Top 5: ‘We will continue to fight for the children’

The overturning of a lead-paint verdict that stated the process of seizing a city agency's vehicles tops the list of most-read legal affairs stories of the week. The list also includes a lawsuit filed by security guards who allege they were fired because of their accents, a look at what role Maryland's highest court will most likely play in determining the state's legislative map and a beef between two hamburger joints. The Top 5 stories are: 1. Lead-paint verdict against HABC overturned on appeal -- by Melody Simmons The $2.5 million lead-paint verdict that spurred a move to seize and auction vehicles owned by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City was reversed on appeal Thursday afternoon. The Court of Special Appeals said the case should never have gone to trial because the brother-and-sister plaintiffs, Antonio Fulgham and Brittany McCutcheon, waited too long to sue, and the 13-year delay had prejudiced the HABC. Paul T. Graziano, the HABC’s executive director and the city’s housing commissioner, released a statement saying the reversal nullified the pending seizure of his agency’s vehicles, which lawyers for Fulgham and McCutcheon sought to auction in partial payment of the damages a jury awarded them in 2010. 2. Baltimore County jury awards $1M for lost sight -- by Steve Lash A Baltimore County Circuit Court jury on Thursday awarded $1 million in damages to a woman who lost nearly all her vision while under an ophthalmologist’s care.