Verdicts & Settlements

Law360 settles state AG probe, will stop requiring new editorial hires to sign noncompete agreements

Law360 has settled a New York state attorney general probe by agreeing not to require new editorial hires to sign noncompete agreements. The online legal publisher, which is part of LexisNexis Group, said it “voluntarily collaborated with the New York attorney general’s office and reached a mutual agreement regarding the…

Jun 15, 2016 12:00 PM CDT

Lawyer is convicted in home-invasion attack on law firm managing partner and his wife

Virginia lawyer Andrew Schmuhl was convicted of all charges on Tuesday for forcing his way into the home of a law firm managing partner, and then attacking the partner and his wife over the course of three hours. Schmuhl was convicted of aggravated malicious wounding, abduction with pecuniary benefit, using…

Jun 15, 2016 7:03 AM CDT

9th Circuit judges say little of their thinking at hearing on unfinished law firm business clawbacks

A federal appeals court offered few hints at a Monday hearing about the direction in which members may be leaning concerning the right of a failed law firm, if any, to “claw back” profits from unfinished business taken by a former partner to a new law firm. A U.S. District…

Jun 14, 2016 12:04 PM CDT

Rite Aid can’t recover from imprisoned ex-lawyer because of release in shareholder suit, judge rules

A federal judge in Philadelphia has blocked Rite Aid’s $135 million suit in state court against its convicted former chief counsel and vice chairman because of a release signed by the company in a shareholder class action in 2001. U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell ruled June 7 that Rite Aid…

Jun 14, 2016 8:31 AM CDT

Appeals court: Yelp must remove defamatory 3rd-party material about lawyer who won defamation case

Yelp must take down third-party material about a lawyer who won a defamation verdict against a former client, a California appeals court has ruled. Although the consumer review website had argued that it is protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act from being held accountable for a third-party…

Jun 13, 2016 10:30 AM CDT

Supreme Court rules test for enhanced patent-infringement damages is too strict

A test used to determine whether enhanced damages may be awarded for patent infringement is so strict that it impermissibly insulates some of the worst infringers, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. The court on Monday overturned the standard used by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit…

Jun 13, 2016 10:09 AM CDT

Amidst claims ICE should do more to ID lawful residents, detained citizen wins $20K award

Complex U.S. immigration laws and relatively minimal standards for detaining those suspected of violating them cause hundreds of American citizens and thousands of legal residents to be held without appropriate basis, advocates say. Some of those held don’t even know themselves that they are American citizens, making it difficult for…

Jun 13, 2016 6:00 AM CDT

Questions about chat with co-defendants keep murder case alive for lawyers after client is acquitted

One man has been acquitted in a Louisiana murder case and prosecutors in Orleans Parish have dropped charges against four co-defendants. However, the case continues to reverberate among lawyers for both sides, as they argue about whether legal ethics rules were violated, reports the New Orleans Times-Picayune. At issue is…

Jun 10, 2016 4:00 PM CDT

En banc 9th Circuit upholds California law requiring ‘good cause’ for concealed carry

In a big win for those who favor gun control, a divided en banc federal appeals court panel on Thursday upheld, against a Second Amendment challenge, a California law restricting concealed-carry permits to individuals who can demonstrate “good cause.” The 7-4 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals…

Jun 10, 2016 9:45 AM CDT

Woman fined $1,722 and put on probation over license plate decal left in glove box has case closed

When Linda Ford was pulled over early one morning last September for having a dirty license plate, she had a license plate decal in her glove box proving she had paid her Georgia vehicle registration fee for 2015. She showed the decal to the officer, but he ticketed her anyway,…

Jun 10, 2016 9:15 AM CDT

Law firm bookkeeper got job despite prior criminal record, is now convicted in new $100K theft

A woman with a history of financial crimes in multiple states got a job as an office manager and bookkeeper for a North Carolina law firm, after a background check failed to pick up her earlier convictions under a different name. That resulted in a loss of more than $150,000…

Jun 9, 2016 12:00 PM CDT

7th Circuit: Judge should have appointed lawyer for mentally ill woman who missed appeal deadline

A federal appeals court on Wednesday revived the untimely appeal of an imprisoned Indiana woman convicted of murdering her boyfriend in 2001. Anastazia Schmid was found guilty but mentally ill, which removed capital punishment as a possibility in her sentencing. Because Schmid was determined to be mentally ill, a federal…

Jun 8, 2016 2:50 PM CDT

Federal judge nixes big-game hunter’s suit over airline’s refusal to transport trophy rhinoceros

A Texan who made the winning bid of $350,000 at a Dallas Safari Club auction for a permitted trip to kill an African rhinoceros wound up suing Delta Airlines last year for refusing to transport his dead trophy. But a federal judge on Monday dismissed the suit filed by Corey…

Jun 8, 2016 1:15 PM CDT

Lawyer acquitted in claimed cover-up of school board member’s free-lunch application

The first of two lawyers to go to trial in a criminal corruption case over a claimed cover-up of a New Jersey school board member’s free-lunch application won a resounding victory on Tuesday. Following a five-week trial, it took the jury less than an hour of deliberation to decide to…

Jun 8, 2016 10:20 AM CDT

Lawyer is fined $75K in hawk-trapping case

A prominent South Carolina attorney emotionally took a plea Monday in a Charleston federal wildlife case over hawks trapped and killed on his 1,790-acre property. Charles Williams, 66, told a federal magistrate he was ashamed to be in court as she sentenced him to a year of probation, 50 hours…

Jun 7, 2016 5:05 PM CDT