Verdicts & Settlements

15 Madoff Investors in Mass. to Share $8M Fairfield Settlement

Fairfield Greenwich Group has agreed to pay $8 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the Massachusetts Secretary of State over serving as a feeder fund to Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme. Under today’s settlement, all 15 of the identified investors in Massachusetts who put money into Madoff’s $65 billion…

Sep 8, 2009 10:39 PM CDT

Insulted in Restroom, Texas Judge Jails Court Attendee, 69, for Contempt

Angry about a Texas judge’s ruling in a custody matter involving his granddaughter, Don Bandelman followed the jurist into a public restroom at the Caldwell County courthouse. Then the 69-year-old called District Judge Jack Robison a fool, reports the Austin American-Statesman. Bandelman says the judge told him to leave, and…

Sep 8, 2009 4:41 PM CDT

Former AG John Ashcroft Can Be Sued By Material Witness Detainee, 9th Circuit Says

An individual allegedly unconstitutionally detained as a material witness under a post-Sept. 11, 2001 anti-terrorism policy implemented by ex-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft can sue the nation’s former top law enforcement official for damages, a three-judge appeals court panel ruled today. Deciding an interlocutory appeal in a case brought by…

Sep 4, 2009 11:49 PM CDT

Microsoft Wins Emergency Stay of Judge’s Ban on Word Product Sales

A federal appeals court has granted Microsoft’s emergency appeal of a Texas federal judge’s order that would have banned the computer Goliath from continuing to sell some Word software products next month unless they could be reconfigured to avoid infringing on a Canadian company’s patent. In a ruling late yesterday,…

Sep 4, 2009 4:35 PM CDT

Pirate Bay Tweet Puts Tenenbaum on Defensive Again in RIAA Case

Just when it might have seemed reasonable to expect a lull in ongoing coverage of the high-profile music file-sharing case of graduate student Joel Tenenbaum, a new issue has surfaced. Not satisfied with a $675,000 verdict that it won at trial in the case in July, the Recording Industry Association…

Sep 4, 2009 12:26 AM CDT

Top Russian Court Orders Broader Probe of Journalist’s 2006 Slaying

In an unexpected move that may enhance the chance of bringing to justice those responsible for the high-profile slaying of a Russian journalist in 2006, the country’s top court has reversed a lower court ruling and ordered the broader investigation of the crime sought by the family of Anna Politkovskaya.…

Sep 3, 2009 4:50 PM CDT

Pfizer Whistle-Blower’s $51.5M Payday Could Spark More Qui Tam Suits

Five whistle-blowers will share $102 million as part of a record-breaking $2.3 billion settlement by Pfizer Inc. of a federal criminal probe and civil qui tam litigation over the company’s drug-marketing practices. Among those expecting a hefty payday under the False Claims Act is a former Texas sales representative for…

Sep 3, 2009 12:09 AM CDT

Pfizer to Pay Record $2.3B, Subsidiary to Plead to Felony in Drug Marketing Case

A $2.3 billion global settlement by Pfizer Inc. detailed by federal authorities today reportedly includes a number of record payments to resolve both a federal criminal probe and a pharmaceutical whistle-blower case. The case concerns the company’s alleged illegal off-label marketing of multiple drugs and related claimed Medicare/Medicaid fraud, according…

Sep 2, 2009 5:41 PM CDT

Fired Over Office E-Mail, Accountant Wins $17K and Wants More

Accountant Vicki Walker’s e-mail may indeed have contributed to disharmony in the workplace, as her employer claimed. But her block capitals, use of boldface and colored type and alleged “confrontational” attempts to find out about complaints made against her didn’t establish sufficient grounds to warrant her termination, a New Zealand…

Sep 1, 2009 6:59 PM CDT

After a Year Away, Military Mom Gets More Access to 2-Year-Old Daughter

Ruling today in a child-custody case that became high-profile after a national newspaper featured Leydi Mendoza as an example of a military mom who has suffered as a parent due to her military service, a New Jersey family court judge says she can have more access to her 2-year-old daughter.…

Sep 1, 2009 6:34 PM CDT

Minn. County Must Pay for Lawyer for Mother in Child-Custody Case

Everyone agreed that a mother at risk of losing custody of her child needed a lawyer. But who would pay the attorney’s fees? She couldn’t afford to, and officials for Rice County and the state of Minnesota pointed the finger at each other. Upholding County Judge Thomas Neuville, a state…

Sep 1, 2009 5:38 PM CDT

Mom Loses Case Over Unauthorized 10 a.m. Breast-Pumping Bathroom Break

A ruling last week by a divided Ohio Supreme Court in a pregnancy discrimination case is igniting controversy on the Internet. Although the court didn’t reach the key issue of whether an employer violated a state law barring discrimination against pregnant women, its final dismissal of the claim brought by…

Aug 31, 2009 11:42 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge Dismisses Big Drug Case, Calls DOJ Misconduct Issue Moot

Perhaps seeing the handwriting on the wall, the U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal judge to dismiss a major drug case with prejudice, and the judge has agreed. Friday’s dismissal with prejudice of a conspiracy case against Zhenli Ye Gon is expected to send the defendant to Mexico to…

Aug 31, 2009 10:30 PM CDT

Doc at VA Hospital Wins $10M in Libel Suit Against St. Petersburg Times

Hampered in its defense of a defamation suit by the death of its reporter, the St. Petersburg Times was hit with a libel judgment of more than $10 million on Friday. A four-woman, two-man Florida state-court jury awarded $5.1 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages to…

Aug 31, 2009 4:46 PM CDT

Ex-Judge’s Disability Pension Related to Winning $2.1M Libel Suit Is Rejected

A divided state retirement board voted 3-2 today to reject a former Massachusetts judge’s request for a disability pension because of diagnosed post-traumatic stress that he says is related to a series of 2002 newspaper articles. Former Superior Court Judge Ernest Murphy won a $2.1 million libel judgment against the…

Aug 28, 2009 9:10 PM CDT