The Spokane diocese came up with this plan in order to avoid bankruptcy and also offer succor to people by allowing them "closure" for their sufferings. Around 150 claims have been filed against the diocese and this settlement provision gives the Church a chance to avoid insolvency as well.

The Archdiocese of Portland filed for Chapter 11 in 2004, and the dioceses of Tuscon, Spokane, and Davenport soon followed suit in the wake of hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits against clergy. Last month, the Portland archdiocese filed a new bankruptcy plan including a $75 million settlement of the sexual abuse claims.

Federal bankruptcy Judge Gregg Zive said that the settlement would allow the victims to gain some "measure of closure and allow them to move forward and continue the healing process”. However the plan still needs to be approved by the victims as well as another judge.

Zive said that the money would be put up by six insurance companies and would also be collected through selling off the bishop's office building. However he added that the specific amount to be disbursed to specific victims was not yet determined.

The judge also added that the settlement would allow the diocese “to continue its ministry and to begin its own journey of renewal, healing and hope”. It may be recalled that the Spokane diocese bankruptcy protection in 2004 after the claims against it increased to $81.3 million.

The government of Southern Sudan, an autonomous region in Sudan, will join the United Nations in probing alleged sex crimes committed by international peacekeepers against at least twenty Sudanese children in Juba, according to a statement from the Southern Sudanese minister for presidential affairs Thursday. The statement promised a thorough inquiry, emphasizing: "If any persons are proved to have committed these terrible crimes, the Government of Southern Sudan will take all possible steps to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice." The move follows a Wednesday statement by a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirming the UN inquiry and indicating that all credible allegations will be turned over to the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). The UN investigation was spawned by an internal UNICEF report and interviews with alleged victims. Reuters has more.

On Thursday a UN spokesperson confirmed that the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) repatriated four peacekeepers to Bangladesh late last year following allegations of sexual abuse. Michele Montas said that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations will work with the Bangladeshi government to monitor the case and any actions taken against the repatriated peacekeepers. Thirteen other UNMIS staffers are currently under investigation for misconduct, though not all are related to the sex abuse charges.

A planned law firm merger between San Francisco's Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Dewey Ballantine LLP has been scrapped.

The aborted deal is a blow to both firms on two fronts. Law firm executives wanted to combine Orrick's bond practice with the merger and acquisition expertise of New York's Dewey to attract more big-dollar case work. A union also would have greatly expanded the Orrick-Dewey presence in the Big Apple, the world's financial capital.

 
Orrick has an office in Menlo Park, San Francisco, and 16 other places in seven countries. Dewey Ballantine has California offices in East Palo Alto and Los Angeles.

Orrick and Dewey "jointly decided" to end merger discussions, according to a statement released Thursday. Both firms saw great potential in a combination, the statement said, but "a combination of this size and scope posed significant challenges."

Sources said those challenges included defections of some big name Dewey lawyers after merger talks between the two firms gained steam. In recent weeks top Dewey M&A attorney Michael Aiello joined Weil Gotshal & Manges. Last month Jack Bodner, another leading M&A counselor, left Dewey for Covington & Burling. At least 10 Dewey partners left the firm since news of the proposed Orrick-Dewey deal spread last September. Whether all those defections are tied to the planned union is not clear. But sources said those attorneys' moves made the merger less appealing to Orrick.

Leaders at Dewey had concerns, too, sources said. Some Dewey partners objected to the potential makeup of the executive committee of the combined firm, which they felt would have weighed too heavily in Orrick's favor.

A merger with Dewey would have been a blockbuster deal for Orrick, which has been on a rapid growth clip under chairman Ralph Baxter Jr. A united Orrick and Dewey would have had an estimated $946 million in annual revenue generated by more than 1,200 attorneys around the globe. That would have made the combined firm the 10th biggest in the United States based on revenue. It also would have resulted in a New York office of nearly 500 lawyers, making it the fifth largest law office in the world's financial capital.

Walt Disney Co. has settled a lawsuit brought by the family of a woman that said her fatal aneurysm was triggered by the Indiana Jones Adventure ride in Disneyland.

Both sides refused to release the settlement terms, agreed to Friday. The trial was set to start Thursday in Los Angeles.

"Safety always has been, and continues to be, our top priority," said Rob Doughty, a Disneyland spokesman, in a prepared statement.

Barry Novack, the plaintiff's attorney, declined to comment about the family's reaction.

Cristina Moreno, of Barcelona, Spain, was a 23-year-old newlywed on her honeymoon when she and her husband rode the Indiana Jones attraction in Anaheim on June 25, 2000, court documents state. Within a few hours, she collapsed from a bleeding cerebral aneurysm. She died a few months later.

Her estate filed the lawsuit in 2001, seeking more than $1 million in damages. The plaintiff alleged that that the jerky moves and emotional stress from the ride prompted the pre-existing aneurysm to rupture, court documents state.

At least three other lawsuits related to Indiana Jones-ride injuries were filed then settled.

The Moreno case might have made it easier for visitors to successfully sue over ride-related injuries. In a ruling last year tied to the case, the California Supreme Court found that Disney must apply "the utmost care and diligence" related to passenger safety, allowing the case to go forward.

The soft-spoken Miers has described herself as a "Texan through and through." White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove said she can be "tough as nails." Bush once called her "a pit bull in size 6 shoes."

She was Bush‘s personal lawyer in Texas, took on the thankless job of cleaning up the Texas Lottery when he was governor, and followed him to Washington to serve as staff secretary until Bush appointed her White House counsel, succeeding Alberto Gonzales when he was named attorney general.

Miers withdrew her nomination after intense scrutiny by lawmakers and observers wary of her lack of judicial experience.

Pinochet, his wife, four of his children, daughter-in-law, former attorney and secretary were indicted in early 2006 on charges of filing false tax returns. Pinochet died last month without ever facing trial in either the tax evasion case or on multiple human rights charges.

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Thursday upheld an Indiana law requiring voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. In its ruling, the court upheld a lower court decision that the law does not put an undue burden on the right to vote and therefore does not violate the US Constitution. The Indiana Democratic Party and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana had appealed the district court's decision, but during oral arguments Judge Richard Posner, who wrote the appeals court ruling, was skeptical of the plaintiffs' contention that the law would prevent voters from casting ballots.

The US Supreme Court issued a per curiam opinion last October ruling that Arizona could enforce its voter ID law, which requires voters to show government-issued ID cards at the polls. Similar voter ID laws have been upheld in Georgia and Pennsylvania, though the Missouri Supreme Court struck down a law last year requiring voters to show ID cards at the polls. A lawsuit over Ohio's voter ID legislation ended just before last November's mid-term election in a settlement requiring future Ohio absentee voters to show proof of ID when applying for absentee ballots, but allowing absentee ballots already obtained without ID to be counted.