Michael Kunzelman

December 06, 2007 | Law.com

The law firm of Richard Scruggs has informed its Gulf Coast clients that it has withdrawn from the group of attorneys who represent their claims involving Hurricane Katrina damage. Scruggs and three others have been indicted for allegedly bribing a Mississippi judge. The letter, released Tuesday, said the law firm was discontinuing its work on the Katrina cases "until these legal matters have been resolved and it is also withdrawing as counsel in your case if filed."

By Michael Kunzelman

3 minute read

January 26, 2007 | Law.com

A high-profile lawyer whose firm was paid more than $1 billion for helping negotiate a settlement with tobacco companies in the mid-1990s will earn a far more modest paycheck for his work on Mississippi's accord with State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. over Hurricane Katrina damage. Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and other members of his legal team can collect up to $46 million in fees from Tuesday's accord with State Farm. The insurance company is expected to pay hundreds of millions of dollars.

By Michael Kunzelman

3 minute read

March 21, 2005 | Law.com

The University of Massachusetts' plan to create the state's first public law school is a "high-risk, low-reward proposition" that would cost taxpayers up to $39 million over the next seven years, according to a report commissioned by two private law schools. The 50-page report, issued Friday by Suffolk University Law School and New England School of Law, claims UMass officials have "dramatically underestimated" the costs of the proposed merger. A UMass spokesperson called the report "clearly tainted."

By Michael Kunzelman

4 minute read

August 16, 2006 | Law.com

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that an insurance company's policies do not cover damage from flood waters or storm surge in a decision that could set a precedent for hundreds of other challenges to the insurance industry for denying billions of dollars in claims related to property damage from Hurricane Katrina. U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr., who is hearing virtually all the Katrina insurance cases in Mississippi, found that Nationwide Mutual Insurance's policies do not cover wind-driven water damage.

By Michael Kunzelman

5 minute read

December 07, 2007 | The Legal Intelligencer

The law firm of Richard "Dickie" Scruggs has informed its Gulf Coast clients that it has withdrawn from the group of attorneys who represent their claims involving Hurricane Katrina damage. Scruggs and three others have been indicted for allegedly bribing a Mississippi judge.

By Michael Kunzelman

3 minute read

April 12, 2010 | Law.com

A federal judge on Thursday awarded seven Virginia families $2.6 million in damages for homes ruined by sulfur-emitting drywall made in China, a decision that could affect how lawsuits by thousands of other U.S. homeowners are settled. It remains to be seen how the plaintiffs can collect from Chinese companies that do not have to respond to U.S courts, although some have talked about getting orders to seize U.S.-bound ships and cargoes from the drywall companies.

By Cain Burdeau and Michael Kunzelman

5 minute read