A woman convicted of luring a Peruvian to the United States with promises of job then confiscating her travel documents and forcing her to work for no pay was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday.

Maribel de la Rosa Dann was found guilty of forced labor and related charges for keeping Zoraida Pena-Canal enslaved as a household servant from summer of 2006 to the spring of 2008. Dann, a real estate agent in the affluent suburb of Walnut Creek, was also ordered to serve three years of supervised released, and ordered to pay $123,740 in restitution for back wages not paid.

Pena-Canal has a civil case pending in which she is seeking to recover the costs of her labor, emotional distress and other damages.

The victim did not want to speak in court, but in a written statement she told others who might be enduring similar circumstances, "Do not be afraid and do not be ashamed. Seek help and fight for the justice you deserve."

Attorneys and advocates said that while the public may be more familiar with human trafficking victims who are forced into prostitution, cases of forced labor like Pena-Canal's are also widespread.

A U.S. district court ruled against specialty pharmaceutical company Santarus Inc in its patent suit against Par Pharmaceuticals, sending Santarus shares tumbling 48 percent after the bell.

The suit filed by Santarus and co-plaintiff University of Missouri relates to Par's application to market a generic version of Santarus' heartburn drug, Zegerid.

The court ruled that the patents-in-suit are invalid due to obviousness. It also concluded that certain asserted claims are invalid for lack of written description.

The case is Santarus Inc et al v. Par Pharmaceutical Inc, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware. No. 07-551.

Washington, D.C. & Albany, NY – Tully Rinckey PLLC is pleased to announce the addition of attorney Brandy Hood as an associate in its Washington, D.C. law office. Ms. Hood joins the firm’s federal sector labor and employment law practice.

Ms. Hood will provide representation to federal employees in a wide range of employment and labor issues including discrimination, sexual harassment, equal pay, adverse action, and Title VII claims. She has previous experience in immigration, bankruptcy, civil litigation, and business transactions.

Prior to joining Tully Rinckey PLLC, Ms. Hood was a Judicial Extern for Honorable Lance Africk at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and a Judicial Intern for the Honorable Frederick H. Wicker at the Louisiana Fifth Circuit of Appeal. 

Ms. Hood earned her Juris Doctorate at Tulane University Law School, graduating cum laude and earning the David L. Herman Award for her high professional standards in law. In addition to her law degree, Ms. Hood holds a B.A. degree from The George Washington University.

She is admitted to practice in New York and her District of Columbia admission is pending.

For more information about Brandy Hood’s addition to Tully Rinckey PLLC or the firm’s federal labor and employment law practice, please contact Jessica Brociek at 202-787-1900 or via email at jbrociek@tullylegal.com.

A sheriff's deputy in Washington state is suing Burger King and a franchise operator over a Whopper he says a worker spit on.

Clark County Sheriff's Deputy Edward Bylsma (BILZ-muh) says in the lawsuit that he stopped for a meal at a Vancouver, Wash., Burger King early one morning in March 2009 and got an "uneasy feeling" about two of its workers.

When he checked his hamburger, the suit says, he found a big gob of spit. DNA testing matched the saliva to one of the workers, who eventually pleaded guilty to assault.

The federal court suit filed Tuesday in Portland seeks at least $75,000 and names Burger King Corp. and franchise operator Kaizen Restaurants in Beaverton.

Burger King and Kaizen said in a statement Wednesday they have "zero tolerance" for the workers' actions, and that both employees have been fired.

Susan Merrill, FINRA's former head of enforcement, has landed a new job as a partner at the New York office of the law firm Bingham McCutchen LLP. Susan Merrill, the former head of enforcement at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ( FINRA ), has landed a new job as a partner at the New York office of the law firm Bingham McCutchen LLP.

In March, FINRA announced that Merrill was stepping down at an undetermined date to return to private practice. The agency has yet to name her replacement.

At Bingham, Merrill will join the firm's broker-dealer group and will lead its enforcement practice and advise financial industry clients on regulatory and securities enforcement issues.

A Dutch appeals court has acquitted a nurse who was once sentenced to life in prison for on charges of killing several patients, and prosecutors have apologized.

Lucy de Berk, now 49, served six and a half years in prison before an extraordinary review of her conviction — which had been upheld by the country's Supreme Court — led to a retrial. A key finding was that a statistician who testified the chances of her innocence were one in 342 million had gravely miscalculated.

The country's Attorney General Harm Brouwers said Wednesday he wishes to restore De Berk's reputation. He said the state is negotiating a financial settlement and in the future will not be so quick to rely on the opinions of outside experts.

Little more than a week after the disaster, competition among lawyers to represent the families of 29 men killed in the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster has begun.

Massey Energy, the mine's owner, has deep pockets. Lawyers who represent the families could make millions in fees if they can prove company management showed a conscious and deliberate disregard for safety.

Massey has repeatedly denied all such accusations.

At least one well-known local lawyer questioned whether it's proper to seek clients so soon after the tragedy and said he could not bring himself to do it.

Law firms take so-called wrongful death cases for free. Losers earn nothing. Winners typically receive one-third of the amount awarded by the court.

On Tuesday, before all of the miners who died in the blast were buried, Underwood Law Offices, headquartered in Huntington, ran an advertisement in the Charleston newspapers and papers in the coalfields urging families of the miners to call the firm.