Verdicts & Settlements

Lawyer Pleads to Tax Misdemeanors; Feds Say He Didn’t File Since ‘94

A Mississippi attorney who allegedly hasn’t filed a federal tax return since 1994 has avoided a trial in the felony tax evasion case he initially faced by pleading guilty today to two misdemeanor counts of failing to file. Marshall Sanders, 57, who practices in Vicksburg, agreed to cooperate with the…

Nov 20, 2008 10:17 PM CST

Expert Slams Court’s ‘Blame the Victim’ Response to Judge-Prosecutor Affair

An appeals court in Texas has ordered attorneys for an inmate facing the death penalty to explain why they didn’t complain sooner about a now-admitted affair between the judge and the prosecutor in the case, sparking an angry response from an incredulous legal ethics expert News that the Texas Court…

Nov 20, 2008 9:03 PM CST

5 Gitmo Detainees Held Unlawfully, Federal Judge Says

Ruling from the bench, a federal judge has found that five Algerian men were held unlawfully for nearly seven years at the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and ordered that they be released “forthwith.” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon also urged the government not to appeal his decision,…

Nov 20, 2008 7:30 PM CST

Retired Pa. Judge Convicted in Auto Accident Fraud

A retired judge in Pennsylvania was convicted today of mail fraud and money laundering in connection with the injuries he claimed to have suffered in a 2001 auto accident. Michael Joyce falsely claimed to have suffered debilitating neck and back injuries in a fender bender and misused his position as…

Nov 20, 2008 12:16 AM CST

Tasered Accountant Gets $60K in Excessive-Force Case

A 53-year-old Washington state accountant who voluntarily went to the local police station as a witness and wound up as a defendant in an obstruction case, after being jolted twice with a stun gun, has won a $60,000 award in a federal civil rights case. Kevin Bonner was awarded $35,000…

Nov 20, 2008 12:00 AM CST

Former SG Helps eHarmony Reach Settlement Calling for Gay Matches

The online dating service eHarmony will launch an online matchmaking option for gays called Compatible Partners as a result of a settlement with the New Jersey Attorney General. Former solicitor general Ted Olson, now a partner at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, represented eHarmony, according to a press release. The agreement…

Nov 19, 2008 5:24 PM CST

Florida Lawyer for Accused Bigamist Marries Him, Then Urges Prosecution

When divorce attorney Martha-Irene Weed settled a matrimonial case for George Dumstorf Jr.in 2000, she had to contend with seemingly bizarre allegations of bigamy on the part of his soon-to-be ex-wife. Then, after the representation concluded, the Florida lawyer married Dumstorf herself, and now she is the one making them,…

Nov 18, 2008 11:48 PM CST

On Execution Day, Texas Inmate Eric Cathey Gets Stay

A Texas appeals court today granted a stay of execution to a death row inmate about four hours before he was to get the lethal injection. Eric Cathey, 37, will now have a chance to argue in a court hearing that he should not be executed because he is mentally…

Nov 18, 2008 9:57 PM CST

Supreme Court OKs ADA Lawsuit Ban Against ‘Hit & Run’ Plaintiff & Counsel

A federal judge’s decision to ban a prolific litigant and his counsel from filing any more ADA lawsuits without court permission has effectively been OK’d by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a “legal waterloo” for Jarek Molski and his counsel, Thomas Frankovich, it has refused to hear an appeal from…

Nov 18, 2008 8:05 PM CST

Lawyer Pal Helped Feds Prosecute Chicago Pol (and Attorney) Ed Vrydolyak

Ed Vrdolyak, an attorney and former longtime Chicago alderman, thought he was talking to a friend when he discussed a dubious 2004 real estate deal with fellow attorney Stuart Levine in 2006. But in fac,t newly unsealed records in a federal court case against Vrdolyak show that he was talking…

Nov 18, 2008 7:44 PM CST

Jury Orders Imperial Wizard of KKK Group to Pay $2.5M to Beaten Teen

A Kentucky jury has awarded a teenager $2.5 million for a beating by members of a Ku Klux Klan group. The verdict against the leader of the Imperial Klans of America and former Klansmen will likely cripple the group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The SPLC sued on…

Nov 17, 2008 6:22 PM CST

New Divorce Issue: House is Hot Potato

Once upon a time, divorcing couples fought over who got the house. Now they fight over who doesn’t get it. ‘It’s like, ‘You take the house!’ ‘No, You take the house.’ ‘I don’t want it, you take it,’ ” Drew Sheridan, a divorce lawyer in Kendall. Fla., tells the Miami…

Nov 17, 2008 4:44 PM CST

Law Prof Drops Defamation Suit against Students over Racism Claims

A law professor who sued two former students for defamation has dropped his suit after the school’s interim dean said there is no evidence he is a racist. Law professor Richard Peltz of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock told Inside Higher Ed that he sued to get his…

Nov 17, 2008 12:32 PM CST

Sued By Former Client, Denver Law Firm Eventually Wins $300,000

After a five-year litigation saga, a Denver law firm has not only prevailed in its defense of a case initially brought by a former client as a legal malpractice action but won $300,000 in a counterclaim alleging fraud. Ex-client Richard Crowe had contended that Franklin D. Azar & Associates and…

Nov 14, 2008 11:42 PM CST

Oregon Biker Beats Rap for Naked Ride; ‘Symbolic Protest’ is Protected, Judge Says

Because an annual World Naked Bike Ride in Portland, Ore., has created a tradition of protesting in this manner, a Multnomah County judge has dismissed an indecent exposure case against a man who tried the stunt on his own a few weeks later over the summer. In 1985, the Oregon…

Nov 14, 2008 7:32 PM CST