Verdicts & Settlements

Top Texas court says city’s possession of stray dog didn’t end owner rights

Ruling in a case near and dear to the hearts of animal lovers, the Texas Supreme Court has strengthened the ability of owners to reclaim a stray pet. Siblings Alfonso and Lydia Lira did not lose their property rights in Monte, a German shepherd, simply because the dog had, for…

Apr 6, 2016 1:05 PM CDT

Federal judge gives final OK to $20B settlement by BP in Gulf oil spill disaster

A federal judge in New Orleans on Monday gave the final OK to an estimated $20 billion settlement by BP concerning a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010. The ruling by U.S District Judge Carl Barbier followed his earlier finding that the company had been grossly negligent in…

Apr 6, 2016 12:00 PM CDT

April Fool’s Day tweet after court loss leads to threat of sanction

One of the owners of the Videogames YouTube Channel had to explain on Tuesday why he shouldn’t be held in contempt for his April Fool’s Day tweet. Bryan Martin tweeted the same day he and a co-owner were found liable for more than $20 million for conspiring to breach agreements…

Apr 6, 2016 7:25 AM CDT

Punitive verdict for carbon monoxide poisoning was ‘excessive and arbitrary,’ 10th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has embraced a 1-to-1 ratio of compensatory-to-punitive damages in a Wyoming renter’s lawsuit over a brain injury due to carbon monoxide poisoning. The April 1 decision by the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cuts the punitive verdict for Amber Lompe from $25.5 million against…

Apr 5, 2016 1:50 PM CDT

Former Dewey & LeBoeuf partners not liable for unpaid rent, judge rules

In a ruling that took hundreds of former partners of Dewey & LeBoeuf and predecessor firms off the hook, a New York judge on Monday held that an office lease did not impose personal liability on them for rent that wasn’t paid after Dewey filed for bankruptcy. The original 1989…

Apr 5, 2016 12:00 PM CDT

Take a seat, California workers: Top state court says employers should provide chairs

Life may soon be easier for a number of California workers who find it difficult to be on their feet all day. At the request of a federal appeals court, California’s top court has interpreted a state wage order requiring that “all working employees shall be provided with suitable seats…

Apr 4, 2016 4:45 PM CDT

Feds can apply convicted judge’s pension to his $2.9M restitution, court rules

At least 25 percent of a convicted former Nevada judge’s more than $10,000-a-month pension can be applied to his $2.9 million restitution, a federal judge in Las Vegas ruled from the bench on Monday. Prosecutors will put the money remaining after the garnishment into a prison account for Steven Jones…

Apr 4, 2016 3:10 PM CDT

Lawyer whose midtrial DUI setup by opposing counsel made headlines wins related malpractice suit

Three years ago, attorney C. Philip Campbell not only represented the losing party in a high-profile Florida defamation case but made headlines when the trial was interrupted by his drunken-driving arrest—due, as authorities later determined, to an unethical setup by his opposing counsel. Since then, the drunken-driving case against Campbell…

Apr 1, 2016 1:20 PM CDT

SCOTUS antitrust ruling against dentists raises questions about lawyers’ regulatory structures

The organized bar is feeling pain from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a regulatory board for the dental profession in North Carolina doesn't have state-action immunity in a Federal Trade Commission antitrust action challenging the board's efforts to block nondentists from providing teeth-whitening services to consumers.

Apr 1, 2016 3:00 AM CDT

Judge accused of embezzling $4K as prosecutor expected to return to bench after no-contest plea

A suspended Michigan judge facing an embezzlement case over $4,000 in funds he allegedly misspent while serving as a county prosecutor has accepted a plea deal that is expected to put him back on the bench. Originally charged with five felonies, Lapeer Circuit Judge Byron Konschuh pleaded no contest to…

Mar 31, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

F-word settlement refusal doesn’t require tossing lawyer from case, federal judge rules

A federal judge in New Jersey has declined to toss a lawyer from a case for responding to a settlement demand with an F-word refusal. U.S. District Judge Esther Salas of Newark upheld (PDF) a magistrate judge’s refusal to disqualify lawyer Wayne Paulter, the New Jersey Law Journal (sub. req.)…

Mar 31, 2016 9:11 AM CDT

Suit by laid-off lawyers says Reilly Pozner jettisoned 17 at law firm to avoid sharing $391M verdict

One of the top trial law firms in Colorado laid off 17 workers last year in order to avoid sharing with them a $391 million verdict they helped win a few months earlier, a lawsuit contends. Filed by husband-and-wife attorneys Wendy and Eric Fisher in Denver District Court, suit alleges…

Mar 30, 2016 4:45 PM CDT

Will Milano suit settlement kill Trader Joe’s competing brand? No word on how cookies may crumble

News of the settlement of a federal lawsuit over claimed infringement of the iconic Milano cookie brand marketed by Pepperidge Farm leaves unanswered an important question to lovers of baked goods. Does the pact mean that Trader Joe’s will stop marketing its competing Crispy Cookies filled with Belgian chocolate? What…

Mar 30, 2016 3:55 PM CDT

In first GM ignition-switch case to go to verdict, jury awards zip, saying defect didn’t cause crash

Both sides proclaimed victory Wednesday after the first jury verdict in a General Motors ignition-switch case. That’s because the jury, while finding a 2007 Saturn Sky unreasonably dangerous because of an ignition-switch defect, also found that the defect did not cause the plaintiff driver to lose control on an icy…

Mar 30, 2016 3:20 PM CDT

Pro se plaintiff awarded $203K in mixed jury verdict in employment discrimination case

Brian Vukadinovich says a number of lawyers were interested in representing him in an age-discrimination and retaliation case against his former employer. But the Indiana teacher and former law firm employee has long had an interest in legal matters and wanted to represent himself at the weeklong trial of his…

Mar 29, 2016 4:45 PM CDT