Verdicts & Settlements

Judge publicly reprimanded for jailing domestic-violence witness who recanted

A Louisville judge who admitted that she made a mistake when she ordered a balking witness in a domestic violence case jailed without a hearing last year should be publicly reprimanded, a Kentucky legal ethics panel has decided. In determining the penalty, the Judicial Conduct Commission said it took into…

Apr 22, 2016 2:30 PM CDT

Uber to pay up to $100M to settle claims of misclassification by drivers in 2 states

With a June trial looming in a California class action by 240,000 current and former drivers who claimed they were misclassified as independent contractors, Uber Technologies Inc. agreed on Thursday to settle the case for as much as $100 million. The settlement of that federal suit, which was brought in…

Apr 22, 2016 1:28 PM CDT

Volkswagen settlement details should be kept secret until filed, judge says after news report

A federal judge in San Francisco fears the public can be misled by stories about diesel emissions litigation against Volkswagen that are published before the tentative agreement is completed. In court on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said he would order parties in the litigation over Volkswagen’s emissions software…

Apr 22, 2016 7:41 AM CDT

Discussing bias is important, says book club leader after settlement with Napa Valley Wine Train

Northern California women asked to leave a Napa Valley wine country train tour, reportedly for being too loud, have settled their discrimination lawsuit with the company. The 11 women, 10 of whom are black, are part of a book club that meets at different locations. According to the San Jose…

Apr 20, 2016 5:26 PM CDT

9th Circuit discharges $6K that bankrupt attorney owed ex-client

A suspended California lawyer fighting to get her law practice privileges reinstated has at least one less obstacle to contend with. In a Thursday ruling, a federal appeals court agreed with Marilyn Scheer—who handled the appeal pro se—that a debt of nearly $6,000 she owed a former client for unearned…

Apr 18, 2016 1:30 PM CDT

1st Circuit urges discharge of former executive’s $246K in student loan debt

After years of pro se legal battle and the pro bono help of a Brown Rudnick lawyer who took his case while it was pending before a federal appeals court, Robert Murphy may be on the verge of seeing more than $246,000 in student loan debt discharged in bankruptcy on…

Apr 15, 2016 4:05 PM CDT

Convicted in 2012 of 1957 child-murder, man is freed from life prison term in Friday ruling

Convicted in 2012 of murdering a child in Illinois in 1957, life prisoner Jack McCullough on Friday had his conviction vacated at the request of a DeKalb County state’s attorney who wasn’t involved in the prosecution. McCullough could still be retried under Friday’s ruling by Judge William Brady, but has…

Apr 15, 2016 2:05 PM CDT

Farmers Insurance to pay $5.8M to settle discrimination suit by female claims litigators

In a proposed settlement filed late Tuesday, Farmers Insurance Group Inc. agreed to pay $4 million to some 300 women who have worked as claims litigators for the company over the past four to five years. Farmers will pay an additional $1.8 million in attorney’s fees to settle the pay-discrimination…

Apr 15, 2016 1:20 PM CDT

Federal judge plans to sanction 16 lawyers for ‘gamesmanship’ and ‘forum shopping’

After issuing a show-cause order earlier this year, a federal judge has now lowered the boom. In a Thursday decision, Chief U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III announced that he intends to impose nonmonetary sanctions on all but one of the counsel of record for both sides in a class-action…

Apr 15, 2016 1:00 PM CDT

Lawyer is found liable for $200K for stabbing man in hotel lobby

Jurors in Minnesota have found a personal injury lawyer liable for $200,000 for stabbing a man with a steak knife in a hotel lobby. Jurors in Hennepin County found lawyer Michael Riehm liable for $200,000 for attacking Daniel Kerkinni at the W Minneapolis Hotel, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. A…

Apr 15, 2016 9:57 AM CDT

10th Circuit reverses bigamy-law win for ‘Sister Wives’ family

After a Utah family and their plural marriages became the subject of a TLC reality television show in 2010, local authorities in Lehi opened an investigation to see whether the Sister Wives family should be prosecuted for violating the state’s bigamy law. Kody Brown and his four wives (one legal,…

Apr 13, 2016 3:25 PM CDT

Lawyer sued for defamation over praise of rival real-estate broker wins at trial

A Florida lawyer has won a lawsuit claiming he defamed his first real-estate broker in a testimonial on behalf of a second broker that managed to sell his Boca Raton home. Jurors returned a defense verdict on behalf of lawyer Rick Felberbaum last week, the Daily Business Review (sub. req.)…

Apr 12, 2016 2:00 PM CDT

Another bank settles with DOJ over sales of risky mortgages; did it get a better deal than others?

Goldman Sachs Group has agreed to pay $5.06 billion to settle government claims that it sold risky mortgage securities to investors without disclosing the problems. The settlement includes $1.8 billion for consumer relief, nearly $2.39 billion in federal civil penalties, and $875 million to settle other federal and state claims,…

Apr 12, 2016 9:46 AM CDT

Dershowitz and victims’ rights lawyers drop dueling defamation claims

Retired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and two victims’ rights lawyers have settled dueling defamation claims stemming from allegations in a court filing that Dershowitz had sex with a minor. The lawyers announced the defamation settlement in a statement on Friday, report the Careerist, Above the Law, Reuters and Politico.…

Apr 12, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

Man’s suit over nudity-ordinance arrest at gay-pride event revived by 9th Circuit

Admittedly, Will X. Walters wasn’t wearing much when he was arrested by San Diego police in 2011 at a beer garden following a gay-pride event at Balboa Park. The “gladiator kilt” Courthouse News said he had on, along with a harness and a black thong, was described by an earlier…

Apr 8, 2016 10:50 AM CDT