Settlement Stops Trial of Lawyer's Claim That Insurer Set Him Up for Prosecution, Ruining His Career
A trial of a Texas lawyer’s tortious interference lawsuit seeking $25 million in damages from an insurer that he claimed ruined his career by setting him up for criminal prosecution came to a sudden halt Tuesday after the parties reached a settlement.
Attorney John Flood, who represents plaintiff Todd Hoeffner, said the terms of his client’s settlement with Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. are confidential, Bloomberg reports. The pact was reached before Hoeffner took the stand in the Houston state court case.
As detailed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, Hoeffner had contended that the insurer set him up for a meritless bribery prosecution in order to cover up internal wrongdoing within its own operations.
After a 2009 mistrial the feds pursued a more limited case against Hoeffner that didn’t include any bribery charge. Under a plea bargain, he then entered a pretrial diversion program and paid a fine; all charges were against him were dismissed earlier this year.
