Verdicts & Settlements

Ex-CFO’s SEC Deal Fails

Internal infighting at the Securities and Exchange Commission has scuttled a proposed settlement in an options backdating case against former Brocade Communications CFO Michael Byrd. The SEC’s accounting division objected to the million-dollar deal because it didn’t bar Byrd from employment as an accountant at other public companies, the Recorder…

Aug 20, 2007 12:28 PM CDT

Stutter Study Settlement is $925,000

Six plaintiffs who say they were badgered and belittled as children in a now-infamous stuttering study in the 1930s, leading to lifelong emotional problems, have agreed to settle their lawsuit. They had originally sought $13.5 million, but have now agreed to accept $925,000 from the state of Iowa, according to…

Aug 17, 2007 10:19 PM CDT

Verdict: Padilla is Guilty, Faces Life in Prison

Updated: In a verdict today in a controversial American anti-terrorism trial, Jose Padilla and two co-defendants have been found guilty on all charges. Following a three-month trial and not quite two days of deliberation, a seven-man, five-woman federal court jury in Miami found the three guilty today, reports CNN. The…

Aug 16, 2007 5:10 PM CDT

Top Va. Tech Payment: $180k Per Death

Settlement amounts were announced today in a plan to compensate victims of the April massacre at Virginia Tech and their estates. Families of the 32 students and faculty shot to death by a troubled student will each be offered $180,000 under the plan, which is funded by donations, according to…

Aug 15, 2007 9:53 PM CDT

Tale of 2 Cities: Tampa Porn Dorm Legal, But Miami’s Isn’t

A so-called porn dorm in Tampa, in which women live and participate in sexual activities that are videotaped and publicized over the Internet, is apparently legal. But that doesn’t mean that a comparable business—featuring buffed-up young men who are paid $1,200 plus room and board to live in a house…

Aug 15, 2007 4:34 PM CDT

BDO Socked With $351 M in Punitives

Updated: A Miami jury has ordered BDO Seidman to pay $351 million in punitive damages for failing to uncover fraud at a financial services firm. With punitives, the total damages award now comes to $521 million, the Associated Press reports. (See this ABAJournal.com post for more information on the $170…

Aug 15, 2007 2:15 PM CDT

Damage Claims Make Oyster Leases Lucrative

Some oystermen are hauling in big bucks—not from oysters but from oil companies—with or without threat of lawsuits. A study by two Louisiana State University economists has found that oystermen can make more money from damage settlements than from their trade, the New York Times reports. Louisiana grants offshore oyster…

Aug 15, 2007 1:37 PM CDT

Imus Settles With CBS, Seeks New Show

Shock jock Don Imus has reportedly agreed to settle a threatened $120 million breach-of-contract suit against CBS Radio for an undisclosed amount, and is in negotiations to return to network radio with ABC. The confidential settlement agreement includes a clause that requires Imus, who was fired April 12 after making…

Aug 14, 2007 4:11 PM CDT

BDO Ordered to Pay $170 M

A Miami jury has decided that accounting firm BDO Seidman must pay $170 million in damages for negligent audits that failed to spot fraud at a financial services firm. The jury has also decided it will award punitive damages, although the amount is yet to be determined, the Daily Business…

Aug 14, 2007 3:16 PM CDT

3 Fen-Phen Lawyers Jailed Pending Trial

Updated: Seeking a several-month delay of a criminal fraud trial for allegedly bilking clients of $64 million in diet drug litigation settlement proceeds has cost three lawyers their freedom. Melbourne Mills, 76, William Gallion, 56, and Shirley Cunningham Jr., 52, were jailed after their bond was revoked today by U.S.…

Aug 10, 2007 9:27 PM CDT

DirecTV Settles Ad Suit

Cable TV company Time Warner Inc. has announced a settlement of a dispute with satellite operator DirecTV over its ads for high-definition TV. The companies told the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) they had reached a “mutually satisfactory” resolution of Time Warner’s false-advertising suit. Details were not available. Time Warner…

Aug 9, 2007 7:32 PM CDT

Marine Lawyer Cleared in Haditha Case

All charges have been dropped against a U.S. Marine lawyer who was accused of dereliction of duty for not conducting a more aggressive investigation of the deaths of 24 civilians at Haditha, Iraq in 2005. Capt. Randy Stone, who served as battalion lawyer, will not be charged, based on a…

Aug 9, 2007 6:58 PM CDT

Firm Hit in ‘Windfall’ Settlement

Updated: A Florida appeals court affirmed a ruling vacating a $7 million “windfall” settlement and disgorging attorney fees in an opinion that chastised the law firm that represented the plaintiffs. The law firm, Adorno & Yoss of Coral Gables, obtained the settlement for seven plaintiffs who challenged the constitutionality of…

Aug 9, 2007 11:54 AM CDT

CEO Convicted in 1st Backdating Case

Updated: In a result seen as a major victory for federal prosecutors, a jury in San Francisco today convicted the former CEO of Brocade Communications Systems Inc. of securities fraud in the first criminal stock options backdating case to go to trial. Today’s conviction of Gregory Reyes, 44, on 10…

Aug 7, 2007 10:06 PM CDT

Fen-Phen Lawyers to Pay $60 Million

A Kentucky judge has ordered three lawyers accused of misappropriating proceeds from a diet drug settlement to repay their former clients $62 million. Judge William Wehr ruled Friday that the Lexington lawyers owed $42 million taken from the settlement and $20.1 million in interest, the Associated Press reports. The lawyers…

Aug 6, 2007 12:41 PM CDT