Verdicts & Settlements

Airline, Law Firm on Hot Seat in Discovery Debacle & Collapse of Big Price-Fixing Trial

A well-known law firm is on the hot seat along with its client airline over a belatedly produced 2005 e-mail that reportedly undermined a high-profile criminal cartel trial against four present and former British Airways executives. The four were exonerated today after the United Kingdom’s Office of Fair Trading said…

May 10, 2010 9:51 PM CDT

6th Circuit Reinstates Ex-Inmate’s Pro Se Suit Over Lack of Toothpaste

Jerry Flanory doesn’t have a lawyer—yet. But after scoring a pro se civil rights victory in federal appellate court in Detroit yesterday that could soon change. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Flanory’s constitutional case against officials of the Michigan prison at which he formerly served time for…

May 7, 2010 9:39 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge Subpoenas Raw Footage from ‘Crude’ Documentary About Chevron Suit

Saying that the filmmaker had not met his burden of establishing that some 600 hours of raw footage from the documentary Crude is confidential and hence arguably protected by an investigative reporting privilege, a federal judge in Manhattan has okayed a subpoena requiring director Joe Berlinger to turn over the…

May 6, 2010 11:43 PM CDT

Report: Ex-AG Who Quit After Sex Harass Scandal to Plead Guilty to Ethics Misdemeanors

A former Ohio attorney general who resigned in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal in 2008 is expected to plead guilty tomorrow to two misdemeanors that have not yet been formally filed. Marc Dann will plead guilty in Franklin County Municipal Court to ethics violations concerning improper staff payments…

May 6, 2010 11:01 PM CDT

Judge Jails Courtroom Observer for Wearing Raunchy T-Shirt

Asked at the last minute to give a friend a ride to a suburban Chicago courthouse on Monday, 19-year-old Jennifer LaPenta got behind the wheel still dressed for the gym in a T-shirt and sweatpants. Her T-shirt, unfortunately, included a slogan that apparently did not go over well with Associate…

May 6, 2010 12:01 AM CDT

2 Weeks from JD, Law Student Notches 4th Circuit Appellate Win

Dean Razavi hasn’t yet received his juris doctor degree, let alone started practice at Katten Muchin Rosenman. But the soon-to-be graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law has already scored his first major litigation victory, winning an ineffective assistance of counsel case in which he made the oral…

May 5, 2010 11:29 PM CDT

Political Spy Case Payout to Activist Includes Some $375K in Attorney’s Fees

A 22-year-old activist from the Evergreen State College in Washington will get $169,000 and his lawyers are expected to get twice as much in settlement of a political spying case that reportedly may have been sparked by a tip-off from the U.S. military that local authorities should keep an eye…

May 5, 2010 10:26 PM CDT

Accused of Violating Court Order, Prominent Divorce Lawyer Reaches Pact with His Ex-Wife

Two years ago, it was Dominic Barbara’s wife who was arrested after the well-known New York matrimonial lawyer claimed she threw a plate of pasta at him. (The case was later dropped.) But now it is Barbara himself who is the focus of court attention, after being arrested Tuesday for…

May 5, 2010 8:47 PM CDT

Embarassing Depo Wins Conn. Sect’y of State the Right to Run for AG Job

The embarrassing deposition was apparently worthwhile: A Duke University law graduate now serving as Connecticut’s secretary of state has won a court ruling that she has sufficient legal experience to run for election as the state’s attorney general. Hartford Superior Court Judge Michael Sheldon ruled today that Susan Bysiewicz’s work…

May 5, 2010 7:56 PM CDT

Despite Male-to-Female Sex Change, Woman Is Still a Man Under Texas Marriage Law

The attorney general of Texas is a staunch supporter of the state law requiring marriage (and, he says, by extension divorce) to be between a man and a woman. But a request last month by the El Paso County Attorney for a ruling concerning one woman’s plan to marry another…

May 5, 2010 6:20 PM CDT

iPad a Great Low-Profile Tool for My 4-Day Jury Trial, MacLitigator Says

When a Utah lawyer needed to persuade a jury that an Ogden City golf cart path had been negligently designed, he found his MacIntosh iPad a handy tool. It wasn’t too flashy, simply a low-profile, easy-to-operate tool for presenting the trial documents into evidence, Partner Peter Summerill of Hasenyager &…

May 4, 2010 11:01 PM CDT

Twin Who Stands In for Delayed Defendant Brother Gets 179-Day Contempt Term

It must have seemed like a good idea at the time. But a twin who reportedly showed up in a Florida courtroom today for his brother’s scheming to defraud trial when the true defendant was delayed wound up getting a 179-day contempt sentence from Circuit Judge Joseph Bulone, reports the…

May 4, 2010 10:31 PM CDT

Dad Can Walk Bride Down Aisle, Federal Judge Rules, But Can’t Talk to Groom’s Father

A defendant on home confinement while awaiting trial in a video gambling case can walk his daughter down the aisle during her August wedding, a federal judge in Chicago has decided. But Casey Szaflarski can’t talk to the father of the groom, ruled U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman. The limitation…

May 4, 2010 7:30 PM CDT

Manatt Phelps Is Back on Hot Seat in Big Bucks Malicious Prosecution Suit

A divided California appeals court has revived a malicious prosecution lawsuit against Manatt Phelps & Phillips concerning a 1998 federal trademark dilution and false advertising complaint it filed against the Franklin Mint Co. on behalf of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. That underlying federal case resulted in a…

May 4, 2010 6:39 PM CDT

Greenberg Traurig Wins Malpractice Trial over Lost Patent Claim

A Manhattan jury has sided with Greenberg Traurig in a lawsuit that alleged the law firm was responsible for the lapse of a patent on a medical device. Jurors ruled for Greenberg Traurig after deliberating for only two hours, the New York Law Journal reports. The plaintiff, Quickie LLC, claimed…

May 4, 2010 4:09 PM CDT