Trials & Litigation

Trial: Mafia Competed to Murder Mob Robbers

No one was too surprised when a Bonnie and Clyde team of robbers who targeted Mafia-run social clubs was murdered on Dec. 24, 1992. But an ongoing trial is providing new details about their murders 15 years ago near a Queens, N.Y., intersection, where each reportedly was shot three times…

May 3, 2007 11:49 PM CDT

Imus to Sue CBS Despite Racist Remarks

Radio host Don Imus plans to sue CBS Radio to try to collect the $40 million balance of his five-year contract, despite having been fired April 12 for making racist remarks. With the help of First Amendment legal eagle Martin Garbus of Davis & Gilbert in New York, the shock…

May 3, 2007 5:42 PM CDT

Husband of Smoker Awarded $2.5 Million

A San Francisco jury in a retrial of a smoking suit has awarded about $2.5 million in compensatory damages to the husband of a smoker who died at age 40. Jurors found liability against both R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, but its answers to a jury verdict form indicated that…

May 3, 2007 12:31 PM CDT

Rent-A-Center to Pay $109 Million Settlement

Rent-A-Center Inc. will pay $109 million to settle a suit that claims its rent-to-own contracts violate New Jersey usury laws. The lead plaintiffs counsel, Seth Lesser of the Locks Law Firm in New York City, told the New Jersey Law Journal that the estimated 100,000 class action plaintiffs will each…

May 3, 2007 12:15 PM CDT

Ailing Lawyer Delays Spector Trial

The murder trial of music producer Phil Spector has been delayed until May 7 because of a defense attorney’s medical problem. Bruce Cutler told the Los Angeles Times that he had some problems with his diabetes medications. “Superman has to get some kryptonite taken out of his system,” Cutler said.…

May 2, 2007 5:28 PM CDT

BP Chief Resigns Amid Escort Scandal

The chief of BP has announced his resignation after acknowledging he made false statements to a British court about how he first met a male companion. John Browne made the abrupt announcement yesterday, after losing his court battle to prevent a London tabloid to prevent disclosure of the relationship, the…

May 2, 2007 1:52 PM CDT

75 Gitmo Lawyers Lobby U.S. for Court Access

Some 75 attorneys representing so-called enemy combatants being held in the Guantanamo Bay prison without trials fanned out over Capital Hill today, lobbying legislators in private meetings in an effort to get their clients into U.S. court. Denouncing the current approach as “executive branch extremism” during a news conference, the…

May 2, 2007 1:08 AM CDT

New Practice Area for D.C. Lawyers: D.C. Madam

The much-publicized case of the so-called D.C. Madam has sparked a new business practice for a number of Washington, D.C. lawyers. After she said she planned to name names of some of those on her 15,000-client list in her ongoing federal racketeering prosecution, at least five local attorneys telephoned Deborah…

May 1, 2007 6:22 PM CDT

Subway Hero Hit by Lawyer’s Countersuit

The hero who jumped onto the subway tracks in New York City to save a teenager is facing a countersuit from his ex-lawyer. Wesley Autrey had sued lawyer Diane Kleiman and a business partner claiming he was pressured into a bad deal that gave them half the profits for his…

May 1, 2007 5:57 PM CDT

Activists: Timber Suit Based on Draft Regulations

In a lawsuit characterized as “downright bizarre” by a Seattle newspaper blog, a timber industry lawyer who formerly worked for the Bush administration has made a legal claim based on draft environmental regulations. Mark Rutzick, now a private practitioner in Portland, Ore., was formerly a special counsel at the National…

May 1, 2007 11:03 AM CDT

Themes That Strike a Chord

Your central idea of the case works best if jurors believe they thought of it first

May 1, 2007 10:37 AM CDT

Rough Justice

Behind the scenes with the American advisers to the Iraq v. Saddam Hussein court

May 1, 2007 9:32 AM CDT

You’re Fired

Those words say the same thing in any language, but their legal meaning may vary drastically from country to country

May 1, 2007 9:26 AM CDT

Lt. Col. E-mail in Iraq Case ‘Adulterous in Nature’

The case against a top Army commander accused of misconduct that could put him in prison for life, if convicted, began to unfold today as an Article 32 hearing began in Baghdad against Lt. Col. William H. Steele. Steele, a 51-year-old reservist from Virginia, is accused of aiding the enemy…

Apr 30, 2007 8:27 PM CDT

Federal Judges Hold Keys to Calif. Prison Cells

As state legislators in California struggle to relieve prison overcrowding, two federal judges there could be poised to figuratively unlock a number of the cells. Both Thelton E. Henderson and Lawrence K. Karlton are soon to conduct hearings in cases over prison overcrowding and could decide to cap the inmate…

Apr 30, 2007 7:26 PM CDT