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Maine agrees to help disabled live independently
Class Action |
2011/09/07 08:58
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The state of Maine has agreed to a plan that will help some of the state's disabled residents receive services that will let them live outside nursing homes.
In a settlement to a class-action lawsuit, the Department of Health and Human Services agreed to provide disabled people with normal mental function, the same level of services available to Mainers with mental retardation or other developmental disabilities.
The lawsuit was originally brought by three men with physical disabilities but normal mental function. The case eventually involved more than 40 people. The lawsuit alleged that MaineCare violated federal law by refusing to pay for support services that would allow the plaintiffs to live in a community setting instead of in nursing homes.
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US Stocks Push Higher In Early Trading
Legal Business |
2011/09/07 07:55
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Management changes at Bank of America and Yahoo helped lead U.S. stocks higher after a three-day losing streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 154 points, or 1.4%, at 11293 in morning trading. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index advanced 21 points, or 1.8%, to 1186, while the Nasdaq Composite ran up 45 points, or 1.8%, to 2519.
Leading the gainers were financial stocks, with shares of Bank of America rallying 4.4% after the nation's biggest bank shook up its management team. The Charlotte, N.C. bank ousted the heads of its wealth-management and consumer-banking units, Sallie Krawcheck and Joe Price, and installed David Darnell and Thomas Montag as co-chief operating officers.
Other banks pushed higher, with Morgan Stanley gaining 3.6% and Citigroup adding 2.9%.
Also strong were energy stocks, as oil surged to above $88 a barrel. Chevron added 2.8% and Exxon Mobil advanced 1.8%.
Technology stocks also fared well, with Yahoo getting a 5.1% lift after the company said Carol Bartz had been removed as chief executive. It named Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse as the interim CEO.
The Dow is looking to snap a three-day decline that has sent the major indexes down by 4% or more. On Tuesday, the Dow fell more than 300 points in early trading before paring losses to end down 101 points.
On Wednesday, stocks also got a boost from overseas, with European markets broadly higher. The German DAX index surged 3.7% and the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 2.6% after a German court upheld the legality of the first Greek bailout package and the creation of the European Financial Stability Facility. Also helping was a boost in German industrial production, which registered month-on-month gains of 4% in July, well above estimates for a slight gain.
Also helping lift sentiment were reports that President Obama's jobs plan, to be announced Thursday, could amount to stimulus of between $300 billion to $400 billion over the coming year and include payroll-tax holidays, spending on infrastructure and aid to state and local governments.
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AVX Myrtle Beach suit now class action
Class Action |
2011/09/03 08:56
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As many as 229 property owners in Myrtle Beach could become plaintiffs in a lawsuit against electronics manufacturer AVX Corp. that alleges the company contaminated groundwater.
The Sun News of Myrtle beach reported a state judge this week certified the suit as a class action.
The four-year-old lawsuit suit says the company polluted groundwater with an industrial degreaser linked to cancer and other health problems. The lawsuit contends the pollution ruined property values in a 12-block area near the old AVX plant. The suit is not expected to be heard until next year.
AVX settled a separate lawsuit with an adjacent property owner earlier this year while a third contamination lawsuit is pending.
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Shareholder class action hits Leighton
Breaking Legal News |
2011/09/01 09:40
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Shareholders set to take legal action against Leighton over alleged failures to properly report a $907 million turnaround in financial performance.
Law firm Maurice Blackburn on Thursday said it intended to launch a class action against the company, alleging Leighton breached continuous disclosure obligations as set out in the Corporations Act.
On April 11 this year, the Leighton announced it was expecting to post a loss of $427 million for the 2010/11 financial year, a turnaround from a $480 million profit in 2009/10.
The announcement came after a review of its operations, which led to a $282 million drop in profit from its desalination plant project at Wonthaggi in Victoria, a before-tax loss of $430 million on the Brisbane Airport Link and a $295 million write-down on its equity in the Middle East-focused Habtoor Leighton Group.
Maurice Blackburn principal Andrew Watson said Leighton should have told the market about those write-downs by November 2, 2010, or, at the very latest, February 14 this year.
'Shareholders expect a company like Leighton to have proper risk management and internal reporting systems to ensure timely announcements are made when there are difficulties,' Mr Watson said.
Maurice Blackburn says it believes Leighton was seeking approval for design changes on the Brisbane Airport Link because of expected delays as early as April 2009.
Leighton also advised the market that construction of the Victorian desalination plant was on time at least five times between November 2010 and March 2011, Maurice Blackburn alleges.
In response to a query from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) several days after its announcement of the losses, Leighton said it informed the market of its expected losses as soon as it was aware of them.
'At all times, the company has been mindful of its continuous disclosure obligations,' Leighton secretary Ashley Moir said on April 18.
Last week, the Leightonboard terminated the contract of chief executive David Stewart, who took over from long-time chief executive Wal King in January.
That followed chairman David Mortimer's decision to depart the Leighton board a day earlier.
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$6.5 billion Sino-Forest class action suit launched
Class Action |
2011/09/01 09:40
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Lawyers representing plaintiffs in a proposed class-action lawsuit against Sino-Forest Corp. (TSX:TRE) have filed a statement of claim against the Chinese timber operator, seeking more than $7.37 billion in damages.
Law firms Koskie Minsky LLP and Siskinds LLP filed the claim in Ontario superior court, alleging that executives conspired to inflate share prices, and accusing the troubled forestry company of making misrepresentations about its operations.
The Ontario Securities Commission halted trading of shares in the forestry company on the Toronto Stock Exchange last week, after accusing it of fraud.
The law suit seeks money for those who bought Sino-Forest shares on the stock market and through the company's public offering.
"The securities sold by Sino via the offerings were sold at artificially inflated prices as a result of the representation and the other misrepresentations," the statement of claim said.
The allegations against Sino-Forest have not been proven in court. The company did not return a call requesting comment Wednesday.
The claim names several Sino-Forest executives, including former CEO Allen Chan; auditor Ernst & Young; and financial institutions that had acted as underwriters for the company's 2009 prospectus offering. They include TD Securities, Dundee Securities, RBC Securities, Scotia Capital, and CIBC World Markets.
"The underwriters earned fees from the class, whether directly or indirectly, for work that they never performed or that they performed with gross negligence, in connection with the offerings, or some of them," according to the statement of claim.
"Sino, E&Y and the individual defendants further breached their duty of care as they failed to maintain appropriate internal controls to ensure that Sino’s disclosure documents adequately and fairly presented the business and affairs of Sino on a timely basis," it said.
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SD Supreme Court upholds school funding system
Breaking Legal News |
2011/09/01 09:39
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The South Dakota Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of the state's system for funding school districts, rejecting the schools' arguments that the current arrangement does not provide enough money to assure students of an adequate education.
In a unanimous ruling, the high court said a lawsuit supported by about two-thirds of the state's school districts raises serious questions about the funding system and shows that some districts struggle to provide adequate facilities and qualified teachers.
"Even so, reasonable doubt exists that the statutory funding mechanisms or level of funding are unconstitutional," Justice Judith Meierhenry wrote for the court.
The 41-page main decision upholds a ruling by Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur of Pierre, who ruled in 2009 that the school funding system is constitutional because it provides students with an adequate education that prepares them for life after high school. Wilbur has since been appointed to the Supreme Court, but did not take part in Thursday's ruling.
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Group seeks appellate action on gays in military
Court Watch |
2011/09/01 01:40
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The military's ban on openly gay troops will be lifted within weeks, but the policy can still be re-enacted in the future.
That's why a Republican gay rights organization that sued the Obama administration to stop enforcement of the policy says it will ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday to declare the nearly 18-year-old law unconstitutional, affirming a lower court's ruling last year.
With several Republican presidential candidates, including Rep. Michele Bachmann, indicating they would favor reinstating the ban if elected, such a ruling is needed, said Dan Woods, the attorney for the Log Cabin Republicans. Declaring the law unconstitutional would also provide a legal path for thousands discharged under the policy to seek reinstatement, back pay or other compensation for having their careers cut short, Woods said.
"The repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' doesn't say anything about the future," Woods said. "It doesn't (explicitly) say homosexuals can serve. A new Congress or new president could come back and reinstitute it. We need our case to survive so there is a constraint on the government to prevent it from doing this again."
During her campaign stop in Iowa in August, Bachmann told interviewer Candy Crowley on CNN's "State of The Union" when asked whether she would reinstitute the law: "It worked very well and I would be in consultation with our commanders, but I think, yes, I probably would."
Justice Department attorneys have filed a motion asking the appeals court to dismiss the case, arguing that the repeal process that will lift the ban Sept. 20 makes the lawsuit irrelevant.
The Log Cabin Republicans successfully won an injunction by U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips last year that halted enforcement of "don't ask, don't tell" briefly, before the 9th Circuit reinstated it.
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Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
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