A U.S. judge has awarded class-action status to a lawsuit filed by traders against Amaranth Advisors over the firm’s 2006 collapse following bad bets on natural gas prices, according to Reuters. On Monday, New York district judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that futures traders who bought, sold, or held natural gas futures or options with the $6.4 billion hedge fund between Feb. 16 and Sept. 28, 2006, could sue as a group in order to lower litigation costs and possibly increase their settlements.

In her ruling, Scheindlin stated that the case “involves more than 1,000 potential claimants who are asserting claims based on common issues,” and the judge noted, “Claimants likely have no interest in pursuing their own claims, which may be prohibitively small.” The traders allege that Amaranth manipulated prices of New York Mercantile Exchange natural gas futures contracts in violation of U.S. law. A lawyer for the firm declined to comment, and Amaranth founder Nicholas Maounis is among the defendants that remains in the case.

Georgia's top court has ruled in favor of a former Atlanta police officer who sought immunity after being charged with murder in a shooting of a 19-year-old who was killed while the officer was investigating a report of a vehicle break-in.

The state Supreme Court on Monday upheld by a 6-1 decision a lower court ruling in favor of former officer Raymond Bunn, who claimed he was acting in self-defense when he shot 19-year-old Corey Ward in a parking lot in 2002.

Bunn contended that Ward was driving the SUV straight at him when Bunn shot at the window, hitting Ward twice in the left side of his head.

Prosecutors said Bunn was not directly in front of the vehicle, which belonged to Ward's mother, when he fired.

The Supreme Court majority ruled that the preponderance of evidence favored Bunn's story, despite conflicting evidence.

Google never knew that it will actually have to pay a heavy price for its free to use social network - Google Buzz. As per AFP, Google has agreed to pay $8.5 million as settlement of a privacy lawsuit over Google Buzz according to court documents. Eva Hibnick, a 24-year old Florida resident and Harvard Law School student, haa filed a class action lawsuit against Google Buzz for sharing personal data without user content. Not only that, the California based search giant is asked to make more efforts to educate users about Google Buzz's potential impact of privacy.

Google Buzz social network was in troubled waters after Private Group complained against the privacy issues with the service. However, Google quickly worked and fixed the issue while the service continued to receive lukewarm response from Gmail users. Post that, numerous changes have been implemented in the service but a class action law suit was already filed against Buzz.  

Seven different individuals have filed law suits against Google Buzz for privacy violations since the free social network was launched back in February. Now, as per the recent settlement filing posted online (PDF), Google will pay seven plaintiffs not more than $2500 and 30 percent of the settlement money would go to the lawyers as covering fees. The remaining amount would be put in to a fund for organizations that are focused on Internet privacy issues and education.

Mike Yang, Associate General Counsel, in a blog post on the official Google Blog talked about the new simplified and refined privacy policies of Google. So now, if you agree to Google's Terms and Condition pertaining to any new or upcoming servise, you will permit Google to collect your data.

Honestly, hardly 2-5 percent of users who sign up for new services read the Privacy Policies thoroughly. Whatever maybe the case, Google did goof-up on privacy grounds and paid a hefty price.
result.

An attorney says Ford Motor Co. has settled a Mississippi lawsuit over damages sought from a 2001 rollover crash that killed a New York Mets prospect in the Florida Panhandle.

Tab Turner, an attorney for the family of Brian Cole, told The Associated Press the settlement Thursday came after the jury in Jasper County awarded $131 million in actual damages to the family and before it was to consider possible punitive damages.

Turner said the settlement amount and terms were confidential.

A Ford spokeswoman blamed speeding and reckless driving for the accident.

Cole died from injuries he suffered when his Ford Explorer overturned as he drove home on March 31, 2001, from spring training in Port St. Lucie, Fla., to Meridian, Miss.

A federal appeals court has ruled against the Baltimore Ravens and the National Football league in a copyright dispute over the team's original logo.

A divided three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled Thursday that the commercial use of the "Flying B" logo in old game films infringes on amateur artist Frederick Bouchat's copyright.

The panel sent the case back to federal court in Baltimore to determine whether an injunction should be issued.

However, the court says the Ravens can use the logo in a team history display at their headquarters.

A jury ruled in 1998 that the Ravens stole the logo idea from Bouchat, but refused to award damages. The logo was used from 1996 through 1998.

A federal appeals court has denied former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy's request to be released from prison on bond.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta turned down Scrushy's request late Tuesday.

Scrushy has served almost three years of a more than six year term for bribery and other charges. He was convicted along with former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman in 2006 in a government corruption case. The court had denied an earlier request from Scrushy that he be released from prison, saying he was a flight risk.

Scrushy had renewed the request in July, saying he is broke and does not have the means to flee.

Gay couples legally married in other states cannot get a divorce in Texas, where same-sex marriage is banned, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The 5th Texas Court of Appeals ruled that a Dallas district court judge didn't have the authority to hear a divorce case involving two Dallas men who married in Massachusetts in 2006. Republican state Attorney General Greg Abbott's office had appealed after Judge Tena Callahan, a Democrat, said she did have jurisdiction and dismissed the state's attempt to intervene.

"Today's court of appeals decision overruled the district court's improper ruling, confirmed the constitutionality of Texas' traditional definition of marriage and correctly found that Texas courts lack the legal authority to grant divorces to same-sex couples," said Abbott spokesman Jerry Strickland.

Callahan also had ruled Texas couldn't limit marriage to a man and a woman, but the appeals court said the state's same-sex marriage ban was constitutional.