| Judge delays damages trial in fen-phen case
A judge has postponed the civil trial of two minority owners of Preakness winner Curlin and a third lawyer. The three allegedly bilked clients out millions of dollars in a fen-phen lawsuit. Special Judge William Wehr postponed the September trial date to decide damages against attorneys 56-year-old William Gallion, 52-year-old Shirley Cunningham, and 76-year-old Melbourne Mills. Wehr says the civil action would be rescheduled after criminal charges against the men are resolved. A trial in federal court is set to begin in October. Gallion and Cunningham own a 20 percent stake in Curlin. The attorneys are being sued by former clients who claim the lawyers took too much money as part of a $200 million fen-phen settlement.
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(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.
Judge jails fen-phen lawyers
Three Central Kentucky lawyers seemed taken aback Friday when U.S. District Judge William O. Bertelsman carried out his threat to revoke their bond. "Take them away," Bertelsman told U.S. marshals in the courtroom, after attorneys for the three continued to argue for a delay in their trial on criminal fraud charges. Melbourne Mills, William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr. now sit in a Boone County Jail cell, there until their January trial date unless Bertelsman reinstates their bonds. Friday's hearing for Mills, 76, of Versailles, and Gallion, 56, and Cunningham, 52, both of Lexington, was set to update Bertelsman on the status of their trial, which had been set to begin in October. The three are accused of bilking 440 clients out of $64 million in a settlement over use of the diet drug combination known as fen-phen.
Judge: Fen-Phen Lawyers Owe At Least $62 Million To Former Clients
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% 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 must pay millions
LOUISVILLE - Three attorneys accused of bilking their clients in a diet drug lawsuit 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 that they put into a corporation they set up, the Kentucky Fund for Healthy Living. Wehr said the attorneys must also pay 8 percent interest on the money for the six years they had it. The attorneys are being sued by about 400 former clients who claim the lawyers took too much of a $200 million fen-phen settlement. 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 combination.
Civil case to wait on federal trial
A judge has postponed the trial of a lawsuit filed against two minority owners of Preakness winner Curlin and a third lawyer charged with bilking clients out millions of dollars in a fen-phen lawsuit. In a ruling issued Monday, Special Judge William Wehr postponed the civil trial scheduled for September that would decide damages against attorneys William J. Gallion, 56, Shirley A. Cunningham Jr., 52, and Melbourne Mills Jr., 76. Wehr said the trial would be rescheduled after criminal charges against the men are resolved. A trial in federal court on those counts is set to begin in October. Gallion and Cunningham own a 20 percent stake in Curlin, which won the Preakness Stakes, second leg of the Triple Crown, in May. Former clients who claim the lawyers took too much money as part of a $200 million fen-phen settlement are suing the attorneys.
Bond Revoked For Fen-Phen Lawyers
(AP) - Three lawyers accused of bilking their clients in a diet drug settlement were jailed Friday after a federal judge agreed to delay their trial date but revoked their bond. The attorneys, including two co-owners of Preakness winner Curlin, were remanded to custody during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Covington, according to an order filed in the court clerk's office. Judge William Bertelsman agreed to the lawyers' request to push the trial date back to January 7, 2008. It had been set for Oct. 15. Shirley Cunningham Jr. and William Gallion, who own 20 percent of Curlin, were jailed, along with another lawyer, Melbourne Mills Jr. The three were already found in a civil case to have defrauded more than 400 clients in a $200 million settlement involving the diet drug fen-phen.
Fen-phen lawyers ask stay in civil case
Three suspended lawyers accused of bilking millions from their former clients want a judge to stay a civil lawsuit until a federal criminal case against the lawyers is completed in October. Special Judge William Wehr, in a hearing yesterday, said he was leaning toward delaying a September civil trial over what happened with a $200 million settlement over the diet drug fen-phen until after the criminal case is tried Oct. 15. Wehr said he should soon have a final, written order on whether the civil trial will be delayed. William Gallion, Shirley Cunningham Jr. and Melbourne Mills Jr., formerly based in Lexington, are being sued by more than 400 former fen-phen clients who say their former lawyers took millions more of a $200 million settlement than they should have received.
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