Article of the week from Lawyers Weekly USA:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview
http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/108011.htm
Read Lawyers Weekly USA's analysis of the largest
verdicts of the year to individuals and families.
#1 Former Playboy Model Wins $475 Million in Battle
Over Dead Husband’s Fortune
California - Former Playboy pinup and Guess Jeans
model Anna Nicole Smith won this year's #1 verdict in a battle over the estate
of Texas oil tycoon Howard Marshall, whom she married when he was 89 and she
was 26. Smith claimed that Marshall intended to give her half his fortune and
that his oldest son, Pierce, had conspired with family lawyers to cut her out
of the will.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/108012.htm
for the story.
#2 Former Hostage Terry Anderson Wins $341 Million
Against Iran District of Columbia - Terry Anderson won more than $340 million
against Iran for his seven years in captivity. The award appeared to be uncollectable
at the time of trial – but since then, Anderson's lawyer and others
successfully lobbied Congress to pass legislation to allow victims of Iranian
terrorism to collect their compensatory damages from Iranian assets frozen in
the U.S. In this case, that amounts to $41.7 million. This new legislation also
applies to the #4 verdict.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/108013.htm
for the story.
#3 $328 Million Verdict to Slain Boy’s Family
Massachusetts - The parents of 10-year-old Jeffrey
Curley won $328 million against the two men who raped and murdered their son.
The men had already been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in
a criminal trial. Since they have no assets, the verdict is uncollectable. But
the lawyer has another suit pending in federal court against the North American
Man/Boy Love Association – an organization that allegedly provides encouragement
and instruction to men who want to have sexual relations with little boys. Both
of the murderers were members of the association.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/108014.htm
for the story.
#4 D.C. Solos Score Another Monster Verdict for
Bombing Deaths
District of Columbia - Two American youths were
killed in a terrorist bus bombing in 1996. The Middle East bombing was traced
to an Iranian-backed organization. The verdict was subject to the same
legislation as the Anderson verdict and thus the plaintiffs will be able to
collect $27 million in compensatory damages.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/108015.htm
for the story.
#5 Lawyers Avoid Punitives Cap in $268 Million
Med-Mal Verdict
Texas - In a traditional medical malpractice case, a
teenager suffering from cerebral palsy went into a Texas hospital for a routine
operation, which was successful, then died after she was given 40 times the
proper dose of the post-operation medication.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/108016.htm
for the story.
#6 South Dakota’s New Civil Liability Law for Drug
Dealers Results in $268 Million Verdict
South Dakota – A penny-ante drug dealer sold speed to
two people who then drove their car head-on into an elderly couple, killing the
husband and seriously injuring the wife. The jurors ordered the drug dealer to
pay more than $268 million, in part based on the lawyer's suggestion that they
award "media dollars." From a legal standpoint, the verdict is
interesting because the lawyer is now attempting to use a little-known law to
collect a small portion of the verdict from every convicted speed dealer in the
community.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/108017.htm
for the story.
#7 Disney Pays $240 Million for Stealing Idea for
Sports Complex
Florida - Two men sued Disney for stealing their idea
to build a sports complex in central Florida. The jury was convinced the
entertainment giant stole the plaintiffs' ideas because Disney met with them
dozens of times and incorporated more than 75 of their concepts into the sports
entertainment complex. Celebrity lawyer Johnnie Cochran represented the
plaintiffs.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/108018.htm
for the story.
#8 Jury Orders Lawyer to Pay $113 Million for
Murdering His Wife
Tennessee - A lawyer allegedly murdered his wife and
then fled to Mexico. He was never charged criminally for the murder (the body
still hasn't been found), but the family filed a civil suit against him when he
sued to obtain a portion of his dead wife's trust fund.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/108019.htm
for the story.
#9 Millionaire Wins Big in Suit Over Investment
Advice
New York - A multi-millionaire lost $300 million in
the high-risk currency futures market, then sued his brokerage firm, Bear
Stearns, for giving him negligent investment advice. Bear Stearns argued that
the plaintiff was a gambler by nature – often losing tens of millions of
dollars in high-risk investments – and that it owed him no advisory duty since
he had opened accounts over which they had no discretion.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/1080110.htm
for the story.
#10 (tie) Father Breaks New Ground Suing for Sexual
Abuse of Son
South Carolina - A teacher at an Episcopal school in
South Carolina sexually abused a boy hundreds of times. When the boy was 31
years old he saw the teacher driving around town with another young boy in his
car, and realized that the abuse had continued for more than 20 years with a
string of boys. He had already tried on several occasions to persuade school
officials to force the man out of teaching but was repeatedly rebuffed. So he
went to the state attorney general who launched criminal proceedings, which
resulted in a 20-year sentence against the teacher who is now 72. His father
then filed a civil suit against the school. That suit is interesting from a
legal standpoint because it was filed on behalf of the father rather than the
son. (The son settled his own civil suit.) This appears to be the first time a father
has won emotional distress damages in a school sexual abuse case.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/1080111.htm
for the story.
#10 (tie) Exploding Firestone Tire Rim Nets $105
Million Verdict
Missouri - A man was seriously injured while changing
a tire when the rim assembly system broke, hurling a 15-pound hunk of metal
into his face. The plaintiff's lawyers found 185 similar injuries from the
manufacturer over the last 50 years. Although the verdict was against
Firestone, it has nothing to do with the current Firestone woes. This is one of
the few traditional personal injury/product liability verdicts in this year's lineup.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/1080112.htm
for the story.
ALSO OF INTEREST
Lawyers Use 200-Year-Old ‘Pirate Law’ to Hammer
Bosnian Leader in Two Cases
Two of this year's largest verdicts used a
211-year-old anti-piracy law to hold former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic accountable for brutal war crimes and a campaign of "ethnic
cleansing." The verdicts didn't make this year's Top Ten list because they
involved more than a dozen plaintiffs. But they're worth noting as another step
in the battle to use the long-forgotten law to win U.S. jurisdiction for cases
that involve human rights or environmental abuses abroad.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/1080115.htm
for the story.
Monster Med-Mal Verdict Feeds Tort Reform Debate
Although the $100 million verdict was not large
enough to make it into this year's Top Ten, it is of interest because it has
fueled a heated debate in Pennsylvania about the effect of large med-mal
verdicts on the quality of medical care in that state.
Click here http://www.lawyersweekly.com/signup/archives.cfm?page=usa/01/1080114.htm
for the story.