In rare criminal case award, government must pay record $580K to defense lawyers over mistrial

In a ruling seldom seen in a criminal case, a Canadian judge has ordered the government to pay a record $580,000 to criminal defense lawyers after a mistrial. The Tuesday award in an Ontario Superior Court kidnapping case is intended to cover the entire cost to the defense of the…

May 8, 2014 5:25 PM CDT

2 new tools allow you to compare major firms’ billing rates

May 1, 2014 8:20 AM CDT

Supreme Court eases standard for award of attorney fees in patent litigation

The Federal Circuit’s standards for the award of attorney fees in patent cases are “unduly rigid,” the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. The Supreme Court issued opinions in two attorney fee cases today, including one cast as an avenue to deter frivolous litigation by patent trolls. The opinions ease the…

Apr 29, 2014 2:56 PM CDT

Law firm’s revised debt-collection letter results in $49.5K settlement of federal class action

A New Jersey law firm and a co-defendant have agreed to pay, and a federal judge on Tuesday approved, a $49,500 class action settlement over the language Mattleman, Weinroth & Miller used in a collection letter. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act specifies what must be said in the so-called…

Apr 17, 2014 3:10 PM CDT

Judge orders AIG to pay $7M to injured lawyer over insurer’s bad-faith conduct in accident case

Blasting a major insurance company for what he called unfair settlement practices in an egregious case, a Massachusetts judge Tuesday ordered American International Group Inc. to pay at least $7 million to a lawyer hit by a bus making a left turn as a he crossed a street in Boston.…

Apr 11, 2014 6:10 PM CDT

Civil rights suit by outside counsel over city’s unpaid legal bill is OK’d by federal judge

A Connecticut lawyer known for her litigation against the city of Bridgeport and its school district is pursuing a new claim on her own behalf. Josephine Miller says in a federal lawsuit that the city attorney violated her civil rights by paying a white attorney who served as outside counsel…

Apr 9, 2014 5:20 PM CDT

Law firm leader’s divorce is over, but bad breakup with his matrimonial attorney is ongoing

It took a little over a year for a 2012 divorce case between attorney Chris Hesse and his ex-wife to be resolved with a consent judgment. But a bad breakup between the managing partner of a 16-attorney employment boutique based in St. Louis and his former matrimonial counsel is still…

Apr 7, 2014 6:14 PM CDT

Federal judge awards $802K in attorney fees and costs in case over jail mail

A federal judge’s ruling last year that an Oregon county had violated the First Amendment by restricting jail mail to postcards resulted in a $15,000 payment to the plaintiff, Prison Legal News. But the payment by Columbia County to the Human Rights Defense Center monthly magazine is dwarfed by a…

Mar 26, 2014 5:10 PM CDT

Gibson Dunn report on bridge scandal is said to cost $1M; did taxpayers get their money’s worth?

A report by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher on the New Jersey bridge scandal has yet to be released, but the debate has already begun on its value. The New York Times reported on Monday that the report found no evidence that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was involved in lane…

Mar 25, 2014 4:24 PM CDT

2nd Circuit says judge abused discretion by denying attorney fees in ERISA case

A federal appeals court says a district court abused its discretion by denying attorney fees in an Employment Retirement Income Security Act case in which an insurance company was found to have been arbitrary and capricious in refusing benefits to the plaintiff, John Donachie. Liberty Life Insurance “ignored substantial evidence…

Mar 12, 2014 8:55 PM CDT

High school student, 18, moves in with lawyer’s family, sues parents for support and college tuition

Updated: An 18-year-old high school student in New Jersey wasn’t getting along with her parents. She says they abandoned her, threw her out of their home and refused to pay her tuition at Morris Catholic High School, where she is an honor student. They say she left voluntarily because she…

Mar 4, 2014 11:10 PM CST

Former inmate takes over townhome of his onetime lawyer, thanks to judge’s fee ruling

A former inmate is now living in the Florida home of one of his defense lawyers as a result of hearings into the lawyers’ fees. A federal magistrate determined that the lawyers’ conduct was “outrageous” and a federal judge ordered them to repay $275,000 in legal fees charged to a…

Feb 24, 2014 2:05 PM CST

Wanted: Skilled lawyer to defend high-profile client in capital case on rush basis

The removal of a Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyer from a capital murder case, after she and her client were charged with attempting to intimidate witnesses, has created a big problem for Luzerne County’s court administrator. Finding a new lawyer to replace Shelley Centini, who was being paid $85 an hour…

Feb 19, 2014 6:50 PM CST

Detroit runs up $13.7M bill in first 75 days of bankruptcy case

Downtown Detroit. Image from Shutterstock. The $13.7 million bill for legal fees, other professional fees and expenses that the city of Detroit ran up during the first 75 days of its record-breaking municipal bankruptcy case was “substantial,” a court-appointed examiner said in a quarterly report. However, the expense was also…

Feb 5, 2014 5:00 PM CST

5th Circuit nixes tax shelter used by 3 attorneys to keep more of $600M legal fee award

After winning a $600 million attorney fee award in 1998 for representing the state of Texas in litigation against big tobacco companies, three law firm partners sought to reduce the tax bite. But their efforts only made the situation worse: A federal appeals court last week ruled that the tax…

Jan 29, 2014 7:40 PM CST