Verdicts & Settlements

LAPD to get tapes of defense lawyer talks with convicted ‘Charles Manson family’ killer

After months of litigation and two court rulings, it looks like the Los Angeles Police Department may be on the verge of getting hold of long-ago taped conversations between a now-deceased Texas defense lawyer and a member of the notorious Charles Manson “family” convicted in multiple 1969 murders that terrorized…

Mar 26, 2013 8:34 PM CDT

Millionaire deluges state attorney with public records requests after daughter’s DUI conviction

Corrected: At one time, Martin E. “Marty” O’Boyle was a political ally of Florida state attorney Dave Aronberg, helping him position himself to get elected. But after Aronberg refused to take a position concerning the 2011 misdemeanor driving-under-the-influence conviction of O’Boyle’s daughter, Sara, the two parted ways. They still have…

Mar 26, 2013 8:10 PM CDT

Lawyer’s suicide may void his judicial bribery case conviction

Convicted last year in a judicial bribery case and sentenced to three and a half years, a South Texas lawyer may have cleared his conviction by committing suicide Feb. 28 as he was due to report to federal prison. Because Ray R. Marchan, 56, had an appeal pending at the…

Mar 25, 2013 7:16 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor accused of faking client’s divorce takes plea in obstruction case

A disbarred New York lawyer has taken a plea in a federal obstruction of justice case. David Ehrlich, 38, agreed not to contest any sentence of 27 months or less as he pleaded guilty on Monday to one obstruction count in federal district court in Albany, reports the Times Union.…

Mar 25, 2013 6:41 PM CDT

Attorney and law firm must pay $67K in legal fees for ‘vexatious’ suit challenging airline merger

In an unusual move, a federal appeals court has sanctioned a prominent San Francisco plaintiffs law firm and its name partner by ordering reimbursement of $67,495 in opponent legal fees for pursuing what opponents called “unreasonable and vexatious” litigation over an airline merger. Joseph Alioto and the Alioto Law Firm…

Mar 25, 2013 5:53 PM CDT

‘Romeo Killer’ back on Lifetime TV weekend lineup after NY appeals court steps in

A New York appeals court has effectively reversed a trial judge’s prior restraint of a true-crime television movie scheduled to air on Saturday about a murder committed by Christopher Porco. In a rule to show cause order (PDF) issued Thursday, the Appellate Division, 3rd Department, stayed an earlier order banning…

Mar 22, 2013 7:42 PM CDT

Judge accused of stealing elderly neighbor’s $1.6M life savings resigns from bench

A California judge who is facing a 32-count case concerning his alleged theft of a now-deceased elderly neighbor’s life savings of $1.6 million or more has voluntarily stepped down from the Alameda County Superior Court bench. Judge Paul Seeman agreed to resign Thursday and never seek to serve on the…

Mar 21, 2013 10:40 PM CDT

Famed tort lawyer Stan Chesley is disbarred for ‘unreasonable’ $20M fee in diet-drug case

Mass tort lawyer Stan Chesley has been disbarred for his role in a diet-drug case in which he earned $20 million to help negotiate a $200 million settlement. The Kentucky Supreme Court released its opinion (PDF) disbarring Chesley on Thursday, report the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Associated Press. The Herald-Leader…

Mar 21, 2013 3:54 PM CDT

Lifetime is banned from showing true-crime TV movie ‘Romeo Killer’

In a move blasted as an “unprecedented” free speech disaster in an emergency appeal by Lifetime Television, a New York judge has banned the cable network not only from airing on Saturday but from promoting a true crime television movie about a murder. In a Tuesday ruling, Supreme Court Judge…

Mar 21, 2013 3:42 PM CDT

‘Casket cartel’ rules banning sales by monks are nixed by 5th Circuit

In the latest win for the Institute of Justice in a “rational basis” economic regulation case, a federal appeals court has agreed with a trial judge that the state of Louisiana overreached by preventing Benedictine monks from selling simple wooden caskets because they are not funeral directors. Finding that “mere…

Mar 21, 2013 3:41 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor guilty of law firm racketeering shouldn’t have tried his own case, juror says

A former state and federal prosecutor convicted this week of operating his law firm as a racketeering enterprise and participating in drug-dealing, prostitution and even a conspiracy to murder witnesses, might have done better to let a defense lawyer handle his trial, a juror says. As he himself questioned witnesses…

Mar 20, 2013 7:40 PM CDT

Lawyer’s request for reprimand over her own Web comments nixed by top state court

The Georgia Supreme Court has nixed a lawyer’s voluntary request for discipline over an Internet posting that admittedly revealed confidential client information. In a Monday order (PDF), the court noted that other jurisdictions have disciplined attorneys for posting confidential information about clients on the Internet and didn’t rule out the…

Mar 20, 2013 4:11 PM CDT

Former finance chief pleads guilty in embezzlement of $730K from DC law firm

A onetime finance and business director at a small law firm in the nation’s capital pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., to embezzling over $730,000 from Trister, Ross, Schadler & Gold. William B. McNichols agreed to pay restitution and could face as much as 20 years when…

Mar 19, 2013 5:00 PM CDT

Lawyer takes plea in $279M no-fault auto insurance fraud case

One of three lawyers charged in what authorities have described as a record-breaking $279 million New York auto insurance fraud scheme has taken a plea. Sol Naimark, 54, pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Manhattan to conspiracy to commit health fraud and faces up to 20 years when…

Mar 19, 2013 4:00 PM CDT

Jury convicts ex-prosecutor accused of operating law firm as racketeering enterprise

Once a prominent New Jersey criminal defense attorney, Paul Bergrin was convicted Monday by a federal jury in Newark of all 23 counts he faced in a case in which he was accused of operating his law firm as a racketeering enterprise and conspiring to murder witnesses, among other crimes.…

Mar 18, 2013 7:24 PM CDT