Verdicts & Settlements

Faxes may be little used, but they are still the subject of suits alleging violations of federal law

Federal lawsuits that allege violations of a law barring junk faxes, robocalls and text messages continue to grow. Suits filed have increased from 44 in 2009 to 4,860 last year, the Wall Street Journal reports in a story relying on data from WebRecon. The suits allege violations of the Telephone…

Mar 27, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Law firm reveals contract lawyer was actually disbarred; he had billed 6,900 hours in Sprint suit

A Pennsylvania law firm has suffered a second blow in a shareholder suit after a Kansas judge slashed its fee request from $4.25 million to $450,000. The Weiser Law Firm revealed in a February letter to the judge that it had learned a contract lawyer responsible for more than a…

Mar 15, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Two ex-Penn State officials plead guilty in relation to Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal

Two former Penn State officials have pleaded guilty to criminal charges in relation to the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal. According to PennLive, ex-athletic director Tim Curley and former senior vice president Gary Schultz pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, on Monday morning in Dauphin…

Mar 13, 2017 3:40 PM CDT

Former Utah Attorney General Swallow is acquitted, praises Constitution

Former Utah Attorney General John Swallow expressed gratitude for a Constitution that protects the rights of the accused after his acquittal Thursday on public corruption charges. Jurors deliberated more than 12 hours before acquitting Swallow on nine charges, including receiving or soliciting a bribe and making false statements, report the…

Mar 3, 2017 10:45 AM CST

Can Trump triumph in the Supreme Court? Presidents’ rates of winning cases have been declining

It’s only a matter of time before President Donald J. Trump’s administration puts its stamp on the federal government’s cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. But can it top the relatively low batting average that President Barack Obama’s administration recorded over the last eight years?

Mar 1, 2017 3:40 AM CST

Doctor is convicted of felony for botched surgery; prosecutors said his hands were deadly weapons

A Texas doctor who botched a spinal fusion operation was convicted on Tuesday on a felony charge of injury to an elderly person. Jurors in Dallas County deliberated for about four hours before they convicted Christopher Duntsch for a 2012 surgery that left Mary Efurd, who was 74 at the…

Feb 16, 2017 11:24 AM CST

Lawyer who withdrew guilty plea is convicted in rape of unconscious client

A former Norristown, Pennsylvania, lawyer was convicted on Wednesday of raping an intoxicated client who passed out during his visit to her home. Vincent Cirillo Jr. of Norristown was convicted on charges of rape and sexual assault, despite his testimony that he did not have intercourse with the woman after…

Feb 15, 2017 12:25 PM CST

Facebook comment leads to $500,000 settlement in defamation suit

A woman has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a defamation suit over a comment she made on Facebook that allegedly implied a onetime rival had caused the death of her child. A judge in Buncombe County, North Carolina, approved a consent judgment in the case last week, the Asheville…

Feb 14, 2017 8:40 AM CST

Federal judge urges retired NFL players to sign up for concussion settlement

A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Wednesday urged NFL retirees to register for a concussion settlement with an estimated value of $1 billion. U.S. District Judge Anita Brody spoke during a status conference that was live-streamed from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.), the Associated…

Feb 10, 2017 8:00 AM CST

Jury awards ousted general counsel nearly $8M; metadata is said to be important evidence

Federal jurors in San Francisco on Monday awarded nearly $8 million to a general counsel who says he was fired because he blew the whistle on his company’s potential violation of a foreign bribery law. The former general counsel of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Sanford “Sandy” Wadler, was awarded $2.9 million in…

Feb 7, 2017 3:33 PM CST

Suit claims legal funding firm misled 9/11 responders, retired NFL players about its cash advances

A company that provides advances to people expecting settlement money misrepresented the terms of its deals to Sept. 11 responders and professional football players with Alzheimer’s disease, a lawsuit alleges. The suit was filed Tuesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, according to…

Feb 7, 2017 1:41 PM CST

LexisNexis Risk Solutions will pay $1.2M to resolve pay bias allegations

LexisNexis Risk Solutions has agreed to pay $1.2 million to resolve allegations of pay bias by the U.S. Department of Labor. The settlement resolves allegations that the company paid 211 female managers in Boca Raton, Florida, and Alpharetta, Georgia, substantially less than their male counterparts, report Bloomberg News and the…

Jan 13, 2017 2:18 PM CST

Volkswagen agrees to pay $4.3B in penalties in emissions scandal; six executives are indicted

The Volkswagen emissions scandal has produced six indictments of German corporate executives and a guilty plea by the company itself, which will pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties. Volkswagen will plead guilty to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the United States and the automaker’s U.S. customers by…

Jan 11, 2017 1:55 PM CST

Two of the top credit reporting companies agree to pay $23M to resolve deceptive marking claims

Credit reporting companies Equifax and TransUnion have agreed to pay more than $23 million to resolve claims that they misled consumers and lured them into paying monthly fees for credit-related products. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced consent orders against the companies on Tuesday, report the Chicago Tribune and the…

Jan 5, 2017 3:39 PM CST

Ikea settles lawsuit over children killed by falling furniture for $50M

The parents of three toddlers crushed by Ikea dressers have settled their wrongful-death cases with the Swedish furniture company for $50 million. Ikea knew that the dressers, which were its Malm model, posed a danger, plaintiffs allege. Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig LLP in Philadelphia was the firm which…

Dec 22, 2016 10:10 AM CST