Verdicts & Settlements

BigLaw Partner Scores Win in Retirement Fight; He’s an Employee, for Discrimination Law Purposes

A Vancouver partner in one of Canada’s biggest law firms has scored another victory in his fight to avoid retiring at age 65. In an opinion released today, the British Columbia Supreme Court upheld a ruling last year by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal that Mitch McCormick, 66, would be…

Jun 2, 2011 10:57 PM CDT

Lender OKs Fair Housing Pact, Will Pay $765K, End Mortgage Nixes Due to Maternity Leaves

In a federal fair housing case that represents just a fraction of the discrimination that may be occurring nationwide, a Texas-based lender has agreed to pay $765,000 and stop discriminating against women who are taking maternity leaves. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the settlement yesterday. While…

Jun 2, 2011 8:44 PM CDT

Ex-Prosecutor Beats Rap on 4th DWI, Will Keep Law License, After Police Ticket-Fix Scandal Exposed

A New York attorney who formerly served as a prosecutor in the Bronx was found not guilty in a felony drunken driving case today by a Bronx Supreme Court jury. If convicted of driving while intoxicated, Stephen Lopresti could have lost his law license. He has three prior DWI convictions…

Jun 2, 2011 6:15 PM CDT

7th Circuit Scolds Hogan Lovells for ‘Misleadingly’ Describing Case in Appellate Brief

In an opinion filed yesterday in redistricting dispute involving the Girl Scouts of the United States, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court took a well-known law firm to task for its characterization of a case cited as authority for its client’s position. Hogan Lovells “misleadingly” described a…

Jun 1, 2011 9:55 PM CDT

Honigman Settles with Ex-Assistant Who Said She Injured Her Back While Wearing Required High Heels

A Detroit-based law firm has settled on undisclosed terms a federal discrimination lawsuit brought by a former executive assistant who alleged that she injured her back while wearing high heels Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn required of female employees, reports Crain’s Detroit Business. Denise Fitzhenry sued both the firm and…

Jun 1, 2011 9:35 PM CDT

Former Clark Thomas & Winters Partner Convicted in Bill-Padding Case, Gets 500 Days, Must Pay $222K

A former partner of Clark Thomas & Winters was convicted yesterday by a Texas jury in a case that revolved around the alleged padding of legal bills to obtain money to make secret payments to relatives of board members of a client utility company. Convicted of theft, money laundering and…

Jun 1, 2011 9:01 PM CDT

Doc Who Implanted 12 Embryos in ‘Octomom’ to Lose Medical License

A Beverly Hills fertility doctor who implanted 12 embryos into the woman who became known as “Octomom” after she had octuplets “did not exercise sound judgment” in doing so and will lose his medical license. In addition to Dr. Michael Kamrava’s treatment of Nadya Suleman, the Medical Board of California…

Jun 1, 2011 8:43 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Defrauding of Client—Her Own Mom—in Real Estate Matter Merits Disbarment, Panel Says

Updated: An Illinois lawyer’s work on behalf of her own mother in a real estate matter and other conduct merits disbarment, a state hearing panel has recommended. Ellen Frances Lang did not respond to a legal ethics complaint, and hence its allegations were deemed to be admitted, the panel notes…

Jun 1, 2011 5:27 PM CDT

A Real-Life Grisham Story: Denial of Jury Award Marks Disappointing Postscript to Death Row Release

Photo by Jennifer S. Altman John Thompson has had worse days than the one in late March when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against him in his civil rights case. After all, the Louisiana man spent 14 years on death row for a murder he didn’t commit and he…

Jun 1, 2011 7:09 AM CDT

Defendant Judge Loses Motion to Remove DA from Fraud Case re Adoption of Twins

An Oklahoma judge facing fraudulent claims charges concerning the twins she and her husband adopted last year has lost her bid to have the district attorney removed as the prosecutor in the case. A judge from outside the county ruled today that DA David Prater would continue on the case…

May 31, 2011 8:17 PM CDT

Lawyer Wins $900K Wage-and-Hour Suit But Loses $515K Fee Due to Lack of Time Entries

A lawyer who won a $900,000 wage-and-hour case against New York City in 2009 on behalf of 16,000 police officers reportedly won’t be getting a payday. Thomas Puccio had sought $2 million in the Fair Labor Standards Act case and was awarded $515,000 by U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin. But…

May 27, 2011 7:20 PM CDT

Sending Brochure to Potential Clients re Ex-Partner’s Prosecution Costs PI Lawyer $35K and Reprimand

An acrimonious relationship with a lawyer for whom he formerly worked, decades ago, is costing a Wisconsin personal injury lawyer $35,000 and a public reprimand. Although it dismissed two of three counts of a legal ethics complaint against attorney Michael Hupy, a divided Wisconsin Supreme Court concluded today that a…

May 27, 2011 6:55 PM CDT

Author Gets 6-Week Contempt Term for ‘Jolly Hangman’ Book re Singapore Justice System

A British author’s appeal of a contempt finding and six-week jail sentence for writing a book critical of the Singapore justice system has been unsuccessful. After the Singapore Court of Appeal’s affirmation of the sentence today, which also includes a fine of about $16,000 in U.S. dollars, author Alan Shadrake…

May 27, 2011 5:24 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Says Lawyers’ Involvement in ‘Crude’ Film Wasn’t a Subject-Matter Privilege Waiver

By allowing a filmmaker access to attorney-client meetings for his Crude documentary about a megabucks environmental case in Ecuador, lawyers for the plaintiffs did not create a subject-matter waiver for all privileged communications, a federal appeals court has ruled. Reversing a lower court decision that the attorneys involved would have…

May 27, 2011 12:01 AM CDT

Kidnapped by Mistake, Pet Store Owner Wins Concealed Carry OK, Based on ‘Urgent’ Need, a Year Later

In January 2010, a pet store owner in New Jersey was kidnapped at gunpoint by suspects who mistook him for another man with the same name who reportedly owed them $500,000 in a business deal. Today, the New Jersey man obtained a court order authorizing him to carry a concealed…

May 26, 2011 9:31 PM CDT