Celebrities

Miami Heat Star Sues Estranged Wife, Lawyers Over STD Allegations

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade has filed a libel suit against his estranged wife and her lawyers for allegations in a divorce filing that he had an affair and contracted a sexually transmitted disease. The suit names as defendants the estranged wife, Siohvaughn Wade, and her lawyers, Michael Berger and…

Feb 19, 2009 1:32 PM CST

Most of Roger Clemens Defamation Suit is Dismissed

Finding that trainer Brian McNamee would have faced potential prosecution if he didn’t cooperate with an investigation by Sen. George Mitchell on steroids use in Major League Baseball, a federal judge in Houston has dismissed most of the defamation suit filed against McNamee by star pitcher Roger Clemens. Statements made…

Feb 12, 2009 10:04 PM CST

Another Star MLB Player is Charged in Steroids-Related Case: Miguel Tejada

In a week already packed with news about alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball during the past decade, another player has taken center stage. All-star shortstop Miguel Tejada of the Houston Astros (and formerly of the Baltimore Orioles) has been charged in a criminal information with lying…

Feb 11, 2009 1:20 AM CST

Excluding Steroids Tests Is Key to Barry Bonds Trial Strategy

As evidence recently made public in the Barry Bonds case makes clear, excluding blood tests that allegedly show he took steroids is key to his trial strategy in a federal obstruction of justice and perjury case. And a federal judge in San Francisco seems sympathetic to the famed slugger’s argument…

Feb 5, 2009 7:49 PM CST

Madoff Wins a Round Against Litigious Pro Se Inmate

Over the past three years, Jonathan Lee Riches has filed over 1,000 lawsuits. Among the defendants were former President George W. Bush, pop singer Britney Spears and celebrity home decorator Martha Stewart. His litigious history apparently did not help the federal prison inmate when he sought to be included in…

Jan 31, 2009 12:32 AM CST

Heath Ledger’s Daughter, 3, Settles $10M Life Insurance Legal Battle

An insurance company that had refused to pay out on a $10 million life policy after actor Heath Ledger’s death from a drug overdose, contending that it might have been a suicide excluded from coverage by the policy terms, has now agreed to a confidential settlement. ReliaStar Life Insurance Company…

Jan 30, 2009 9:22 PM CST

Hulk Hogan’s Costly Divorce Focuses on Maintenance Man’s Work

Is Hulk Hogan requiring his family’s maintenance man to work too hard? And is the former professional wrestler asking the worker to spy on Hogan’s soon-to-be ex-wife? These were some of the high-priority issues being addressed in a Florida court hearing yesterday in the latest chapter of ongoing divorce proceedings…

Jan 22, 2009 8:35 PM CST

Polanski Wins Calif. Appellate Review of Bias Claim re Child-Rape Case

A California appeals court has agreed to hear a claim by fugitive film director Roman Polanski that the criminal system has been biased in its handling of a decades-old child-rape case against him. Staying a planned Wednesday hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court, the 2nd District Court of Appeals has…

Jan 21, 2009 1:05 AM CST

The Price is Right: Bob Barker Gives $1M for New Animal Law Program at Virginia

Add the University of Virginia to a growing list of well-known law schools that are offering animal law programs thanks to the generosity of television game show host Bob Barker. Barker, perhaps best-known as the former host of the Price is Right, has just given $1 million to establish a…

Jan 13, 2009 11:35 PM CST

Process Server Visits Chief Justice John Roberts to Deliver Summons

It’s not every day that a process server’s job takes him to the home of the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. But the unusual assignment to serve Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. just over a week ago went very smoothly, Daniel Portnoy tells the Blog of Legal Times.…

Jan 12, 2009 8:45 PM CST

Skakel Lawyers: Prosecutors Withheld Evidence in Murder Case

After being convicted in 2002 of a murder committed in 1975 in upscale Greenwich, Conn., when he was a teenager, Michael Skakel has already served six years in state prison. But lawyers for the Kennedy family cousin say in a federal court motion filed late yesterday that he might have…

Jan 10, 2009 12:52 AM CST

1st Surrender, Then Contest 1977 Child-Rape Plea, Gov’t Tells Polanski

Fugitive film director Roman Polanski can’t move to have a 1977 statutory rape conviction dismissed based on claimed government misconduct until he turns himself in, a Los Angeles prosecutor contends. The issue is being argued in Los Angeles County Superior Court because lawyers for the 75-year-old resident of France have…

Jan 7, 2009 10:38 PM CST

Paris Hilton Jewelry Heist Nets $2M in Loot from her Calif. Home

A burglar has stolen an estimated $2 million in jewelry and other items from the unoccupied home of Paris Hilton in Hollywood Hills, Calif. The actress and hotel heiress wasn’t home at the time of the burglary, which apparently was perpetrated by a lone individual at around 5 a.m., according…

Dec 19, 2008 6:39 PM CST

Blank Rome Sues Rapper for Unpaid Fees

Blank Rome has sued rapper Mos Def, claiming he owes $60,000 in unpaid legal fees. The suit says the fees stem from the star’s 2006 divorce from Maria Yepes, the Am Law Daily reports. The law firm has represented several high-profile personalities in divorce proceedings. They include Donald Trump, shock…

Dec 17, 2008 5:39 PM CST

Adam Walsh Case Closed: Drifter Murdered Son of ‘Most Wanted’ Host

Updated: In a news conference this afternoon, police in Hollywood, Fla., have announced that they are closing the Adam Walsh murder case as solved. Ottis Toole, a drifter who confessed, but then recanted, concerning the 1981 abduction and murder of the 6-year-old boy is, in fact, guilty, Hollywood Police Chief…

Dec 16, 2008 8:35 PM CST