Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP, a law firm that specializes in representing venture capital and start up companies, will move its New England headquarters from Boston to Waltham, Mass.

The firm leased 31,140 square feet in the Reservoir Woods office park located at 850 Winter St. in Waltham. It will move from its current location at 610 Lincoln St. in January, according to Colliers Meredith & Grew, which represented the firm in the lease negotiation. CB Richard Ellis/New England represented the landlord, Davis Marcus Partners. The lease’s financial details were not disclosed.

The 180,000-square-foot building at 850 Winter St. was built in 2008 and is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, per the U.S. Green Building Commission.

A Florida appeals court has chastised a judge for granting extensions in a foreclosure case for compassionate reasons.

The Third District Court of Appeal ruled last week that Circuit Judge Valerie Manno Schurr could not grant extensions solely on grounds of benevolence or compassion.

Schurr had given a Miami couple an extra month to sell their house. The judge said in court she understands times are bad and that she hates to see anyone lose a home.

The appeals judges ruled that the law doesn't allow compassion or benevolence alone to be used as the basis for such a decision. The court said the continuance was an abuse of judicial discretion and the one-month delay should not have been granted.

The house was sold at auction last week for $1.3 million.

The former chief of staff for Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons has opened a Reno office for a national law firm.

Josh Hicks will work for Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. The firm's work includes lobbying federal, state and local governments. It is expanding its government relations group.

Hicks left his post as Gibbons' chief of staff this summer. He had also served earlier as the governor's legal counsel.

Hicks will focus on public policy, administrative law, Nevada tax law and election law.

The firm made the announcement on Monday.

A federal judge says a New York businessman accused of orchestrating a $413 million Ponzi scheme has violated conditions of his release on bail.

But U.S. District Court Judge Denis Hurley allowed Nicholas Cosmo to remain free pending a Friday hearing on whether to revoke his $1.25 million bail package.

Hurley agreed with prosecutors following a two-day hearing that Cosmo violated bail conditions by using a computer, and asking his girlfriend to download some of his business e-mails.

The former head of Long Island-based Agape (uh-GAH'-pay) World and Agape Merchant Advance in New York City has pleaded not guilty to charges he fleeced some 6,000 people.

He was released in July provided he remain under house arrest at his parent's Wantagh (WAHN'-tah) home, which includes monitoring by a private security firm.

A Maryland man calmly described to detectives how he methodically drowned his three young children by holding them underwater in a hotel bathtub for 10 minutes each — a confession that was recorded by police and played in court Wednesday.

Mark A. Castillo, 43, of Rockville faces trial on three counts of first-degree murder in the March 2008 deaths of his children: 6-year-old Anthony, 4-year-old Austin and 2-year-old Athena. His attorneys contend that he is not criminally responsible for the slayings — Maryland's version of an insanity plea.

Castillo's attorneys are trying to prevent his two statements to police from being admitted as evidence at trial. Prosecutors played a tape of the first of those statements for the judge Wednesday to verify its authenticity. The jury has not yet been chosen.

Asked by homicide Detective Raymond Yost why he killed his children, Castillo let out a long sigh before describing a custody battle with his former wife.

"We've been going through an extremely hard divorce. ... My wife had denied my visitation," Castillo said. "I felt like I didn't want them to be in this world anymore."

Castillo described how he took his children to the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore and then checked into a Marriott hotel downtown.

Courts spokesman David Bookstaver says the jury notified a judge Thursday that it had reached a decision in its 11th day of deliberating on the criminal charges against Astor's son and an estate lawyer.

The verdict is expected to be announced at 2:15 p.m.

The jury's notice came as the judge was preparing to ask them whether they had a verdict on any charge in the 18-count indictment. He didn't get the chance.

The late socialite's son, Anthony Marshall, and lawyer Francis Morrissey deny looting her nearly $200 million estate.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday said he would nominate a pair of Northeastern judges to appeals court positions.

Judge Denny Chin, a district court judge for the Southern District of New York, and Rhode Island Superior Court Justice O. Rogeriee Thompson were tapped for positions. If confirmed by the Senate, Chin would serve as a judge in the 2nd Circuit, based in New York, and Thompson would serve in the Boston-based 1st Circuit.

"Judges Chin and Thompson have displayed exceptional dedication to public service throughout their careers," Obama said in a statement. "They have served on the bench with distinction in New York and Rhode Island, and I am honored to nominate them today to serve the American people on the United States Court of Appeals."

Chin was born in Hong Kong and moved to the United States at the age of 2. A Princeton University and Fordham Law School graduate, he clerked in the Southern District of New York and worked in private practice. He was an assistant U.S. attorney for four years before returning to private law.