States

$60M Ford Rollover Verdict Overturned

A Florida appeals court has overturned a $60 million verdict against Ford Motor Co. in an SUV rollover case. The 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled (PDF) the judge improperly allowed jurors to hear about rollover accidents involving Ford Explorers without establishing similarities to the case they were hearing, the…

Nov 8, 2007 4:20 PM CST

New York’s Oldest Inmate to be Released

New York’s oldest inmate, an 89-year-old former physician with terminal cancer, has been granted parole. At one time Charles Friedgood was a wealthy surgeon, the New York Times reports. He was convicted of murdering his wife in 1976 after police arrested him at the airport with $450,000 from her estate.…

Nov 8, 2007 4:01 PM CST

Elvis Memorabilia Has Not Left the Building

The Delaware Supreme Court has upheld a ruling giving a California businessman the right to sell Elvis Presley memorabilia once owned by the singer’s personal physician. The collection includes a device used to irrigate Presley’s sinuses, a laryngeal scope used to examine his throat, prescription bottles, jewelry and guns, the…

Nov 8, 2007 3:41 PM CST

OJ Simpson Back in Court Today

O.J. Simpson returns to the courtroom today for a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to try him for the armed robbery and kidnapping of two sports memorabilia dealers. The case is likely to turn on whether Simpson asked the men who accompanied him to a Las…

Nov 8, 2007 2:40 PM CST

UK Law Firm Announces Special NY Associate Bonuses

A Britain-based law firm has joined the bonus bonanza. Clifford Chance will give its New York associates special bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $50,000, Legal Week reports. The cash comes on top of regular associate bonuses of $30,000 to $65,000. Cravath, Swaine & Moore was the first law firm to…

Nov 8, 2007 11:20 AM CST

Beleaguered Ga. Judge Won’t Respond to Prosecutors’ Filing in Nichols Case

A respected Georgia judge under fire for requiring the state to pay defense costs it says it can’t afford in a complex capital murder trial won’t contest a state supreme court filing seeking to force him off the case. Instead, Superior Court Judge Hilton M. Fuller Jr. has sent a…

Nov 8, 2007 12:19 AM CST

Executed Man’s Wife Sues Judge Who Closed Courthouse Door

Updated: Already facing a legal ethics complaint, a Texas appellate judge who refused to accept an eleventh-hour late filing in a death penalty appeal is now being sued by the executed man’s wife. The federal suit accuses Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller of violating Michael Richard’s…

Nov 7, 2007 11:49 PM CST

Bad-Faith Treble Damages Win in Wash. Vote

In a big-bucks lobbying battle that pitted trial lawyers against the insurance industry in Washington state, the attorneys have prevailed. Voters have approved a referendum upholding a state law passed earlier this year that calls for courts to award treble damages to policyholders when their carriers refuse, in bad faith,…

Nov 7, 2007 10:46 PM CST

N.Y. Mortgage Appraisal Probe Spotlights Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac

Updated: New York’s top law enforcement officer obviously isn’t afraid to take on the big guys. Having filed suit last week against one of the nation’s biggest mortgage lenders over an alleged scheme to promote inflated appraisals, in alleged violation of lending regulations, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is now…

Nov 7, 2007 9:12 PM CST

Cruelty Charge Over Pet Pig’s Weight Gain

While being cared for by a sitter as her owner was recovering from ankle surgery, a pet pig in Minnesota did what came naturally. She ate. And ate. And ate some more. All told, Alaina Templeton, a 5-year-old pet potbellied pig, tripled her size in nine months, chomping her way…

Nov 7, 2007 8:00 PM CST

Ex-Prosecutor Claims DA Fired Him for Being White

A former prosecutor in the Dallas County district attorney’s office has filed a suit that contends he was fired because he was white. Rick Jackson, who headed the organized crime unit, says he was one of 10 senior prosecutors fired in a shakeup by DA Craig Watkins, the Dallas Morning…

Nov 7, 2007 7:10 PM CST

Squeezing Student by Throat Constitutional

A Georgia teacher who grabbed a 14-year-old boy by the throat and squeezed his neck as he tried to leave her classroom did not violate the youth’s civil rights, a federal appeals court has ruled. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the teacher’s action, which left bruises,…

Nov 7, 2007 4:32 PM CST

Iraq Prison-Abuse Suit Against Contractor Allowed

A federal judge is allowing a civil lawsuit that claims employees of a U.S. military contractor took part in abuse and torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Judge James Robertson of Washington, D.C., refused to grant a motion to dismiss the suit yesterday, the Washington Post reports. The defendant,…

Nov 7, 2007 3:41 PM CST

Asbestos Doc, Now a Defendant, Is Missing

An asbestos doctor accused in a lawsuit of manufacturing asbestos claims is missing, according to the company that is suing him. The suit by CSX Transportation Corp. claims West Virginia radiologist Ray Harron helped manufacture asbestos claims for the railroad’s employees, the New York Times reports. The complaint alleges Harron…

Nov 7, 2007 3:11 PM CST

No Client-Fraud Confidentiality Exception in Proposed NY Rules

Ethics guru Stephen Gillers says new lawyer conduct rules recommended for adoption in New York state are a “resounding” improvement. The New York State Bar Association’s House of Delegates is recommending approval of the ethics revisions, which now go to the state appellate division for consideration, the New York Law…

Nov 7, 2007 2:23 PM CST