Tort Law

Lead Attorney in Microsoft Case Hogged Lion’s Share of $75M Legal Fee, Suit Says

A lead lawyer in a $179.5 million class action antitrust settlement with Microsoft Corp. shared the $75 million legal fee with attorney Richard Hagstrom and the Minneapolis-based Zelle Hoffmann law firm, the Associated Press reports. But Roxanne Conlin of Des Moines, Iowa, didn’t honor an agreement to pay 20 percent…

Jul 6, 2010 10:09 PM CDT

Ex-Client Wins $7.3M Emotional Distress Award Against Law Firm

Updated: A former client who claims that his law firm worked against his interests in a battle with his brother for control of the now-shuttered Northern Mattress and Furniture Co. was awarded $7.3 million by a Maine jury on Friday for emotional distress. Peter Redman claimed that he was kept…

Jul 6, 2010 8:41 PM CDT

Fired Staffer Sues State Ethics Comm’n, Claims Retaliation Over Lawyer Moonlighting Complaint

Corrected: Two Georgia attorneys reportedly were operating a private law practice at the same time that they held full-time positions as staff lawyers at the State Ethics Commission. And after another employee blew the whistle on the alleged moonlighting on state time and using state resources, she was the one…

Jul 2, 2010 9:32 PM CDT

Bedbugs in New Clothes Could Breach Warranty of Merchantability, Law Prof Says

A partial bedbug infestation shuttered the Hollister Epic store in New York City on Wednesday, leading a law professor to speculate on the legal ramifications. A spokesman for the flagship Hollister store, owned by Abercrombie & Fitch, told the Wall Street Journal that management is “taking all necessary steps to…

Jul 1, 2010 2:32 PM CDT

Scottie Pippen Scores $2M Verdict in Law Firm Malpractice Case

He was seeking $8 million. But a jury awarded former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen $2 million this week in his legal malpractice claim against a Windy City law firm, reports the National Law Journal in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.). “It was not all that…

Jun 30, 2010 7:28 PM CDT

‘Ungainly’ Phillie Phanatic Bumps into Lawsuits

The Phillie Phanatic’s Supreme Court connections haven’t spared the lovable baseball icon from becoming perhaps the most sued mascot in the majors. The Philadelphia Daily News calls the Phanatic a “big green litigation machine” and details the latest lawsuit, filed by a woman who claims the mascot injured her knees…

Jun 30, 2010 3:34 PM CDT

Sheriff Shouldn’t Have Searched Lawyer’s Home & Office for Cocaine, But Can’t Be Sued, 7th Cir. Says

An informant’s claim that a known thief and cocaine dealer told him he’d paid his unidentified female lawyer, who also happened to be a cocaine user, with two stolen laptop computers was likely insufficient probable cause to search the attorney’s home and office. But even assuming there was no probable…

Jun 28, 2010 8:49 PM CDT

Testimony: Slain in Law Office Parking Lot, Attorney Foresaw Her Fate But Stayed on Case

First Jason Cai allegedly threatened to ruin Xia Zhao’s career if the California lawyer didn’t drop a civil wrongful death case in which he was accused of drowning his wife in 2006. And then he killed her, the government contends. Witnesses in Cai’s current murder case said they saw an…

Jun 24, 2010 7:09 PM CDT

Lawyers Understand BP’s ‘Infuriatingly Vague’ PR Response

BP is facing a balancing act in its public statements about the Gulf oil spill. To the public, its response may appear “infuriatingly vague,” the Associated Press reports. Last week, for example, BP chief executive officer Tony Hayward declined or failed to answer 65 questions during a congressional hearing. University…

Jun 24, 2010 11:34 AM CDT

Plaintiffs Claim Law Firm Took $5M from Prudential to Steer Them to ADR

More than 200 ex-employees of Prudential Life Insurance contend that the New York law firm representing them in discrimination claims took $5 million from the company in exchange for steering the plaintiffs away from filing discrimination suits and toward an alternative dispute resolution process that reduced their recoveries. The workers…

Jun 23, 2010 4:57 PM CDT

Frontier Says Google Voice Infringes on Telephone Patent

In a lawsuit filed today in federal court in Delaware, Frontier Communications Corp. contends that the Google Voice feature infringes on a new patent for telephone services. Its suit against Google Inc. seeks damages and a court order preventing the California-based Internet goliath from continuing to use the telephone technology,…

Jun 22, 2010 11:37 PM CDT

9th Cir. Reverses Judge’s $25K Attorney’s Fee Sanctions in Winning Discrimination Case

A federal appeals court has reversed $25,000 in attorney’s fee sanctions imposed by a judge on a practitioner who won discrimination cases against FedEx, saying that the lawyer should have been given a chance to defend himself and correct errors. In an unpublished opinion (PDF), the San Francisco-based 9th U.S.…

Jun 22, 2010 9:47 PM CDT

Google and Twitter Argue Court-Ordered News Delay Is ‘Obsolete’ in Internet Age

Google and Twitter have filed an amicus brief that supports a financial news website’s legal fight to quickly publish research by bank analysts at several Wall Street firms. Google and Twitter said that in an age of instant communication, any ban on immediate dissemination of news is “obsolete,” Reuters reports.…

Jun 22, 2010 4:46 PM CDT

Up to 30 State AGs Plan Joint Probe of Google Street View Data Intercepts

The top law enforcement officers for more than 30 states are considering a cooperative investigation of possible privacy and wiretap law violations by Google as its workers were driving around collecting photos and data for its Street View search engine feature. Led by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the group…

Jun 22, 2010 1:32 AM CDT

Shot Through Gap in Bulletproof Vest, Cop Sues City for Failing to Upgrade Vest Earlier

A New York City police officer shot in the line of duty while subduing a suspect last year has sued his employer, contending that officials knew about a design defect in his bulletproof vest that allowed a bullet to enter under his arm but did not supply him with an…

Jun 21, 2010 11:33 PM CDT