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A judge ruled in favor of “Criminal Minds” star A.J. Cook on Monday is her dispute with her former attorneys, who said they were entitled to 5 percent of her payments from the hit CBS drama.Cook argued that attorney Neil Meyer and his firm, Meyer & Downs, raised their fee from 2.5 percent per episode of “Criminal Minds” to 5 percent without her agreement, and that her then-manager, David Guillod, arranged for the increased payments to be made to Meyer & Downs without her consent.She left Guillod in 2017 when he was accused of sexually assaulting four women - accusations he denies. She then stopped paying both the lawyers Guillod’s former management company, Primary Wave.Meyer & Downs sued, saying the firm was owed fees because of a verbal contract. Cook’s attorney, Michael Saltz, argued that an oral contract wasn’t enforceable for contingency fees. (A contingency fee is a fee that is conditioned on a client’s success.)Superior Court Judge Gregory W. Alarcon agreed with Cook and Saltz, ruling Monday that “because the fee agreement at issue in this matter is a contingency fee agreement… and as the agreement was orally made, the contract is voidable.”Cook, meanwhile, is suing Meyer & Downs for the return of $85,500 that she says she previously paid them, plus additional damages. Her lawsuit claims breach of fiduciary duty, unlawful disclosure of confidential information, and indemnity.“This is a big win for A.J. and all actors who find themselves being bullied by their former representation,” Saltz said. “Although the case is not over, there is essentially nothing left of Meyer and Downs claims against A.J., and A.J. maintains all of her claims against Meyer & Downs.”He added: “Meyer & Downs’ claims had no merit from the very beginning, They were unlawful on many levels and no reasonable attorney would have pursued them. Now that we have prevailed on the merits, we will be pursuing Meyer & Downs and their counsel for malicious prosecution.”TheWrap reached out to Meyer for comment by phone and email, writing, “a judge has ruled against you on the issue of the fees.”Meyer responded in an email, “That is not exactly true and definitely misleading,” but did not respond to repeated requests for elaboration.When Cook sued Guillod in February, a Guillod rep said her lawsuit was “frivolous” and an “attempt to distract from her own financial liability.”“No criminal or civil charges have ever been brought against Guillod,” Guillod’s rep added.Cook joined “Criminal Minds” in 2005 as supervisory special agency Jennifer “JJ” Jareau.Pamela Chelin contributed to this story.Read original story ‘Criminal Minds’ Star A.J. Cook Wins Court Ruling Against Ex-Lawyers Over Fees At TheWrap

The man tased her, sexually assaulted her and held her at gunpoint, according to police.

A Republican senator was booed and heckled by her constituents when she was challenged about America's gun control laws. At a town hall in her home state of Iowa, a teacher told Joni Ernst that she had recently been asked to listen to sounds to "determine if they were gunshots or not."The educator who did not reveal her name, added that she had "asked to be trained to man a family reunification centre to provide counselling to parents seeking their children following a catastrophic event."Questioning the senator, she said: "When can I plan to get back to trainings that simply teach children to read and write?" Ms Ernst, who is up for re-election in 2020, replied: "A lot of the incidents we've seen do come back to mental illness."The crowd immediately broke out into boos, while some shouted “do something!” and “what about the guns?” As Ms Ernst responded by saying that America had been through many hardships, a member of the audience cried out: “It’s not the same.” As she went on to suggest that America was “short on” mental health resources, a member of the audience called out: “We’re short congresspeople that take action.” The crowd applauded. The town hall took place two weeks after back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio led to calls for politicians to reconsider US gun laws. Led by president Donald Trump, Republicans have questioned the mental health of the killers. Others have blamed violence in video games - a theory which has been widely discredited. Ms Ernst meanwhile, moved went on to claim that she was in support of gun control laws already in existence, and attempted to steer the town hall towards other issues.But over half the audience’s questions concerned gun control laws, according to the Iowa Starting Line website. One member shouted: “We need you to protect us.”Ms Ernst, who was not helped by a moderator replied: “So we’ll go ahead and move on?”

A Highlands County, Florida, man faces eight felony conservation counts after unmarked state marine patrol officers say they saw him raiding commercial spiny lobster traps in the Florida Keys.