Trials & Litigation

Death Suit Dismissed in Holloway Case

A Los Angeles judge has dismissed a California wrongful death suit filed over the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba. The parents of the Alabama teen, who vanished on May 30, 2005 while on vacation with high school classmates on the Dutch Caribbean island, have no jurisdiction to sue in…

Jun 4, 2007 7:16 PM CDT

Doc: Vaccine Claims Risk Child Health

Litigation over some 4,800 autistic children allegedly injured as a result of being vaccinated could mean the end of much-needed programs to protect millions from potentially fatal diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. Even though the link between childhood vaccination and at least many of the injuries claimed,…

Jun 4, 2007 6:52 PM CDT

$176 M to Wife in Divorce Case a Record?

Marriage is traditionally considered an equal partnership – until it’s time to divide the couple’s assets in a divorce. At that point, husbands who have made it big in business routinely walk away with the lion’s share. A groundbreaking divorce case in Chicago, though, may set a new record by…

Jun 4, 2007 6:27 PM CDT

Peremptories Re-Examined

A black death-row inmate is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his challenge to a prosecutor’s use of peremptory challenges to help keep blacks off his jury. In his Sidebar column for the New York Times (sub. req.), Adam Liptak writes about Allen Snyder, sentenced to death for killing…

Jun 4, 2007 4:48 PM CDT

Fen-Phen Plaintiffs Seek Curlin Victory

Plaintiffs who claim their lawyers defrauded them out of money due in a pharmaceutical settlement are betting that a horse will help them recover some of the money. Lawyers William J. Gallion and Shirley A. Cunningham Jr. paid $57,000 to buy a one-fifth interest in Curlin, the horse that won…

Jun 4, 2007 2:43 PM CDT

Exxon Valdez’s Next Stop is High Court

Litigation in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill case will come to an end if the U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear a punitive-damages appeal. About 22 percent of the $2.5 billion award will go to attorney fees, the Legal Intelligencer reports. Last month the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of…

Jun 4, 2007 2:11 PM CDT

CA Supreme Court: Lawyer May Be Guilty of Murder in Dog Mauling Death

A former lawyer convicted of manslaughter after her two uncontrolled dogs killed a San Francisco neighbor on the doorstep of her home could face additional prison time due to a California Supreme Court ruling today. However, the ruling is something of a victory for Marjorie Knoller, 52, because it leaves…

Jun 1, 2007 1:47 AM CDT

UN Tribunal Controversial in Hariri Case

A vote yesterday by the U.N. Security Council to establish a tribunal to try suspects in the assassination two years ago of Lebanon’s former prime minister has drawn cheers and jeers from the international community today. The vote led to celebration in the streets of Lebanon by some supporters of…

May 31, 2007 11:36 PM CDT

Judge to ID Supporters of Light Sentence for Scooter Libby

Some 150 supporters of a light sentence for former White House top aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby should soon be identified, including a number of current and former government officials. That’s because U.S. Dist. Judge Reggie B. Walton said today he will make public all of the letters he received…

May 31, 2007 10:10 PM CDT

Monk: I Helped Church Shield Priest Who Killed Parishioner

A 74-year-old retired priest who allegedly killed a parishioner decades ago reportedly is walking around as a free man today at least in part because the Catholic Church may have shielded him from a murder charge. Asked by a reporter recently whether he had murdered Irene Garza, 25, in 1960,…

May 31, 2007 7:32 PM CDT

Martha Stewart Living Settles Class Action

A federal judge has approved a $30 million settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by shareholders of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Martha Stewart will personally pay $5 million of the settlement, Reuters reports. She served five months in jail for lying to investigators probing her sale of stock in…

May 31, 2007 5:45 PM CDT

Blogging Defendant Unmasked

A physician accused of malpractice agreed to a substantial settlement after he admitted on the stand that he was the pseudonymous blogger writing about a trial with striking similarities to his own. Pediatrician Robert P. Lindeman admitted he was blogger “Lindeman Flea,” who revealed defense strategy and criticized opposing counsel…

May 31, 2007 4:35 PM CDT

Study: Asylum Disparities Rampant

A study by three law professors finds wide disparities in asylum cases and, at the initial appellate level, a decline in decisions favoring asylum seekers. The outcome varied based on factors like the location of the court and the sex of the judge, according to a New York Times story…

May 31, 2007 2:17 PM CDT

Lawyer in Deep Fryer Over ‘Happy Meal’ Quip

A lawyer who said a bankruptcy judge was “a few french fries short of a Happy Meal” is being ordered to defend his right to practice in her federal court. William P. Smith, a partner with McDermott Will & Emery based in Chicago, made the statement before Judge Laurel Myerson…

May 31, 2007 1:32 PM CDT

Execution for Tex. Woman in Baby Case?

An unusual execution of a woman may be about to take place in Texas. If so, it would be only the 12th in the entire country since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1977. Well over 1,000 men have been executed during that time. Cathy Lynn Henderson,…

May 31, 2007 12:33 AM CDT