Verdicts & Settlements

Sodomizing a Sheep Doesn’t Put Perp on Michigan Sex Offender List

Despite a trend toward recognizing limited animal rights on the estate planning front, a Michigan appeals court has taken a traditional view of the law concerning a man convicted of sodomizing a sheep. Jeffrey Scott Haynes, 45, a habitual offender who is serving a 2½- to 20-year prison term for…

Sep 25, 2008 6:54 PM CDT

Mom Gets Probation for ‘76 Escape, Will Fight Prior Michigan Drug Conviction

Arrested earlier this year after more than 30 years on the lam, a California woman today was sentenced to probation for escaping a Michigan prison in 1976, a little over one year into a 10- to 20-year term for selling heroin. However, Susan LeFevre, 53, must still serve out the…

Sep 24, 2008 7:44 PM CDT

Judge Gives Green Light to Some of Dan Rather’s Claims Against CBS

Former CBS news anchor Dan Rather can proceed with a claim that his ex-employer breached its contract with him and damaged his reputation by firing him after a controversial 60 Minutes weeknight edition report in 2004 about President George W. Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard. But a…

Sep 23, 2008 8:50 PM CDT

Seeing Other Side’s Docs Knocks Miami Law Firm Off of $100M Case

A Miami law firm can’t continue to represent its client in a complex $100 million dispute because of a third party’s inadvertent production of privileged documents. Because a shareholder at the Kenny Nachwalter law firm saw the privileged material and others may have done so, too, the entire firm is…

Sep 23, 2008 3:42 PM CDT

Judge Rules Casinos Had No Duty to Stop Lawyer’s Compulsive Gambling

A federal judge in New Jersey has dismissed a lawsuit by a former lawyer who contended seven casinos failed to stop her compulsive gambling that led to $1 million in losses and the end of her law practice. U.S. District Judge Renee Bumb said the casinos had no common-law duty…

Sep 23, 2008 11:03 AM CDT

UK Appeals Court OKs Hefty Alimony Payment for Ex-Wife’s Horses

An investment banker in the United Kingdom had argued that his soon-to-be ex-wife could and should cut her post-divorce expenses by eliminating an unjustified extravagance—her three horses. But, finding that the horses have been an important part of the woman’s life during their 11-year marriage and that she was devoted…

Sep 22, 2008 6:23 PM CDT

Quitting Dechert Put Bill Lamb on Path to Fame and Fortune

As a young associate at the law firm now known as Dechert, William Lamb soon found himself feeling restless. Only a year or so out of law school, he marched into the chairman’s office and said he was going to quit. Little did he know then that the risky career…

Sep 22, 2008 3:34 PM CDT

Judge Rules for Pro Se Plaintiff in Twin-Taser Civil Rights Suit

Reaching a different conclusion than police internal investigators, a federal magistrate judge has ruled that two Tukwila, Wash., officers used excessive force when they simultaneously Tasered a suspect. Siding with pro se plaintiff Terrance Releford, Judge Mary Alice Theiler found that his civil rights were violated in the June 2006…

Sep 19, 2008 5:16 PM CDT

Racketeering Convictions Reinstated for Accused NYPD ‘Mob Assassins’

Finding that a trial judge had mistakenly applied the statute of limitations, a federal appeals court has reinstated the racketeering convictions of two retired New York City police detectives who allegedly simultaneously worked as “mob assassins” while they were on the force. In that role, they allegedly participated in at…

Sep 18, 2008 11:06 PM CDT

Federal Judge Axes Ex-DA’s Libel Suit Over John Grisham’s ‘Innocent Man’

A libel suit filed over a true-crime book written by best-selling author and attorney John Grisham has been dismissed by a federal judge. Grisham’s book, The Innocent Man, focuses on the wrongful conviction of two men for the 1982 murder of an Oklahoma cocktail waitress, and U.S. District Judge Ronald…

Sep 18, 2008 10:27 PM CDT

Jurors Read Newspaper in Jury Room; Judge Voids Verdict

Jurors in a medical malpractice case against a prominent Washington state physician accused of abusing his minor patients weren’t told at trial about an important issue concerning the plaintiffs’ damages. If they determined that he had communicated with minors for immoral purposes, the plaintiffs could get attorney fees. But they…

Sep 17, 2008 8:57 PM CDT

Meet Detroit’s New Deputy Mayor, Ex-Prosecutor Saul Green

Still reeling from months of controversy over Detroit’s former mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, who resigned earlier this month after agreeing to a plea deal in a perjury case, the city apparently can expect a focus on law and order under the city’s new chief operating officer. Incoming Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel…

Sep 17, 2008 8:23 PM CDT

California Judge Reprimanded for Reckless Driving

A California judge who reportedly was driving south in a northbound lane of traffic when she caught the attention of police has been reprimanded for her reckless driving. Superior Judge Lisa Guy-Schall failed field sobriety tests when she was pulled over in September of last year by Escondido police, and…

Sep 17, 2008 6:20 PM CDT

Nixon Peabody Proclaims Victory in Paris Partner-Poaching Case

A New York judge has sided with Nixon Peabody in a lawsuit brought by a European law firm over the planned defection of a dozen or so non-equity partners in its Paris office. All three claims made by Taylor Wessing France were dismissed, the Nixon firm reports in a press…

Sep 16, 2008 10:12 PM CDT

Lawyer Fined $500 for Filing Suit in Spat Over Damaged Designer Umbrella

A lawyer has been fined $500 for filing a frivolous lawsuit on behalf of a New York restaurateur who claimed a model damaged the limited edition designer umbrella he loaned to her. Attorney William Beslow sued supermodel Le Call on behalf of Nello Balan, the owner of a well-known Italian…

Sep 16, 2008 5:28 PM CDT