International attention has been focused on the execution of convicted killer Jose Medellin scheduled for Tuesday. The International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, said the Mexican-born Medellin and some 50 other Mexicans on death row around the nation should have new hearings in U.S. courts to determine whether a 1963 treaty was violated during their arrests.

Medellin, now 33, is the first among the 50 who is set to die.

His attorneys contend Medellin was denied the protections of the Vienna Convention, which calls for people arrested to have access to their home country's consular officials. He has been in the United States since the age of 3.

"The United States' word should not be so carelessly broken, nor its standing in the international community so needlessly compromised," Medellin's attorneys said, seeking a reprieve in a filing late last week with the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court had not issued any ruling as of Sunday.

President Bush has asked states to review the cases. Texas has refused to budge.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico warned of possible protests there Tuesday.

Medellin's lawyers went to the Supreme Court after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court, refused to stop the lethal injection. The justices ruled in March that neither the President nor the international court can force Texas' hand.

To join the SemGroup class action, go to the website at http://www.rosenlegal.com or call Laurence Rosen, Esq. or Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email lrosen@rosenlegal.com or pkim@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.

NO CLASS HAS YET BEEN CERTIFIED IN THE ABOVE ACTION. UNTIL A CLASS IS CERTIFIED, YOU ARE NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL UNLESS YOU RETAIN ONE. YOU MAY ALSO REMAIN AN ABSENT CLASS MEMBER.

The complaint asserts that the Company's parent was at high risk for financial problems due to its investment in risky crude oil hedge transactions during the Class Period. The complaint also asserts that the Company was engaged in improper self-dealing transactions with its parent in an effort to support the Company's parent. On July 17, 2008 it was revealed that the Company's parent filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code due to lack of available funds. As a result of these adverse disclosures the complaint asserts that SemGroup's investors were damaged.

A class action lawsuit has already been filed on behalf of SemGroup shareholders. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than September 19, 2008. If you wish to join the litigation or to discuss your rights or interests regarding this class action, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Laurence Rosen, Esq. or Phillip Kim, Esq. of The Rosen Law Firm toll free at 866-767-3653 or via e-mail at lrosen@rosenlegal.com or pkim@rosenlegal.com.

The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the nation, focusing its practice in securities class actions.

More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primenewswire.com/ca.

Judges from the 11th U.S. Circuit in Atlanta issued an injunction Wednesday ordering the action while a discrimination lawsuit filed by Beta Upsilon Chi against the school moves forward.

The fraternity hasn't been allowed to join the off-campus system of fraternities and sororities because its rules bar religious discrimination. The fraternity requires its members to be Christians.

The fraternity's lawsuit claims the fraternity is deprived of official benefits given to other groups, including access to meeting space and the ability to advertise and recruit members on campus.

Jose Medellin, set to die Tuesday for his participation in the gang rape and beating deaths of two Houston girls, said that the high court should block his execution until Texas grants him a new hearing to comply with an international court ruling.

The state has so far refused, and the court ruled in March that neither President Bush nor the international court can force Texas' hand. But Medellin says Congress or the Texas legislature should be given a chance to pass a law ordering a new hearing before he can be executed.

Four Democratic lawmakers have introduced such a bill in Congress, but it probably will not be acted upon this year. The Texas legislature does not meet again until January.

Medellin is one of roughly 50 Mexicans on death rows around the nation who were denied prompt access to their country's consular officials after being arrested in the United States. The access is guaranteed by international treaty.

Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. had acknowledged calling the teens "trouble makers" and "a violent bunch" but insisted he could be impartial. Judge Thomas M. Yeager, who was asked by defense attorneys to review the case, found there was an appearance of impropriety and recused Mauffray.

"The right to a fair and impartial judge is of particular importance in the present cases," Yeager wrote.

Six black teens were arrested and initially charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with a December 4, 2006, attack on fellow Jena High School student Justin Barker, who is white. The charges were later reduced.

Jesse Ray Beard, Robert Bailey Jr., Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw now face aggravated second-degree battery charges. Beard is charged as a juvenile.

John Cabaniss, a trial attorney for the Milwaukee law firm von Briesen & Roper SC, is leaving the firm to launch his own practice in Mequon focusing on personal injury cases.

The move will alleviate some of the conflicts of interest that arose while he worked for von Briesen & Roper, said Randall Crocker, president and CEO of the law firm.

"We’ve discovered that John’s practice as a plaintiff’s trial lawyer and the firm’s continued growth in health care, toxic tort defense, management labor and general business has created conflicts of interest that have precluded John from taking the cases that he’s particularly good at," Crocker said in a press release Friday.

Cabaniss concurs.

"Regrettably, a personal injury plaintiff’s practice is, at times, not consistent with a large corporate, health and business law firm,” Cabaniss said.

The new firm will be known as the Cabaniss Law Office and will be at 10200 N. Port Washington Road in Mequon.

The Bogatin Law Firm PLC, one of Memphis' oldest law firms, will dissolve on Friday.

10 Bogatin attorneys will be absorbed by law firm Evans & Petree PC, which employs 29 attorneys, in a merger that will create one of the top five Memphis-based law firms. A source familiar with the merger said the name Evans Petree Bogatin has been proposed to serve as the combined firm's moniker.

According to another source familiar with the deal, several Bogatin attorneys will not join the combined law firm, including: Stephen Biller, Stephen Brown, Susan Callison, Charles Cottam, Charles Key, Jack Magids and Robert Wilson.

Irvin Bogatin, founder of The Bogatin Law Firm, died last month.

Managing partners of Evans & Petree and Bogatin declined to comment.

In April, Memphis Business Journal reported on the planned dissolution of Bogatin and its merger with Evans & Petree. In October 2007, MBJ first reported on early merger talks between the two firms, which called for 20 Bogatin attorneys to be absorbed by Evans & Petree.

Located at 1000 Ridgeway Loop, Evans & Petree will now add Bogatin's strong litigation practice, which will compliment Evans & Petree's focus on transactional law, estate planning and corporate law, MBJ has reported. Both Bogatin and Evans & Petree practice in health care and tax law.