Mother Awarded $15 Million

"Joel Steinberg, the disbarred lawyer who served 17 years in prison for killing his illegally adopted daughter, must pay $15 million to the girl's birth mother, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The appeals court affirmed a lower court decision to award Michele Launders $5 million for 6-year-old Lisa Steinberg's pain and suffering, $5 million for pain and suffering ''as a battered child'' and $5 million in punitive damages.

Joel Steinberg argued the award was excessive and should be reduced because Lisa died relatively quickly, after ''at most eight hours of pain and suffering.''" By Associate Press, N.Y. Times Link to Article (last visited 1-17-07 NVS)