William Gallion enters the Federal Courthouse in Covington, Ky., June 21, 2007. (Credit: AP/Ed Reinke) Sometime next week, we’re likely to find out whether William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham, the two remaining defendants in the Fen-Phen lawyer trial, will face a second trial. Last Thursday, a mistrial was declared when jurors told Judge William Bertelsman they [...]

This just in: And on the sixth day of deliberations . . . the fen-phen jury exonerated one lawyer, then went back to deliberate on the fate of the other two. A federal jury in Covington, Kentucky on Tuesday acquitted Melbourne Mills (pictured, center), one of the three lawyers accused of defrauding clients settlement involving [...]

In an apparent last-ditch effort to salvage their case, the lawyer-defendants in the Fen-Phen trial called an adverse witness, Stanley Chesley, to testify on their behalf. That, apparently, was all they were left with. “They kind of don’t have a choice because there really isn’t anyone that’s going to testify for them except their experts,” [...]

When the Fen Phen lawyer trial began in Kentucky, several weeks ago, we thought to ourselves, borrowing the words of Justice Stevens, what an odd flyspeck of a case! Three lawyers stood accused of bilking their clients out of $65 million of a $200 million settlement over alleged injuries caused by the diet drug Fen-Phen. [...]

The show resumed Friday in the Fen-Phen lawyer trial, with Melbourne Mills Jr. back in the courtroom. Mills, 77, whose lawyer says he was too drunk to be found culpable in the case, had been taken from the Boone County jail on Wednesday morning and hospitalized after developing swelling in his ankles. Shirley Cunningham (pictured, [...]

When opening arguments began two weeks ago in the Fen-Phen lawyer case, we noted that the lawyer for Melbourne Mills Jr. — one of three lawyers on trial for bilking clients out of settlement funds — raised an intoxication defense. Mills’s lawyer, Jim Shuffett, told the jury that Mills, 77, was hospitalized for an “alcoholic [...]

The trial of the Phen-Fen lawyers motored on yesterday with the testimony of former Boone County circuit judge Joseph “Jay” Bamberger, who testified, according to reports, that he’s “embarrassed” by the way he handled the underlying Phen-Fen suit.
According to the Herald-Leader, Bamberger testified that he should’ve kept himself better informed about what was going on [...]

More weirdness in the Fen Phen trial. To those not up to speed, the lawyers involved have been accused of cheating their clients out of settlement money.

For those of you who are envious of BigLaw bonuses, consider this: For working on the Fen-Phen settlement, David Helmers — a Kentucky SmallLaw associate fresh out of law school — received a $3 million bonus, and a new car.
That was in 2001. Now, Helmers, 39, is the government’s first witness in the trial of [...]

The neo-Twinkie defense: I was too drunk to be culpable.