Verdicts & Settlements

Jury says brothers must split winning $1M lottery ticket, but ruling leaves tax issue unresolved

Two half-brothers must split a winning $1 million scratch-off lottery ticket, a Pennsylvania jury ruled Wednesday after only about an hour of deliberation. However, the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas decision that Ira Sharp, 52, and Charles Meehan, 45, had a valid oral contract to share the proceeds leaves…

Jul 16, 2014 9:25 PM CDT

Apple OKs high-low settlement of as little as zero and as much as $400M in e-book price-fixing case

Faced with ongoing federal antitrust litigation contending that Apple Inc. conspired with publishers to fix the prices of e-books, the company insists that it did nothing wrong. However, Apple has nonetheless agreed to a high-low settlement of the case, contingent on what happens in a pending federal appeal, according to…

Jul 16, 2014 5:59 PM CDT

Ex-client takes plea in murder case over divorce attorney’s slaying

A former client of a Nebraska divorce lawyer pleaded no contest Monday to a first-degree murder charge. Under a plea agreement with Michael Petersen, the state agreed not to seek the death penalty in the 2013 slaying of attorney Todd Elsberndt outside his law office, the Grand Island Independent reports.…

Jul 15, 2014 6:40 PM CDT

Citi to pay $7B in latest settlement of US claims that sub-par mortgages caused financial crisis

A $7 billion pact with Citigroup is the latest announced settlement of claims by the U.S. that sub-par mortgages knowingly sold by banks to unwitting investors in the form of derivative products, including Citi’s securitized loans caused the financial crisis that began in 2008, The bank will pay $4 billion…

Jul 14, 2014 4:55 PM CDT

Woman billed $5K for hospital body cavity searches gets $1.1M settlement

A Texas hospital and two emergency room physicians have agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle a suit by a New Mexico woman who claimed she was subjected against her will to “multiple, redundant and increasingly intrusive” body cavity searches at the facility. The woman, identified as Jane Doe in…

Jul 10, 2014 5:12 PM CDT

Jury says Dodgers must pay $13.9M in Giants fan’s beating case

Although a jury found the Los Angeles Dodgers to be only partially responsible for a Giants fan’s 2011 beating in a stadium parking lot, that means the team must pay nearly $14 million. Team attorney Dana Fox said a Los Angeles jury’s determination Wednesday that the team was 25 percent…

Jul 10, 2014 3:55 PM CDT

Prof who claimed ‘unnerving and creepy’ party behavior by law dean settles retaliation suit

A Case Western Reserve law professor has settled a suit claiming the school retaliated against him after reporting possible sexual harassment by then-law dean Lawrence Mitchell. Terms of the settlement between the professor, Raymond Ku, and the school were confidential. However, a joint statement says Ku will become director of…

Jul 9, 2014 3:35 PM CDT

Younger brother of Raj Rajaratnam is acquitted in insider-trading trial

Hedge fund co-founder Raj Rajaratnam made headlines several years ago after being convicted in a high-profile insider-trading trial, sentenced to a then-record 11-year prison term and ordered to pay more than $90 million in restitution and civil and criminal penalties. On Tuesday his younger brother, Rengan Rajaratnam, made headlines for…

Jul 8, 2014 8:15 PM CDT

Top state court OKs probate judge’s removal from bench for overseeing cases involving friends

Suspended with pay last December, a longtime New York probate judge has now been removed from the bench by the state’s highest court because she did not step aside from cases involving friends. Judge Cathryn Doyle argued that she did nothing wrong because her role in the Albany County Surrogate’s…

Jul 8, 2014 6:30 PM CDT

Jury that acquitted Casey Anthony got it right, her defense lawyer says in new book

A Florida jury that acquitted mother Casey Anthony three years ago in a notorious child-murder case got it right, one of her defense lawyers says in a new book. Still reviled by those who believe her guilty in the death of her toddler daughter and living a low-profile life, Anthony…

Jul 7, 2014 10:40 PM CDT

After police report dad’s Web searches and sexting, judge OKs murder case in toddler’s hot-car death

A Georgia man who contended he forgot his toddler was in the back seat of the vehicle he left parked at work for seven hours on a sweltering day last month visited a “child free” website and researched “how to survive prison” and how a hot-car death occurs before the…

Jul 3, 2014 8:55 PM CDT

Judge sanctions lawyer who claimed ‘rogue attorney’ appeared on his behalf

A New York lawyer who claimed a “rogue attorney” appeared on his behalf and settled a case has been sanctioned for his explanation. Judge James d’Auguste of Manhattan fined lawyer Richard Savitt $10,000, to be paid to the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, and ordered him to pay $7,400 in…

Jul 3, 2014 1:44 PM CDT

School suspension of boy, 7, who chewed pastry into gun shape is upheld by hearing officer

The two-day school suspension last year of a 7-year-old Maryland boy who chewed a breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun during a snack break has been upheld by a hearing examiner. The 30-page ruling by the hearing examiner will now go to the Anne Arundel County Board of…

Jul 3, 2014 11:00 AM CDT

Walgreens employee fired for eating $1.39 bag of chips accepts $180K settlement

A diabetic woman fired after nearly 18 years on the job for eating a $1.39 bag of chips before she paid for it has accepted a $180,000 settlement of her disability discrimination claim. The settlement by Walgreens with Josefina Hernandez, 57, was announced Wednesday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,…

Jul 2, 2014 9:30 PM CDT

Judge erred by jailing man over $508.27 debt, observers contend

A 73-year-old Massachusetts man who says he and his wife have struggled financially in recent years was jailed earlier this month because he couldn’t pay a $508.27 debt. Finding that Iheanyi Okoroafor could have afforded to do so, because he receives a state pension of $2,000 per month, a Belchertown…

Jul 2, 2014 5:15 PM CDT