A tipster informed us that Michael Langley, director of state Alcoholic Beverage Control, had turned up in early November on the list of attorneys suspended for failure to complete the required annual 12 hours of continuing legal education. State law requires the ABC administrator to be a licensed lawyer.
Langley said the mail notifying him of his CLE deficiency June 30 hadn’t reached him because he’s going through a divorce and living at a different address. Normally, when a lawyer receives such a notice, Langley said, he can pay $100 for a nine-month extension to catch up on hours. Informed of his shortcoming last week, Langley said he filed a petition with the Supreme Court Friday to grant a stay of the suspension and paid the $100. He said this was a technicality because he caught up on his CLE hours in October.
Favorite things
Randi Romo, a familiar local figure for her work in gay rights through her Center for Artistic Revolution, got a big surprise thanks to that work last week. A former Little Rock resident, Guy Zakrzewski, nominated her to be honored as a hero on the Oprah Winfrey show for her work against bullying of children. Romo was invited up for the show and attended with Zakrzewski. Turns out the episode they attended last Tuesday wasn’t a “heroes” segment, but Oprah’s “Favorite Things” show in which she showers her studio audience with gifts (one year a new car for each). Romo walked away with, among other things, a 52-inch Sony 3D TV, a diamond watch, a Royal Caribbean cruise, an airline ticket, a Blu Ray player, five years of Netflix, a “dream closet” from the container store, a panini maker and Jay-Z’s new book. She said she gave away many of the gifts to friends. Oprah pays the income tax on the bounty, by the way.
Out with a bang
Circuit Clerk Pat O’Brien, who leaves office Dec. 31, is going out with a bang of the gavel of all 17 circuit judges in Pulaski County. They signed an unprecedented unanimous order forbidding him from destroying paper copies of lawsuits and other legal pleadings. He is putting court records on-line and thinks paper copies are no longer necessary. The judges said the system isn’t working perfectly yet and until there’s certainty that all records will be available on-line, he should delay destruction. O’Brien has said he’ll appeal to the state Supreme Court, though the time for getting a decision before he leaves office is short. Successor Larry Crane has said he’ll delay paper destruction until judges are confident in the system.