Verdicts & Settlements

Former Freddie Mac CEO Settles for $16.4M

A few weeks into what was expected to be a lengthy trial before an administrative law judge, a former chairman and chief executive of Freddie Mac has agreed to settle his case for $16.4 million, without admitting liability. While a stunning sum, the $16.4 million is a fraction of the…

Nov 8, 2007 1:33 AM CST

Weirdest Case? You Be the Judge

As the world’s oddest laws are being discussed this week by one British newspaper, another, not to be outdone, has created a column about the world’s weirdest legal cases. Among them, according to the inaugural edition in the London Times: A German lawyer collected a statutory fee of 440,000 euros…

Nov 7, 2007 8:28 PM CST

BigLaw Firms End Mandatory Retirement

Another BigLaw firm has just announced that it will end its mandatory retirement program for lawyers, following a high-profile $27.5 million settlement in a law firm partner age discrimination case and an ABA recommendation against such policies. Effective immediately, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis will no longer require its…

Nov 7, 2007 6:13 PM CST

Bankruptcy Judge Properly Fired Debtor’s PI Counsel

A Manhattan bankruptcy judge properly fired a debtor’s incompetent and uncooperative personal injury lawyer, a federal appeals court has ruled. Although Manhattan personal injury lawyer Jeffrey H. Schwartz was initially retained by the debtor with the bankruptcy trustee’s permission, he subsequently hired co-counsel without seeking bankruptcy court approval and made…

Nov 6, 2007 6:27 PM CST

CA Jury Gives 6 Banana Workers $3.3M

A California jury has awarded $3.3 million to six Central American laborers who say they suffered health problems as a result of a pesticide used by the American company in the 1970s on the banana plantation on which they worked. However, another six laborers among the plaintiffs in the groundbreaking…

Nov 6, 2007 12:30 AM CST

Justice Stevens Considers Ryan Sentence

Prosecutors have been asked to prepare a response to a long-shot emergency bail application to an individual U.S. Supreme Court justice, made in an effort to delay the start of a prison sentence for former Illinois Gov. George H. Ryan Sr. in a political corruption case. After receiving yesterday’s filing,…

Nov 1, 2007 8:12 PM CDT

Phone Transcripts Released in Jeffs Case

Formerly sealed documents detailing jailhouse phone calls made by the leader of a controversial fringe sect of the Mormon church that advocates polygamy were released Tuesday by a Utah court. A lawyer for Warren Jeffs, 51, who has since been convicted of accomplice rape for pressuring a 14-year-old church member…

Nov 1, 2007 7:33 PM CDT

Ohio Dowry Ruling is Appealed; Important Muslim Marriage Issue

In a case that has attracted national interest, an Ohio woman is appealing a court ruling that her ex-husband doesn’t have to pay the dowry she is guaranteed in her Muslim marriage contract. Although courts in other states reportedly have enforced similar religious marriage contracts, the judge in Raghad Alwattar’s…

Nov 1, 2007 4:21 PM CDT

Record $460M in Fees Sought in Securities Class Action

Milberg Weiss and two other lead law firms are seeking $460 million in fees and about $29 million in expenses in the $3.2 billion settlement of a securities class action against Tyco International Ltd. The money, said to be a record amount in a securities class action, would also be…

Nov 1, 2007 12:47 PM CDT

Marine’s Dad Gets $11M for Funeral Picketing

In a verdict that is sure to catch the attention of First Amendment advocates, a federal jury in Baltimore has awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages to a father of a fallen Marine whose funeral was picketed by members of a fringe Kansas church.…

Oct 31, 2007 11:48 PM CDT

Ex-Prosecutor Acquitted in ‘Political’ Case

A federal prosecutor accused of intentionally withholding evidence that would have helped the defense in a high-profile 2003 terrorism trial has been found not guilty on all charges in a jury verdict today. Outside the courtroom after the verdict, former assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino decried the case against him…

Oct 31, 2007 8:54 PM CDT

Cost to Keep Ex in Health Plan: Law License

Misrepresenting himself as still married to his ex-wife for six years, so that she could continue to be covered under his health insurance, has cost a former New York state government lawyer his job and a two-year suspension from practice. Carmine Clemente, 64, also agreed under a plea deal in…

Oct 31, 2007 1:00 AM CDT

Scary Halloween Story to Employers: Retaliation Case Award of $5.5M

In a wake-up call to employers in California who haven’t yet familiarized themselves with the legal requirements concerning discrimination complaints, a federal jury in San Francisco has awarded $5.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the plaintiff in a retaliation case. Kiran Pande, a former Chevron Corp. engineer, had…

Oct 31, 2007 12:32 AM CDT

Embattled New Orleans DA Resigns

Embattled Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan has resigned after facing years of criticism for not aggressively pursuing violent criminals, persistent staff turnover and most recently a ruling that plaintiffs could seize assets to collect a $3.7 million civil rights verdict against him. Jordan will be replaced by First Assistant…

Oct 30, 2007 8:37 PM CDT

New China Rules on Privilege, Judgment

The Chinese legislature has adopted new draft standards creating an attorney-client privilege in criminal cases and making it easier to enforce civil judgments. The fledgling standards approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress will eliminate monitoring of conversations between criminal suspects and their counsel. They also “will…

Oct 29, 2007 5:58 PM CDT