Historic

Jury Awards $13.3 Million Verdict in Historic Child Abuse Lawsuit: Plaintiff Finds Empowerment and Healing

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White Plains, New York – A Westchester jury has awarded a $13.3 million verdict to a 68-year-old plaintiff who sued under the Child Victims Act. After just over an hour of deliberations, the panel decided to compensate Robert Vavasour for past and future suffering. Vavasour, represented by Jordan Rutsky of Merson Law, filed the lawsuit in 2020 against his late uncle Kevin Shanley. Vavasour had alleged that his uncle sexually abused him during a trip to Europe in the 1970s when he was 14 years old. The abuse continued even after their return. Shanley, who … Read more

Minnesota Lawyer Secures Record-Breaking $564 Million Verdict by Uncovering Destroyed Evidence in Historic Ponzi Scheme Case

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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – In a groundbreaking verdict, Michael Collyard ’00, a partner at Robins Kaplan, won a jury trial that resulted in a record-setting $564 million judgment. The case centered around Tom Petters’ massive Ponzi scheme, which was one of the largest financial scams in U.S. history and the largest in Minnesota. Collyard strategically focused on the absence of millions of destroyed documents as evidence, ultimately leading to his victory. Collyard served as the lead trial counsel, and in November 2022, a federal jury ordered BMO Harris Bank to pay bankruptcy trustee Douglas Kelley a … Read more

Rye Teenager Triumphs with $13 Million Jury Verdict in Historic Child Abuse Case

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RYE, NY – A jury verdict has awarded Robert Vavasour $13.38 million in a lawsuit against the estate of his late uncle, Kevin Shanley, under New York’s Child Victims Act. Vavasour, who was just 15 years old at the time, alleged that Shanley sexually abused him during a trip to Europe in 1970. The abuse included rapes, forced oral sex, and beatings. The jury heard testimony from Vavasour and one of his sisters, as well as read parts of Shanley’s deposition testimony from 2021. Shanley, a history professor and policy analyst, denied the abuse, even … Read more

Former Parkland School Shooter Trial Judge Breaks Silence on Historic Case and Controversial Backlash

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Elizabeth Scherer, the former judge who presided over the death penalty trial for the Parkland school shooter, is now breaking her silence and discussing the historic case and the backlash surrounding it for the first time. Scherer, who served as a Broward County Circuit Court judge for 10 years, is currently working at her family’s law firm specializing in family law. This is a stark contrast from her time in the national spotlight as the presiding judge in the Parkland trial. The trial of convicted shooter Nikolas Cruz, who was … Read more