Verdicts & Settlements

Penn State says it will pay $60M to 26 Sandusky victims

Penn State has announced it will pay nearly $60 million to 26 sexual abuse victims of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The amount was reported this summer, but the university at that time did not confirm the figure and number of victims. The New York Times, the Legal Intelligencer…

Oct 29, 2013 11:58 AM CDT

Doctor gets life in hepatitis murder case, could win parole after 18 years

A 63-year-old Nevada physician was sentenced to a life prison term Thursday for his role in operating an endoscopy clinic at which unsanitary procedures caused a deadly hepatitis C outbreak in 2007. Dr. Dipak Desai, who was found guilty of 27 counts, including second-degree murder, could be paroled after 18…

Oct 25, 2013 7:45 PM CDT

See the video: Accused biker acquitted in case over 186-mph wild ride but loses motorcycle

A man accused of taking a wild ride on a motorcycle at up to 186 mph (300 kph) last year has been acquitted of dangerous driving by a Canadian judge. A helmetcam recording of the Vancouver Island ride, which can be seen on YouTube, clearly shows the speedometer. However, a…

Oct 25, 2013 5:33 PM CDT

Ex-client in $2.2M law firm chair-collapse case wins reinstatement of ‘substantial’ verdict

A would-be client of a Florida personal injury law firm wound up without the legal representation he had sought after his chair collapsed as he was meeting with an attorney in 2003. But Robert Friedrich did eventually wind up with a big win against Fetterman & Associates in the premises…

Oct 24, 2013 11:00 PM CDT

Mold match in ex-prosecutor’s nose leads to settlement in ‘sick building’ courthouse suit

A former prosecutor in Florida has settled a “sick building” suit that claimed the mold in her sinuses was caused by the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. Stefanie Krathen Ginnis will receive $166,500 in a settlement approved by county commissioners on Tuesday, the Sun Sentinel reports. She was among…

Oct 24, 2013 11:50 AM CDT

‘Blues Brothers’ nixed in tribute show title, but judge OKs ‘distinctive style’ of black-suited duo

The producers of a tribute show honoring two characters famously portrayed by Dan Aykroyd and the late John Belushi can’t use their “Blues Brothers” moniker in the title. But the “distinctive style” of the black-suited duo isn’t restricted by their right of publicity, since it wasn’t unique to them and,…

Oct 23, 2013 8:50 PM CDT

3rd Circuit says Delaware Chancery Court’s secret arbitration program trials violated 1st Amendment

A divided federal appeals court Wednesday said a novel attempt by a highly regarded state court to offer an alternative to private arbitration of corporate matters violates the First Amendment because it involves secret trials. Upholding a lower court’s determination but applying a somewhat different line of reasoning to arrive…

Oct 23, 2013 7:05 PM CDT

Pitchman Kevin Trudeau jailed until he reveals assets to pay $37M fine in FTC matter

Especially for someone who claims to have no assets with which to pay a penny of a $37 million civil judgment, diet book author and infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau is living high on the hog, the feds say. They cite the $12,500 Patek Philippe cufflinks (he says they belong to…

Oct 22, 2013 5:50 PM CDT

Hospital wins court ruling to boot ‘belligerent’ patient, but battle continues over free in-home bed

A Connecticut hospital won a court ruling requiring a “belligerent” patient to comply with a discharge order and vacate her acute-care bed. And patient Margo Smith was, in fact, transported home, a day after the court OK’d injunctive relief for St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center and 23 days after…

Oct 22, 2013 3:35 PM CDT

Baker & McKenzie wins damages retrial in driller’s $103M malpractice case

There was good news and bad news for Baker & McKenzie in a Mississippi Supreme Court opinion issued Thursday. The good news is that a new trial will be held on proximate cause and the $103 million in damages awarded in a legal malpractice and breach-of-contract case that contends the…

Oct 18, 2013 9:40 PM CDT

Billionaire Mark Cuban wins SEC insider-trading case, calls lead trial lawyer for agency ‘a bully’

A high-profile insider-trading case against the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks has ended badly for the government. A federal jury in Dallas deliberated for less than a day before finding Mark Cuban not liable in the civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg reports. He had…

Oct 16, 2013 9:45 PM CDT

Racketeering case filed by Chevron against lawyer who won $18B enviro award goes to trial

Having won an $18 billion environmental judgment against a deep-pockets corporate defendant after nearly two decades of litigation, attorney Steven Donziger, one might think, would be living high on the hog. Instead, the Harvard Law School graduate is a defendant in a civil racketeering trial brought by Chevron Corp. Trial…

Oct 16, 2013 7:10 PM CDT

Jayhawks fan wins pro se license-plate appeal, can keep slogan disparaging rivals, court rules

Once upon a time, the word “sucks” was considered unprintable. But in recent decades it has simply become a synonym for “subpar,” a Missouri man argued, relying on the dictionary for support. On Tuesday, the Missouri Court of Appeals effectively agreed, deferring to an administrative hearing commission’s ruling on the…

Oct 16, 2013 3:45 PM CDT

New trial sought because juror didn’t reveal he was an attorney and blogged about case

A burglar who was sentenced to nearly 39 years in prison as a habitual offender is asking a federal appeals court to reverse his conviction due to the conduct of a California lawyer who served as foreman of the jury that convicted him. Defendant Donald R. McNeely initially filed the…

Oct 11, 2013 3:05 PM CDT

Despite bruising, spanking daughter, 12, with wooden spoon wasn’t child abuse, appeals court rules

It may have been at the outer limit of permissible parental discipline. However, spanking a 12-year-old girl with a wooden spoon so hard that it left bruises wasn’t sufficient grounds for a “substantiated” child-abuse report, a California appellate court has ruled. In light of the mother’s motivation to prevent her…

Oct 8, 2013 9:30 PM CDT