Verdicts & Settlements

Ariz. Appeals Court Gives $500K Cash Stash to Heirs of Homeowner Who Hid It in the Walls

Nixing the claim of a purchaser of an Arizona home in which a contractor found a $500,000 cash stash hidden in the walls, as well as the contractor’s bid to keep the bucks, a state appellate court has given the money to the heirs of the then-owner who hid it.…

Jun 1, 2012 10:46 PM CDT

County Attorney Whose Law License Was Summarily Suspended for Not Trying Cases Is Back On the Job

A county prosecutor who summarily had his law license suspended for almost a month by the Iowa Supreme Court’s chief justice because of a claimed “temporary disability,” admittedly didn’t stay on top of his busy criminal caseload. But there was no indication that Appanoose County Attorney Richard Scott was in…

Jun 1, 2012 9:46 PM CDT

Top NY Court Says Client with Reversed Conviction Can’t Sue Lawyer for Loss-of-Liberty Damages

Reversing a lower state appellate ruling, New York’s top appeals court has refused to recognize a novel legal theory for awarding damages to an individual who says he was incarcerated because of his criminal defense lawyer’s ineffective representation. Last year, the state supreme court’s Appellate Division, Fourth Department, had held…

Jun 1, 2012 4:09 PM CDT

A Moment in History: Big Names Stage Retelling of Fight to Defeat Gay Marriage Ban

The month of June is often associated with weddings. It’s also the month when the Stonewall riots occurred in 1969 and has become associated with celebrations of gay pride. To commemorate all that the month of June signifies, LA Theatre Works will be broadcasting a recording of “8” the Play.…

Jun 1, 2012 9:00 AM CDT

Good Memories: Use the Right Words to Help the Jury Remember Key Facts of Your Case

Editor’s Note: Jim McElhaney’s 25-year run as Litigation columnist for the ABA Journal will come to a close this fall. During those years, McElhaney’s straightforward advice on trial practice became one of the most popular features in the magazine. To recognize McElhaney’s contributions, the Journal is reprinting some of his…

Jun 1, 2012 7:59 AM CDT

John Edwards Found Not Guilty on 1 Count in Campaign-Fraud Case; Jury Deadlocks on 5 Others

Updated: After nine days of deliberation in a political corruption case against former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, a federal jury in North Carolina found him not guilty on one campaign fraud charge and deadlocked on the other five counts. The onetime Democratic presidential candidate, who had been accused of accepting…

May 31, 2012 8:00 PM CDT

Law Firm to Pay $13.5M Fees Clawback to Convicted Client’s Bankruptcy Estate

A well-known Minnesota law firm has agreed to pay a $13.5 million legal fees clawback to the bankruptcy estate of a longtime client convicted of operating a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme. Bankruptcy trustee Doug Kelley acknowledged there was no evidence that Fredrikson & Byron knew anything was wrong concerning former…

May 31, 2012 6:01 PM CDT

A Delayed Heart Test and a Death in Three-Way Encounter Result in $3M Med-Mal Award

A Georgia jury is holding a physician and his medical group accountable for the death of a 31-year-old man who suffered heart failure while engaging in a threesome with his friend and a woman who wasn’t his wife. Jurors in Gwinnett County on Tuesday awarded $3 million to the estate…

May 31, 2012 12:25 PM CDT

Federal Jury Upholds City Police in Civil Rights Case Over Death of Family Dog In Yard of Their Home

While no one celebrates the death of a family dog shot by city police who entered the back yard of a Hartford, Conn., home without a warrant, officials are grateful that a federal jury has declined to hold the officers liable in a civil rights claim, says a lawyer who…

May 30, 2012 8:51 PM CDT

Fed’l Appeals Court OKs $420K Verdict Against 2 Lawyers for Keeping Asbestos Case Info From Opponent

A divided federal appellate court has upheld a $420,000 jury verdict against two lawyers who were found to have withheld critical information from the opposing party in complex asbestos litigation in state court in Mississippi. The two lawyers, Thomas W. Brock and William Guy, represented nearly 170 individuals in the…

May 30, 2012 8:11 PM CDT

Fed’l Appeals Court Says Sign Law Applies to Dog Kennel’s Mural, Calls Claimed Artwork Advertising

Is a mural featuring dogs on the exterior of a commercial building a sign subject to standard business zoning requirements or a work of art? It depends on the subject matter, according to a federal appeals court opinion last week. But because the mural at issue featured cartoon canines from…

May 29, 2012 7:37 PM CDT

Google GC Sees Message in Verdict Rejecting Oracle Patent Claims

San Francisco jurors ruled for Google on Wednesday in the latest phase of an infringement trial involving smart phone technology. Jurors rejected all of Oracle Corp.’s patent claims over Google’s use of Java technology in Android smart phone software, report the Recorder, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) and the…

May 24, 2012 12:05 PM CDT

Supreme Court Turns Down File-Sharing Appeal Challenging Remittitur Procedure

The U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear the case of Joel Tenenbaum, a doctoral graduate who was originally ordered to pay $675,000 for downloading copyrighted music. The trial judge had found the verdict was constitutionally excessive and reduced the amount to $67,500. On appeal the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of…

May 21, 2012 4:26 PM CDT

Dewey Settled Malpractice Suit in February; Insurance Regulators Initially Sought $3B

As troubles were mounting at Dewey & LeBoeuf earlier this year, the law firm settled a $3 billion suit filed by Missouri insurance regulators that claimed malpractice by predecessor firm LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. The amount of the settlement, reached in February, has not been disclosed, the Am Law…

May 21, 2012 11:39 AM CDT

Woman Charged with Killing Infant in Suicide Attempt While Pregnant Is Granted Bond

A Chinese immigrant jailed in Indiana for over a year on charges that she killed her viable fetus by eating rat poison in a suicide attempt while pregnant has lost her bid to have the controversial criminal case dismissed by the state supreme court. However, in letting stand a prior…

May 18, 2012 10:39 PM CDT