Over the past year, both sides have courted the support of Washington's black community, a majority of the city's 600,000 residents and one traditionally perceived as opposed to same-sex marriage.

"In D.C., outreach to African-Americans wasn't part of the campaign. It was the campaign," said Michael Crawford, the leader of a pro-same-sex union group, D.C. For Marriage.

Crawford, who is black, said other residents weren't ignored, but his group and others weighed the city's racial makeup in planning their message. That made the debate here different than in other places that have considered gay marriage — places like California, where about 7 percent of residents are black, or Maine, where 1 percent are. Voters in both states struck down gay marriage laws.

In Washington, gay couples are expected to be able to apply for marriage licenses beginning Wednesday — but opponents are still challenging it in court.

St. Louis attorneys John Carey, Joseph Danis and Jeffrey Lowe said Monday they formed Carey, Danis & Lowe law firm.

Carey, 48, and Danis, 40, were already practicing together as Carey & Danis LLC, which focused on pharmaceutical liability, mass torts and class actions, recovering more than $800 million for its clients.

The Lowe Law Firm focused its practice on personal injury cases and has won some of the largest jury verdicts in Missouri, obtaining settlements and judgments of more than $150 million. Lowe, 53, obtained a $105 million verdict against Bridgestone/Firestone in 2000 on behalf of Randy Dorman for injuries he suffered when a tire rim assembly exploded.

The new firm will handle pharmaceutical liability, product liability, personal injury, medical malpractice, class actions, and economic loss cases throughout the United States.

The Supreme Court is allowing a lawsuit to proceed against Hustler Magazine over decades-old nude photographs of a woman that were published after she was killed by her husband, wrestler Chris Benoit.

The court turned down Hustler's appeal Monday. Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and their son before committing suicide in 2007.

Hustler published 20-year-old nude photographs of Nancy Benoit after the deaths gained international attention.

Her family filed a federal lawsuit against the Larry Flynt Publishing Group, Hustler's publisher, claiming that the woman, a model and former professional wrestler herself, had asked the photographer to destroy the images immediately after they were shot.

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling is asking the Supreme Court to throw out his convictions in connection with the collapse of the energy giant that cost thousands of jobs and billions of dollars.

Lawyers for Skilling and the government are appearing before the high court Monday as he appeals his 2006 convictions on 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors.

Skilling argues he did not have a fair trial in Houston, Enron's hometown, amid anger over Enron's implosion in 2001. He also is contesting his conviction under the federal fraud law making it a crime to deprive shareholders or the public of "the intangible right to honest services."

Critics say the law is vague and unfair.

The justices did not comment Monday on their order in an appeal filed by Missouri Gas Energy. In 2008, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the natural gas is subject to taxation.

The ruling could mean millions for several counties in the state and could affect similar disputes in Kansas and Texas.

Harriet Miers, President George W. Bush's White House counsel and briefly his nominee to the Supreme Court, handled the company's appeal in its lawsuit against Woods County, Okla.

The justices on Monday ordered the Florida Supreme Court to take a new look at the case of Thomas Rigterink in light of their ruling last week in another Florida case.

The Florida court threw out Rigterink's conviction and death sentence for the slayings of Allison Sousa, 23, and Jeremy Jarvis, 24. The court cited problems with the Miranda rights warning police gave Rigterink before he confessed to the killings.

But the Supreme Court last week declared Florida's Miranda warning sufficient, despite complaints it wasn't clear a suspect could have a lawyer present during questioning.

K&L Gates LLP, Pittsburgh’s largest law firm, said Monday it has established an office in Warsaw, marking its 36th location and third new site so far this year. It is the first Pittsburgh-based firm to open an office in the Polish city.

The office is expected to open March 15. K&L Gates hired a team of lawyers from Hogan & Hartson Jamka, the Warsaw office of Washington, D.C.-based Hogan & Hartson LLP, to staff it. Maciej Jamka will serve as administrative partner of K&L Gates’ Warsaw office which K&L Gates Chairman and Global Managing Partner Peter Kalis said via e-mail will include “approximately 30 lawyers.”

Kalis said Warsaw is a strategic location. “Poland is a Top 20 global economy and one that has withstood the challenges of the global financial crisis,” Kalis said in a prepared statement.

In January, K&L Gates opened offices in Tokyo and Moscow. It employs roughly 2,000 lawyers, including 237 in Pittsburgh, and topped $1 billion in 2009 revenue.

K&L Gates expects to move into new offices in Downtown Pittsburgh in One Oliver Plaza, a few blocks from its present home in the Henry W. Oliver Building, later this month. The date has not been disclosed publicly.