BP said Tuesday it has accelerated its process of approving payments for commercial claims related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, but two Miami law firms representing fisherman said the oil company’s claim forms are flawed.

BP said it approved initial payments toward 90 percent of commercial large-loss claims that have been filed as a result the ongoing oil disaster. The U.K.-based oil giant said it approved payment of 337 checks for a total of $16 million to businesses that have filed claims in excess of $5,000.

This week, the two firms, Grossman Roth, P.A. and Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP, began representing 600 fishermen from the Florida Keys Commercial Fisherman's Association. They warned that BP’s oil spill claim forms are seriously flawed.

“The claim form that BP put on its website is inadequate under the federal Oil Pollution Act,” said Andy Yaffa of Grossman Roth.

“The gaining of full ABA approval is a major achievement and comes after five and half years of dedicated work by the students, staff and faculty of Phoenix School of Law,” says Gene Clark, Interim Dean.  “This national accreditation also validates in an evidenced- based way what we have all worked so hard to achieve and sustain over a period of years —

a school and new model of legal education that is focused on achieving great student outcomes, preparing excellent lawyers who are ready for practice, and committed to serving the underserved.”

The ABA Accreditation Committee gave its positive recommendation to its Council of the Section on Legal Education and Admission in May of 2010.  The school was granted provisional approval by the ABA in 2007, meaning it was in compliance with ABA standards and had a plan to bring the school into full compliance. A school is only granted provisional approval for a maximum of five years.  In order to be granted full approval, a school must demonstrate that it has established full compliance with each of the Standards.

There are only three fully accredited law schools in Arizona:  Phoenix School of Law, the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University and the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona.  PSL is Arizona’s only stand-alone law school – not affiliated with a university.  

The Phoenix School of Law demonstrated high benchmarks to win the approval of the ABA’s Accreditation Council, including achieving the highest Bar Exam passage rates in the State for February’s exam; a career placement rate of 97% within nine months of graduation; and receiving the Law School Admissions Council’s “2010 Diversity Matters Award” for its efforts to attract students from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in the legal profession.

PhoenixLaw is located in one of only 4 major cities (Phoenix, Boston, Denver, and Atlanta) where the law school is situated in the heart of what are a major state’s financial and legal center, entertainment and sports center, state capital and international airport.  

According to the ABA, standards for approval are founded on the fact that law schools are the gateway to the legal profession. There are minimum requirements designed, developed, and implemented for the purpose of advancing the basic goal of providing a sound program of legal education.   The graduates of approved law schools can become members of the bar in all United States jurisdictions, representing all members of the public in important interests.  Law schools must ensure that its graduates understand their ethical responsibilities as attorneys for the quality and availability of justice; receive a basic education of legal theory, legal analysis, reasoning, research, problem solving and other fundamental skills needed for the legal profession; understand the basic principles of public and private law; and understand the law as a public profession calling for performance of pro bono legal services. 

A former secretary for a Hudson Valley law firm has been sentenced to up to 13 years in prison for stealing nearly $700,000 from her employer over a seven-year span.
  
Mary Merten of New Paltz was sentenced Tuesday in Ulster County Court to 4 1/3 years to 13 years and also ordered to pay more than $600,000 to the Kingston law firm where she was employed as a confidential secretary.

The judge who sentenced the 44-year-old Merten noted that her thefts forced one of the victims out of retirement and looted a child's college savings.

She pleaded guilty earlier this year to embezzling from the law firm of Riseley and Moriello.

The $625,000 she was ordered to repay to her victims was the amount agreed to during a restitution hearing.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld the city of Redondo Beach's ordinance allowing for the arrest of day laborers who approach automobiles soliciting work.

A divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower-court decision.

The appeals court said the city's ordinance, modeled after a Phoenix law upheld by the same court, was a reasonable response to traffic problems that officials said day laborers soliciting work caused at two city intersections. The 2-1 majority noted that Redondo Beach allowed the day laborers an alternative forum to seek work such as passing out literature on sidewalks and in parking lots.

Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote for the majority that "we conclude that the Redondo Beach ordinance is narrowly tailored to serve Redondo Beach's significant interests in traffic flow and safety."