Verdicts & Settlements

Woman Banned for Dirty Dancing Settles Suit for $275K

A North Carolina woman who claimed her constitutional rights were violated when she was banned from town dances has settled the case for $275,000. The Asheville Citizen-Times reported the settlement, which won’t allow plaintiff Rebecca Willis back into the dance hall in Marshall, N.C. Town officials banned Willis from the…

Nov 14, 2008 5:01 PM CST

Moonlighting Prosecutor Must Repay $18K, Faces Investigation

A prosecutor in Muncie, Ind., who moonlighted as a lawyer for a drug task force and was apparently paid attorney fees in drug cases involving confidential civil forfeiture agreements, must repay $18,395 in legal fees, a Delaware Circuit Court judge has ruled. Plus, prosecutor Mark McKinney also faces possible criminal…

Nov 13, 2008 9:11 PM CST

Former Ala. Probate Judge Gets 3 Years for Stealing $1.8M from Estate

Lawyers for Sherrie Phillips were hoping the former Covington County, Ala., probate judge would get probation. But, saying that she had violated the public trust and hadn’t expressed remorse for stealing $1.8 million from an estate with no heirs, the judge sentenced her to 10 years and is requiring that…

Nov 13, 2008 8:50 PM CST

Prosecutor Peeved By Plan to Jail Wiretap Case Lawyer in His Beverly Hills Home

A high-profile lawyer convicted of conspiring with a private investigator to wiretap their clients’ opponents in celebrity litigation should be sentenced to spend 10 months in his Beverly Hills home, a probation officer has recommended. But a federal prosecutor has blasted the recommendation in the presentence investigation report, calling the…

Nov 12, 2008 9:55 PM CST

Judge OKs Law Firm’s $2.5M Malpractice Settlement in SonicBlue Case

A federal judge has approved a $2.5 million malpractice settlement by Los Angeles law firm Levene, Neale, Bender, Rankin & Brill to settle a complaint by a trustee in the SonicBlue bankruptcy. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marilyn Morgan said the settlement was “fair and equitable,” the Daily Journal reports (sub. req.).…

Nov 11, 2008 2:03 PM CST

Retired NFL Players Get $28.1M, Including $21M in Punitives

Developing: A federal jury in San Francisco today awarded $7.1 million in compensatory damages to a group of retired National Football League players, finding that the NFL Players Association didn’t properly market their images. The plaintiffs also got $21 million in punitive damages, according to a Canadian Press article. “The…

Nov 11, 2008 12:39 AM CST

Ex-Lawyer Who Concocted ‘Kidnap’ Pleads in $624K Client Theft Case

A former Ohio lawyer who voluntarily resigned from the state bar earlier this year has pleaded guilty to aggravated theft in connection with admittedly stealing $624,000 from her former clients over a period of six years. Karyn McConnell Hancock, 38, admitted her guilt today in Lucas County Common Pleas Court…

Nov 10, 2008 11:15 PM CST

‘Manifestly Improper’: Personal Attorney Appears Before N.Y. Judge

The New York Commission on Judicial Conduct has recommended a censure for a Manhattan trial judge who acted in a “manifestly improper” manner by presiding over two criminal cases in which his personal attorney appeared. “However, by a vote of 4-3, the commission dismissed a second charge that Acting Supreme…

Nov 10, 2008 8:54 PM CST

Contractor Gets Little Money in Dispute Over Cash in Homeowner’s Walls

A contractor who threatened to sue over a stash of $182,000 in Depression-era cash he found in the walls of an Ohio home during a remodeling project will probably get about $5,000. Contractor Bob Kitts reported his find last year to homeowner Amanda Reece, but the two were unable to…

Nov 10, 2008 6:10 PM CST

Election Over, Now It’s Time to Sue

After months of hard-hitting campaign advertising in many elections throughout the country, candidates now have time to focus on a new project. Whether they won or lost, a number are now suing political opponents for defamation, reports the National Law Journal in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg.…

Nov 7, 2008 9:32 PM CST

Verdict in Ga. Courthouse Slaying Case: Guilty on All Counts

Developing: A verdict has been reached in a 54-count Georgia courthouse slaying case, and the defendant has been found guilty on all counts. “A Fulton County jury found courthouse shooter Brian Nichols guilty of the March 11, 2005 murder of four people in a killing spree that rocked the nation…

Nov 7, 2008 8:05 PM CST

Ex-FBI Agent Convicted in 1982 Murder for Tipping Gangsters

A Miami jury has convicted a retired FBI agent accused of cooperating with Boston’s Winter Hill Gang and providing information to gangsters that led to a South Florida murder in 1982. “Disgraced FBI agent John Connolly, the crime-fighter who fell in with criminals, was convicted of second-degree murder yesterday for…

Nov 7, 2008 6:39 PM CST

Illinois ‘Choose Life’ License Plates Not Required, 7th Circuit Says

Overruling a federal trial judge, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the state of Illinois is not required to issue “Choose Life” license plates sought by individuals who oppose abortion. “The three-judge panel said a decision by Illinois lawmakers not to authorize the ‘Choose Life’…

Nov 7, 2008 5:51 PM CST

Texas Mom Serving Life Sentence After Boy Dies of Salt Intoxication

Hannah Overton probably did nothing wrong, several experts say. But the Texas mother was convicted of capital murder last year and is serving a life sentence, after a foster child died in her care. The jury apparently convicted her because she wasn’t aggressive enough in seeking medical treatment for the…

Nov 7, 2008 12:43 AM CST

Tell-It-Like-It-Is Calif. Judge is Reprimanded for Rudeness

A retired Orange County, Calif., judge who apparently told litigants and counsel what he really thought of their case during a 2006 hearing has been reprimanded for rudeness. The Commission on Judicial Performance found that John Watson’s critical and sarcastic comments during a 2006 hearing in a case that that…

Nov 6, 2008 11:54 PM CST