Tort Law

Top State Court Fines County $371K for Delayed Response to 1997 Public Records Request

Nearly 13 years ago, Armen Yousoufian made a public records request to King County, Wash., which received a partial response. Three years later, he filed suit to obtain the rest of the material he requested. As of today, it appears that he has a final answer concerning the penalty to…

Mar 25, 2010 5:54 PM CDT

Federal Judge Green-Lights Suit Over Inmate’s 27-Year Solitary Confinement

A federal judge has given the green light to litigation being pursued by University of Denver law students on behalf of an inmate held in solitary confinement since 1983. District Judge Philip Brimmer this week rejected a motion by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to dismiss inmate Tommy Silverstein’s constitutional…

Mar 25, 2010 4:34 PM CDT

Suit Claims Patent Denied Because of Plagiarism by Ropes & Gray Partner

A lawsuit filed by a top genetics research laboratory claims one of its patent applications was denied because a partner at Ropes & Gray lifted language from a patent obtained by a rival scientist. The February lawsuit by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory targets the work of former partner Matthew…

Mar 25, 2010 1:51 PM CDT

Colo. Lawyer Discipline Chief to Review Ethics Case Against Maricopa, Ariz., County Attorney

The Arizona Supreme Court has appointed the head of the Colorado Supreme Court’s attorney discipline office to oversee an investigation of ethics charges against the Maricopa, Ariz., county attorney, the Arizona Republic reports. Attorney Andrew Thomas has made headlines in recent months by bringing criminal charges and civil racketeering litigation…

Mar 24, 2010 9:54 PM CDT

Lawyer in Exotic Dancer Suit Claims Detroit City Attorney Threatened Him

A lawyer representing the family of a slain exotic dancer in a suit against the city of Detroit has told police that a lawyer for the city threatened him. Lawyer Norman Yatooma says the threat concerned a knife in his back, the Detroit Free Press reports. But City Attorney John…

Mar 24, 2010 3:29 PM CDT

Lawyer Sues After Film Contained More Thighs than Anticipated

A South Carolina lawyer and former lawmaker has sued HBO and Showtime for promoting his comedy, The Hills Have Thighs, on its schedule and then pulling a switcheroo. The movie shown was a soft-core porn film by the same name, the Associated Press reports. Lawyer James ”Bubba” Cromer says he…

Mar 24, 2010 11:54 AM CDT

Stepkids Sue Lawyer’s Widow Over Alleged $1.4M Trust Investment with Bernard Madoff

The widow of a prominent New York City lawyer has been sued by two of his children over the way she allegedly invested the $1.4 million trust fund Howard Squadron established for his family under his estate plan. Anne Squadron put all of the money into a single account—with Bernard…

Mar 23, 2010 11:30 PM CDT

Ex-White House Lawyer Takes 5th in Wife’s $15M Damages Suit Over Alleged Murder Attempt

She had endured “years of emotional and verbal abuse” from her husband, former White House attorney John Michael Farren, testified his wife, attorney Mary Farren, in a Connecticut court hearing yesterday. But when she refused to withdraw her divorce filing, he snapped, Mary Farren, 44, told a Stamford Superior Court…

Mar 23, 2010 9:00 PM CDT

Angry Lawyers Say Online Defendant List Gave Impression They Also Were Charged

Some Texas lawyers are worried that a list recently published by a Lubbock TV station will give potential clients the wrong impression when they search for attorney names online. The lawyers say the list of misdemeanor defendants included the names of about 25 lawyers, but it didn’t make clear they…

Mar 23, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Accused of Stealing from Clients, Attorney Never Returned, and His Fate Is Still Unlearned

After 40 years of marriage, the wife of attorney Allen Schwartz thought she knew her husband. So she was stunned when he came home one summer day in 2001 and told her he was in trouble and would be leaving her permanently. Over 70 at that time, the Ohio practitioner…

Mar 22, 2010 11:29 PM CDT

Movie Script Revision Needed? High Court Accepts Case of Exonerated Inmate

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the New Orleans District Attorney’s office may be liable for failing to turn over a crime lab report that could have helped an inmate avoid the death penalty. Touchstone Pictures has signed a deal to produce a movie on the case…

Mar 22, 2010 4:04 PM CDT

Taking ‘Judicial Control,’ Judge Rejects 9/11 Deal and Questions Attorney Fees

A federal judge in Manhattan has rejected a settlement that would have paid rescue and cleanup workers at the destroyed World Trade Center up to $657.5 million using money from a federally funded insurance company. At a hearing on Friday, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said the settlement was “not…

Mar 22, 2010 2:22 PM CDT

Dickstein Shapiro Faces $250M Suit Claiming Botched Patent Application

Encyclopaedia Britannica has filed a $250 million malpractice suit against Dickstein Shapiro that alleges the law firm mishandled the company’s patents. The suit contends the law firm’s errors caused Encyclopaedia Britannica to lose a $250 million patent infringement case filed against GPS manufacturers, the National Law Journal reports. Encyclopaedia Britannica…

Mar 22, 2010 1:58 PM CDT

9th Cir.: Anna Nicole Smith Gets Zip, Zero, Zilch of Texas Billionaire’s Estate

A hard-fought 15-year court battle by the late celebrity model Anna Nicole Smith and her heirs over the estate of the Texas oil billionaire she married when she was 26 and he was 89 may have finally ended in complete defeat of her claims. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of…

Mar 19, 2010 8:29 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Lover Ordered to Pay $9M in Alienation of Affection Case

A woman accused of having an affair with a lawyer has been ordered to pay $9 million in an alienation-of-affections lawsuit filed by his wife. The defendant, Anne Lundquist, says she will appeal the verdict, the Greensboro News & Record reports. Lundquist did not attend the trial in North Carolina…

Mar 19, 2010 12:04 PM CDT