Verdicts & Settlements

Top Mass. Court OKs $1M in Punitives for Fired Wal-Mart Pharmacist

A former Wal-Mart pharmacist who contended she was fired on a trumped-up disciplinary charge after she complained she was paid less than male counterparts by the giant retailer is entitled to $1 million in punitive damages, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts decided yesterday. Its opinion upheld the trial judge’s…

Oct 6, 2009 11:07 PM CDT

Embattled Lawyer Seeks Judge’s Recusal, Cites Possible ‘Whisper’ By AG Holder

Attorney Orly Taitz was already facing a threatened $10,000 sanction from an aggravated federal judge last month, after he told her never to pursue a “frivolous” suit again and she immediately filed a motion for reconsideration the next day in the same case. It concerned contentions by Army Capt. Rhodes…

Oct 5, 2009 7:35 PM CDT

Gambler Embezzles $88K, Wins $96K Grand Prize in 2nd-Chance Drawing

After embezzling some $88,000 from his ex-employer to purchase scratch-off lottery tickets, a former radio executive got some good news during a recent court hearing: Paul Lyle was told he had won the grand prize, which has an estimated value of $96,000, in a second-chance drawing for those whose scratch-off…

Oct 2, 2009 11:08 PM CDT

UK’s High Court OKs Serving Injunction on Anonymous Blogger Via Twitter

In what reportedly is the first such use of the Internet authorized by any court in the country, the United Kingdom’s High Court has permitted an injunction on an anonymous blogger to be served via Twitter. The injunction demands that the unknown blogger stop impersonating on the Internet a well-known…

Oct 2, 2009 5:29 PM CDT

Teen Wins $150K Over Amazon’s Kindle Clawback of Orwell E-Book

When Amazon eliminated a George Orwell book from users’ Kindles earlier this year, after discovering the electronic text had been sold without proper authorization, it also eliminated Justin Gawronski’s homework. His notes on the margins remained, but since the text of Nineteen Eighty-Four was gone they were undecipherable, reports the…

Oct 1, 2009 10:40 PM CDT

Civil Rights Lawyer is Disbarred, Plans US Supreme Court Appeal

A well-known civil rights attorney and sports agent was disbarred by the Washington Supreme Court today, based on what its written opinion described as a pattern of inappropriate conduct concerning client litigation and fees and other “deceptive” practices. However, attorney Bradley Marshall says he has been wronged by a biased…

Oct 1, 2009 8:46 PM CDT

Alec Baldwin Offers Divorce Advice in Paperback Book

Divorcing actress Kim Basinger was hell, says actor Alec Baldwin. Plus it cost both of them some $3 million in legal fees. But in a book that details the wrenching experience and has just been released in paperback, A Promise to Ourselves, he also offers some advice to others about…

Oct 1, 2009 5:33 PM CDT

Judge Axes Attorney from Criminal Case, Says He ‘Played a Major Role’

Attorney Rufus Cook can’t continue to represent a defendant accused of defrauding real estate investors because he “played a major role in these underlying transactions,” a federal judge in Chicago says. U.S. District Judge James Zagel removed Cook from the case Tuesday, after prosecutors accused him of receiving nearly $500,000…

Oct 1, 2009 4:57 PM CDT

Broadcom CFO’s Talks With Law Firm re Backdating Probe Weren’t Privileged

A former chief financial officer of Broadcom Corp. says he expected his 2006 conversations with Irell & Manella about stock options grants to be confidential, because the law firm was representing his employer as outside counsel in an internal probe. And a federal district court judge found that Irell &…

Sep 30, 2009 10:32 PM CDT

James Joyce Estate to Pay Scholar’s $240K Legal Bill in Fair Use Battle

In a settlement that may encourage other academics to push for their right to make fair use of excerpts of published material in their scholarly writing, the estate of famed author James Joyce has agreed to pay a $240,000 legal bill racked up by an English professor at Stanford University…

Sep 30, 2009 7:47 PM CDT

Federal Judge Nixes $390M Jury Verdict in Microsoft Patent Case

A stunning April jury verdict of almost $390 million against Microsoft Corp. in a patent infringement case brought by an anti-piracy software maker has been overturned by a federal judge. U.S. District Judge William Smith wrote that the jury in the Rhode Island federal court case “lacked a grasp of…

Sep 30, 2009 12:27 AM CDT

CBS Proclaims ‘Total Victory’ as Court Dismisses Dan Rather Lawsuit

In a ruling that a CBS spokesman called “a total victory,” a New York appeals court today reversed a trial judge and said former network anchorman Dan Rather’s breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty claims against the network should have been dismissed. The $70 million case isn’t entirely…

Sep 29, 2009 7:57 PM CDT

D.C. Sniper’s Alleged Shoplifting Costs Gun Shop Owner His License

A federal judge in Washington state has agreed that the owners of a gun shop from which a rifle used in 2002’s fatal D.C. sniper shootings allegedly was shoplifted should not get back their licenses to sell firearms. Attorney James Frush of Seattle, who represents Brian Borgelt and his former…

Sep 29, 2009 6:42 PM CDT

Sears Roebuck Agrees to Record $6.2M ADA Settlement With EEOC

A federal judge today approved a consent decree in which Sears Roebuck & Co. agrees to a record-breaking $6.2 million settlement of an Americans with Disabilities Act case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In an e-mail today, the EEOC says the settlement of claims that the giant retailer…

Sep 29, 2009 6:18 PM CDT

Bad Behavior as Airline Passenger Grounds Attorney from Law Practice

A South Florida attorney has been temporarily disbarred, by consent, after allegedly using obscene language, groping a flight attendant and carrying a 7-year-old child down the aisle while the plane was airborne—nearly hitting the child’s head on an exit sign—two years ago as a passenger aboard a Southwest Airlines flight.…

Sep 28, 2009 10:05 PM CDT