Last May, the House passed a similar bill, the Federal Energy Price Protection Act, that would have required the FTC to define price gouging within six months of the bill's final passage. In addition, fuel refiners, wholesalers and retailers who engage in price gouging would have faced fines from $2 million to $150 million, the possibility of imprisonment, and increased civil penalties up to three times the amount of profits earned. The bill did not gain passage in the Senate.

Clifford Chance's Asian funds and private equity teams have been honoured with three separate industry awards this week.

On 28 February, the funds team was named Best Law Firm for Asset Management in 2006 by Asia Asset Management magazine.

Today, Clifford Chance's was voted Asia's Best Law Firm (Fund Formation) and Asia's Best Law Firm (Deals) for 2006 in Private Equity Online's annual poll.

"The awards reflect the firm's commitment to building the pre-eminent funds and private equity teams in Asia," said partner James Walker, who leads the firm's Asian funds practice.

"We have been working with our clients since the first funds were established in Asia, and we're delighted that they continue to choose us as their advisors today."

Private equity partner Andrew Whan has advised on many of the year's most significant deals. "It has been a record year for private equity in Asia, with the high level of activity, arrival of more global players, and increasing convergence between the hedge fund and private equity industries."

"Our leading private equity and funds teams work closely, enabling us to provide a well-matched, full life-cycle service to our clients as this convergence evolves."

An Oklahoma State House of Representatives committee approved a strict immigration bill on Wednesday for a full vote in the Oklahoma House. The Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007 seeks to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining state identification, and would require all state and local agencies to verify citizenship status of applicants before authorizing benefits. The bill would also require public employers to enter job applicants into an electronic immigration database to verify legal status, and would repeal a 2003 law that permits illegal immigrants to attend state colleges at in-state tuition levels. The proposed bill states in part:

The State of Oklahoma finds that illegal immigration is causing economic hardship and lawlessness in this state and that illegal immigration is encouraged by public agencies within this state that provide public benefits without verifying immigration status. The State of Oklahoma further finds that illegal immigrants have been harbored and sheltered in this state and encouraged to reside in this state through the issuance of identification cards that are issued without verifying immigration status, and that these practices impede and obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration law, undermine the security of our borders, and impermissibly restrict the privileges and immunities of the citizens of Oklahoma. Therefore, the people of the State of Oklahoma declare that it is a compelling public interest of this state to discourage illegal immigration by requiring all agencies within this state to fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

The bill, considered one of the toughest illegal immigration measures in the country, is expected to pass easily in the state House of Representatives. The proposal would also have to be passed in the state Senate before going to the governor for approval.

The Oklahoma legislature is also now considering the Oklahoma English Language Act, which would require all official business of the state to be conducted in English, with exceptions.

"Lisa's experience will allow us to build upon our success in Japan," said Philip Werner, Managing Partner for Morgan Lewis's international and transactional practices. "She further enhances our abilities to serve clients globally by bringing her strong reputation to our Tokyo office, and to our Morgan Lewis–TMI joint venture," he continued.

Ms. Yano observes that, "Few foreign firms in Japan have the depth and breadth of Morgan Lewis's expertise across such a wide range of practice areas. This, combined with the tremendous resources of TMI Associates through the Morgan Lewis–TMI joint venture, creates a unique and very exciting platform for handling cross-border transactions involving Japan."

Ms. Yano also serves as a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo School of Law, teaching courses on U.S. contract and intellectual property law. She graduated from Yale Law School (J.D., 1985) and from Kean College of New Jersey (B.A., summa cum laude, 1980). Ms. Yano was most recently managing partner of the Tokyo office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.

About Morgan Lewis-TMI
Morgan Lewis-TMI is a unique joint venture in Japan formed by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and TMI Associates. Morgan Lewis-TMI brings together one of the largest U.S. law firms with the resources to advise Japanese clients on nearly any issue of U.S. or international law, and one of the largest and most diversified Japanese law firms. Morgan Lewis-TMI's lawyers can advise clients on a broad range of legal issues, including corporate, securities, employment, pension, intellectual property and environmental issues.

About Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Morgan Lewis is a global law firm with more than 1,300 lawyers in 22 offices located in Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt, Harrisburg, Houston, Irvine, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Palo Alto, Paris, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Princeton, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information about Morgan Lewis, please visit www.morganlewis.com.

The Chinese parliament will consider amending a law allowing the state to send criminal suspects to labor camps without a trial during the National People's Congress (NPC) scheduled for next week, the China Daily reported Thursday. The system, called "re-education through labor," or "laojiao", currently allows the police to send those suspected of committing petty crimes, such as theft, prostitution, and illegal drug use, to jail for up to four years. Judicial review is only granted after time has been served at the jail. The changes being considered next week would limit incarceration to less than 18 months and make judicial review more lenient. The camps would be called "correctional centers," instead of "re-education centers."

Since its inception in 1957, laojiao has detained as many as 400,000 criminals. Critics say the government uses the system to detain political and religious activists. The reform being considered next week was initially added to the NPC agenda in 2005, but was postponed for two years due to disagreements about its terms. In 2005, Human Rights in China said the reform would be a major improvement but still called for the complete eradication of the entire system. Among 20 other items on next week's agenda are proposed amendments to laws involving education, corporate tax, and property rights.

The outcome of the case may depend on a 1968 Supreme Court decision which created an exception to the general prohibition on taxpayer challenges to the government spending of tax revenue. In that case, Board of Education v. Allen, the Court allowed taxpayers to challenge congressional spending for private religious schools.

Hawaii legislators have shelved a proposal to create civil unions for same-sex couples, indicating that the state legislature did not have enough votes to pass the law.

The state House Judiciary Committee declined to vote on the proposal after hours of testimony Tuesday without explaining the reasons for deferring debate. Hawaii was one of the first states to consider same-sex marriage when the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in 1996 that same-sex couples cannot be denied marriage, but a 1998 constitutional amendment defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey each recognize civil unions for same-sex couples, while Massachusetts is the only US state to legally recognize same-sex marriage. Earlier this month, New Jersey became the first state to recognize same-sex marriage and civil unions from out of state jurisdictions.