Contracts

Top court reinstates $42M award against 3 lawyers who plundered $200M fen-phen settlement

After six years of litigation, it appears that over 430 plaintiffs are back on track to collect a $42 million verdict against three lawyers who took more than their fair share of attorney’s fees from a $200 million settlement of diet-drug litigation. Reversing an intermediate appeals court, which had ruled…

Aug 30, 2013 12:10 PM CDT

Flo Rida rides past lawsuit served via Facebook

Facebook was not an appropriate tool to serve U.S. performer Flo Rida with a breach of contract lawsuit, an Australian appellate court recently found. According to the New York Daily News the musician, whose real name is Tramar Dillard, did not show up for a 2011 music festival in Newcastle,…

Aug 20, 2013 7:49 PM CDT

Judge won’t enforce ‘usurious’ retainer pact, blasts law firm for ‘condescending’ tone of filings

Finding that a law firm’s retainer agreement in a divorce case was “usurious” and calling its billing practices “facially outrageous and certainly bereft of reasonableness,” a New York judge on Thursday refused to vacate his earlier ruling dismissing the firm’s lawsuit seeking to collect about $53,000 from a former client.…

Aug 8, 2013 3:20 PM CDT

City moves forward with controversial mortgage rescue plan, backed by eminent domain power

A city in the San Francisco Bay area is the first in California to move ahead with a controversial approach to the problem of struggling homeowners having trouble paying mortgages on their upside-down homes. Richmond has asked the holders of more than 620 underwater mortgages—mortages in which the principal balance…

Aug 7, 2013 8:10 PM CDT

Is Lance Armstrong using a ‘shameless’ defense in Postal Service bid to recover marketing bucks?

Is cyclist Lance Armstrong offering a “shameless” legal defense in a motion to dismiss a $120 million whistleblower suit? That’s the contention of a Bloomberg BusinessWeek editor, who says Armstrong’s claim is “part of the great American legal tradition of offering shameless defense arguments.” The suit against Armstrong, initially filed…

Jul 25, 2013 2:15 PM CDT

Both winning claimants to $150K veggie garden cash stash have died, so money will go to heirs

The mystery of how a $150,000 cash stash got into vegetable garden of a suburban Chicago home may have been solved. The money, found by an unemployed electrician in his yard in 2011, wasn’t stolen, as the owner of a nearby liquor store had hoped, following a robbery there, but…

Jul 3, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

‘Caddyshack’ gopher techniques make appearance in Florida appellate opinion

A Florida appellate opinion is getting some attention because of a footnote referencing gopher-killing techniques in the movie Caddyshack. The Florida case involves a suit by two vendors who lost business in Broward County’s revamped transit program. The court includes a discussion of government contract law and an opinion involving…

Jun 27, 2013 1:20 PM CDT

New England Patriots’ Aaron Hernandez charged with murder and axed from team

Authorities in Massachusetts have charged now-former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a semi-pro football player who was also reportedly a friend. Hernandez was cut by the Patriots within two hours of his Wednesday arrest in the slaying of semi-pro football…

Jun 26, 2013 9:51 PM CDT

‘Too darn bad’? SCOTUS enforces contracts barring class arbitration, despite high litigation cost

Contract agreements that require arbitration and prohibit class-action claims are enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act, even when the potential recovery is dwarfed by costs of individual arbitration, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-3 opinion. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion (PDF) that found the New…

Jun 20, 2013 4:04 PM CDT

Retired partner sues Patton Boggs, says firm discriminated by cutting his pay when he hurt his back

A retired income partner of Patton Boggs has sued the law firm for alleged disability discrimination, contending that the firm treated him less favorably than other attorneys after he suffered a disabling back injury that limited his ability to work. Although he was called a partner, Roy P. Lessy Jr.,…

Jun 14, 2013 1:45 PM CDT

Kobe Bryant’s parents apologize, get OK to auction some boyhood sports items

Litigation between basketball star Kobe Bryant and an auction house that reportedly gave his parents a $450,000 upfront payment to auction sports memorabilia from his youth has been settled. His parents, Joe and Pamela Bryant, have apologized and will be allowed to sell a small fraction of the items that…

Jun 11, 2013 4:28 PM CDT

Legal recruiter sues Davis Polk, seeks $1.4M for Clifford Chance hires

A legal recruiter sued Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York state court last week, contending that he was the “procuring cause” for the law firm’s hire of a practice leader and a group of 17 lawyers from Clifford Chance and seeking compensation. Alan Metz says he was excluded from…

Jun 10, 2013 8:20 PM CDT

No cheating! Lifestyle clauses gain popularity in prenups

Lifestyle clauses in prenups and cohabitation agreements are becoming more popular, even though many of them may be unenforceable in court. The New York Daily News interviewed two New York lawyers about the trend: celebrity divorce attorney Robert Wallack and Ann-Margaret Carrozza, described in the story as a “love contract…

Jun 5, 2013 11:00 AM CDT

Simplify contracts with software, says Legal Rebel

Photo of Kingsley Martin by Wayne Slezak Legal Rebel Kingsley Martin Rebel Year: 2012 Home: Beverly Shores, Ind. What he’s been up to: Recent inspiration comes from iBooks. Martin, a former tax lawyer who designs his own software, envisions something where lawyers click or swipe a contract subject link, which…

May 28, 2013 8:16 PM CDT

9th Circuit OKs discharge of $53K in student-loan debt for law grad working as a probation officer

After a 10-year legal battle, a 1997 graduate of an Oregon law school has not only won a federal appeals court ruling that eliminates more than half of his student loan debt, but has established favorable precedent for other recent grads struggling with major debt and minimal job prospects. Finding…

May 28, 2013 3:01 PM CDT