Verdicts & Settlements

Retired In-House Counsel is Suspended for a Year Due to Second Domestic Violence Incident

A New Jersey lawyer has been suspended from practice for a year by the state supreme court an incident of domestic violence that also resulted in a 12-month jail term for him, according to the Legal Profession Blog. The incident, which resulted in Peter Jacoby’s guilty plea to the felony…

Jun 10, 2011 10:40 AM CDT

Judge Gets Reprimand, $100 Fine for Jailing Lawyer Who Refused to Recite the Pledge

A Mississippi judge who held a lawyer in contempt and jailed him after he refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in court will be disciplined. Finding that Chancery Judge Talmadge Littlejohn abused his contempt powers, the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld, in a ruling released yesterday, a Misissippi Commission on…

Jun 10, 2011 10:10 AM CDT

Plaintiff Wins $95M in Sexual Harassment Case; Aaron’s Vows to Appeal, Blames Runaway Jury

In what may be a record-breaking award to a single plaintiff in a sexual harassment case, a federal jury in East St. Louis, Ill., yesterday awarded $95 million to a former employee of Aaron’s Inc. Of that amount, $15 million was compensatory and $80 million was punitive damages. The plaintiff…

Jun 9, 2011 10:19 PM CDT

Ex-Client Files RICO Class Action, Says PI Firm Made Usurious Loans to 200 Vioxx Plaintiffs

A former client has filed a federal civil racketeering class action against a Georgia personal injury firm, contending that it cheated up to 200 or more plaintiffs in Vioxx litigation by misleading them into taking out usurious loans against an expected settlement. At the time, the Eichholz Law Firm knew…

Jun 9, 2011 5:43 PM CDT

Law Firm Not Liable for Purchasing Competitor’s Name as Keyword to Drive Traffic to Own Website

Once upon a time, when bus benches and the yellow pages offered some of the only ways to promote a personal injury firm effectively, competitors tried to crowd each other out or dominate the space with the biggest ad. It wasn’t unheard-of to put a billboard up right next to…

Jun 9, 2011 3:07 AM CDT

Real Estate Attorney Gets 5 Years in $23M Mortgage Fraud Case

A New York real estate lawyer who allegedly participated in a $23 million mortgage fraud by acting as an attorney for the bank and/or straw buyers involved in the scheme has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. Cheddi Goberdhan, 57, “created and sent false documents to the banks,…

Jun 8, 2011 5:11 PM CDT

DA Blasts Overturned Rape Verdict, Says Panel Used ‘Stone Age Standard of Proof of Resistance’

A district attorney in Pennsylvania is blasting a court that overturned a jury’s rape conviction for concluding that “a sexual-assault victim is not to be believed unless her injuries are severe enough to meet some Stone Age standard of proof of resistance.” Calling the decision last month by a state…

Jun 8, 2011 4:00 PM CDT

Double Jeopardy Precludes Retrial of Woman Prosecuted After Telling Police She Found a Wallet

Deborah Heinrich’s saga as an accused criminal reportedly began after she found a wallet last summer that the owner says he had carelessly left atop the pump at a Wyoming gas station. She called the numbers she found inside, she says, then contacted the police to seek their help in…

Jun 8, 2011 3:21 PM CDT

Appeals Court: Associate Can’t Seek Punitives from Law Firm That Allegedly Misled Him re Partnership

A former associate can’t seek punitive damages from a law firm that allegedly misstated his partnership potential for years to keep him working on an important case and then terminated him once it successfully concluded. Upholding today the trial court’s ruling on punitives, the New York Appellate Division for the…

Jun 7, 2011 11:40 PM CDT

Business Goes Back to Paper Checks After Losing $345K and Liability Ruling by Federal Magistrate

It’s less convenient. But a business in Maine that lost $345,000 in 2009 when cyber crooks tried to siphon well over half a million from its online account has now gone back to paper checks to try to keep its funds secure. Deciding cross-motions for summary judgment last week, a…

Jun 7, 2011 11:08 PM CDT

Top NJ Court Says Bloggers May Not Qualify for State Shield Law Protection Against Revealing Sources

Not every “self-appointed newsperson” is a journalist, for the purpose of applying New Jersey’s shield law protecting journalists from revealing their sources, the state supreme court ruled today. Although a Washington state woman, Shellee Hale, who posted message board comments critical of Too Much Media, sought to apply the shield…

Jun 7, 2011 9:02 PM CDT

Supremes Refuse to Hear Wesley Snipes Appeal in Criminal Tax Case; He Had Sought Venue Hearing

Actor Wesley Snipes will stay in jail, where he is serving a three-year sentence for failing to file federal tax returns for several years, after the U.S. Supreme Court today refused to hear his appeal of his conviction on venue grounds. Snipes argued that the feds should have brought the…

Jun 6, 2011 8:26 PM CDT

Ex-Prosecutor Suspended for Failing to Pay Child Support, Owes Almost $77,000

A Kansas attorney has been suspended indefinitely by the state supreme court for failing to pay child support. Jimmie Vanderbilt was once the Jefferson County prosecutor, but hasn’t worked in that post since 2005, nor has he made regular child support payments since 2005, the court says in its Friday…

Jun 6, 2011 3:59 PM CDT

Malaysian Man Settles Defamation Suit by Tweeting Apology 100 Times

As a part of a settlement agreement in a defamation case, a Malaysian social activist has agreed to publish a brief apology 100 times on Twitter. In January, Fahmi Fadzil posted a tweet claiming that a pregnant friend of his was treated poorly by her employers at a magazine run…

Jun 3, 2011 5:47 PM CDT

DOJ Settles Suit Against Joe Arpaio’s Office, Says Maricopa, Ariz., Sheriff Has Provided Docs

The Department of Justice has settled an unusual suit seeking to force the Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff’s office to provide documents for a civil rights probe. The office is now cooperating, ending the documents dispute, although the investigation continues, reports the Associated Press. The sheriff’s office did not have any…

Jun 2, 2011 11:45 PM CDT