The head of the Colorado Real Estate Division has filed a lawsuit against her employer, claiming that her boss, Barbara Kelley, violated her rights to freedom of speech by prohibiting her from speaking to anyone in the media or her office after she was put on paid leave two months ago. Erin Toll claims in her lawsuit that she was told by Kelley not to speak to anyone or come back to the building she used to work at. Kelley also allegedly sent a memo out detailing Toll’s paid leave, which is not permitted under statute. Toll was suspended from her job in March over a spat with state Sen. Ted Harvey.

A lawsuit has been filed against Philadelphia airport officials, the FBI and the Philadelphia Police Department after they allegedly detained a college student for having English-Arabic flash cards. According to the lawsuit, Pomona College student Nicholas George was handcuffed and interrogated for five hours at Philadelphia International Airport by FBI agents who claimed he was suspicious because of the flash cards he was carrying. “No one should be treated like a criminal for simply learning one of the most widely spoken languages in the world,�?� Green said in the lawsuit.

Jurors in California have ordered Georges Marciano to pay $370 million to five former employees who claimed the Guess Jeans co-founder harassed and defamed them, the Los Angeles Times reports. According to the suit, Marciano accused the employees of stealing from him and conspiring to sell his property. Throughout the case, Marciano, now candidate for California governor, has accused the judge of bias and constitutional violations.

With the increase in online sites such RateMDs.com, DrScore and Vitals.com where patients can post reviews of doctors, more doctors are requiring patients to sign forms prohibiting any online posting without their prior approval. The enforceability and ethics of the requirement are debatable, particularly when consumers are tasked with being more informed about their healthcare choices. Critics of the online sites contend they are unreliable because they say only those individuals with bad experiences tend to post.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed a lawsuit Tuesday against telemarketers he claims violated state do-not-call laws. According to the Indianapolis Star, Zoeller filed the suit after receiving two unsolicited calls from telemarketers on his personal cell phone. The lawsuit names Mike Moneymaker of California, Fortress Secured of Nevada and SVM of California as defendants.

The New York Times’ fended off a defamation suit over an article about Sen. John McCain and a lobbyist.

The editor of the New York Times said how proud he was of one of the paper’s campaign investigations of John McCain. While another top Timesman praised the same story as “a powerful examination” of a politician’s apparent blindness to ethical concerns.

The self-back slapping from the Newspaper of Record after its success in a $27-million defamation case without paying a dime to the plaintiff, Washington lobbyist Vicki Iseman, or admitting doing anything wrong.

But winning a case is not the same as winning high journalistic ground.

Nothing changes the fact that the Times’ story about McCain and the lobbyist simply had overreached and, once again, showed that journalistic ethics is an oxymoron for the Times and that quoting anonymous sources just isn’t right.

A lawyer’s time and advice are his stock in trade, said one of our nation’s most famous lawyers, Abraham Lincoln. But in honor of President’s Day, you can have the privilege of some of Lincoln’s advice at no charge, courtesy of an article in USA Today. From the story, here are some choice pieces of Lincoln-esque advice for lawyers:

On planning and time management:

� “Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today. Never let your correspondence fall behind. Whatever piece of business you have in hand, before stopping, do all the labor pertaining to it which can then be done.”

On dealing with clients:

� “An exorbitant fee should never be claimed. As a general rule never take your whole fee in advance, nor any more than a small retainer. When fully paid beforehand, you are more than a common mortal if you can feel the same interest in the case. … Settle the amount of fee and take a note in advance … and you are sure to do your work faithfully and well.”

� “Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser � in fees, expenses, and waste of time.”

On the importance of quality and integrity:

� “If in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer.”

A California judge has ordered a new trial in a class-action lawsuit challenging early-termination fees charged to cell phone customers. In the ruling, Judge Bonnie Sabraw questioned how jurors arrived at a damage amount equal to the amount of unpaid early-termination fees charged to Sprint Nextel customers. The new trial could pave the way for plaintiffs to collect the full $299 million sought in the original lawsuit, a plaintiffs� attorney said

A woman who was denied positions at the University of Iowa law school has filed a lawsuit claiming she was not hired because of her political affiliations. According to the lawsuit, faculty who vote on hiring disqualified the plaintiff because of her conservative views and one faculty member advised her to conceal her affiliation with conservative groups if she hoped to get the job. The lawsuit seeks damages for lost income, lost benefits and emotional harm.

Asking employees for too much information about why they apply for sick leave can land employers in hot water, as evidenced by a pair of recent lawsuits. According to separate Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuits, Dillard�s Inc. and Delphi Corp. respectively violated health privacy protections by requiring workers to disclose specific details of their illnesses and in some cases employee medical records. Attorneys for employers maintain that tough tactics may sometimes be necessary to prevent sick leave abuses.