Sixth Circuit Upholds Lawyers’ Convictions For Fleecing Clients in Fen-Phen Settlement

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit May 1 upheld the fraud convictions of two Kentucky lawyers who on retrial were found guilty of helping themselves to millions of dollars that should have gone to their clients from a $200 million fen-phen aggregate settlement (United States v. Cunningham, 6th Cir., No. 09-5987).

Characterizing the evidence against the lawyers as overwhelming, the court rejected all of their complaints about the retrial. In key aspects of the decision, the court held that:

• Legal flaws in a defense expert’s opinions about the lawyers’ conduct justified the district court’s decision ...