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Sotomayor says nomination tightly scripted
Legal Business |
2009/10/19 06:18
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Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor says her nomination process was so tightly scripted that even her clothes were chosen for her. Sotomayor made the comments when she appeared at her 30th Yale Law School reunion on Saturday. The New Haven Register reports that Sotomayor spoke to 1,800 alumni, students and faculty, describing her recent grueling nomination process. State Sen. Ed Meyer was among those in attendance. He says Sotomayor became teary at times but kept the crowd laughing. He says Sotomayor talked about shopping for clothes to wear to her acceptance ceremony. Government officials, however, told her to bring five suits and they recommended which one she should wear. Sotomayor, the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court, attended a luncheon, coffee reception and a 30th reunion dinner with about 50 guests. |
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Ex-British spy takes book battle to Supreme Court
International |
2009/10/19 04:17
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A former British spy is asking Britain's Supreme Court to overturn a decision by domestic intelligence agency MI5 to block him from publishing a book about his career. Lawyers for the former MI5 officer, who is not named in court documents, told a hearing Monday that he is seeking a judicial review of the decision. Britain's government says publishing the book could threaten national security. In a famous case in 1998, Britain's government lost a three-year campaign to ban publication of "Spycatcher," a memoir by ex-MI5 officer Peter Wright. Former MI5 chief Stella Rimmington published an autobiography in 2001, after the government censored some sections and said it regretted and disapproved of her decision to write the book.
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Dutch DSB bank declared bankrupt
Bankruptcy |
2009/10/19 04:17
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A Dutch court declared DSB Bank NV bankrupt on Monday, ending hopes the regional lender, which suffered a run on deposits, might be sold or bailed out. The privately-owned bank is the first to go bust in the Netherlands since last year, though the government and regulators insist its failure was not directly related to the credit crisis. "The court concludes that the utmost was done for DSB to continue as a whole entity, and there is no prospect of that anymore," the Amsterdam District Court said in a summary of its ruling. After a run on deposits, DSB was put into receivership of the Netherlands' central bank a week ago. Customers had withdrawn about a sixth of the euro4.3 billion ($6.4 billion) the bank had in deposits at the start of the month. The government insures the first euro100,000 of retail bank accounts. Central Bank President Nout Wellink has predicted a liquidation that will result in big losses for creditors and cost many of the 2,000 employees their jobs. The failure has raised questions about the functioning of Dutch financial institutions, oversight bodies and the government — as well as DSB's own lending practices. The catalyst for the run on DSB was a call by Pieter Lakeman, an industry gadfly, for customers to withdraw their deposits in protest because the bank had improperly overcharged mortgage customers. The central bank and Finance Minister Wouter Bos have recommended that DSB consider trying to hold Lakeman liable for damages. |
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Ala. court rejects $274M verdicts in drug cases
Breaking Legal News |
2009/10/18 11:19
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ma Supreme Court on Friday threw out jury decisions awarding the state more than $274 million from three pharmaceutical companies, ruling they did not defraud the state in pricing Medicaid prescription drugs. The court overturned jury verdicts against the drug companies AstraZeneca, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, accused by the state of fraudulently manipulating prices of drugs for Medicaid recipients. The court ruled 8-1 that the state did not have to rely on the drug companies' information in deciding what prices to pay pharmacists for prescription drugs for Medicaid recipients. The justices said state officials could have done their own research and determined the correct price. The court ruled the state is continuing to rely on the same formulas established by the drug companies to set prices. "The state has never altered its course of conduct since taking issue with the reporting methods," said the majority ruling written by Justice Tom Woodall. Justice Tom Parker cast the lone dissent, saying there was no evidence the drug manufacturers made available to the state the confidential details they used in determining price information. More than 70 lawsuits were filed in 2005 by the state against drug companies. The state has settled its lawsuits against 16 of the drug manufacturers for more than $124 million. |
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Trial law firm launches tire defects Web site
Law Firm News |
2009/10/18 10:20
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The plaintiffs’ product liability law firm of Greene Broillet & Wheeler has launched a Web site designed specifically to give consumers an overview of alleged tire defects and tire safety issues. The Web site, tire-defect-law, includes sections on tire anatomy, tire tread separation, aged tires, valve stem defects, Load Range E tires, tire informational markings and tire recalls. It also includes a list of tire-related cases Greene Broillet & Wheeler either won in court or for which it negotiated settlements. Greene Broillet & Wheeler claims to have conducted successful product liability litigations against most major tire makers. Christine D. Spagnoli, a partner in the firm, is plaintiffs’ liaison counsel for all product liability suits against Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. in California, according to a press release. “Unfortunately, tire manufacturers and sellers don’t provide adequate warning or instruction to protect consumers and warn them of tire-related dangers,” Ms. Spagnoli said, explaining why the firm decided to establish a tire defects Web site.
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NC inmates being freed have 256 prison infractions
Law Center |
2009/10/18 10:19
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The AlabaThe violent North Carolina criminals set to be freed later this month because of a court ruling and good conduct credits have racked up more than 250 infractions in prison for offenses such as fighting, weapon possession and theft. Department of Correction records reviewed Friday by The Associated Press show the violations go as far back as the 1970s but also appear as recently as 2008, raising questions about whether the prisoners are reformed. Each one of the 20 inmates has at least two infractions, and combined they have a total of 256. They have repeatedly been denied parole. The inmates are scheduled to be released Oct. 29 after state courts sided with one of the inmates, double murderer Bobby Bowden, that a 1970s law defined a life sentence as only 80 years. The state's Fair Sentencing Act in 1981 included a retroactive provision essentially cutting all those sentences in half, and good behavior and other credits have shortened the sentences to the point that they are now complete. Bowden had argued before the Court of Appeals in 2008 that he had accumulated 210 days of good conduct credit, 753 days of meritorious credit, and 1,537 days of gain time credit. But the 60-year-old has also racked up 17 infractions in prison, including two for weapon possession, one for damaging property and several for disobeying orders. |
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DA asks court to reject OJ co-defendant appeal
Criminal Law |
2009/10/18 01:19
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O.J. Simpson's convicted co-defendant got a fair trial and wasn't a victim of "spillover prejudice" as he alleges in his appeal, a prosecutor told the Nevada Supreme Court on Friday. "A defendant 'is not entitled to a perfect trial, but only a fair trial,'" wrote Clark County District Attorney David Roger, citing state and federal case law supporting his position that Clarence "C.J." Stewart should remain in prison for his role in a September 2007 armed hotel room heist. Stewart's lawyer, Brent Bryson, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Bryson still has a chance to answer the district attorney's 46-page response to Stewart's initial request for the court to overturn Stewart's conviction. The former Simpson golfing buddy claims he should have been tried separately from the former NFL football star, whose acquittal in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, in Los Angeles was dubbed the "trial of the century." Stewart also maintains that evidence was improperly used against him, and that the jury foreman hid a bias toward Simpson until after the pair were convicted and sentenced. |
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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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