"Milberg Weiss understands that a second superseding indictment will be issued tomorrow that will include new charges against the firm and also Melvyn Weiss," the statement said.

Weiss, 72, long reigned as the king of U.S. class-action litigation, casting himself as the protector of the common investor and creating enemies throughout corporate America. Weiss' lawyer was not immediately available for comment.

Milberg Weiss said it remained proud of its and Weiss' accomplishments and did not anticipate the indictment would interrupt its work.

News of Weiss' pending indictment came a day after another of the firm's former partners, William Lerach, agreed to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy and go to prison for his involvement in the scheme.

On its Web site, the Wall Street Journal said another former partner at Milberg Weiss, Steven Schulman, is on the verge of reaching a plea deal with the government that will likely be clinched this week. The report cited two people familiar with the situation, who said Schulman's deal may include jail time.

Schulman, who was indicted along with the law firm, which has pleaded not guilty to participating in a scheme in which several individuals were secretly paid to serve as plaintiffs in more than 150 lawsuits.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles declined to comment on media reports regarding Schulman and the statement issued by Milberg Weiss.

Signed by "God," the response filed Wednesday argues the defendant is immune from some earthly laws and the court lacks jurisdiction over God.

Blaming the Almighty for human oppression and suffering misses an important point, it says.

"I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you," according to the response, as read by Friend.

St. Michael the Archangel is listed as a witness, Friend said.

Another response - also signed God - says the Lord disputes Chambers' allegations.

That filing lists a phone number for a Corpus Christi law office. A message left for that office was not immediately returned Thursday.

Chambers could not be reached Thursday to comment on the response. He said in his five-page lawsuit that God has made terroristic threats against him and his constituents, inspired fear and caused "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."

He's seeking a permanent injunction against God.

The self-proclaimed agnostic who often criticizes Christians said his filing was triggered by a federal lawsuit against a judge, filed by a woman who was barred from saying "rape," "victim" and other words in court.

Chambers said the woman's lawsuit is inappropriate because the Nebraska Supreme Court has already considered the case and federal courts follow the decisions of state supreme courts on state matters.

Chambers said his lawsuit is serious but also makes a point: Anybody can sue anybody.

The judge based his decision in part on a 1969 ruling by the United States Supreme Court that allowed students in Des Moines to wear black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam War. He wrote that had the button depicted swastikas, a Confederate flag, or a burning cross, it would have been "plainly offensive" and he would have ruled differently.

The schools superintendent, Patricia L. McGeehan, said the district was disappointed in the ruling, and planned to review its options.

Ms. McGeehan said in a statement that the district was "very concerned with the precedent this may set not only for Bayonne but for every public school district in New Jersey that tries to create and maintain a school environment conducive to learning and that is not offensive to students or staff."

The statement added, "Images of racial and ethnic intolerance do not belong in an elementary school classroom."

The dispute over the button began last fall, when Michael DePinto, 11, who was a fifth grader at Public School 14 at the time, objected to the policy.

To protest, he and his mother, Laura, 47, made a button that included a photograph of a group of grim, identically dressed members of Hitler Youth with the words "No School Uniforms" imposed over them.

After Michael wore the button for several weeks, the district sent a letter to his home in November, demanding that he stop or face suspension. Another fifth-grade student, Anthony LaRocco, then began wearing one as well.

After the suspension threat, the boys' parents sued, claiming their First Amendment rights were being denied.

Michael said on Thursday that he had never intended to offend anyone but merely make a point about conformity.

"It's like forcing a swastika on someone," he said. "It's what Hitler did to his youth."

Spector, 67, faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson with a gunshot through her mouth at his Los Angeles area home in February 2003.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler issued new instructions to the jury on Thursday aimed at breaking an impasse after two days of legal arguments with lawyers on both sides.

Fidler withdrew a jury instruction -- seen as central to the defense case -- that said the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Spector pointed a gun at Clarkson and the gun ended up inside her mouth while in Spector's hand for them to find him guilty.

Instead he told the jury they could consider a range of possible scenarios.

Jurors had reported confusion over the original instruction and Fidler agreed it "misstates the law."

The defense has argued that the 40-year-old actress, who was working as a nightclub hostess when she met Spector, was depressed over her career and finances and shot herself in the mouth, either deliberately or by accident.

Prosecutors said during the trial that even if the gun went off mistakenly, Spector could be convicted of murder because his actions showed a conscious disregard for human life.

Spector, who did not testify in his defense, is famous for pioneering the "Wall of Sound" recording technique in the 1960s and for his work with The Beatles, The Ronettes, Tina Turner and Cher.

O'Brien also appealed the original ruling, claiming the court didn't properly calculate the amount of damages due and that OSU shouldn't have been able to reduce the sum because of bonus amounts they previously paid.

O'Brien was fired after he told former OSU Athletics Director Andy Geiger that he made the loan to the family of Aleksandar Radojevic, a prospect from Serbia. Radojevic never played for the Buckeyes, but O'Brien said he made the loan because his family was in financial straits following the death of Radojevic's father. Geiger reported the transaction to the NCAA in May 2004 and O'Brien was terminated in June, according to court documents.

The ruling that awarded O'Brien the judgment found that OSU's termination wasn't for a "material breach," defined as an act that defeats the entire purpose of the contract. The appeals court found that "NCAA compliance was but one of O'Brien's many duties."

The court added in its ruling that the stipulation in O'Brien's contract, approving termination for a material breach or NCAA violation, didn't allow OSU to determine a violation occured before the NCAA handed it down. The termination created "a 'bootstrapping effect' by allowing OSU to substitute its own judgment for that of the NCAA," the opinion stated.

The NCAA didn't issue an official ruling regarding O'Brien's violations until early 2006, and "even if it would have been proper to terminate him at that time, much of the liquidated damages awarded to O'Brien in the judgment of the trial court would have been earned as salary," the court said.

OSU is expected to issue a statement Thursday afternoon.

The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, charges that her political activities in Haverford, Pa., caused Cozen O'Connor to apply a double standard that prohibited her from using any firm resources such as phones and email for those activities. She said the firm placed no restrictions on male lawyers' political activities.

The suit says that instead of investigating the complaint, the firm instead tried to prove that she violated its policy about using firm resources for political purposes, a charge that she denies.

The suit was filed by attorneys Michael J. Salmanson, Scott B. Goldshaw and Katie R. Eyer of Philadelphia's Salmanson Goldshaw and names Cozen O'Connor, firm founders Stephen Cozen and Patrick O'Connor and partner Kevin Berry as defendants. Cozen O'Connor's lawyer, Abraham Reich of Fox Rothschild, said the firm has always provided the same opportunities regardless of gender and that the investigation into Biswanger's complaint was "fair and objective." He said the firm looks forward to refuting the charges in court.

Biswanger, an employment litigator, has worked at Rubin Fortunato & Harbison of Wayne, Pa., since December 2005.

He said he was concerned that silence by world leaders "has been understood in Khartoum as a weakening of international resolve".

"It is time to break the silence," he said.