Litigant’s F-word filing tells ‘geezer’ judge just what she thinks of his ‘blah, blah, blah’ finding

A litigant who was disgusted over the dismissal of most of her claims in a $10 billion federal lawsuit let the judge know just what she thought of him in a legal filing titled “Notice to f*ck this court and everything it stands for.” The pro se plaintiff, Tamah Jada…

Apr 27, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Mom files federal civil rights suit in parental fight over circumcision of boy, 4

Held in contempt of court and in hiding with her 4-year-old son because she doesn’t want him circumcised, a Florida mom started raising funds for her legal fees via social media last month. Now Heather Hironimus has filed a federal civil rights suit on the child’s behalf, contending that he…

Apr 14, 2015 4:20 PM CDT

Employer ordered to pay $270K plus $2.1M in attorney’s fees, federal judge rules

A federal judge has ordered a Minnesota employer to pay a monster $2.1 million in legal fees for work by its opposing counsel in an employment discrimination case. That’s in addition to the $100,000 for emotional distress and another $170,000, representing double the amount of lost wages, owed to the…

Apr 14, 2015 12:20 PM CDT

Amid battle over bill banning fee-shifting bylaws in Delaware, legal experts point to loophole

Among a number of proposed changes in Delaware corporate law, a bill that would ban companies from enacting fee-shifting bylaws is the most controversial. Authorized by a state supreme court decision last year, such bylaws, if they are widely adopted, potentially could significantly curtail shareholder derivative litigation in the state…

Apr 8, 2015 1:15 PM CDT

Legal costs exceed $100 per student at some public schools; $23 is billed for lawyer’s phone message

Though Chicago-area school districts spend an average of $31 per student on legal bills for private lawyers, about 10 percent of the school districts spend more than $100 a student, a newspaper’s analysis has found. School superintendents maintain that legal spending helps avoid costly lawsuits, aids in contract negotiations and…

Apr 7, 2015 8:50 AM CDT

Nursing homes ask court to nix Cohen Milstein probe and void contingency-fee pact with state AG

Saying that Pennsylvania’s state health department has exclusive authority over the regulation of nursing homes, a group of 19 facilities has sued the state attorney general over an ongoing probe by a private law firm. Its Commonwealth Court petition seeks to void a contingency-fee agreement between the AG’s office and…

Apr 6, 2015 11:20 AM CDT

Lawyer seeks $3M in damages from ex-boyfriend, for both legal fees and palimony

A Manhattan lawyer is seeking $3 million from a former client, who was also her longtime boyfriend. Christine Anderson represented Dr. G. Peta Carrera in a 1990 sexual-molestation lawsuit filed against him by a former patient, according to the New York Daily News. Anderson, 70, said she didn’t establish her…

Apr 3, 2015 2:14 PM CDT

Judge calls $600K legal fee in fast-track $1.5M settlement for woman punched by cop ‘unconscionable’

Noting that it took only about three months for a California lawyer to get a $1.5 million settlement concerning police conduct videotaped by a passing motorist, a federal judge last week described the attorney’s fee of over $600,000 charged by lawyer Caree Harper as “unconscionable.” However, although U.S. District Judge…

Mar 24, 2015 10:40 AM CDT

Ex-client sues law firm, says it withheld ‘fugly’ assessment of $12M case while billing $1.3M

Eager to rack up attorney’s fees, a California law firm withheld from a client school district its assessment of a breach of contract case as “fugly” and ran up $1.3 million in legal bills instead of trying to settle, a malpractice suit says. Filed Tuesday, the San Diego Superior Court…

Mar 19, 2015 1:00 PM CDT

After criminal case was dropped, ex-cop can sue to recoup his $1M defense costs, judge rules

A former New Jersey police officer charged with shaking down drug dealers prevailed at trial, twice, when juries could not agree to convict him. Then the government decided to drop the case against Lawrence Furlow. Now he is litigating against the city of Newark, his ex-employer, in an effort to…

Mar 5, 2015 4:15 PM CST

Many small firms face big payment problems

Mar 1, 2015 2:30 AM CST

Disbanded Heller firm isn’t entitled to profits from cases taken to new firms, ABA brief says

The ABA has filed an amicus brief in four cases that argue the disbanded Heller Ehrman law firm should not be entitled to profits from hourly-fee legal work taken to new law firms. The briefs were filed in the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in bankruptcy litigation…

Feb 27, 2015 6:00 AM CST

Class action judge orders lawyer to stop recruiting opt-out plaintiffs in oil royalty suit

An Oklahoma judge overseeing a class action against Chesapeake Energy has ordered a Texas lawyer to stop encouraging class members to opt out of a proposed settlement. Judge Jon Parsley of Beaver County issued a temporary restraining order barring the recruitment by the law firm of Fort Worth lawyer Dan…

Feb 20, 2015 6:53 AM CST

Lawmaker is federally indicted over $3.7M in claimed payments by law firms

Updated: A longtime New York state legislative leader was federally indicted Thursday on fraud and extortion charges concerning some $3.7 million in payments that he allegedly received from two law firms. In addition to serving, until recently, as the speaker of the New York Assembly, Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, also is…

Feb 19, 2015 4:50 PM CST

Judge OKs $178M in Detroit bankruptcy professional fees; Jones Day gets $58M

A federal bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved $178 million in professional fees for Detroit’s record-breaking Chapter 9 case, including $58 million to Jones Day. The award to Jones Day for what Judge Steven Rhodes described as a “singular and extraordinary contribution” followed a $17.7 million reduction by the law firm…

Feb 12, 2015 3:55 PM CST