Risk Averse: Insurance Firm Looks Askance at ‘Pot Lawyers’

Aug 1, 2012 8:30 AM CDT

Fed’l Judge Nixes SEC Suit, Says SIPC Not Liable for Bank CDs Bought by Victims of Stanford Swindle

A federal judge district court judge in Washington, D.C., has sided with the Securities Investor Protection Corp. in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in an effort to provide some reimbursement to the victims of the $6 billion to $7 billion Ponzi scheme overseen by R.…

Jul 3, 2012 5:12 PM CDT

Picking a Winner: How to Identify Great Contingency Cases

Podcast Transcript: This ABA Journal podcast is brought to you by WestlawNext, the most advanced technology combined with market-leading content and West’s history of trusted editorial excellence. Helping legal professionals save time is what they’ve been doing for over 125 years. Learn more at WestlawNext.com. Stephanie Francis Ward: If you…

Jul 2, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Solicitor General’s Third Backup Argument Is a Winner in Health Law Case

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. surprised many court watchers on Thursday when he joined with the court’s more liberal justices to uphold the Obama administration’s health care law and its insurance mandate. Roberts wrote (PDF) that Congress had the authority to adopt the mandate—which requires most Americans to purchase…

Jun 28, 2012 2:10 PM CDT

Top Pa. Court Disbars Ex-Judge Convicted in Auto Insurance Fraud; Civil Suit Says Judge Is Victim

A retired Pennsylvania judge who at last report was serving a 46-month federal prison sentence after being convicted in a $440,000 auto insurance fraud case has been disbarred. In a brief order (PDF) attaching an earlier Disciplinary Board report, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday imposed the disbarment on Michael…

Jun 18, 2012 7:40 PM CDT

Lawyer Loses License for 1 Year, Represented Both Wife Suspected of Arson and Husband in Fire Claim

A longtime Kansas lawyer has been suspended from practice for one year, due in part to his concurrent representation of two spouses. One (the wife) was a suspect in a criminal arson investigation concerning the couple’s home and had been videotaped purchasing accelerants on the day of the fire, according…

May 18, 2012 5:19 PM CDT

Tipped Authorities Charge 20 in Fire Insurance Fraud, Say That Defendants Reused Same Sooty Items

It’s ordinarily hard to prove a fire insurance fraud. But prosecutors in a South Florida case will be able to rely on photographic evidence that the claimed perpetrators reused the same thrift-store furniture in claim after claim. The Miami New Times Riptide blog includes several examples of seemingly identical furniture—and,…

May 17, 2012 9:55 PM CDT

Suit Claims Investigator Hired by Law Firm Used Ruse to Friend 12-Year-Old Dog-Bite Plaintiff

Corrected: A lawsuit filed this week claims that an Ohio insurance defense lawyer hired an investigator to access the private Facebook page of a 12-year-old girl, a plaintiff in a dog-bite lawsuit. The suit (PDF) was filed by the girl’s father, Nelson Cope of Painesville, Courthouse News Service reports. It…

May 4, 2012 4:19 PM CDT

Malpractice Insurance Fraud Charge Is Dropped Against Ky. Lawyer Disbarred for Role in Fen-Phen Case

Disbarred even after he was acquitted in a high-profile criminal case against three attorneys accused of swindling clients in multimillion-dollar fen-phen diet drug litigation, a Kentucky lawyer has won another round in criminal court. A Fayette Circuit Court judge has acquiesced to a prosecutor’s request to dismiss without prejudice a…

Apr 18, 2012 8:07 PM CDT

Tenn. Law Firm and 3 Partners Ordered to Pay Consumers $670K in Claimed Health Insurance Scam

A Tennessee law firm has been held in contempt of court and ordered, along with three of its current or former partners and another individual, to repay $670,000 that two client companies are accused of taking from consumers in a health insurance scam that allegedly left policyholders with unpaid medical…

Apr 6, 2012 8:57 PM CDT

Trading Website and FantasySCOTUS Differ over Chances of Health Law Smackdown

Prognosticators looking ahead to the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the health care law’s insurance mandate are setting the odds on an online trading website and in a Supreme Court fantasy league. The prediction: It will be struck down as unconstitutional. The odds: Those putting their money on the line…

Apr 4, 2012 1:43 PM CDT

Obama Says Overturning Health Care Law Would Be ‘Extraordinary’ Judicial Activism

President Obama took on the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday with a declaration that a decision to overturn the health care law would be an “unprecedented, extraordinary” step of judicial activism. Obama said he was confident, however, that the law would be upheld, report the Washington Post and the New…

Apr 3, 2012 11:27 AM CDT

Attractive Nuisance? When Fun Factor Overshadows Risk, Lawsuits Are Sure to Follow

Apr 1, 2012 5:30 AM CDT

Justices Expected to Vote on Health Law Case Today, But Votes Sometimes Change

Illustrating an extraordinary ability to keep its deliberations private, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to vote on the health law case today, but issue opinions much later, likely at the end of the term in late June. Rarely are the votes disclosed before the official announcement, the Washington Post…

Mar 30, 2012 1:55 PM CDT

Which Justices Are Key in Health Law Ruling? Publications Disagree

Which justice will be crucial in deciding whether the health care law’s insurance mandate is constitutional? It’s Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, according to the New York Times. “He is the administration’s “best hope” for a fifth vote, the story says. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. aimed his closing remarks at…

Mar 30, 2012 12:01 PM CDT