Verdicts & Settlements

N.Y. PI Firm in Evidence Scandal Can Sue Its Own Counsel for Malpractice

A 1986 lawsuit by New York City alleging falsification of evidence by attorneys at what was once a top personal injury law firm there isn’t yet completely resolved. The accused law firm can sue its defense counsel in the city’s tort claim for malpractice, a state appeals court has decided,…

Jun 27, 2008 7:29 PM CDT

Fla. Man Spent 2 Months in Jail for Drinking Herbal Tea

A Florida man facing a burglary charge is once again free on bond, after his lawyer persuaded a judge that he had seemingly violated the terms of his bond unintentionally, by drinking a cocaine-containing herbal tea. Meanwhile, however, suspect Jerome Klein spent two months in jail in Broward County after…

Jun 27, 2008 5:23 PM CDT

Scruggs Gets 5 Years, $250K Fine in Judicial Bribery Case

Updated: Famed Mississippi plaintiffs attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, ashamed and shaking, was sentenced to five years in prison today for his role in a conspiracy to bribe a state judge. Imposing the sentence recommended by prosecutors, a federal judge in Mississippi also fined Scruggs $250,000, reports the Associated Press. Defense…

Jun 27, 2008 4:34 PM CDT

High-Profile Murder Verdict Given to Press Before Judge Reads It

In an unusual gaffe, the press was given copies of the 74-page verdict in a high-profile Irish murder trial by a court official today before the judge even had a chance to read it in court. “Mr. Justice Gillen had not even sat down at Belfast Crown Court when photocopies…

Jun 27, 2008 4:05 PM CDT

Calif. Judge Removed from Bench Because of Expense Issue

A former prosecutor serving as an Orange County, Calif., judge must be removed from office, the state Commission on Judicial Performance has decided in a 7-3 ruling made public yesterday. The panel said in its opinion that Superior Court Judge Kelly MacEachern “engaged in willful misconduct” by seeking government reimbursement…

Jun 27, 2008 2:57 PM CDT

Judge Raps Abbott Attorney in Rare ‘Inequitable Conduct’ Sanction

A federal judge has held that an Abbott Laboratories patent is unenforceable because of the “inequitable conduct” of an in-house lawyer. Attorney Lawrence Pope withheld important information when applying for the so-called ‘551 patent, the judge found, concerning a position Abbott had previously taken on the so-called ‘381 patent, reports…

Jun 26, 2008 8:38 PM CDT

4 Airlines to Pay $504M in Near Record Price-Fixing Payout

Four international airlines have agreed to pay $504 million to settle charges they conspired to drive up air cargo rates. The Justice Department says the antitrust settlement is one of the largest in history, the Associated Press reports. Air France-KLM will pay $350 million, while the rest will be paid…

Jun 26, 2008 5:36 PM CDT

Despite Suicide Theory, Entwistle Guilty in Murder of Wife & Baby

Updated: The defense contended that 27-year-old Rachel Entwistle shot her 9-month-old baby daughter to death and then committed suicide. But Massachusetts jurors didn’t buy that story, and convicted her husband, Neil, today of two counts of first-degree murder, according to the Boston Globe. The high-profile crime, in January 2006, had…

Jun 26, 2008 12:48 AM CDT

If Not Gitmo, NIMBY, Senators Say; Detainee Not Yet Told of Appellate Win

After an appellate court ruling that a military prisoner held for more than six years without trial was improperly classified as an “enemy combatant,” the closure of the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay—as called for by the presumptive presidential candidates for both major political parties—appears likely. But where should…

Jun 25, 2008 9:59 PM CDT

Sex Offender Computer Search Law is Unconstitutional, Judge Says

A federal judge yesterday struck down a major portion of a revised Indiana sex offender registry law, saying that the state went too far in requiring that convicted sex offenders, after they serve their sentences and any parole or probation, agree to have their computers and Internet use monitored. Siding…

Jun 25, 2008 5:40 PM CDT

Ex-Prosecutor: DOJ Destroyed My Career

Ryan Rainey admittedly broke a rule when he was a star federal prosecutor, and paid a high price for doing so. In 2005, he resigned, later pleading guilty to criminal charges. They related to failing to inform his bosses at the Department of Justice about applying for work as a…

Jun 24, 2008 6:37 PM CDT

Stepmom Spat Sparks ‘Tween Suit Against Dad Over School Trip; Appeal Planned

A 12-year-old in Quebec successfully sued her father to win permission to go on a three-day trip celebrating her final year in elementary school with classmates. But he is reportedly appealing in an effort to win a victory for parental rights, even though, at this point, she has already gone…

Jun 19, 2008 10:44 PM CDT

Billed: $278,000,Valid: $142,000, Judge Says in Auto Accident Case

An Australian law firm has been ordered to repay its client, after charging a former butcher $278,000 in an automobile accident case. An appropriate bill for the services rendered by the Keddies law firm would have been $142,000, according to a cost assessor appointed after the client complained, reports the…

Jun 18, 2008 10:46 PM CDT

9th Circuit to Employers: Don’t Look at Workers’ Text Messages

Venturing into what a federal appeals court panel described as a new frontier of electronic communications law, the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decided today that employers have no right to read their employees’ text messages without their consent. Plus, even if employers pay for the service,…

Jun 18, 2008 10:03 PM CDT

Former Fla. PI Lawyer Pleads in $300K Client Theft Case

A lawyer in South Florida pleaded no contest today to stealing almost $300,000 in client settlement funds. Patrick Joseph Dooley, 45, is expected to get between five and 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in September, reports the Miami Herald. ”It’s a tragedy,” says Broward Assistant State Attorney…

Jun 18, 2008 9:02 PM CDT