| Judge: Lawyers owe at least $62 million to former clients
Three attorneys accused of bilking their clients in a diet drug settlement must repay at least $62.5 million in settlement funds and interest, a judge ruled Friday. Special Judge William Wehr ordered William J. Gallion, 56, Shirley A. Cunningham Jr., 52, and Melbourne Mills Jr., 76, to repay $42 million taken from the settlement and $20.5 from they put into a corporation, the Kentucky Fund for Healthy Living. Wehr said the attorneys must also pay 8 percent interest over the six years they had the money. The attorneys are being sued by about 400 former clients who claim the lawyers took too much money as part of a $200 million fen-phen settlement. Gallion and Cunningham own a 20 percent stake in Curlin, who won the second leg of the Triple Crown in May.
(AFX UK Focus) 2007-08-04 08:05 GMT: Judge: Fen-Phen lawyers owe $62 million
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Three attorneys accused of bilking their clients in a diet drug settlement must repay at least $62.1 million in settlement funds and interest, a judge ruled Friday. Special Judge William Wehr ordered William J. Gallion, 56, Shirley A. Cunningham Jr., 52, and Melbourne Mills Jr., 76, to repay $42 million taken from the settlement and $20.1 million in interest. Wehr said the interest was 8 percent over the six years the attorneys had the funds. The attorneys are being sued by about 400 former clients who claim the lawyers took too much money as part of a $200 million fen-phen settlement. Gallion and Cunningham own a 20 percent stake in Curlin, who won the second leg of the Triple Crown in May. A federal grand jury indicted the attorneys last month, charging them with conspiring to commit wire fraud in representing more than 400 people in a lawsuit over the diet drug.
Fen-phen lawyers ordered to pay $62M
BURLINGTON - Three attorneys accused of bilking their clients in a diet drug settlement must repay at least $62.5 million, a judge ruled Friday. Special Judge William Wehr ordered William J. Gallion, 56; Shirley A. Cunningham Jr., 52, and Melbourne Mills Jr., 76, to repay $42 million taken from the settlement and $20.5 they put into a corporation, the Kentucky Fund for Healthy Living. The attorneys are being sued by about 400 former clients who claim the lawyers took too much as part of a $200 million fen-phen settlement. .
Experts decry jail for diet drug lawyers
Three national experts on judicial ethics said yesterday that a federal judge acted improperly Friday when he ordered the lawyers in Kentucky's fen-phen case thrown in jail after saying "the whole legal profession is on trial." Judge William O. Bertelsman said during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Covington that if the three attorneys, charged with bilking clients out of $46 million, were allowed to remain free while their criminal trial was continued, "it's going to look like we're all in some kind of conspiracy together, and that is not the case -- at least it's not with me," according to a copy of the hearing transcript obtained by The Courier-Journal. .
Judge: Fen-Phen Lawyers Owe $62 Million
Three attorneys accused of bilking their clients in a diet drug settlement must repay at least $62.1 million in settlement funds and interest, a judge ruled Friday.
Special Judge William Wehr ordered William J. Gallion, 56, Shirley A. Cunningham Jr., 52, and Melbourne Mills Jr., 76, to repay $42 million taken from the settlement and $20.1 million in interest. Wehr said the interest was 8 percent over the six years the attorneys had the funds.
The attorneys are being sued by about 400 former clients who claim the lawyers took too much money as part of a $200 million fen-phen settlement.
Gallion and Cunningham own a 20 percent stake in Curlin, who won the second leg of the Triple Crown in May.
A federal grand jury indicted the attorneys last month, charging them with conspiring to commit wire fraud in representing more than 400 people in a lawsuit over the diet drug.
Judge may delay fen-phen case
More than 400 plaintiffs argue in the civil lawsuit that the three lawyers cheated them out of their share of a settlement over the diet drug. They are seeking restitution in the case set for trial in September in Boone Circuit Court.
But fen-phen attorneys William J. Gallion, Shirley A. Cunningham Jr. and Melbourne Mills Jr. have asked Boone Senior Judge William Wehr to delay the civil case so the three lawyers wont be forced to incriminate themselves while awaiting trial on federal fraud charges, according to court records.
Prominent Cincinnati lawyer Stan Chesley also is a defendant in the civil suit but is not facing any criminal charges involving the settlement over the diet drug that has been linked to heart problems.
Gallion, Cunningham and Mills were indicted June 14 on charges they defrauded clients of $65 million.
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