A claim against the Hispanic National Bar Association for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act has been dismissed by the federal District Court in Washington, D.C. because the Association has less than 15 employees and is therefore not considered an employer under the Act.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a sentence of 90 months in prison for a telephone solicitor convicted of conspiracy and mail fraud after a nine-day jury trial.  It has rejected the defendant’s claim that the government failed to present sufficient evidence to support his conviction, had introduced evidence materially different from the charges in the indictment, and had improperly considered his lack of remorse during sentencing.

An appellate court in Washington has refused to follow several federal Circuit Courts of Appeals and refused to permit confidential ex parte communications between an attorney representing a defendant hospital and a physician employed by an outside contractor in the operation of the hospital’s emergency room when the hospital has been sued by a patient.  The state Court of Appeals, by a vote of 2-1, has refused to expand the scope of the privilege.

A scholarship foundation caught in the middle of a multi-year squabble between its trustees seeking to oust each other from their positions must pay nearly $1.7 million in legal fees and costs incurred by the trustees during their battle, a federal District Court in Maryland has ruled.  It has held that Maryland state law provides that legal costs are “a necessary part of the cost of administering a trust,” including a successful defense against an effort to remove a trustee from office.

An outpatient surgical center owed and operated by a charitable hospital has been denied real estate tax exemption on the ground that it is not a “hospital” within the definition of the statute.  The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has reversed a trial court granting exemption to the facility.