Verdicts & Settlements

Lawyer Apologizes to His Wife, a Prominent Judge, for Pressuring Ex-Client to Have Sex with Her

A Canadian lawyer says he can never apologize enough to his wife, Queen’s Bench Justice Lori Douglas, for pressuring a then-client to have sex with her eight years ago when she was still in practice. Jack King says his wife, who is being investigated by the Canadian Judicial Council over…

Mar 28, 2011 7:45 PM CDT

Federal Jury Convicts Ex-Ohio Judge of 10 Counts of Lying to FBI Agents About Case-Related Confabs

A former Ohio judge was convicted by a federal jury today of 10 counts of lying to agents of the FBI about conversations she had with people concerning their pending cases in her court. Onetime Cuyahoga County Judge Bridget McCafferty did not testify. Her lawyer, however, contended that she had…

Mar 25, 2011 11:01 PM CDT

Judge Orders Dad to Arrange for Triplets to Visit Their Severely Disabled Mom

A woman who became severely disabled giving birth to triplets in 2006 has the right to see her children, a California judge ruled today in a temporary order pending a final resolution of the case. The husband of Abbie Dorn, who is now 34, divorced her after she was starved…

Mar 25, 2011 8:57 PM CDT

Fla. Foreclosure Law Firm to Pay $2M to Settle Attorney General Complaint

One of eight mortgage foreclosure law firms reportedly being investigated by the Florida attorney general over claims of dubious paperwork has agreed to pay $2 million and change its business practices, according to the Tampa Tribune. Further details of the settlement by the Fort Lauderdale-based law firm of Marshall C.…

Mar 25, 2011 8:03 PM CDT

Caught on Video: 4 Court Marshals Struggle to Control 1 Enraged Handcuffed Woman Sentenced to Jail

It took four marshals to restrain an angry woman sentenced to jail in a Nevada kidnapping and child endangerment case this week. Although apparently handcuffed by a marshal immediately after sentence was pronounced in the Clark County case, Latasha Williams pulls deputies back and forth in a video clip of…

Mar 25, 2011 5:03 PM CDT

Jury Acquits Lawyer’s Girlfriend of Murdering Him, Convicts Her of Voluntary Manslaughter

Charged with murder in the 2009 killing of her 36-year-old boyfriend, attorney Michael Porcella, a California woman has been convicted of voluntary manslaughter with an enhancement, because she used a gun. Rennie Pratt, 29, shot Porcella as he was arriving home one night at about 11:30 p.m. in Oakland. She…

Mar 25, 2011 4:32 PM CDT

Paralegal Has 1 Month to Pay $7.5K and Get 45 Days re $72K Law Firm Trust Account Spending Spree

After several years of preliminary hearings and negotiations, a Florida paralegal who is accused, along with her boss, of using a $72,000 client trust account as an ATM to fund their spending sprees is down to the wire. Either Kristen Collins Lausburg, 32, comes up with a final $7,500 in…

Mar 24, 2011 9:45 PM CDT

Blistering 7th Circuit Opinion Fines Lawyer $5K, Orders Him to Alert Clients to Possible Malpractice

Yesterday can’t have been a good one for attorney Michael J. Greco, who apparently has found a foray into federal court in Chicago a tougher slog than he may have initially anticipated. The 20-year Chicago practitioner was excoriated and fined $5,000 in a 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion…

Mar 23, 2011 11:03 PM CDT

Swift, Stunning Win for Prosecutor on Trial in Political Corruption Case: Judge Axes All Charges

A closely watched trial of an Illinois prosecutor that is believed to be the first in state history to put a sitting district attorney in the defendant’s seat in a felony case has ended with a swift and stunning victory for McHenry County State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi. At the close…

Mar 23, 2011 9:11 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Lie Re Her Claim to Channel Thoughts of the Dead to Client Results in 1-Year Suspension

A hearing officer had recommended only a six-month suspension for Arizona attorney Charna Johnson, who admittedly had claimed to serve as a medium channeling the thoughts of a client’s dead wife to him but denied sexual involvement with the man. But the disciplinary commission of the state supreme court said…

Mar 23, 2011 8:05 PM CDT

San Fran City Attorney Wins Court Order Requiring Law Firm to Cut Ties with Ex-Practitioner

The San Francisco city attorney has won a preliminary injunction requiring an immigration lawyer and his law firm to stop working with a former attorney who is no longer licensed. Attorney Christopher Stender and his Immigration Practice Group must also notify current and former clients of ex-lawyer Martin Guajardo that…

Mar 22, 2011 11:19 PM CDT

Not Clear on the Concept: Man Allegedly Brings Beer to Court for DWI Hearing, Is Jailed

Scheduled for a pretrial hearing in a driving-while-intoxicated case in Sullivan County Court, N.Y., yesterday, Keith Gruber allegedly not only showed up late and intoxicated but brought some beer—including an open container—to the courthouse with him. The 49-year-old, who has prior DWI convictions, was jailed without bail by Judge Frank…

Mar 22, 2011 9:32 PM CDT

Federal Judge Nixes $125M Google Books Settlement That Would Have OK’d Digital Library

A federal judge in Manhattan has rejected a proposed $125 million class action settlement that would have allowed Google Inc. to avoid potential liability for creating a massive online digital library of out-of-print, copyrighted books by creating a registry to compensate authors, according to Reuters. The plan to immunize Google…

Mar 22, 2011 8:56 PM CDT

Former Office Manager to Get 7 Years in Theft of Over $400K from NJ Law Firm

A former office manager of a northern New Jersey law firm has agreed to a plea bargain that includes a seven-year prison sentence for her admitted theft of over $400,000 from Maloof Lebowitz Connahan & Oleske between 2003 and 2010. Beth Friedland, 39, is expected to actually serve only a…

Mar 22, 2011 7:14 PM CDT

Settlement of Sex Harassment Case Against Judge Doesn’t End His Work for County

Two court employees who sued a Texas judge for sexual harassment have settled the case for $375,000. The Williamson County judge, Don Higginbotham, was accused of using profanity and making sexual remarks, the Austin-American Statesman reports. Among the accusations: The suit says Higginbotham told one of the employees to “come…

Mar 22, 2011 11:32 AM CDT