January 24, 2008

The three lawyers accused of stealing more than $65 million from clients had argued that federal investigators violated confidentiality rules when they sent law firm employee Rebecca Phipps into private meetings to gather evidence of the scheme. "U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wehrman declined to dismiss the indictment but agreed to hear more information about evidence gathered during the course of the investigation," per the Lexington paper. Judge Bertelsman imposed unusually heavy bond requirements: $52 million for William Gallion; $45 million for Shirley Cunningham, Jr.; and $5 million for Melbourne Mills, Jr. (earlier).