Business Development

Famed tort lawyer Stan Chesley is disbarred for ‘unreasonable’ $20M fee in diet-drug case

Mass tort lawyer Stan Chesley has been disbarred for his role in a diet-drug case in which he earned $20 million to help negotiate a $200 million settlement. The Kentucky Supreme Court released its opinion (PDF) disbarring Chesley on Thursday, report the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Associated Press. The Herald-Leader…

Mar 21, 2013 3:54 PM CDT

Federal judge sides with whooping cranes in water rights case

A federal judge has ordered Texas officials to put the needs of an endangered flock of whooping cranes first when determining whether to grant water-use permits to new users. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times provides a link to Monday’s 124-page opinion (PDF) by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack. She…

Mar 13, 2013 8:00 PM CDT

Sandusky matter has cost Penn State over $41M, not including possible victim settlements

Legal bills, crisis handling and other costs related to the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse case have cost Pennsylvania State University over $41 million, so far. But that figure doesn’t include possible settlements that are being discussed with some of his 10 victims, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. A letter released by…

Mar 12, 2013 5:28 PM CDT

$13M attorney fee in clergy abuse case is at center of ‘epic’ divorce fight

The lead lawyer who helped obtain a $660 million clergy abuse settlement in Los Angeles is now engaged in a long-running legal battle with his former spouse over her right to a split of his attorney fees in the case, estimated at $13 million. Lawyer Ray Boucher estimates the divorce…

Mar 12, 2013 1:15 PM CDT

Law firm billing contract lawyers at $1K hourly must reveal what they were paid, federal judge says

Ruling from the bench, a federal judge in Manhattan on Thursday gave a green light to a request for discovery by a class action activist concerning the wages paid by a law firm to the contract attorneys it billed out at $1,000 an hour. Citigroup Inc. agreed last year to…

Mar 1, 2013 7:05 PM CST

Why clients fear alternative fee arrangements

I was catching up on a pile of reading when I was confronted with a piece about the “fear” among general counsel of alternative fee arrangements. Just a few days before, I had highlighted a piece in Richard Susskind’s new book, Tomorrow’s Lawyers, where he observed that “in truth, hourly…

Feb 27, 2013 2:30 PM CST

Town to pay $51K to settle federal suit over police shooting of dog

A small town in Washington state has agreed to pay at least $51,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit over the death of a 115-pound dog shot to death by police. A neighbor, concerned about the well-being of Rosie, a Newfoundland, called Des Moines police after the friendly pet…

Feb 22, 2013 3:43 PM CST

Lawmaker’s wife who took rap for hubby’s speeding ticket, then blew the whistle, wins mistrial

A London judge blasted a jury after a mistrial this week in the latest chapter of a 10-year-old speeding ticket saga that has mesmerized newswatchers in the United Kingdom. Initially, the wife of the British lawmaker who received the ticket took the blame. But, after former energy minister Chris Huhne…

Feb 21, 2013 9:09 PM CST

Judge orders prosecutors to pay defendant’s costs for pursuing ‘reprehensible’ child-support claim

Falsely accused by his ex-wife, after a bitter divorce, of being behind in his child-support obligations by more than $3,500, Tony Schehtman was prosecuted for months and had his passport confiscated, restricting his business travel. But last month he won a measure of vindication when a South Florida judge issued…

Feb 8, 2013 11:40 AM CST

Accused of extorting indigent clients to increase his fees, former public defender faces trial

A former public defender in Utah is set to go to trial in Panguitch this week on charges that he used his position to extort money and items of value from more than a half-dozen clients. Onetime Garfield County public defender John E. Hummel is accused of pressuring at least…

Jan 28, 2013 10:28 PM CST

Casey Anthony files for bankruptcy, lists $500K in unpaid attorney fees

Casey Anthony filed for bankruptcy protection in Florida on Friday, claiming nearly $800,000 in liabilities, including about $500,000 in attorney fees. The filing says Anthony has only about $1,000 in assets, according to the Associated Press and the Orlando Sentinel. Anthony was acquitted of killing her daughter, Caylee, but convicted…

Jan 28, 2013 3:13 PM CST

Law firm sues seeking $150K of $1.5B whistleblower settlement, says ex-partner originated the case

A New York plaintiffs law firm has sued a Delaware counterpart, contending that it is entitled to a $150,000 share of a $1.5 billion settlement of a federal whistleblower lawsuit generated by a former partner. Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz says ex-partner Reuben Guttman drafted the complaint in the…

Jan 23, 2013 10:09 PM CST

Ex-clients pursue class action against PI lawyer who allegedly charged excessive fees

Three former clients are pursuing a class action against a personal injury lawyer, contending that he charged them excessive legal fees. Spearheading the case was Cassie Hodge, who contends that she got only $8,000 of a $150,000 accident settlement after paying Gary Neinstein and Neinstein & Associates of Toronto their…

Jan 22, 2013 5:21 PM CST

Do you deduct time from your billing sheet for bathroom breaks? And other billable-hour mysteries

Some random questions about the billable hour: 1) When people record their time days or weeks after the work was done, do you ever wonder about the accuracy of the entries? They should be accurate. They are made to appear accurate—measured in tenths of an hour. But do people remember…

Jan 17, 2013 2:30 PM CST

Lawyer Replaced by Client Can’t Collect Full Contingency on $1M Settlement, Court Rules

A state appeals court in New York ruled Thursday that a lawyer whose client replaced him in a personal injury case cannot collect his full contingency fee. Adwoa Gyabaah, who was injured by a bus in 2010, obtained a $1 million personal injury settlement, but not before switching lawyers, Reuters…

Jan 11, 2013 2:34 PM CST