On the surface, Heidi Short’s job isn’t very exciting. She’s a land-use and zoning attorney with Phoenix-based law firm Fennemore Craig PC.

But it’s what Short does with the information she gleans from local zoning and permit applications that has piqued people’s interest, and it’s emblematic of the changing face of media and information.

Short pens the Arizona Dirt Lawyer blog on the Valley’s restaurant scene. She uses city agendas to figure out restaurant and bar openings and expansions before they become public knowledge. She launched the blog in May and spends about five to 10 hours a week posting information.

Recent blog posts mention new restaurants opening in Biltmore Fashion Park and downtown Scottsdale, as well as the reopening of Richardson’s restaurant in Phoenix, which had been damaged by fire.

Short’s blog is one of the growing number of examples of how the information landscape is changing and traditional media no longer have a monopoly on news. There are hosts of blogs in large markets such as Phoenix, offering niche and specialized information on local sports teams, politics, restaurants, technology and public relations.

A New Jersey judge ordered two law firms to pay $1.96 million in legal fees after sanctioning them for filing frivolous litigation they pursued on behalf of billionaire Ronald Perelman.

Superior Court Judge Ellen Koblitz imposed the fees on Paul Weiss Rifkin Wharton & Garrison LLP of New York and Lowenstein Sandler PC of Roseland, New Jersey. Koblitz ruled the firms filed a frivolous amended complaint for the estate of Perelman’s late wife, Claudia Cohen, in seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from her father, Robert Cohen, and brother James Cohen.

The judge said the evidence in the case should have convinced the firms that Robert Cohen didn’t make an oral promise before 1978 to leave Claudia as much of his estate as James would get. Koblitz said Paul Weiss, which made $650 million in revenue in 2009, and Lowenstein Sandler, which made $183 million, were unrepentant.

“A monetary sanction will discourage a repetition of frivolous litigation, especially in light of the lack of acknowledgement of wrongdoing,” Koblitz ruled Aug. 20 in Hackensack, New Jersey. “Without remorse, or any acknowledgement of wrongdoing, how can they reassure the court that this behavior will not reoccur?”

Koblitz, who dismissed the lawsuit last year after a trial, said that while Lowenstein Sandler now has an internal method to safeguard against frivolous litigation, Paul Weiss claims it has never been sanctioned for that reason in the 100-year history of the firm.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-27/law-firms-paul-weiss-lowenstein-sandler-sanctioned-in-perelman-case.html

A attorney has been suspended by the South Carolina Supreme Court, barring him from practicing law in the state for two years.

According to documents filed last month, Jeffrey Scott Holcombe of Irmo admitted misconduct and consented to the disciplinary action. The matter was brought before the Supreme Court by the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

Holcombe admitted to the court he violated several provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct to provide competent representation, acting with reasonable diligence and promptness and holding client property in his possession separate from the lawyer's own property.

The court cited three matters in reaching its decision to suspend Holcombe from practicing law. Holcombe represented a client who had been injured on a cruise ship while he worked with one law firm. After leaving the firm, Holcombe's lack of action on the case caused the stature of limitations to run out on the client's claim against the cruise line.

The court documents also showed Holcombe didn't notify another client of the outcome of his post-conviction relief matter. He also failed to respond to the Disciplinary Counsel's initial inquiry into the matter.

Fort Lauderdale law firm Conrad & Scherer said it is joining forces with Miami law firm Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton to recover millions of dollars lost to Scott Rothstein’s Ponzi scheme.

William Scherer filed suit last year against Rothstein’s now-defunct firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, on behalf of several defrauded investors. The suit seeks to recover $160 million from Rothstein’s $1.2 billion scheme.

Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton was brought in to “provide the additional expert attorneys and support staff we need to successfully pursue such a massive and complex court case,” Scherer said in a news release.

Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton specializes in complex commercial litigation and bankruptcy matters.

Scherer’s lawsuit is believed to be the largest civil lawsuit in Broward County court history.