At the law firm of Adorno & Yoss, diversity is not an afterthought, nor is it a marketing ploy to gain new business.

No, diversity -- doing business with and hiring minorities -- is front and center at Adorno & Yoss, the largest minority-owned law firm in the nation. With about 300 lawyers in 20 offices around the country, and a Fortune 200 client list, the Florida-based law firm has emerged as one of the premier law offices in the nation. The company, which has two offices in Latin America, is also a member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council.

"We are seeing what is happening with the population in this country," said Florida-based Henry Adorno, CEO and co-founder of Adorno & Yoss. "Being able to understand that and being able to communicate with our clients gives us the competitive advantage."

The U.S. government argued on Friday that it should be allowed access to people's cell-phone records to help track suspected criminals.

A Justice Department attorney urged a federal appeals court in Philadelphia to overturn lower court rulings denying it the right to seek information from communications companies about the call activity of specific numbers that authorities believe are associated with criminal activity.

But civil rights lawyers argued that providing information such as dates, times and call duration, and which cell towers the calls used, would be an invasion of privacy and a violation of constitutional protections against unjustified arrest.

Smith & Nephew Plc, Europe’s largest maker of shoulder and knee implants, was awarded $4.7 million in a patent-infringement trial against smaller rival Arthrex Inc. over a device to fix a graft to a bone.

Arthrex said in a statement it will appeal the Feb. 12 jury decision and is “confident the verdict will be overturned on appeal.” It said it doesn’t expect the verdict will interrupt sales of its RetroButton ACL graft fixation product. Smith & Nephew said it will seek a court order to halt sales of some devices.

The dispute is over the attachment of the grafts used to replace the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, in the knee that connects the femur bone in the thigh with the tibia bone in the shin. It’s one of the most commonly injured ligaments during athletic activity. The grafts are ligaments taken from other parts of the body, typically the hamstring, patella or Achilles region, said Smith & Nephew spokesman Joe Metzger.

“Smith & Nephew has a long and proud history of providing medical devices that help surgeons to deliver positive patient outcomes,” Mike Frazzette, president of Smith & Nephew Endoscopy, said in a statement. “As a result, we will vigorously protect our intellectual property rights against Arthrex and other companies that infringe our patents.”

The man accused of strangling his ex-girlfriend - defense attorney Margaret Allen - and killing a witness in the case will make his first court appearance at 2 p.m. today in Butler County Common Pleas Court.

Calvin McKelton, 32, will be arraigned on an 11-count indictment charging him with aggravated murder, murder, two counts of felonious assault, abuse of a corpse, intimidation of a witness, tampering with evidence, aggravated robbery, aggravated arson and two charges of domestic violence.
Allen’s body was found at Schmidt Field in Cincinnati’s East End in July 2008.

Prosecutors are expected to release more details about the case today, including information about the dead witness.

McKelton was arrested Friday afternoon near Lexington Avenue and Reading Road in Avondale by the U.S. Marshals’ Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

An out-of-town jury will hear the murder trial of a central Missouri teenager accused of slaying a 9-year-old neighbor girl because she wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone.

A judge decided Tuesday to select a jury from outside of Cole County as an alternative to a request by Alyssa Bustamante's attorneys to move the trial elsewhere.

Bustamante, who was 15 at the time of the crime, is charged as an adult with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Oct. 21 slaying of Elizabeth Olten. She has pleaded not guilty.

Authorities say Bustamante plotted Elizabeth's death — digging two holes several days in advance — then strangled her without provocation, cut the girl's throat and stabbed her. They say Bustamante confessed in a police interview to slaying Elizabeth because she wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone.

Hundreds of volunteers helped during a two-day search for the missing fourth-grader. Authorities say Bustamante ultimately led them to Elizabeth's body, which was concealed in a wooded area near the girls' homes just west of Jefferson City.

Commercial law firm Carson McDowell has promoted four associates to partners of the firm, reflecting the growth of the business.

The firm, which has over 100 people working in its Belfast office, made Emma Cooper a partner in its property practice, Stuart Murphy a partner in construction, Dawn McKnight a partner in corporate and commerical and Leigh Linton a partner in litigation.

Senior partner Alan Reilly said “These promotions reflect the growth which we are still experiencing within the firm.

About 25 law firms seeking class action status for lawsuits filed against Toyota Motor Corp. in more than 20 states have formed a consortium, an attorney coordinating the group said Thursday.

Approximately 20 other lawsuits seeking class action status on behalf of consumers also have been filed against the automaker because of accelerator problems that have led to the recall of more than 8 million automobiles.

Those 40 suits do not include individual personal injury claims that consumers have filed against Toyota.

Tim Howard, coordinator of the Attorneys Toyota Action Consortium, said a court hearing on whether all the class action cases will be consolidated is expected March 25 before a multidistrict panel in U.S. District Court in San Diego.

Mr. Howard is a professor of law and policy at Northeastern University and an attorney at Howard Associates P.A. in Tallahassee, Fla.

The lawsuits seeking class action status share common allegations that consumers lost value in and the use of their cars because of defective parts that sparked the recall.