Verdicts & Settlements

Prominent Mo. Lawyer is Criticized in Another Wrongful Conviction Case

A prominent attorney criticized earlier, along with others responsible for a wrongful conviction case in Missouri, is in the spotlight again. A Missouri Supreme Court petition filed on behalf of a man convicted of murdering his mother accuses attorney Kenny Hulshof, a former six-term Congressman and state Republican gubernatorial candidate,…

Jun 3, 2009 11:25 PM CDT

Immigrants Can Reopen Deportation Cases If Effective Counsel is Denied, AG Holder Rules

Updated: Only days before President Barack Obama took office, then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey issued an opinion finding that noncitizens have no right to counsel in deportation proceedings and hence can’t reopen their cases if private lawyers have inadequately represented them. But on Wednesday Attorney General Eric Holder reversed that order…

Jun 3, 2009 8:56 PM CDT

Lifetime Bench Ban for Ex-N.J. Judge; Go-Go Bar Ruckus One Reason Why

A former New Jersey municipal judge who admittedly had some problems himself abused his authority by imposing harsh sanctions on others, the state supreme court held yesterday. For this and other reasons, it permanently banned attorney Richard Sasso, who is now a solo practitioner in Warren, N.J., from holding judicial…

Jun 3, 2009 5:19 PM CDT

Noncompete Agreement Enforced Concerning Hewlett-Packard Exec

Siding with a company attempting to enforce a noncompetition agreement concerning a former executive, a California Superior Court judge has refused to interfere with a Massachusetts court ruling that restricts his duties at his new job at Hewlett-Packard Co. David Donatelli, who previously headed the storage business of his former…

Jun 3, 2009 1:00 AM CDT

Sotomayor’s Nomination: Today’s News

ABAJournal.com: “Goldstein of SCOTUSblog Is ‘Attorney, Blogger, Walking Sound-Bite Machine’” Associated Press: “Sotomayor counters GOP critics over bias claims” Associated Press: “Singlehandedly Raising a Supreme Court Nominee” Blog of Legal Times: “7th Circuit Ruling Agrees With Sotomayor on Second Amendment” Bloomberg: “Sotomayor May Have Some Unlikely Allies to Answer Gun…

Jun 2, 2009 10:31 PM CDT

Foley & Lardner Reaches Tentative Deal to Settle Patent Malpractice Suit

Foley & Lardner has reached a tentative agreement to settle a malpractice suit that contends the law firm missed a deadline for an international patent application. The terms of the deal are confidential, the National Law Journal reports. The suit filed by biotech company Vaxiion Therapeutics Inc. had claimed Foley…

Jun 2, 2009 4:19 PM CDT

Federal Judge Tells DOJ to Make Gitmo Case Files Public

Siding with the media and lawyers representing detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., today gave the government a July 29 deadline. By that date, the U.S. Department of Justice must either to seek to protect specific information about the cases against…

Jun 2, 2009 12:25 AM CDT

Once Set for Life, Ark. Plaintiffs Lawyer Takes Plea in $9.3M Client Theft Case

In an extraordinary April 20 hearing transcript documenting the beginning of the end of Gene Cauley’s enviable story of professional success, a federal judge calls for an investigation of the high-flying Arkansas plaintiffs security lawyer and chastises co-counsel for not keeping closer track of his activities. Now the 41-year-old Cauley…

Jun 1, 2009 9:45 PM CDT

No Bail for N.J. Attorney Paul Bergrin in Federal Racketeering Case

Once a state and federal prosecutor in New Jersey, Paul Bergrin became a successful criminal defense lawyer there. He represented rap artists and gang members, among other clients. But he was perceived by some as making the wrong choices as early as 1989, when he infuriated fellow prosecutors by testifying…

Jun 1, 2009 5:44 PM CDT

Bypassing Arguments, High Court Tosses $5M Verdict in Fear-of-Cancer Case

In a per curiam opinion issued without oral arguments or full briefing, the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a $5 million verdict because the trial court refused to instruct the jury on the standards for awarding damages for fear of cancer. The plaintiff, former CSX Corp. railroad worker Thurston Hensley,…

Jun 1, 2009 4:04 PM CDT

Judge Appoints Lawsuit Guardian Due to Client’s ‘Irrational Hostility’ to Lawyer

A federal district judge in Washington, D.C., has appointed a guardian to oversee a plaintiff’s interests in a more than decade-old copyright case, due to what he has described as her “paranoid outbursts” and “irrational hostility” to her own lawyer. Attorney Nathan Lewin’s request for a guardian ad litem was…

May 29, 2009 11:54 PM CDT

High-Profile Ex-Staff Attorney’s Lawsuit Against Covington & Burling Is Dismissed

A discrimination suit filed earlier this year by a high-profile former staff attorney against Covington & Burling and five current or former lawyers there has been dismissed. In a order (PDF) filed today, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton of the District of Columbia dismisses the case without prejudice for want…

May 29, 2009 7:34 PM CDT

Phil Spector Gets 19 Years to Life

Famed pop producer Phil Spector faced the music today, as he was sentenced in Los Angeles Superior Court to 19 years to life for the second-degree murder of Lana Clarkson, reports Reuters. Prosecutors argued at trial that Spector’s shooting of Clarkson was part of a pattern of violent behavior he…

May 29, 2009 5:51 PM CDT

Ohio Lawyer Gets Community Control, Ordered to Apologize in Client Theft Case

An Ohio lawyer who reportedly has a gambling problem, according to his family, has been sentenced to five years of community control in a client-theft case and ordered to pay $17,000 in restitution and apologize in writing to his victims. Charles Bursey II of Dayton pleaded guilty to three counts…

May 27, 2009 10:55 PM CDT

Where is Cynthia Dziurgot? Missing Lawyer Owes Ex-Husband Almost $1M

Ordered to pay her ex-husband a settlement of nearly $1 million after a long, hard-fought divorce, a Massachusetts lawyer has disappeared and her beautiful 21-room Clinton home is in receivership. However, authorities don’t suspect foul play even though 55-year-old Cynthia Dziurgot has been missing for weeks, Clinton Police Chief Mark…

May 26, 2009 11:58 PM CDT