When President George W. Bush and his lawyers were insisting the commander in chief had the sole power to run the new "war on terror," Judge Diane Wood sharply criticized that view.

Wood, now on President Obama's list as a possible Supreme Court nominee, wrote in a 2003 Chicago law review article that "in a democracy, those responsible for national security must do more than say ‘trust us, we know best.' " Secret prisons and secret evidence do not comport with the rule of law, she said.

When the Bush administration argued that a Chinese Muslim could be held indefinitely as a Guantanamo Bay prisoner because he had gone to Afghanistan and may have "associated" with the Taliban, Judge Merrick Garland disagreed.

Garland, also on Obama's short list for the Supreme Court, wrote two years ago for the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington that "Lewis Carroll notwithstanding, the fact that the government has ‘said it thrice' does not make the allegation true." There was no evidence that the Uighurs were "enemy combatants," he said.

A U.S. senator urged the State Department on Monday to deny entry to the United States for all Russian officials allegedly responsible for the prison death of a lawyer.

Sergey Magnitsky died in November after spending almost a year in jail. He was awaiting trial on tax-evasion charges linked to his work with a British investor barred from Russia because of allegations he was a security risk.

Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., released a letter he wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asking her to deny entry to the United States of several senior officials from the Russian Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service and the Federal Tax Service.

Magnitsky's colleagues and attorney believe the public officials listed by Cardin were involved in the lawyer's death.

"We can take the concrete action to ensure those public officials and others who share responsibility for this crime should be denied entry visas to the United States," Cardin wrote. "Since the death, a number of prison officials have been fired, but no one has been prosecuted for his torture or death, nor for participating in the corruption he exposed."

With tragedy comes an outpouring of support but an area law firm's way of helping is raising some eyebrows.

Underwood Law Firm wasted no time putting ads in local newspapers a week after the deadly blast killed 29 miners at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County.

Attorney Mark Underwood says he stands by his decision; especially because he says benefit packages are often difficult to understand.

"I think it was perfect timing in light of the fact that Massey came out with a benefits package the very next day," Underwood said.

Underwood said his grandfather was killed in an industrial accident years ago. His family understands what happens following the funeral with emotions running high, and the daunting task of legal paperwork.

"The family members that would be considering those benefit packages need to seek some sort of legal counsel whether it's our firm, another firm, a friend or a neighbor that's a lawyer," Underwood said. "They need to go and sit down and talk to a lawyer before they agree to anything with Massey."

But how soon, is too soon? It's a question many people started asking as ads popped up before all the funerals had even been finished.

The Shuman Law Firm today announced that it is investigating potential breaches of fiduciary duty by certain officers and directors at Ormat Technologies Inc.

The investigation concerns whether the Company's directors and officers caused the Company to issue materially false and/or misleading financial statements. These statements eventually resulted in the Company restating its financial results.

On February 24, 2010, Ormat disclosed that the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of the Company, upon recommendation of management and after discussions with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, had concluded that the Company's financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2008 required restatement and should no longer be relied upon. The Company restated its results because it improperly capitalized costs incurred in connection with the exploration and development of certain properties that it did not plan to develop. Upon this news, the price of Ormat stock declined more than 12.81% over the three days following the disclosure of this announcement.

If you currently own shares of Ormat and are interested in discussing your rights as an Ormat shareholder, or have information relating to this investigation, please contact Kip B. Shuman or Rusty E. Glenn toll free at 866-974-8626 or email Mr. Shuman at kip@shumanlawfirm.com or Mr. Glenn at rusty@shumanlawfirm.com.

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP is pleased to announce that the firm's chairman of the executive committee, Guy N. Halgren, has been re-elected to a fourth consecutive, three-year term leading the firm.  Halgren was first elected to this management role in 2001.  Halgren is the first Sheppard Mullin chairman to hold this position for four terms.  

"Our partnership is very fortunate to have Guy at the helm for another term.  He's smart, fair and forward-thinking," said Benjamin R. Mulcahy, New York-based partner and member of the executive committee.  "Guy has been instrumental in growing the firm in terms of size, locations, and practice areas, while preserving Sheppard Mullin's tradition of collegiality and entrepreneurship."  

Sheppard Mullin has experienced significant growth in the past nine years.  The number of attorneys is now more than 500, which is more than 70% greater than the firm's attorney headcount in 2001.  During the same time period, the firm has geographically grown from a California firm, to a national firm with locations in New York and Washington, D.C., to an international firm with an office in Shanghai.  The firm currently has a total of eleven offices, having significantly expanded from four locations in 2001.

Comparing 2001 to 2009, gross revenue has climbed from $149 million to $361 million.  Practice area growth has occurred in a number of ways, including the establishment of an institutional entertainment and media practice in 2003, the significant growth of the firm's Intellectual Property practice group in recent years, and the strengthening of signature practices: Antitrust, Corporate, Finance & Bankruptcy, Government Contracts, Labor & Employment, Litigation, Real Estate/Land Use and Tax.  

Additionally, Sheppard Mullin's Business Trial practice group co-chair, Robert S. Beall, has been re-elected as the firm's managing partner for another three-year term.  He has held this firm management position since 2005.  Beall, based in the firm's Orange County office, has also been re-elected to the firm's executive committee for another three-year term. 

"I'm very pleased that Robert has agreed to serve as the firm's managing partner for another term.  Our talents complement each other.  The firm could not have made the tremendous progress it has without Robert's contributions,"  Halgren commented.

Partner Judy V. Davidoff has been elected to the executive committee for a three-year term.  Davidoff, based in the San Francisco office, has served as Real Estate/Land Use practice group co-chair and also as one of the firm's alternative fee czars.

About Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

Sheppard Mullin is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with 550 attorneys in 11 offices located in the United States and Asia.  Since 1927, companies have turned to Sheppard Mullin to handle corporate and technology matters, high stakes litigation and complex financial transactions.  In the U.S., the firm's clients include more than half of the Fortune 100.  For more information, please visit www.sheppardmullin.com. 

The Washington state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a man's undocumented immigrant status in the U.S. should not have been introduced in a trial while the man sought damages in a negligence lawsuit against a construction contractor.

In a 7-2 ruling, the state's high court reversed a state Court of Appeals decision to uphold a jury verdict against Alex Salas.

The question before the court revolved around the issue of whether Salas' immigration status affects his claim for future wages, given that he is illegally in the country.

The jury found the construction contractor had been negligent but did not award any monetary damages to him.

"I knew justice wasn't being done," said Salas' attorney Robert B. Kornfeld. "Here you have someone who violates (workers' safety) and they get away with it, because this guy was undocumented? That wasn't right."

A Mexican native, Salas was working on a construction project in Seattle in 2002 when he fell from a ladder provided by Hi-Tech Erectors.