Nebraska ? The Nebraska Supreme Court restored a jury award Friday granting a La Vista keno owner $1.6 million in a malpractice case against the state’s second-largest law firm.

The court decision gave Richard T. Bellino about five times what a Douglas County District Court judge reduced the award to.

A jury ruled in October 2005 that attorneys James D. Wegner, William F. Hargens and the firm did not properly advise Bellino about how to separate from his business partner before opening another business.

District Judge Patricia Lamberty reduced the award to $229,000.

Bellino wanted to sever his partnership with Robert Anderson in La Vista Lottery and open his own business. His attorneys advised him to maintain 50 percent of his share with La Vista Lottery and open the competing La Vista Keno at the same time.