Verdicts & Settlements

10 of 100 Win Representation, as Fla. Innocence Project Selects Cases

As lawyers and students sifted through the latest batch of pleas for help recently at the Innocence Project of Florida, they paused over a one case. A man has been imprisoned since 1995 for the attempted rape of a woman in a drainage ditch behind a convenience store. The main…

Apr 27, 2009 10:49 PM CDT

Wean Toddler from Breast Milk or Use Machine, Judge Rules

A mother whose breastfeeding is preventing a toddler’s father from spending time with his child has two choices, a Canadian judge has ruled. Jennifer Johne, 35, can either wean the nearly 3-year-old child or use a machine to pump breast milk for the girl’s father, Carl Cavannah, 42, to feed…

Apr 27, 2009 7:02 PM CDT

Editorial Questions Judicial Nomination of Motley Rice Lawyer

A Rhode Island trial lawyer nominated for a federal judgeship merits more scrutiny, an editorial asserts. Jack McConnell of Motley Rice was recommended by Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, the Wall Street Journal says in the editorial. Whitehouse is a former Rhode Island attorney general who hired McConnell on…

Apr 24, 2009 6:09 PM CDT

Judge’s Jury Form Mistake Results in Overturned Conviction

A Michigan appeals court has overturned an involuntary manslaughter conviction because a judge forgot to list “not guilty” as an option on a jury verdict form. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Michael Jess Wade, a security guard convicted of shooting and killing a suspected thief, deserves a new trial…

Apr 24, 2009 1:59 PM CDT

Judge Tosses Dole Pesticide Suits Due to Fraud and Lawyer Misconduct

Citing fraud and lawyer misconduct, a Los Angeles judge has tossed two consolidated lawsuits contending Dole pesticides caused sterility in Nicaraguan banana workers. Judge Victoria Chaney said the fraud was so pervasive that the truth about the sterility claims may never be known, the Associated Press reports. She ruled after…

Apr 24, 2009 11:27 AM CDT

Md. Builder Loses 3rd Legal-Fees Suit; Latest Counsel Collected in Advance

In 2007, attorney Terrence McAndrews agreed to defend Maryland homebuilder Vincent Serio in a lawsuit claiming Serio failed to pay legal fees. Since then, the tables have turned: This week, a Howard County District Court judge ordered Serio to pay McAndrews $10,000 in attorney fees in new litigation alleging that…

Apr 22, 2009 9:40 PM CDT

Chicago Grad & BigLaw Alum Admits Altered Grades; 3-Year Suspension Sought

Ironically, it was telling the truth about his law school grades that got Loren Friedman into trouble. When he circulated his resumé, via a legal recruiter, to law firms in Illinois in 2007, he attached a copy of his University of Chicago Law School transcript. Seeing the proliferation of C…

Apr 22, 2009 8:51 PM CDT

Rogue Juror’s Note Nixes $3M Pact, Ford Claims; Top Texas Court OKs Discovery

After a six-week trial in a products liability case over a Ford Explorer rollover accident, the forewoman of a jury in Brownsville, Texas, sent a note to the judge on the second day of deliberations. It read: “What is the maximum amount that can be awarded?” At that point, lawyers…

Apr 22, 2009 5:22 PM CDT

New Twist in Banana Workers Case, as Dole Lawyer Claims 10-Year Fraud

In startling courtroom contentions today that reportedly received support from one opposing lawyer and the trial judge, an attorney for Dole Fresh Fruit Co. claimed a 10-year fraud underlies at least some allegations that workers on Nicaraguan banana plantations were rendered sterile by exposure to a pesticide there. Lawyers in…

Apr 21, 2009 11:23 PM CDT

Major Law Firm Erred, Judge Finds, But Awards Only $7, Not $55M Sought

Linklaters, a major London-based international law firm, was somewhat negligent in advising a telecom client of its chances of collecting substantial damages in a dispute with a competitor, a British court has found. But, finding that Levicom wasn’t damaged by the erroneous assessment, Justice Andrew Smith of the Royal Courts…

Apr 21, 2009 8:06 PM CDT

Rare Jury Verdict Delay ‘Sheer Agony’ for Bob Bennett & Client Attorney

After days of deliberation, a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida returned a verdict on Thursday in a tax evasion case against Michigan attorney Alan Miller. But it wasn’t announced until the jury also reached a verdict on charges against Miller’s tax client, Indy 500 and Dancing with…

Apr 21, 2009 7:36 PM CDT

Another Teen ‘Sexting’ Peril: Charges (Now Dismissed) Against School Official

When Ting-Yi Oei heard rumors that students at his high school were sending revealing photos to each other on their cell phones, the Loudoun County, Va., assistant principal felt it was his job to investigate this obviously undesirable behavior. In consultation with the school principal and security specialist, he interviewed…

Apr 21, 2009 5:04 PM CDT

‘Greedy’ Stanford Law Grad to Pay $630K in Legal Fees Over Meritless Art Suit

An art dealer who graduated from Stanford Law School reportedly tried to bully a well-known art auction house into paying $168,000 to settle a baseless lawsuit. But now the tables have been turned on art dealer and Washington, D.C., attorney Robert Fastov, reports the Blog of Legal Times. His effort…

Apr 20, 2009 11:22 PM CDT

Temp. Suspensions Sought for Leaders of Ariz. Consumer Law Firm

Over the last three years, Phillips & Associates has represented more than 30,000 clients. So it isn’t amazing there there have been multiple client complaints during the same period, according to the lawyers in charge of the Arizona consumer law firm. But state bar regulators see the situation differently. In…

Apr 20, 2009 5:15 PM CDT

NY Won’t Admit Would-Be Lawyer Due to $430K in Unpaid Student Loans

A written opinion doesn’t give his name. But an anonymous would-be New York lawyer with some $430,000 in delinquent student loans dating back to 1985 presumably knows who the New York appeals court is talking about. In a decision (PDF) today, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court…

Apr 16, 2009 10:11 PM CDT