The New York Times reports that a Federal Grand Jury is hearing testimony on attorney fees taken in an American Home Products case settlement problem.  The problem is that when the case was settled for about $ 200 Million in favor of 440 plaintiffs, the attorneys misled state court judges and  did not tell them that retainers allowed the attorneys 30-33% contingencies.  Instead, they ended up with closer to 50%.  This settlement also netted a judge who ruled that a charity had to be set up with part of the settlement proceeds. He told the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission that he "didn’t know" of the 30% retainers. The judge then left the bench to head up the charity.  According to the NY Times, Clients ended up with less than 40% of the settlement.