Verdicts & Settlements

Weekly Briefs: Judge slashes $24M award for Unite the Right victims; judge accused of offering sex for early trial

Judge slashes $24M punitive award in Unite the Right trial U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon of the Western District of Virginia has slashed an award of $24 million in punitive damages assessed against white supremacists associated with the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Moon said…

Jan 6, 2023 2:04 PM CST

Weekly Briefs: Giuliani committed ethics violation, committee says; Justice Kavanaugh criticized for attending party

Rudy Giuliani committed ethics violation in election suit, committee says A hearing committee in Washington, D.C., made a preliminary finding Thursday that lawyer Rudy Giuliani committed at least one ethics violation in connection with his voter fraud claims in a Pennsylvania lawsuit. The committee did not elaborate on its finding.…

Dec 16, 2022 3:00 PM CST

Law students and professor who oppose same-sex marriage settle speech case with school

A First Amendment action brought against the University of Idaho by Christian Legal Society members who believe the Bible rejects same-sex marriage has settled for $90,000.

Dec 12, 2022 1:24 PM CST

What state is deemed top ‘judicial hellhole’ following $1.7B verdict against Ford Motor Co.?

Georgia has climbed to the top spot in a ranking of “judicial hellholes” by the American Tort Reform Foundation.

Dec 7, 2022 2:22 PM CST

Did CFO of Trump Organization act ‘in behalf of’ company? Fraud conviction appeal will focus on issue

The Trump Organization’s appeal of its tax fraud conviction will partly focus on whether the actions of the chief financial officer were made “in behalf of” the company, according to one of the defense lawyers.

Dec 7, 2022 11:07 AM CST

Trump Organization found guilty of tax fraud; maximum penalty is no more than ‘a rounding error’

Jurors in Manhattan, New York City, convicted the Trump Organization of tax fraud Tuesday following a trial that focused on lavish corporate perks to executives that weren’t reported as income.

Dec 6, 2022 3:55 PM CST

Weekly Briefs: Accused ‘my guns are bigger’ judge resigns; Texas district attorney resigns, takes the Fifth

Judge who displayed gun on bench resigns Judge David W. Hummel Jr. of West Virginia has resigned from the bench after a video confirmed that he placed a gun on the bench during a hearing. Hummel had been accused of taking out the gun after refusing to let a lawyer’s…

Dec 2, 2022 3:02 PM CST

Weekly Briefs: 2 suits against Trump are tossed; lawyers jump to BigLaw from virtual firm

Trump wins dismissal of suits by niece, former lawyer Former President Donald Trump won dismissals Monday of lawsuits filed against him by his niece Mary Trump and his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen. Mary Trump had alleged that she was duped about the value of inherited property when she agreed…

Nov 18, 2022 3:23 PM CST

Alan Dershowitz accuser says she may have been wrong; defamation suits dropped

A woman who was victimized by sex trafficker and financier Jeffrey Epstein has retracted her allegation that Epstein lawyer Alan Dershowitz had sex with her when she was a minor.

Nov 9, 2022 12:01 PM CST

Pierce Bainbridge, former partner reach deal in suit by paralegal who alleged sexual assault

A former paralegal at Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht has apparently reached an agreement to end her August 2020 lawsuit alleging sexual assault by a former law firm partner.

Oct 28, 2022 10:17 AM CDT

Lawyer is acquitted on tax and wire-fraud charges for wiring $6.5M in client funds to Swiss bank account

Federal jurors acquitted an Oakland County, Michigan, lawyer Tuesday who had been accused of wiring $6.5 million in client money to his Swiss bank account. Jurors acquitted tax lawyer Jeffrey Freeman of Birmingham, Michigan, on charges of tax evasion and wire fraud.

Oct 26, 2022 1:53 PM CDT

How do you calculate damages in injury trials? Longtime expert witness reveals methodology

Estimating what the future would have looked like if an accident had never occurred can seem more like a thought experiment than a scientific process. But there’s a science behind it, says Michael Shahnasarian.

Oct 26, 2022 8:47 AM CDT

Can Infowars host Alex Jones pay nearly $965M verdict for Sandy Hook lies? He spent $80K to get to trial, bankruptcy filings show

Infowars host and founder Alex Jones called the $965 million verdict against him a “joke” during his broadcast Wednesday and suggested that defamation plaintiffs who sued him for lying about the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting massacre in Connecticut won’t be able to collect.

Oct 13, 2022 10:30 AM CDT

Past PACER users would each get at least $350 in refunds under lawsuit settlement

The U.S. government has agreed to pay $125 million to settle a class action lawsuit claiming that the judiciary overcharged users of PACER, its electronic system of court records.

Oct 12, 2022 10:08 AM CDT

California bar announces probes of 2 prominent lawyers after report on mishandled settlement funds

The State Bar of California announced Tuesday that it is investigating two prominent Los Angeles lawyers in connection with the mishandled distribution of settlement funds paid by insurers for descendants of Armenian genocide victims.

Sep 30, 2022 10:37 AM CDT