Judge L. T. Senter, Jr. of the US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on Friday rejected for the time being a proposed settlement reached between the State Farm insurance company and Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood on behalf of hundreds of Mississippi policy holders whose claims were denied after Hurricane Katrina. Senter said the parties had not provided enough information to allow the court to conclude that the "proposed settlement establishes a procedure that is fair, just, balanced, or reasonable." Senter was particularly concerned with the wellbeing of "other litigants... who are not members of the proposed class... and their views on the fairness of the proposed settlement," which would bind a "large number of policyholders into the process of binding arbitration" without their assent to the proposal.

The proposed settlement, if ultimately approved, would award $80 million to the 640 named homeowners who filed the lawsuit and would also provide an additional $50 million for approximately 35,000 other homeowners in Mississippi who did not sue State Farm after their claims were denied. The $50 million figure, however, is just a minimum and depending on the number of applicants, could easily reach hundreds of millions. The settlement would also end Hood's investigation into allegations of fraudulent claim denials by State Farm, including allegations that the company pressured its engineers to doctor their reports. Hood has also brought actions against other insurance companies, including Allstate and Nationwide.

Nexsen Pruet Adams Kleemeier jumped nine spots in The National Law Journal's listing of the 250 largest U.S. law firms. The firm now ranks No. 231 in the publication's 29th annual survey.

Nexsen Pruet added 18 attorneys in 2006, giving the firm a total of more than 180 lawyers.

Last year, Nexsen Pruet ranked 240th in the survey.

Nexsen Pruet, with 43 attorneys working out of its Greensboro office, is the fifth-largest law firm in the Triad, according to Business Journal research.

State lawmakers, governors, and privacy advocates have express concerns about implementing the federal law, with many objecting to the expensive undertaking required for state compliance and privacy concerns associated with the federal requirements. In December 2005, the National Governor's Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, collectively released a report concluding that states are unprepared to implement the law and may need up to eight years to acquire the resources and time to successfully enact the legislation.

Prosecutors attempting to restore a conspiracy charge against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay argued Wednesday that the "plain language" of Texas law means he can be charged with conspiring to violate the election code.

But lawyers for DeLay and two co-defendants told the Court of Criminal Appeals that the law is clear in their view -- that conspiracy was added to the state election code after prosecutors allege the crime happened.

"Historically, there have been limitations on the use of conspiracy laws," said DeLay's attorney, Dick DeGuerin of Houston.

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle's office is appealing lower court rulings that threw out the charge accusing DeLay and Republican fundraisers Jim Ellis and John Colyandro of conspiring to violate the Texas election code and its ban on corporate campaign contributions.

It could be weeks or months before the appeals court makes a decision.

DeLay and the co-defendants are still charged with money laundering and conspiracy to launder money, but state District Judge Pat Priest has said he does not have jurisdiction and cannot hold a trial until the appeals court makes its ruling.

Disc jockeys hosting an on-air water-drinking contest should have summoned medical help when a woman complained her head hurt and noted that her belly was so swollen she looked pregnant, said an attorney for a family suing for wrongful death.

Instead, "The talent verbally chastised and otherwise coerced her, exhorting her to remain in the contest by threatening that she would be disqualified if she 'puked,'" according to the lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of 28-year-old Jennifer Lea Strange's family.

The mother of three died Jan. 12, just hours after drinking as much as two gallons of water in the contest to win a video game console. In the lawsuit, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, the family claims the DJs on the "Morning Rave" program on KDND-FM knew of the potential dangers of drinking too much water, yet went ahead with the contest anyway.

"The talent admitted during the broadcast that they should have done more research once various participants, including (Strange), began to report medical symptoms," it said. "Such conduct was despicable and so vile, base or contemptible that it would be looked down upon and despised by reasonable people."

Strange was one of about 18 contestants who tried to win a Nintendo Wii gaming console by seeing how much water they could drink without going to the bathroom. The DJs called the contest "Hold your Wee for a Wii."

"They keep telling me that it's the water. That it will tell my head to hurt and then it will make me puke," Strange said, according to an audio tape of the show.

At one point during the contest, a listener who identified herself as a nurse called in to warn the disc jockeys that the stunt could be fatal.

"Yeah, we're aware of that," one of the DJs responded to the caller's warning, the lawsuit said.

Another DJ said with laugh: "Yeah, they signed releases, so we're not responsible. We're OK."

The family claims Strange never signed a liability waiver. Instead, the form merely granted the station permission to use the contestants' names and photos for promotions, said the family's attorney, Roger Dreyer.

"I guarantee you if there was a waiver of liability they would have produced it," Dreyer said at a news conference.

The Sacramento-area station fired 10 employees after Strange's death.

The lawsuit names as defendants KDND's parent company, Entercom/Sacramento, as well as employees and managers who organized, promoted and participated in the contest.

The radio station would not comment directly about Thursday's lawsuit, Entercom spokesman Charles Sipkins said.

"We reiterate our deepest sympathies and condolences to the Strange family, but we do not comment on pending litigation," he said.

Sipkins said he did not know whether the DJs jockeys had retained their own attorneys.

After several hours of drinking water, Strange relented and accepted the second-place prize, tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert. Her mother, Nina Hulst, found her dead several hours later at the family's home in Rancho Cordova, a Sacramento suburb.

"I want nobody else to have to suffer the pain that our family is suffering," Hulst said at the news conference.

The Federal Communications Commission has joined the investigation into Strange's death at the request of the family's attorneys, spokesman Clyde Ensslin said. He said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was "troubled" by the information in the letter.

If it finds wrongdoing, the FCC could fine the station or deny its license renewal application.

The U.S. Justice Department filed court papers in Cincinnati arguing a lawsuit challenging the Bush administration's wiretap program should be dismissed.

The department claims the lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other plaintiffs, is no longer significant because the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program is now being conducted under the supervision of a secret intelligence court, The Washington Post reported Friday.

Justice Department lawyers argued in papers filed with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals the suit should be dismissed because it "no longer has any live significance."

The move follows an announcement last week by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales the program, which had allowed the NSA to monitor calls made between the United States and foreign countries without court approval if one of the parties was determined to be linked to terrorism, is being terminated and replaced by a surveillance program overseen by a secret 11-member court.

Italy is set to become the latest country in Europe to criminalize Holocaust denial after the cabinet of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi unanimously approved a draft bill Thursday. The draft, written by Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, will now be given to parliament for debate. It makes it a crime punishable by up to four years in prison to defend, justify, or otherwise instigate crimes against humanity.

Earlier this month, Germany announced that as part of its 2007 EU presidency, it would propose EU-wide laws criminalizing Holocaust denial. A prior German attempt at such a law was blocked by Italy, which has since softened its opposition. It is currently illegal to deny the Holocaust in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Spain. DPA has more.