Verdicts & Settlements

Judge: Lawyer Not ‘Unjustifiably Abused, Belittled, Humiliated, Threatened, Undermined or Bullied’

Describing a “regrettable” email exchange between two Melbourne law firm colleagues and friends as “a classic storm in a teacup,” an Australian judge has nixed a seven-figure damages claim by a former partner who said she was undermined, humiliated and harassed after she went on maternity leave. Partner Fiona Brown,…

May 18, 2012 9:05 PM CDT

Mom Who Sent Adopted Russian Boy Back on One-Way Flight Must Pay $150K Plus Monthly $1K Support

A mother who sent her adopted Russian son back to his home country on a one-way flight in 2010 must pay $150,206 damages for breach of the adoption contract, legal fees and back child support, plus $1,000 per month in child support, beginning June 1, until he turns 18, a…

May 18, 2012 7:45 PM CDT

Lawyer Loses License for 1 Year, Represented Both Wife Suspected of Arson and Husband in Fire Claim

A longtime Kansas lawyer has been suspended from practice for one year, due in part to his concurrent representation of two spouses. One (the wife) was a suspect in a criminal arson investigation concerning the couple’s home and had been videotaped purchasing accelerants on the day of the fire, according…

May 18, 2012 5:19 PM CDT

Top Ohio Court Suspends Former Chief Public Safety Counsel for 6 Months Over Email Interception

Already fired and prosecuted over his role in illegally intercepting worker emails directed to the state inspector general, the former chief counsel for the Ohio Department of Public Safety was slapped with a heavier-than-expected legal ethics sanction by the state’s top court. The Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Commissioners on…

May 17, 2012 7:34 PM CDT

In-House Counsel for Developer Didn’t Stop $98M Mortgage Fraud, Loses Law License for 4 Years

A sole practitioner who worked as in-house counsel for companies controlled by a New York real estate developer has lost his law license for four years, because he failed to detect and stop mortgage-origination fraud by the developer that cost lenders $98 million. There is no evidence that Thomas Cusack…

May 17, 2012 4:30 PM CDT

Claimed Fla. Sunshine Law Advice re Hospital Merger Talks Costs Law Firm $6M

A public taxing district board for a New Smyrna Beach, Fla., says the advice it got from an Orlando lawyer concerning compliance with the state’s Sunshine Law has proven expensive. After a state court judge nixed a planned 2010 merger with Adventist Health Systems over 21 closed-door meetings over a…

May 16, 2012 5:05 PM CDT

Appeals Court OKs Trustee’s $500M Suit Blaming K&L Gates for Missing Massive Fraud

A Pennsylvania appeals court has revived a bankruptcy trustee’s $500 million lawsuit against K&L Gates, finding that an Allegheny County trial court dismissed the malpractice case in error. The law firm had argued that it could not be sued by the trustee on behalf of Le-Nature’s Inc., because K&L Gates…

May 15, 2012 8:50 PM CDT

Husband-and-Wife Lawyers Settle Suit Claiming Cops Punched Them for Objecting to Suspect’s Beating

A lawyer couple who say police punched and arrested them when they objected to the beating of a drug suspect have settled their civil suit against the city of New York. Michael and Evelyn Warren settled the case for $360,000, report Reuters and the New York Daily News. They say…

May 15, 2012 11:33 AM CDT

Top Neb. Court OKs 90-Day Contempt Term for Claimed Rape Victim, But Prosecutor May Use Discretion

Upholding a trial judge’s power to compel a witness to testify, the Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday said a Kansas woman who says she was raped at age 7 can be jailed for 90 days if she refuses to cooperate with the prosecution of the case. However, the court noted…

May 11, 2012 9:31 PM CDT

Judge OKs Special Prosecutor, Calls DA’s Prior Work for Fatal Crash Defendant an ‘Extreme’ Conflict

A newly appointed district attorney can’t simply wall himself off from his office’s prosecution of a man he formerly represented in a felony fatal crash case but must step aside for a special prosecutor, a Nevada judge has ruled. Senior District Judge J. Charles Thompson last week disqualified District Attorney…

May 10, 2012 5:25 PM CDT

Iranian Lawyer Gets 9 Years for Defending Clients on Death Row

An Iranian lawyer has been sentenced to nine years in prison for defending clients facing the death penalty. In a telephone interview from Tehran, attorney Mohammad Ali Dadkhah told the British newspaper the Guardian that he has also been banned from practicing law or teaching at universities for another 10…

May 9, 2012 8:25 PM CDT

Charges Dropped Against Mo. Attorney in Bludgeoning Death of Law Partner

Convicted in 2002 in a first-degree murder case concerning the beating death of his former law partner and sentenced to life, only to see the conviction reversed in 2006 over discovery violations, a Missouri attorney has now had the charges against him dismissed. Richard Buchli had been set for retrial…

May 8, 2012 9:41 PM CDT

Mom Spends a Night in Jail After Being Held in Contempt for Unilateral Decision to Baptize Son, 12

A Tennessee judge made international headlines by ordering a mother to spend a day in jail for violating a parenting contract by having her son baptized without first discussing the plan with her ex-husband. Attorney J. Terry Holland, who represents the mother, Stephanie Miller, says both parents attended the December…

May 8, 2012 8:51 PM CDT

Wilbur the Pig Is a Household Pet, Judge Rules; Community Association Can’t Evict Him

Wilbur the pig is a household pet, a Texas judge ruled Monday, in a finding that prevents the porker’s family from having to find a new home for him. Potbellied Vietnamese pigs like Wilbur are routinely kept as pets, Harris County District Judge Mike Engelhart found, in a decision greeted…

May 8, 2012 4:15 PM CDT

Muslim Convert Wins $5M Punitive Damages Award Against AT&T in Hostile Work Environment Case

Updated: A Muslim convert has been awarded $120,000 in actual damages and $5 million in punitive damages in a hostile work environment case by a Missouri state-court jury. The Associated Press, relying on information from the Kansas City Star, says it appears to be the largest jury verdict in an…

May 7, 2012 4:15 PM CDT