Verdicts & Settlements

Pain-Patient Pardon Ends 25-Year Term

The wife of a disabled Florida man serving a 25-year sentence for trafficking in drugs–the medication he needs to suppress his pain–was stunned yesterday when the state pardoned him at a scheduled hearing on his request for a sentence commutation. Richard Paey, 48, who suffers from chronic fiery pain in…

Sep 20, 2007 6:43 PM CDT

14 Families Settle Sept. 11 Suits

A judge’s decision to allow jurors to hear cockpit recordings of a plane downed on Sept. 11, 2001, may have helped lead to the settlement of 14 cases against United Airlines and two security companies. The settlement amounts were not disclosed, the New York Times reports. The lawyer for the…

Sep 19, 2007 4:08 PM CDT

PI Lawyer Plea: $1.3 M, Up to 15 Years, in $13 M Fraud Case

A federal judge has approved a plea deal that calls for a once-prominent Miami personal injury lawyer to serve up to 15 years in prison. Louis Robles, who has been disbarred, must also repay former clients $1.3 million of the more than $13 million he defrauded them of in asbestos…

Sep 18, 2007 4:34 PM CDT

Shackled Fen-Phen Lawyers Seek Release, Judge Says No

Shackled and attired in faded gray-and-white-striped jail uniforms, three personal injury attorneys involved in mega-bucks fen-phen litigation attended a federal court hearing in Kentucky today to seek their release. Accused of bilking clients out of $64 million from a $200 million litigation settlement in 2001 concerning the diet drug combination,…

Sep 11, 2007 8:10 PM CDT

Releasee’s Car Crash Costs City $1.8 M

A city in Washington state has agreed to pay $1.8 million to the widow of a man killed eight years ago in a hit-and-run accident. That’s because the driver should have been incarcerated, but was released prematurely from jail in an Algona drunken driving case, reports the Seattle Times. Tracy…

Sep 11, 2007 7:29 PM CDT

End of Era: Chicago Mob Murder Case

Yesterday’s guilty verdict in the Operation Family Secrets federal trial in Chicago was an important first step toward resolving 18 unsolved gangland murders stretching back decades. Plus, the case’s aggressive prosecution of organized criminal activity is also significant, according to a local newspaper. The 18 murders were attributed by testimony…

Sep 11, 2007 3:26 PM CDT

NASCAR Logo Settlement Reached

An out-of-court settlement allows NASCAR driver Jeff Burton to display the AT&T logo on his car for the next 18 months, but he must find a new corporate sponsor for the 2009 season. NASCAR announced the settlement Friday, according to the Fulton County Daily Report. Burton’s car used to sport…

Sep 11, 2007 12:26 PM CDT

Verdict in ‘Family Secrets’ Trial: All Guilty

After months of testimony and days of deliberation, a federal jury reached a verdict today in one of the biggest organized crime trials in years: all defendants are guilty on all counts. In a case based on high-level insider testimony, retired Chicago police officer Anthony “Twan” Doyle (who is not…

Sep 10, 2007 7:04 PM CDT

Family Secrets Verdict to Be Announced

A federal jury in Chicago has reached a decision in the Family Secrets mob conspiracy trial. Judge James Zagel will announce the verdict at 2 p.m. CDT, the Chicago Tribune (reg. req.) reports. The jury has been deliberating over the course of five days as it weighs charges against former…

Sep 10, 2007 4:22 PM CDT

San Diego Church Settlement: $198 M

The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego has agreed to pay $198 million to settle claims of clergy sex abuse by 144 alleged victims. The settlement announced today is the second-largest in a series of such cases that have erupted throughout the nation since 2002, according to the Associated Press.…

Sep 7, 2007 11:02 PM CDT

Terrorism Trial Scorecard

A little over a year ago, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a 68-page report that listed what the DOJ considers the country’s major terrorism cases. In an article that is part of a special terrorism issue, the ABA Journal now uses the report as a basis for a scorecard…

Sep 7, 2007 10:40 AM CDT

$13.5 M Settlement in Nightclub Fire

Four companies sued in connection with a 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed 100 people have agreed to a $13.5 million settlement. A special master would determine how to distribute the money, the New York Times reports. About 300 plaintiffs are suing for injuries or deaths of family members…

Sep 6, 2007 2:45 PM CDT

Rigases Oppose Deloitte Settlement

Litigation over accounting firm Deloitte & Touche’s role in failing to detect accounting problems at Adelphia Communications is likely to continue, despite a $167.5 million settlement agreement. Adelphia has filed a motion in a Philadelphia court to discontinue its malpractice suit accusing Deloitte of failure to detect accounting problems at…

Sep 6, 2007 11:58 AM CDT

Client Turns Tables on Firm in Fee Dispute

A Texas plaintiffs firm that sued to collect an attorney fee from a former client in a medical malpractice case won exactly nothing after a three-day jury trial. But a Tarrant County jury awarded the client $1.4 million last month on his counterclaim against the firm for intentional infliction of…

Sep 5, 2007 11:47 PM CDT

Sex With Client’s Mom Requires Waiver

It may be OK for a lawyer to have sex with a client’s mother—if the client approves the relationship in a written waiver of the conflict. But you can’t ethically have sex with the client, unless the relationship got started prior to the representation. That is the gist of a…

Sep 5, 2007 9:50 PM CDT