL NEWS
Joe Exotic Files $94 Million Lawsuit
Joe Exotic, breakout star of the quarantine TV binge favorite “Tiger King,” is suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, his lead prosecutor, a federal agent, and a former business partner, claiming he was wrongly imprisoned.
BigLaw Firm Takes Cost-Cutting Measures
BigLaw firm Womble Bond Dickinson announced on Friday afternoon a series of cost-cutting measures as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The firm has been laying off associates, furloughing employees and cutting lawyer compensation.
Other Firm Impacts
And other firms are putting recruitment on hold as well.
Federal Judge Blocks Abortion Clinic Shutdown
A federal judge halted Texas’s temporary ban on abortions, allowing the procedure to resume despite the state’s suspension of “non-essential” procedures, which explicitly included pregnancy termination.
Texas Paid-Sick Leave Law Won’t Go Into Effect, Despite Pandemic
A federal judge in Texas also blocked Dallas from enforcing a more employee-friendly paid sick leave law just days before its penalty provision went into effect.
Have tips for upcoming editions of Legal Lasso or comments about past ones? We want to hear from you. Reach out to us at [email protected]