The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked the widow of a man who died in a Texas jail from pursuing a $5 million jury verdict.

The court without comment declined to consider the appeal of Jessie Dorado, whose husband died in an El Paso jail after being denied medication to control seizures. Eduardo Miranda, a Mexican national, was a physician who was arrested in 1997 on a two-year-old drunk driving charge. He died 74 hours later.

Miranda lived legally in El Paso, but practiced medicine in Juarez, Mexico.

His family invoked a federal civil rights law authorizing suits against state and local government officials who violate a person's constitutional rights. A jury awarded Dorado $5 million after deciding that the jail's doctor knew of Miranda's medical needs and failed to minister to him.

A Texas appeals court threw out the verdict. The court said the jail doctor had not acted with deliberate indifference. The appeals court also said Miranda's lawyers presented little evidence that the jail doctor set policy at the facility, a threshold plaintiffs often must cross in civil rights lawsuits against government officials.

The Gibbons Del Deo Dolan Griffinger & Vecchione law firm said Monday it will now simply be known as Gibbons.

The move will take place next month and include the launch of a new logo. The 210-lawyer firm has been moving outside its base of Newark, N.J. It entered the Philadelphia market in May 2005 when it brought in former U.S Attorney David Marston as a partner. Seven months later, it acquired 25-lawyer litigation boutique Hecker Brown Sherry & Johnson in Philadelphia.

Firm officials said analyzing the name and brand began with research by a marketing specialist who interviewed clients, peers, alumni and lawyers.

"In these interviews, we found one resounding theme -- our clients, our peers and our own attorneys call us by the name Gibbons," Managing Partner Patrick C. Dunican Jr. said. "When the most important people to your business call you by one name, it is the logical next step to use that name in all communications to leverage the equity in that name to create a consistent message and increased brand awareness."

Shortening the name follows the trend for law firms and corporate America to brand the name most often referred to in both external and internal communications. It also pays tribute to standard bearer, John J. Gibbons, who returned to the firm in 1990 after serving as chief judge of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

http://www.gibbonslaw.com/

WASHINGTON -- The Internal Revenue Service has acknowledged the certification by Nissan North America, Inc., that its 2007 Nissan Altima Hybrid vehicle meets the requirements of the Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit as a qualified hybrid motor vehicle.

The credit amount for the hybrid vehicle certification of the 2007 Nissan Altima Hybrid is $2,350.

Consumers seeking the credit may want to buy early since the full credit is only available for a limited time. Taxpayers may claim the full amount of the allowable credit up to the end of the first calendar quarter after the quarter in which the manufacturer records its sale of the 60,000^th vehicle. For the second and third calendar quarters after the quarter in which the 60,000^th vehicle is sold, taxpayers may claim 50 percent of the credit. For the fourth and fifth calendar quarters, taxpayers may claim 25 percent of the credit. No credit is allowed after the fifth quarter.

WASHINGTON — Taxpayers may file their 2006 tax returns electronically beginning today as the Internal Revenue Service opens the e-file program following a record-setting year.

“E-file is fastest, safest and most accurate way to file a tax return,” said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. “People will get their refunds faster through e-file. E-file greatly reduces the chances for making an error compared to filing a paper 1040.”

Taxpayers who use IRS e-file and who choose direct deposit can receive their refund in half the time. Also, tax return information is protected through encryption, and an e-filed tax return is far more accurate than a paper return. Taxpayers receive an acknowledgement within 48 hours that the IRS accepted the return.

IRS e-file surpassed a record in 2006 when more than 73 million tax returns, almost 54 percent of all returns, were filed electronically.

IRS e-file allows taxpayers to file their return and pay later should they owe taxes, and it allows taxpayers to file both the federal and most state returns at the same time. The IRS began the e-file program in 1986 as a pilot project in three cities: Cincinnati, Phoenix and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. That year, there were 25,000 tax returns filed electronically. The e-file program expanded nationwide in 1990 and 4.2 million tax returns were filed. IRS e-file has undergone tremendous growth each year.

Taxpayers may use IRS e-file through their tax preparer, over-the-counter software or Internet programs. The IRS does not charge for e-file, but some tax preparers and software manufactures may charge a fee.

IRS Free File, a partnership between the IRS and some software manufacturers, will offer free tax preparation and e-filing for taxpayers with an Adjusted Gross Income of $52,000 or less. This AGI accounts for 70 percent of all taxpayers or 95 million taxpayers. This year the program features an agreement by private sector partners to remove Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs) as well as other ancillary offerings from the program. Free File will be available later this month.

Feb. 3 Start Date for Extenders Provisions

The IRS plans a Feb. 3 start date for processing tax returns that claim key tax provisions enacted in December. Both paper and electronic returns will not be processed if submitted before Feb. 3. Tax returns filed on paper will be accepted but will not be processed until after IRS processing systems are updated on Feb. 3.

The IRS also noted that it will begin processing both e-file and paper tax returns that include claims for key “extender” provisions, including deductions for state and local sales taxes, higher education tuition and fees, and educator expenses on Feb. 3. Any other tax returns for individuals that do not claim an extender provision can be filed as normal this month.

Tax returns filed on paper with these extender provisions will be accepted but will not be processed until after IRS processing systems are updated on Feb. 3.

The IRS emphasized that using IRS e-file is the most accurate to file any return and the quickest way for taxpayers to receive their refunds. Tax software will be updated so taxpayers can easily claim the extender provisions.

SAN FRANCISCO--The Honorable Richard A. Kramer of the San Francisco Superior Court granted final approval today to a class action settlement resolving claims regarding pricing and collection practices for over 780,000 uninsured patients at all of Catholic Healthcare West's affiliate hospitals.

As part of the settlement, Class members will be entitled to make a claim for refunds or bill reductions of 35% from their prior hospital bills. For the next four years, Catholic Healthcare West ("CHW") hospitals have also agreed to maintain discounted pricing policies for uninsured patients that will make CHW's pricing for uninsured patients comparable to the pricing for patients with private insurance. In addition, CHW has agreed to maintain more compassionate collections policies that will protect uninsureds who fall behind in their payments. The settlement benefits have been valued at approximately $423 million.

The claims process under the settlement is ongoing. Claim forms are available online at the settlement website, www.chwsettlement.com, and the deadline to submit claims is March 8, 2007.

The Settlement Class includes all persons who:

• Received hospital services from a CHW-affiliated hospital between July 1, 2001 and September 25, 2006;
• At the time of treatment, were uninsured and had annual household income at or below $250,000.

"This settlement provides much-needed relief to hundreds of thousands of uninsured patients by substantially reducing their past medical bills and ensuring that in the future CHW maintains reasonable prices for all uninsured patients," said Plaintiffs' attorney Kelly M. Dermody, of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, in San Francisco, California. Co-counsel Sidney A. Backstrom of the Scruggs Law Firm added, "We are pleased that the Court granted final approval to this settlement, which not only secures fair pricing for uninsured patients, but also protects them from unfair and overly aggressive collections practices."

The lawsuit was filed by two uninsured patients on behalf of themselves and all uninsured patients at CHW-affiliated hospitals in California, Nevada and Arizona. The original complaint, filed in October 2005, alleged that CHW charged uninsured patients excessive and unfair prices for medical treatment and engaged in aggressive and unfair collections practices. CHW denied wrongdoing and liability in the case.

Lead Counsel for named plaintiffs and class members are Kelly M. Dermody of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP and Sidney A. Backstrom of the Scruggs Law Firm. More information about the settlement can be found at www.chwsettlement.com, or by calling the contacts listed below.

About Lieff Cabraser

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, is a sixty attorney, AV-rated law firm founded in 1972 with offices in San Francisco, New York, and Nashville. Lieff Cabraser has served as court-appointed Plaintiffs' Lead or Class Counsel in state and federal coordinated, multi-district, and complex litigation throughout the United States. Lieff Cabraser has litigated and resolved thousands of individual lawsuits and hundreds of class and group actions, including some of the most important civil cases in the United States over the last decade.

Lieff Cabraser enjoys a national reputation for professional integrity and the successful prosecution of our clients' claims. In every year since 2003, the National Law Journal has selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the top plaintiffs' law firms in the nation. In compiling the list, the National Law Journal examined recent verdicts and settlements in addition to overall track records. Lieff Cabraser is one of only three plaintiffs' law firms in the United States to receive this honor for the last four consecutive years.

About the Scruggs Firm

One of our nation's foremost class-action attorneys, Richard Scruggs received international acclaim for his landmark suit against the tobacco industry. The suit culminated in the industry's payment of $246 billion to help states defray Medicaid costs for smoking-related illnesses. Scruggs has been lead counsel in numerous other class actions and causes of national significance as well, including the national class actions against Lehman Brothers and The Money Store for aiding and abetting predatory lending; the $1.1 billion settlement in the Sulzer Orthopedics, Inc. Hip Prosthesis and Knee Prosthesis Liability Litigation; and seven suits against America's health maintenance organizations, charging them with interfering with patient treatment.