Justice Stephen Breyer, appointed by President Clinton and a one-time aide to Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, has been in the House of Representatives for all seven of Bush's State of the Union speeches.

On three occasions he was the only justice to cross the street from the court to the Capitol. In addition, Breyer also was the only justice at Bush's first speech to Congress in 2001, a couple months after the justices voted 5-4 to stop Florida's ballot recount and ensure Bush's presidency. Breyer had opposed halting the recount.

Breyer was joined Monday by Chief Justice John Roberts and justices Samuel Alito and Anthony Kennedy.

Roberts and Alito, Bush's two court appointees, have attended all three speeches since joining the court.

The last time Breyer missed the State of the Union was in 2000, in Clinton's last year in office. He had the flu.

That speech was the only time in recent memory when no justice was present, other than in 1986, when the speech was rescheduled because of the explosion of the Challenger shuttle.

Justices typically have said little about why they do or don't attend the speech. One exception is Justice Antonin Scalia, who hasn't gone in at least nine years.

Scalia, commenting in 2000, said the speech has become increasingly partisan — a potential problem for justices who customarily refrain from applauding anything even remotely political.

"One side will clap for this, and then the other side will clap for that," Scalia said. "And you know, we sit there like bumps on a log."

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Put the second woman on the Supreme Court together with the first woman on Great Britain's highest court and what do you get? A conversation about bathrooms, of course.

"Everybody's got a bathroom story, haven't they?" said Lady Brenda Hale, the first woman Law Lord, at a recent forum at Georgetown University's law school with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Ginsburg recalled that when she joined the court in 1993, court workers altered the woman's bathroom adjacent to the room where the justices put on their robes to make it as large as the men's room. But it took a letter from advice columnist Dear Abby to get the court to change its tradition and open public women's bathrooms before 9 a.m., she said.

Sandra Day O'Connor, named to the Supreme Court in 1981, "had taken care of most of the irrationalities before I got there," Ginsburg said.

Hale told her own tale of being informed there was no women's restroom at the Privy Council, the final appeals court for the British empire.

The trailblazing judges also discussed recent changes in England that include renaming the high court the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, moving the court from Parliament to its own building and instituting mandatory retirement at 75.

Hale, also known as the Baroness Hale of Richmond, said the age limit was a response to colleagues "who went on long beyond it was sensible for them to go on, but were not sufficiently incompetent to be removed."

Ginsburg noted with relief that there is no retirement age for U.S. judges. She will turn 75 in March.

A U.S. patent appeals court ruled in favor of TriMed Inc on Tuesday in a suit which accused Stryker Corp of infringing its patent for an implantable device to be used for broken bones. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and sent the case back for a rehearing.

TriMed had accused Stryker, one of the biggest makers of artificial hips and knees, of selling a device for wrist fractures that infringed TriMed's patent for an implantable device that would attach to stable portions of broken bones and hold the fractured portions in place.

The district court had given a summary judgment of non-infringement. TriMed appealed. "We hold that Stryker has failed to demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact that its accused devices do not infringe," the appeals court said in its ruling.

"The grant of summary judgment of non-infringement must be reversed," the court said. "We remand for further proceedings consistent with our opinion and in view of the entire record."

The court upheld Spanish telecom company Telefonica SA's right to refuse to hand over information that would identify who had used peer-to-peer file-sharing tool KaZaA to distribute copyrighted material owned by Promusicae, a Spanish nonprofit group of film and music producers.

EU law did not require governments to protect copyright by forcing companies to disclose personal data in civil legal actions, the Luxembourg-based court ruled.

They could draft national rules to change this but they will then have to balance the right to privacy against property rights and "cannot however affect the requirements of the protection of personal data," a court statement said.

The ruling "raises the question of the need to reconcile the requirements of the protection of different fundamental rights, namely the right to respect for private life on the one hand and the rights to protection of property and to an effective remedy on the other," the court said.

A Spanish court had asked the European court to give guidance on the case after Promusicae complained of Telefonica's refusal to hand over details identifying the people who used the computer addresses linked to the illegal downloads.

Telefonica claimed Spanish law only allows them to share personal data for criminal prosecutions or matters of public security and national defense.

Music industry group, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, said record labels would push on with their campaign against Internet piracy and the court had confirmed the need to have effective tools to tackle illegal copying.

"Copyright theft on the internet is the single biggest obstacle to the growth of the music business today," said IFPI head John Kennedy.

"The judgment means that music rights owners can still take civil actions to enforce their rights, and it has sent out a clear signal that member states have to get the right balance between privacy and enforcement of intellectual property rights and that intellectual property rights can neither be ignored nor neglected."

The European branch of the Motion Picture Association — which represents American film studios such as Universal, Walt Disney, Paramount and others — welcomed the ruling as balanced because the court had upheld copyright as a fundamental right alongside the right to privacy.

The MPA of America claimed in a 2005 study that U.S. film industry lost $6.1 billion to piracy worldwide that year, most of it outside the United States.

Millions of people use file sharing sites to download both legal and illegal copies of albums, films, TV episodes, computer programs and even books.

The music industry has largely shunned file sharing, preferring digital tools to restrict how songs can be copied and played.

U.S. District Judge Stephen G. Larson was expected to rule Monday on whether to send federal marshals to close the encampment and evict its residents. Larson took an extensive tour of the park last month to see the conditions firsthand.

At a hearing earlier this month, Larson indicated he would shutter the park unless its owner, Harvey Duro Sr., presented a detailed plan to fix electricity, water and sewage systems by Monday's hearing. The judge could order the park closed immediately or he could give residents several weeks or months to find other housing.

But closing the park, which is in the fertile Coachella Valley about 130 miles southeast of Los Angeles, would flood an already overwhelmed affordable housing market in surrounding Riverside County.

The county currently has a 40,000-person waiting list for subsidized or low-income housing, with no new units expected before 2010. The only other affordable apartments are at least 90 minutes away, according to papers filed Friday.

Cheap housing is key for the 4,000 migrant workers who live in the Desert Mobile Home Park during peak harvest season and for the region's economy. The migrants, who make as little as $15,000 annually, pick some of the nearly $1 billion worth of table grapes, dates, chili peppers and other crops that the region yields each year.

Last summer, a fire displaced 120 residents, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs paid for an independent inspection that launched the government's latest drive to shut the park down.

That inspection found sewage wastewater several inches deep, dead rodents, swarms of flies and animal feces at the encampment, as well as inadequate drinking water, a dangerous electrical system, severe overcrowding and fire hazards, according to court papers.

Geoffrey K. Willis and Deborah M. Rosenthal havejoined the Orange County office of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP aspartners in the firm's Real Estate, Land Use and Environmental practice group.  Willis and Rosenthal will be joined bya team of six attorneys: special counsel Marguerite P. Battersby and David R.Hunt, and associates David P. Collins II, Jessica A. Johnson, Douglas E. Wanceand Gregory E. Woodard.  The group most recentlypracticed together with Bingham McCutchen in Orange County. 

"With Geoff, Deborah and the groupjoining us, we continue to grow signature practice groups like Real Estate andexpand capabilities to better serve client needs.  With Geoff leading the team, the group's knowledgeand expertise will significantly enhance our real estate practice, which isalready one of the best in California," said Guy Halgren, chairman of thefirm. 

"I look forward to growing the firm's California landuse practice, specifically in Orange County,” Willis said. “Sheppard Mullin isa top-notch firm with an impressive real estate group.  I am thrilled to be practicing on such astrong platform with the firm's great lawyers throughout the state."

"Geoff's group is an excellent addition to the firm'sReal Estate practice group, which now includes more than 80 attorneys firmwide," commented Domenic Drago, chair of the firm's Real Estate, Land Useand Environmental practice group. "They bring an incredible collective background with more than seventy-fiveyears of combined experience, which includes ground-breaking land use mattersand cutting-edge real estate-related litigation." 

As a land use and developmentspecialist, Willis concentrates his practice on matters involving theCalifornia Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); the National Environmental PolicyAct; water rights and quality; the Endangered Species Act; wetlands regulation;the Clean Air Act; CERCLA investigation, remediation and litigation; theCalifornia Subdivision Map Act; local zoning and land use requirements,environmental due diligence and audits. He has specific expertise in the development of shopping centers, largeconjunctive use projects, houses, golf courses, industrial parks andmanufacturing complexes, regulatory compliance of ongoing businesses involvingair, endangered species, water and wetlands permitting. 

Rosenthal devotes her practice to land use andenvironmental law and litigation, working with issues that include wetlands,endangered species, takings, historic preservation, mitigation banking,hazardous materials industrial development, including self-storage, and golfcourses.  She has been involved in avariety of complex federal- and state-coordinated environmental permitting programsfor large private developments, including the negotiation of developmentagreements and preparation of development plans.  A major portion of Rosenthal's practice isdevoted to CEQA, inverse condemnation and general plan litigation in connectionwith land use entitlements for large residential real estate developers. 

Willis and Rosenthal have represented their clients’ interests beforeall of the counties in Southern California, many of the cities in California,the State Water Resources Control Board, the Regional Water Quality ControlBoards, the Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Fish and WildlifeService, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the High Desert AirPollution Control District, the California Department of Fish and Game, theCalifornia Coastal Commission, the California EPA, and EPA Region IX and anumber of additional state and local governing bodies.

Willisreceived a B.A. from Pomona College in 1983 and a J.D. from University ofCalifornia, Hastings College of Law in 1986. Rosenthal received a B.A. from University of Michigan in 1972, a master'sdegree in regional planning from the University of Oklahoma in 1978 and a J.D. fromYale Law School in 1981.

Last year, a six attorneyteam joined Sheppard Mullin's Real Estate, Land Use and Environmental practicegroup in the firm's San Francisco office. The former Steefel, Levitt & Weiss land use group includes partnersJudy Davidoff and Art Friedman, as well as associates William Fleishhacker,Miriam Montesinos, Alexis Pelosi and Elizabeth Sibbett. 

TheCalifornia Real Estate Journalconsistently ranks Sheppard Mullin among the largest real estate practices in thestate. The firm's Real Estate, Land Useand Environmental practice group is one of the most diverse in California, representinginvestors, developers, builders, major landowners, lenders and local agencieson every aspect of commercial and residential real estate.

About Sheppard Mullin Richter &Hampton LLP

Sheppard Mullin is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with more than 520attorneys in 10 offices located throughout California and in New York,Washington, D.C. and Shanghai.  Thefirm's California offices are located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, SantaBarbara, Century City, Orange County, Del Mar Heights and San Diego.  Founded in 1927 onthe principle that the firm would succeed only if its attorneys deliveredprompt, high quality and cost-effective legal services, Sheppard Mullinprovides legal counsel to U.S. and international clients.  Companies turn toSheppard Mullin to handle a full range of corporate and technology matters,high stakes litigation and complex real estate, land use and finance transactions.  In theU.S., the firm's clients include more than half of the Fortune 100 companies.  For more information, please visit www.sheppardmullin.com.

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 28, 2008 — Craig Gatarz and Arturo Sida have joined Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP as partof the firm's Corporate practice group.  Gatarz,most recently chief operating officer and general counsel with JAMDAT MobileInc. in Los Angeles, will be based in the firm's Century City office.  Sida, most recently assistant general counselwith Internap Network Services Corporation in Costa Mesa, will be based in thefirm's Orange County office.  

"We're very pleased to welcome Craig and Art tothe firm and to the Corporate practice group," said Randy Short, head ofthe firm's Corporate practice group. "As in-house counsel of two clients, we have worked closely with Craigand Art for years.  They are excellent businesslawyers who will be valuable additions to the Corporate practice, combiningtheir respective in-house emerging growth technology industry expertise andprior private practice experience."

At JAMDAT Mobile Inc., Gatarz built out and directlymanaged the team responsible for all non-studio operations, including legal,human resources, facilities, infrastructure, inter-company matters andinternational operations. He directlyoversaw and managed the international expansion of business operations.

Gatarz' JAMDAT transactional experience includes fourrounds of private financing aggregating $33 million in capital raised, oneinternational and two domestic acquisitions (with an aggregate value ofapproximately $150 million) in which JAMDAT acquired intellectual property andstudio assets to enhance its operations (including the wireless rights toTetris, one of the world’s most popular interactive games), and completion of a$101 million initial public offering and consummation of a $680 million mergerwith Electronic Arts Inc., the world’s leading publisher of interactiveentertainment. 

AtVitalStream Holdings, Inc., a Nasdaq-listed company that was recently acquiredby Atlanta-based Internap Network Services Corporation, Sida served as thechief legal officer and secretary responsible for developing and managing thelegal, corporate secretary and human resources functions.  He implemented Sarbanes-Oxley Act complianceand was responsible for securities law compliance, including the preparation ofSEC '33 and '34 Act filings.  Sida'sexperience includes various financing deals aggregating approximately $35million in available capital, as well as two strategic acquisitions and themerger transaction with Internap.  Additionally,he was responsible for all aspects of IP protection, including the evaluationof technology and management of patent applications.

Previously,Sida was VP, legal affairs and assistant secretary for AmerisourceBergenCorporation, a NYSE-listed leading pharmaceutical services company.  There he was responsible for a broad range ofcorporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and jointventures, defense or prosecution of lawsuits, investigations and claims, andcorporate governance, stock exchange and regulatory matters, including FDA,DOT, DEA and OIG issues.

Gatarz earneda J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law in 1987 and M.A and A.B., summacum laude, from Boston College in 1984. Sida earned a J.D. from University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall)in 1980 and B.A. from Stanford University in 1977. 

About Sheppard Mullin Richter &Hampton LLP

Sheppard Mullin is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with more than 520attorneys in 10 offices located throughout California and in New York,Washington, D.C. and Shanghai.  Thefirm's California offices are located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, SantaBarbara, Century City, Orange County, Del Mar Heights and San Diego.  Founded in 1927 onthe principle that the firm would succeed only if its attorneys deliveredprompt, high quality and cost-effective legal services, Sheppard Mullinprovides legal counsel to U.S. and international clients.  Companies turn toSheppard Mullin to handle a full range of corporate and technology matters,high stakes litigation and complex financial transactions.  In the U.S., the firm's clients include morethan half of the Fortune 100 companies.  Formore information, please visit www.sheppardmullin.com.

Yogurt company The Dannon Company has refuted the class-action lawsuit filed against it in Los Angeles, California.

The company has said the complaint does not have any support for the generalizations made in the lawsuit and the publication cited in the lawsuit does not disprove the company's scientific substantiation for its product benefits. The report cited in the lawsuit, published by the American Academy of Microbiology, does not refer to any Dannon products, the company added.

The company also said it makes all scientific studies about its products available to the public and follows the method of peer-review and publication and regularly consults independent experts in the field of probiotics about the science behind all its probiotic claims.

The company has claimed that the scientific journals which have reviewed and published the findings on its products and the consumers who use the products have confirmed the benefits.