Verdicts & Settlements

Mistrial declared after jury deadlocks in first police officer trial over Freddie Gray death

A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday after the jury deadlocked on charges against Baltimore police officer William Porter in the death of Freddie Gray. After 16 hours of deliberation over three days, the jury said it could not agree on the involuntary manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct charges against…

Dec 16, 2015 3:10 PM CST

Michael Jordan donates ‘multimillion-dollar’ settlement in advertising case to Chicago charities

After winning a $8.9 million jury verdict earlier this year in a federal lawsuit over unauthorized supermarket advertising, basketball legend Michael Jordan has reached a settlement and donated the proceeds to charity. He settled last month for an undisclosed sum both the suit against Dominick’s and related litigation against Jewel-Osco,…

Dec 16, 2015 1:45 PM CST

Mom did not neglect sons by letting them play outside, state agrees after legal battle

A Chicago mother initially found to have neglected her three children by allowing them to play in a park next to their home in 2013 has been cleared with the help of a major corporate law firm. An Illinois appeals court dismissed the case Monday after the state Department of…

Dec 16, 2015 12:25 PM CST

Federal judge says lawyer and client must pay $19K for filing baseless civil rights suit

The plaintiff’s lawyer should have known that the purported facts on which a civil rights suit against the New York City police department was predicated weren’t true, a Manhattan federal judge says. So both attorney and client are on the hook for over $19,000 in sanctions, to help offset the…

Dec 16, 2015 11:25 AM CST

Retraction of Stephen Glass article follows critical opinion by California Supreme Court

Readers of Harper’s Magazine may have the California Supreme Court to thank for the latest correction of a purported nonfiction article by Stephen Glass. Published in 1998, the “Prophets and Losses” article has now been retracted by Harper’s after a recent letter from Glass. It is the first retracted article…

Dec 15, 2015 4:40 PM CST

Lawyer accused of stealing $400K pleads guilty

A Georgia lawyer has taken a plea after stealing more than $400,000 from clients, authorities say. Donald Carlton Gibson pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud in federal court in Brunswick, and admitted keeping for his own purposes $80,000 in funds a client had given him to settle a…

Dec 15, 2015 3:10 PM CST

Jury convicts lawyer accused of helping client impersonate wealthy dad to get funding for Maxim deal

A former BigLaw attorney has gone down, along with his ex-client, in a federal fraud case over a claimed scheme to trick lenders into providing millions to buy Maxim magazine. Harvey Newkirk, 39, who was counsel to Bryan Cave at the time, was acquitted on two counts by a Manhattan…

Dec 15, 2015 12:15 PM CST

Wealthy lawyer who repaid with interest $800K stolen from clients gets probation in fraud case

Updated: An Arizona personal injury lawyer was already earning millions annually when he made what federal prosecutors termed an “inexplicable decision” to steal about $800,000, an average of $100,000 a year, from clients in vaccine cases. That resulted in a loss of Jay Bansal’s law license but no prison time…

Dec 14, 2015 5:00 PM CST

Did juror’s crush on prosecutor affect verdict? Defense lawyer mulls appeal options

No one else knew that Juror No. 6 had an unrequited crush on the prosecutor, it seems, before a guilty verdict was rendered earlier this year in a Toronto-area drug case. But afterward she made her feelings known in a series of notes to Robert Johnston, who is married, and…

Dec 14, 2015 10:25 AM CST

Once-powerful New York lawmaker, an attorney, is convicted on corruption charges

Already forced from his state senate leadership position and a law firm job by federal corruption charges, a New York lawmaker on Friday was convicted on all counts by a Manhattan jury, along with his son. Dean Skelos, 67, had remained a member of the state senate, although he gave…

Dec 14, 2015 9:05 AM CST

Court was right to nix $12M will payout to drafting lawyer but should have resurrected prior bequest

A Florida probate court properly invalidated a 1994 will that largely left an elderly woman’s $12 million estate to the drafting attorney and two others, including his legal assistant. However, it erred by ruling that Virginia Murphy’s assets should be distributed under intestacy provisions, a Florida appellate court ruled (PDF)…

Dec 14, 2015 9:05 AM CST

Federal civil rights suits say sign-language interpreters required by ADA are often lacking

A quarter-century after the Americans with Disabilities Act was OK’d by Congress in 1990, noncompliance is still a problem. However, a stream of litigation seeking to enforce ADA requirements is gathering force, and a spate of recent suits addresses a claimed lack of sign-language interpreters for the deaf in a…

Dec 11, 2015 12:50 PM CST

Former BigLaw partner is acquitted of sexual assault, says case made his life a ‘nightmare’

Updated: A former Sidley Austin partner in Chicago blasted police and prosecutors after he and his nephew were acquitted of sexual assault on Thursday. The lawyer, 52-year-old Stanley Stallworth, and his nephew, 24-year-old Therrie Miller, were both acquitted in a bench trial, the Chicago Tribune reports. They were charged in…

Dec 11, 2015 8:27 AM CST

Law firm files for bankruptcy after $2.25M verdict against it

Five lawyers are among the creditors listed in a bankruptcy filing by New Jersey law firm Roper & Twardowsky. The Totowa law firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Friday, NorthJersey.com reports. Two of the lawyer-creditors are William Skepnek of Kansas and Steven Smoot of Texas, who were awarded…

Dec 11, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Authorities say paralegal stole nearly $440K, created fake real estate parties to cover up

A paralegal at an unidentified southern Delaware law firm stole nearly $440,000 from her employer’s trust account over a period of five years or more, authorities say. Penni Enama, 50, pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to wire fraud and tax evasion concerning the $439,824.40 theft. Prosecutors said she…

Dec 10, 2015 4:10 PM CST