Verdicts & Settlements

9th Circuit revives inmate’s suit alleging his letter to his lawyer was read by a prison guard

A federal appeals court says a district judge erred by determining in a preliminary screening that a pro se complaint had no merit and should not be pursued in court. Arizona death-row inmate Scott Nordstrom had filed the suit alleging that his constitutional rights were violated when a prison guard…

Aug 12, 2014 7:10 PM CDT

Judge Judy settles suit over ads with her likeness

Judge Judy has settled her suit that contended a Connecticut personal injury lawyer used her image without her authorization. Judy Sheindlin said in a statement that she and Hartford lawyer John Haymond “reached an amicable resolution of their claims against each other,” according to the Connecticut Law Tribune and TMZ.…

Aug 12, 2014 3:12 PM CDT

Federal judge nixes $325M settlement by Apple, Google, others in claimed salary-cap conspiracy

A federal judge in San Jose, California, has nixed a proposed $325 million class action settlement over a claimed no-poaching agreement between major Silicon Valley companies that allegedly helped keep a lid on salaries for tech workers. Although U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh found “ample evidence” that Adobe, Apple, Google…

Aug 11, 2014 7:10 PM CDT

Insurance agency pays settlement with buckets of coins totaling an estimated $21K

A California insurance agency had to use a van to pay a settlement to an elderly plaintiff who contended he was assaulted by one of the company’s insurance agents. The company, Adriana’s Insurance, paid the settlement with buckets of loose coins, report the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, NBC…

Aug 8, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

After billionaire ex-client testifies, man who sold $20M in fake French wine gets 10 years

Many of the super-rich who collectively spent over $30 million on fake wine vintages sold to them by a single individual don’t want the publicity involved in admitting they were cheated. But billionaire William Koch isn’t among them. An avid wine collector, he has spent millions in efforts to collect…

Aug 7, 2014 8:15 PM CDT

Pro se attorney credits holy card for acquittal in racketeering trial, along with 2 other lawyers

Criminal defense attorney Donald Manno was on trial in a federal racketeering case that could have put him in prison for the rest of his life, along with his former client, two other lawyers and additional defendants. But with the help of trial skills honed over decades of practice and…

Aug 7, 2014 5:35 PM CDT

Woman who says she was attacked in court by sheriff’s deputy settles civil rights lawsuit for $90K

A New Jersey woman who says she was attacked for no reason by a Middlesex County sheriff’s officer after a court hearing two years ago has settled the federal civil rights lawsuit she filed over the incident for $90,000. Plaintiff Bridget Haymon, 39, was originally arrested and charged with assault.…

Aug 6, 2014 4:30 PM CDT

Quaker Oats settles case with agreement to remove trans fats

Quaker Oats has agreed to remove trans fats from its Oatmeal to Go and Instant Quaker Oatmeal products as part of a lawsuit settlement that doesn’t include money for those who are not name plaintiffs. Quaker Oats will pay up to $760,000 in attorney fees and estimates it will cost…

Aug 6, 2014 11:15 AM CDT

Son-in-law takes plea in fatal bombing of retired lawyer and wife, will be in prison for life

Charged earlier this year with first-degree murder in the bombing deaths of a retired Tennessee trusts and estates lawyer and his wife, Richard Parker—the couple’s son-in-law—has agreed to a plea deal that will put him in prison for life. During a Tuesday hearing in the Wilson County case, a prosecutor…

Aug 5, 2014 9:05 PM CDT

Judge says ex-attorney must help pay $42M judgment to plaintiffs in fen-phen litigation

Add another ex-lawyer to the group of disbarred personal injury attorneys responsible for paying a $42 million judgment over fees plundered from a $200 million settlement to plaintiffs in fen-phen diet drug litigation. After nearly a decade of court battle, a Kentucky judge ruled earlier this week that former Cincinnati…

Aug 5, 2014 8:35 PM CDT

LinkedIn settles with feds, agrees to pay nearly $6M in FLSA ‘off the clock’ and overtime case

Notified by the feds that it had violated wage-and-hour laws, a well-known company opted to settle the case rather than fight allegations that nonexempt hourly employees in four states weren’t paid for all of their work. LinkedIn Corp. agreed to pay $3.3 million in overtime back wages and $2.5 million…

Aug 4, 2014 10:09 PM CDT

Day at Saratoga race track derails planned David Cassidy plea deal in DWI case

Onetime teen heartthrob David Cassidy, perhaps best-known for his role on the 1970s Partridge Family sitcom, was set to take a plea deal Wednesday in a driving-while-intoxicated case in upstate New York. Because Cassidy lives in Florida, the Schodack Town Court had agreed to let his lawyer enter a plea…

Jul 31, 2014 5:00 PM CDT

11th Circuit OKs $67M verdict against bank in case linked to ex-law firm chief’s $1.2B fraud

A federal appeals court in Atlanta on Tuesday affirmed a $67 million jury award to investors fleeced by now-disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein. Rejecting arguments that a federal district judge shouldn’t have let a former Toronto-Dominion bank executive testify at a civil damages trial (he took the Fifth a total of…

Jul 30, 2014 2:05 PM CDT

Jesse Ventura wins $1.8M in actual-malice defamation trial over best-selling memoir

Jesse Ventura said it wasn’t about the money, but he has nonetheless won what many would consider big bucks. After five days of deliberation, a federal jury in Minnesota on Tuesday awarded $1.8 million to the former state governor in a defamation case over a best-selling memoir by a former…

Jul 29, 2014 9:10 PM CDT

Law firm gets $41K in public records case over dashcam, is suing again to find out what city spent

An Oklahoma city must pay its opponent’s $41,000 legal bill in an open-records case over police dashcam footage. Costs of a little less than $1,400 were included in the award to Ward & Lee by a Rogers County judge on Friday, reports the Claremore World. The law firm had sought…

Jul 29, 2014 2:45 PM CDT