Verdicts & Settlements

High-Profile Detroit Municipal Lawyer to Lose License After 28 Years

After 28 years in practice, the former deputy director of the Detroit Law Department is poised to lose her law license. Unless she appeals and the full Michigan Attorney Discipline Board reverses a hearing panel’s determination, Brenda Braceful will lose her law license March 13, reports the Detroit Free Press.…

Feb 22, 2008 11:57 PM CST

Chinese Lawyer Promotes Rule of Law as Public Interest Lawsuit Pioneer

The government of China has publicly committed itself to the goal of applying the rule of law. This has helped a 35-year-old lawyer in Beijing achieve a significant degree of success, as more aggressive human rights activists have butted heads with the country’s leaders, by pursuing unusual consumer-oriented lawsuits that…

Feb 22, 2008 2:39 AM CST

2nd Circuit: Lawyer ‘Failed Spectacularly’ in Immigration Case

Like too many other immigrants, Garfield Livern St. Valentine Aris was not well-served by a number of lawyers, the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says in an opinion yesterday. In fact, his initial counsel “failed spectacularly,” a three-judge appellate panel writes, after a paralegal misinformed him…

Feb 21, 2008 9:03 PM CST

High-Profile Skadden Litigator Goofs, Sends Private E-mail to Reporters

Updated: Well-known litigator Sheila Birnbaum of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom believed Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood used a press release and newspaper column to mischaracterize a recent confidential settlement with her client State Farm, and she said so. Her opinion was intended to circulate in an internal e-mail,…

Feb 21, 2008 1:03 PM CST

Latest Lionel Tate Sentence Puts End to Court Saga

After a nine-year court saga that has drawn international attention, it appears that Lionel Tate can now focus on serving his time. The 21-year-old was at one point reportedly the youngest person in the U.S. to be sentenced to life in prison. Tate was 12 when he was arrested and…

Feb 20, 2008 5:44 PM CST

Ky. Law Students Settle Suit Against American Justice, Doc Buys Law School

A lawsuit by disgruntled students against the American Justice School of Law has been settled with the help of a physician’s agreement to purchase a controlling percentage of the institution and take on its seven-figure debtload. Dr. Laxmaiah Manchikanti of Paducah, Ky., will buy 75 percent of the troubled law…

Feb 19, 2008 8:38 PM CST

Vote to End Jury Deadlock May Cost Attorney His Law License

A San Francisco attorney is facing potential disbarment because while serving on a jury in 2004, he reportedly cast the deciding vote to end a deadlock simply so that he could return to his law practice. Earlier this month, a State Bar Court judge in California recommended that Francis Fahy…

Feb 19, 2008 4:02 PM CST

One Former Bill Lerach Law Firm Scarcely Misses a Step

In a recent discussion of leading plaintiffs firms filing class actions related to the subprime mortgage crisis, what Wall Street Journal Law Blog described as “San Diego-based plaintiffs powerhouse Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins” received prominent mention. Not mentioned at all in the post was the firm’s former name…

Feb 15, 2008 11:16 PM CST

High Court Allows Expanded Arguments in Exxon Punitives Case

The U.S. Supreme Court is giving lawyers for both sides an extra 15 minutes to argue over the propriety of a $2.5 billion punitive damages award in the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The court will consider whether the verdict is excessive under maritime law in oral arguments scheduled for Feb.…

Feb 15, 2008 6:36 PM CST

U.K. Judges Blast Authorities in 9/11 Case Against Pilot

An Algerian pilot falsely accused of helping train the terrorists who flew commercial airliners into the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001 says he wept with relief after learning that he had been exonerated by a British appellate court. Lotfi Raissi’s only “crime” was to attend…

Feb 15, 2008 5:10 PM CST

Grand Jurors Sue for OK to Talk About Texas Supreme Court Justice’s Case

In a highly unusual move, six members of a 12-person grand jury that indicted a Texas Supreme Court justice are suing the county prosecutor and the state for permission to talk about the evidence they considered in the controversial case. Ordinarily, grand jury proceedings are secret. But the grand jurors…

Feb 14, 2008 7:07 PM CST

Jury Duty Scam May Put Postal Worker in Prison

When a postal worker in Washington, D.C., had to serve on a jury in an extended federal trial, the government paid him his usual salary. But there were days that the jury was excused, and Joseph Winstead never reported to his job as a mail processor, yet was still paid.…

Feb 14, 2008 5:01 PM CST

Duane Morris Wins $1.6M Malpractice Suit

Duane Morris has won a $1.6 million malpractice suit that accused it of failing to provide security in a settlement agreement negotiated for a former client. Philadelphia jurors ruled yesterday that the law firm did not breach any duty to ex-client Joseph Adlerstein, the Legal Intelligencer reports. Adlerstein collected only…

Feb 14, 2008 11:37 AM CST

After 20 Years of Unauthorized Practice, Prosecutor Gets Bar Probation

For 20 years, Gemma Graham didn’t comply with Minnesota’s continuing legal education requirements, yet continued to work as a county prosecutor even though her law license was on restricted status. Now, under a plea agreement, she has admitted that her conduct violated professional conduct rules, and the state supreme court…

Feb 13, 2008 8:11 PM CST

Sixth-Highest Patent Verdict Reported

A federal jury in Texas has awarded a New Jersey radiologist $431.9 million in a suit against Boston Scientific Corp. for infringing his patent for a heart stent. Plaintiff Bruce Saffran has also sued Johnson & Johnson in another infringement suit related to stents, the Wall Street Journal reports. The…

Feb 13, 2008 4:54 PM CST