Verdicts & Settlements

Jury Awards Record $150B in Boy’s Burning Case; Family Says Prosecution, Not Money, Is What’s Needed

Updated: The parents of a young man who was severely burned at age 8 and died of a related skin cancer 13 years later won $370 million in compensatory damages and $150 billion in punitive damages from a Texas jury this week. The amount is a record in a personal…

Dec 21, 2011 2:41 PM CST

Big Payday for Shareholder Suit Lawyers: Del. Chancery Court Awards $285M Attorney’s Fee

A near-record verdict for Southern Peru Copper Co. in a Delaware shareholder derivative suit has resulted in a monster payday for the company’s counsel. The $285 million earned by Pennsylvania-based Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check and Prickett, Jones & Elliott of Wilmington, Del., may be the highest amount ever awarded…

Dec 19, 2011 7:34 PM CST

Novell Unable to Persuade 21-Year-Old Holdout Juror in Its $1.2B Case Against Microsoft

Novell’s $1.2 billion lawsuit against Microsoft ended in a mistrial on Dec. 16 because of a 21-year-old holdout juror. The holdout was security guard Corbyn Alvey, who has a two-year criminal justice degree, according to KSL.com and the Associated Press. Alvey told KSL there were too many inferences that needed…

Dec 19, 2011 12:57 PM CST

Federal Judge Says Thousands of Tweets and Posts, Many Urging Target’s Death, Weren’t Criminal

Saying that a religious leader targeted by some 8,000 tweets and blog posts is a public figure, a federal judge in Maryland yesterday dismissed criminal charges against a former friend charged in the cyberstalking case. The messages, many of which urged the death of Alyce Zeoli, a Maryland-based Buddhist leader,…

Dec 16, 2011 7:23 PM CST

SEC Appeals Judge’s Rejection of Citigroup Deal, Cites Investor Interest in Immediate Benefit

The Securities and Exchange Commission is appealing a federal judge’s rejection of a $285 million settlement with Citigroup. Robert Khuzami, who heads the SEC’s enforcement division, announced the appeal on Thursday, report the National Law Journal and the Wall Street Journal Law Blog. In a statement, Khuzami said the rejection…

Dec 16, 2011 4:06 PM CST

Judge Kills Foreclosure Over Law Firm’s Late Verifications, Speculates re ‘Conflicted Robosigner’

A New York judge has dismissed a mortgage foreclosure case, with prejudice, because of a well-known law firm’s delay in submitting to the court verifications that it took reasonable steps to check the accuracy of documents filed on the lender’s behalf. The verifications, which have been routinely required in foreclosure…

Dec 13, 2011 6:49 PM CST

Crowell & Moring Settles $5.5M Client Suit re Ex-Counsel Awaiting Extradition in Hong Kong

In its first public response to a $5.5 million lawsuit filed by client Regal Real Estate over millions of dollars allegedly stolen by a former Crowell & Moring attorney from an escrow account, the law firm has apologized and announced that a settlement has been reached. “We are pleased to…

Dec 12, 2011 3:17 PM CST

Hooters Settles California Class Action, Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Says

A lawyer who represented about 400 Hooters workers in a California class action targeting the restaurants around Sacramento says the company has agreed to settle the litigation for an unspecified amount. Lawyer Burton Boltuch told 3KCRA.com that all the employees he represented are being compensated. He said the settlement also…

Dec 7, 2011 3:59 PM CST

Denied Sign Interpreter, Deaf Man Wins DUI Reversal After Serving 9-Month Sentence

After a five-year appellate battle, a Washington state man has won a reversal of his drunken-driving conviction. Because William M. Kral, 33, is deaf and was not provided with a qualified sign-language interpreter, as required by state law, his Benton County District Court conviction will be overturned, the Tri-City Herald…

Dec 2, 2011 7:36 PM CST

A Former Solicitor Costs Her Soon-to-Be Ex-Husband $157M in a Divorce Case

After eight years of marriage, a former solicitor has won a monster divorce award from Hong Kong’s high court. Florence Tsang Chiu-win, 38, was granted assets worth some $157 million in U.S. dollars, according to the Sun and the Telegraph. The total cost of the judgment to her ex-husband, real…

Dec 2, 2011 4:44 PM CST

Chemerinsky: The Latest Test on the Confrontation Clause

Although Williams v. Illinois will likely make few headlines, it is a case that could have a major effect on how criminal trials are conducted in the United States. The issue is whether the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment is violated when a laboratory analyst testifies as an expert…

Dec 1, 2011 2:40 PM CST

Unsettling Science: Experts Are Still Debating Whether Shaken Baby Syndrome Exists

Audrey Edmunds, now 50: “I’m not the monster they made me out to be.” Photo by Keri Pickett Is Audrey Edmunds an otherwise kind and caring wife, mother and neighborhood child care provider who snapped into a homicidal rage one day under the stress of caring for a sick baby?…

Dec 1, 2011 10:50 AM CST

Panned Parenthood: Privileged Pair Give Low Marks to Mom’s Mothering

Family dynamics can get complicated, with generations looking disparagingly upon one another—parents wondering why kids have to be so obstinate and kids wondering how parents got so clueless. But most families manage to co-exist, or at least fake it well enough, to create memories they’ll look back on fondly. Sometimes,…

Dec 1, 2011 7:00 AM CST

December 27, 1911: Owners Acquitted in Triangle Fire

On March 25, 1911, a fire erupted near closing time at the Triangle Waist garment factory in Lower Manhattan. Within 20 minutes the blaze had consumed much of the plant, which occupied the top three stories of the 10-story Asch Building, and 146 workers were dead or critically injured. Many…

Dec 1, 2011 6:50 AM CST

US Settles Suit with Anthrax Victim’s Family for $2.5 Million

The federal government has agreed to pay $2.5 million to the family of the first person killed in the 2001 anthrax letter attacks. The suit had alleged that the Army hadn’t done enough to secure its supply of the anthrax used in the attacks, which were eventually blamed on a…

Nov 30, 2011 7:01 PM CST