Verdicts & Settlements

‘Unscrupulous Procedural Tactics’ Result In 12-Month License Suspension for Ohio Divorce Lawyer

Saying that an Ohio divorce lawyer had engaged in “a course of conduct that was replete with dishonest, deceptive, and disrespectful acts” as a practitioner, the state supreme court today unanimously agreed that his law license should be suspended for 12 months. The court found that attorney Joseph G. Stafford,…

Mar 8, 2012 6:20 PM CST

Sheriff Arpaio’s Pink-Underwear Policy May Violate Rights of Unconvicted Inmates, 9th Circuit Says

A nationally known Arizona sheriff’s requirement that inmates at his jail don pink underwear could be unconstitutional, as far as those not yet convicted of a crime are concerned, a federal appeals court says. But the comment in a written opinion by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of…

Mar 8, 2012 12:27 AM CST

Whether or Not the Biggest in Calif. History, $8.9M Worker’s Comp Settlement Is ‘Pretty Darn Large’

An $8.9 million structured worker’s compensation settlement he negotiated on behalf of a young painter severely injured in a fall from a scaffold may be the biggest in California history, says attorney Christopher Asvar. Others confirm that the amount is, as a spokeswoman for the carrier that must ante up,…

Mar 8, 2012 12:04 AM CST

A Juror Walks Into a Bar and Gets a Med-Mal Defense Verdict Reversed by Talking to an Attorney

A juror who walked into a bar after the conclusion of a medical malpractice case and talked to a stranger who happened to be an attorney about his bias against the plaintiffs and insistence on trying the case according to his own rules has managed to achieve the opposite of…

Mar 7, 2012 11:30 PM CST

Fetish Filmmaker Credits 75-Year-Old Juror in Snowman Sweater for 2nd Mistrial in Obscenity Case

A fetish filmmaker facing a criminal obscenity case has for the second time won a mistrial in federal court in Los Angeles. This time, Ira Isaacs tells the Los Angeles Times, a 75-year-old juror who wore a Christmas-themed sweater featuring snowmen to court one day last week was one of…

Mar 7, 2012 6:13 PM CST

Stanford Verdict Could Be Bad News for Attorney and 2 Law Firms Facing Related Civil Cases

A prosecution verdict today in the criminal fraud case against onetime billionaire R. Allen Stanford could be bad news for an attorney and two law firms facing civil cases related to his crimes. Attorney Thomas Sjoblom, who formerly worked for both Chadbourne & Parke and Proskauer Rose after leaving the…

Mar 7, 2012 12:14 AM CST

Onetime Billionaire R. Allen Stanford Convicted on 13 of 14 Counts in $7B Federal Fraud Trial

A federal jury in Houston has convicted onetime billionaire R. Allen Stanford on 13 of the 14 counts he faced in a $7 billion fraud case. The charges concerned what prosecutors described as a Ponzi scheme focused on bogus certificates of deposit issued by an offshore bank Stanford controlled. Some…

Mar 6, 2012 6:15 PM CST

2nd Circuit Nixes Confusing Disclaimer Required of NY Attorneys Advertising Specialist Certification

A New York personal injury lawyer appearing pro se has notched a victory in a battle against the state attorney grievance committee, persuading a federal appeals court that an advertising ethics rule upheld by lower court rulings is vague and unduly restrictive. J. Michael Hayes of Buffalo had repeatedly been…

Mar 5, 2012 10:26 PM CST

Mom Takes Job with Lawyer to Help Son Win Reversal of Capital Murder Conviction

Updated: A man who was 15 years old when a 74-year-old woman was shot to death in 1996 has won the reversal of his capital murder conviction with the help of his mother, who took a job in a lawyer’s office to help him pursue an appeal. A federal judge…

Mar 5, 2012 8:47 PM CST

Another Defense Win in Criminal Case re Recording Chicago Cops, as Judge Rules Law Unconstitutional

A controversial Illinois state law making it a felony offense for an individual to record police in public without their permission was ruled unconstitutional today by a Chicago judge. Judge Stanley Sacks nixed a case against artist Christopher Drew, finding that it potentially criminalized “wholly innocent conduct,” the Chicago Tribune…

Mar 3, 2012 12:03 AM CST

NC Judge Orders DA Cline Removed from Office for Bringing County Justice System ‘Into Disrepute’

A North Carolina judge today ordered the Durham County district attorney removed from office due at least in large part to her inflammatory criticism of a top criminal judge. The dismissal of Tracey Cline from her $119,305-a-year job is only the second time in state history that a DA was…

Mar 2, 2012 7:11 PM CST

Good Cop, Bad Citizen? As Cellphone Recording Increases, Officers Are Uneasy

Walking past Boston Common, the city’s august park, in 2007, attorney Simon Glik noticed several police officers arresting a young man. Glik heard another bystander say he thought the police were using excessive force. So he pulled out his cellphone and began shooting video of the incident. After arresting the…

Mar 1, 2012 9:40 AM CST

March 9, 1964: New York Times Co. v. Sullivan Decided

By the spring of 1964, in an effort to curtail what they regarded as meddlesome and hypocritical coverage of the civil rights struggle, Southern officials had brought nearly $300 million in libel actions against national media outlets. One such case was filed by Montgomery, Ala., city commissioner L.B. Sullivan, who…

Mar 1, 2012 6:20 AM CST

Judge Boots Feinberg Day from Patent Case, Says Even ‘Collective Lobotomy’ Wouldn’t Resolve Conflict

A former team of DLA Piper attorneys now working at Feinberg Day on a major patent matter is going to have to find a new assignment. A federal judge in San Francisco says the firm must “phase itself out promptly” from working on Talon Research v. Toshiba. Now representing Talon…

Feb 28, 2012 11:51 PM CST

Pro Se Plaintiff Wins $850 Small-Claims Award in Data-Throttling Case Against AT&T

Individuals who purchased “unlimited data” plans from AT&T in years past presumably may have expected to use as much as they wanted. But, after warning customers, the telecommunications company has started slowing down the speed at which the heaviest users of such plans can proceed. It stopped selling such plans…

Feb 24, 2012 9:50 PM CST