Verdicts & Settlements

Lawyer Posts Addresses of Alleged Pedophile Priests on Website

A Minnesota lawyer for victims of pedophile priests has posted addresses and some phone numbers of alleged Chicago abusers on his website. Jeffrey Anderson of St. Paul told the Chicago Sun-Times that he posted information about nine men yesterday to protect the public. Anderson represented victims in a $12.7 million…

Aug 15, 2008 12:11 PM CDT

Ex-Apple GC Settles SEC Case for $2.2M, Wants to Seek Social Justice

Former Apple general counsel Nancy Heinen has agreed to pay $2.2 million in a civil settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve allegations of stock options backdating. The amount includes disgorgement of gains from the sale of backdated stock options, interest on the gains, and a $200,000 fine,…

Aug 15, 2008 11:51 AM CDT

Landmark Mass. Brain Injury Settlement Could Put 2,000 in Community Care

An unprecedented settlement between Massachusetts and an advocacy group could eventually help 2,000 brain-injured patients from nursing homes to community care. Among them is 29-year-old Kaya Alexander, who has lived in a nursing home since a 2006 auto accident left her partially paralyzed, and desperately wants to be back among…

Aug 14, 2008 11:09 PM CDT

Detroit Mayor is Untethered, Then Re-Restricted

Reversing another judge’s earlier order that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had to wear an electronic tether due to his violation of bond restrictions on traveling, a Wayne County Circuit Court judge today not only untethered the mayor but lifted the travel ban. “He is not a flight risk. I see…

Aug 14, 2008 7:25 PM CDT

Bad Real Estate Market a Big Issue in Celebrity Divorces

A declining real estate market is making it harder for divorcing celebrities to reach agreement on the division of their assets. In Florida, the former professional wrestler known as Hulk Hogan is in a bitter court battle with his soon-to-be ex-wife over whether he must go through with the couple’s…

Aug 13, 2008 5:15 PM CDT

2-Month Sentence for Lawyer on Sidelines of Milberg Kickbacks Case

Although prosecutors sought probation for a former name partner at a California entertainment law boutique, a federal judge gave Richard Purtich a two-month sentence yesterday for helping another law firm secretly pay kickbacks to a mutual client. Purtich, while working at King, Holmes, Paterno & Berliner, helped the New York…

Aug 12, 2008 9:59 PM CDT

Judicial Independence in Kuwait: Death Penalty for Royal Family Member

Reportedly caught in his home in Kuwait with 22 pounds of cocaine and 165 pounds of hashish, Talal Nasser al Sabah was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death. The capital sentence is highly unusual, in this case, because Talal is a member of the Persian Gulf country’s royal…

Aug 12, 2008 5:35 PM CDT

Plame Can’t Sue Gov’t. Officials Who Allegedly Outed Her as US Spy

Because high-level government figures were acting within their official capacity when they allegedly revealed to reporters that Valerie Plame had spied for the U.S., she and her husband can’t sue them for damages, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. has ruled. “The conduct … was in the defendants’ scope…

Aug 12, 2008 4:29 PM CDT

Chicago Archdiocese Strikes $12M Accord With Sex Abuse Victims

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and lawyers for victims announced today they have agreed to a $12 million settlement for victims who claim they were sexually abused by priests. The settlement covers victims of former priest Daniel McCormack and 10 other priests or former priests, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Aug 12, 2008 3:53 PM CDT

Md. Lawyers in 2 Cases Testify re Attorney Witness-Tampering Claims

In an unusual situation that attracted both prosecutors and defense lawyers as courtroom spectators, veteran criminal defense lawyers in two separate cases in Baltimore were asked to explain themselves in court last week concerning their interactions with witnesses. The two attorneys said they had done nothing wrong, and claims that…

Aug 11, 2008 7:19 PM CDT

Most Plaintiffs Who Reject Settlement Offers Do Worse at Trial

The gamble of going to trial doesn’t pay off for most plaintiffs, according to a study of more than 2,000 civil suits from 2002 to 2005. Sixty-one percent of plaintiffs who turned down settlement offers ended up faring worse at trial, according to a New York Times story on the…

Aug 11, 2008 11:49 AM CDT

Tim Burton Wins Palimony Suit After Agreeing to Pay Ex $5.5M

On the eve of a scheduled trial next week, a California appeals court has thrown out a palimony suit against director Tim Burton by his former girlfriend, actress Lisa Marie. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge had ruled last month that the actress was entitled to a trial on her…

Aug 8, 2008 5:52 PM CDT

Kansas Settles ‘Kiss and Tell’ Teen Sex Reporting Case

The Center for Reproductive Rights and the state of Kansas have agreed to a $475,000 settlement of a lawsuit prompted by a sweeping 2003 attorney general opinion that required health clinics, especially abortion clinics, to report incidents of teen sex. In 2006, the center won a restraining order in federal…

Aug 8, 2008 2:19 PM CDT

Hamdan Sentenced to Only 5.5 Years By Military Tribunal, Could Get Out in 5 Months

Prosecutors sought a prison term of at least 30 years for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the Osama bin Laden chauffeur convicted this week of some, but not all, of the terrorism support charges against him. However, a jury of six military officers sentenced him to five-and-a-half years today. With credit for…

Aug 7, 2008 7:46 PM CDT

Detroit Mayor Jailed on Bond Violation

Updated: A judge has ordered that Detroit’s mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, be jailed over a violation of his bond in an ongoing perjury prosecution. Kilpatrick admittedly violated his bond by making an unauthorized trip to Canada, on city business, without first notifying the court, according to the Detroit Free Press. The…

Aug 7, 2008 3:34 PM CDT