Verdicts & Settlements

Remorseful Mom Who Nixed 10-Year Deal Gets 12-Year Sentence in Pet Python’s Killing of Tot

An apologetic mother of a 2-year-old child killed at home by her pet Burmese python was sentenced today to a 12-year prison term—as was the mother’s boyfrend—after being convicted last month of manslaughter by a Florida jury. Jaren Hare, 21, and Charles “Jason” Darnell, 34, had rejected a pretrial deal…

Aug 24, 2011 8:33 PM CDT

Wis. Lawyer Accused of Stealing $542K in Foreclosure Refunds by Filing Court Docs for Non-Clients

A Wisconsin lawyer has been criminally charged with theft of at least $10,000 by fraud for allegedly stealing $542,000 over a five-year period by falsely claiming to represent individuals to whom refunds of surplus funds were due in mortgage foreclosure cases. Thomas E. Bielinski, 52, allegedly filed documents in Milwaukee…

Aug 24, 2011 5:15 PM CDT

Lawyer Argues $1M Is Standard for Malpractice Causing Stillbirth

What amount of money compensates a pregnant woman who delivers a stillborn child because of medical malpractice? In February, A New York appeals court upheld a $1 million award for pain and suffering to Lucia Ferreira, who lost her baby during labor at home. She had previously complained of abdominal…

Aug 24, 2011 3:27 PM CDT

Match.com Settles Suit with Agreement to Screen for Sex Offenders

Match.com has agreed to screen for sex offenders to settle a lawsuit by a California screenwriter who says she was sexually assaulted by a man she met through the service. Carole Markin did not seek monetary damages in the lawsuit, the Los Angeles Times reports. “If I save one woman…

Aug 24, 2011 1:42 PM CDT

Alaska Mom Convicted of Child Abuse for Hot-Sauce Discipline Portrayed on ‘Dr. Phil’

An Anchorage, Alaska, mom who punished her adopted son with hot sauce and a cold shower has been convicted of misdemeanor child abuse. Sentencing for Jessica Beagley is scheduled for Monday, the Anchorage Daily News reports. She faces a sentence of up to a year in prison and a $10,000…

Aug 24, 2011 12:13 PM CDT

Panel Seeks Disbarment of Harvard Law Grad and Ex-BigLaw Partner Who Lied on Child’s School Aid App

Things went from bad to worse for a Harvard Law School graduate who lost his job at a BigLaw firm in 1991 and subsequently lied about family income on a Chicago private school application so that his daughter would get financial aid there. Somehow, Illinois attorney discipline authorities got wind…

Aug 24, 2011 12:11 AM CDT

Spouse of Plaintiff Can Collect Attorney Fees in Civil Rights Case, 9th Circuit Rules

Although the nation’s top court says lawyers can’t collect attorney fees for representing themselves in civil rights cases, that blanket prohibition doesn’t apply to an attorney who serves as a spouse’s legal counsel, a federal appeals court has ruled. Reversing the trial judge in the Central District of California case,…

Aug 23, 2011 9:10 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Nixes 55-Month Term for Former Pa. Lawmaker Fumo, Tells Sentencing Judge to Try Again

Nixing a 55-month fraud sentence for a powerful former Pennsylvania senator and attorney that sparked public outrage, an appeals court today found a federal district judge had abused his discretion and told him to resentence Vincent Fumo. However, Judge Ronald Buckwalter isn’t required by the decision of the Philadelphia-based 3rd…

Aug 23, 2011 8:15 PM CDT

Gov’t Asks Court to Drop All Charges in Alleged Ex-IMF Chief Sex Assault of Hotel Housekeeper

Prosecutors in Manhattan today filed papers asking that all charges be dropped against the former chief of the International Monetary Fund regarding his alleged sexual assault of a housekeeper at a hotel in New York. While stopping short of asserting that Dominique Strauss-Kahn is innocent, the filing says his guilt…

Aug 22, 2011 8:50 PM CDT

Jury Says Parts Makers Must Pay $32M to Navy Veteran in Ship-Asbestos Case; Defense Vows to Appeal

Updated: A former U.S. Navy boiler tender who was found to have contracted cancer as a result of working aboard ships with parts that contained asbestos was awarded $32 million by a New York state court jury last week. Ronald Dummitt, 68, of Kentucky, developed pleural mesothelioma as a result…

Aug 22, 2011 5:50 PM CDT

‘West Memphis 3’ Win Release from Prison by Taking Alford Plea in 1993 Murder of 3 Boys

Three men convicted in a controversial Arkansas child-murder case were released from prison today after taking Alford pleas during a court hearing in Jonesboro. Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley Jr. were sentenced to 18 years in prison, with credit for time served, in the 1993 slayings of Steven…

Aug 19, 2011 7:08 PM CDT

Lawyer Paid $32K for M&A Tips Gets 3 Years for Conduit Role in High-Profile Insider-Trading Scheme

A New York personal injury lawyer was sentenced today to a three-year federal prison term for serving as a conduit for at least two attorney tipsters then working at Ropes & Gray in a high-profile insider-trading scheme. Jason Goldfarb was paid $32,500 for his work in the illegal stock-trading scheme,…

Aug 19, 2011 6:23 PM CDT

Pulled Over While Riding Motorized Plastic Beer Cooler, Man Blows 0.16, Loses Driving Privileges

Add a motorized plastic beer cooler to the list of unusual vehicles that have resulted in convictions for drunken driving. An unlicensed Australian man who purchased one online “for a bit of a giggle” soon found himself facing a serious court case. Christopher Ian Petrie blew a 0.16 on a…

Aug 19, 2011 5:21 PM CDT

Associate Who ‘Closed’ Files of Law Firm Clients He Wanted for His Future Solo Practice is Disbarred

In a 4-3 decision, a divided Maryland appeals court today ordered the disbarment of a young personal injury attorney who admittedly altered client records in the computer system of the law firm for which he then worked as an associate, in order to facilitate his plan to take the clients…

Aug 19, 2011 4:43 PM CDT

Judge Detains 2 Teens, Puts Ankle Monitor on Boy, 11, for Flash Mob Attack on Law Student and Others

An angry juvenile court judge yesterday told two teenagers and an 11-year-old boy that their “actions, behavior, and attitude” concerning a July 29 flash mob attack by a large group on pedestrians were “appalling and disgusting for civilized society,” before pronouncing sentence. The Center City Philadelphia attack left four victims,…

Aug 19, 2011 3:32 PM CDT