Well-Known Class-Action Lawyer Disbarred in Kentucky

The Kentucky Supreme Court has disbarred class-action lawsuit specialist Stan Chesley over his actions in a Kentucky diet drug settlement.

The high court's decision on Thursday could affect multiple cases in which the Cincinnati-based Chesley has a hand across the country.

The decision stems from how Chesley acted and his decisions in a settlement involving tens of millions of dollars between the makers of fen-phen and a group of people in Kentucky who sued the diet-drug company.

Chesley is considered in legal circles to be the godfather of the modern class-action lawsuit.

More than 30 years ago he won $50 million for victims of the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, a May 1977 blaze that killed 165 and injured 116 in northern Kentucky.