Class-action law firm Milberg LLP is close to a settlement that could end a federal prosecution of the firm for alleged kickbacks, according to two people familiar with the discussions. The deal would mark the climax of a case that has roiled the American plaintiff's bar.

While a deal could still fall apart, the sides have made progress after weeks of talks that have centered on the payment Milberg will have to make as part of a settlement. Last summer, prosecutors had sought about $50 million in fines and penalties, but the demand mushroomed this year to about $100 million, say people familiar with the negotiations. Recently, Milberg and prosecutors have zeroed in on a payout in the neighborhood of $75 million, these people say.

The government alleged that the firm paid more than $11 million in kickbacks to clients in exchange for their serving as lead plaintiffs in securities class actions. These payouts allowed the firm to quickly file suits and become lead counsel, prosecutors allege, entitling Milberg to a large share of the fees: some $250 million over more than two decades. The firm, which is scheduled to stand trial in August, has denied wrongdoing.

Instead, Roth, his two teenage children, his wife and mother spent three days in airports, went days without their luggage, were treated rudely by airline employees and were forced to spend $21,000 on unused hotel rooms in Argentina, replacement clothes, and other costs.

"Through its gross negligence, malfeasance and absolute incompetence, Mr. Roth holds Delta responsible for ruining his vacation," said the lawsuit, filed in New York state court.

Delta Air Lines Inc had no immediate comment. Roth said that he has been in touch with Delta about getting reimbursed, but was repeatedly rebuffed. He told Reuters on Wednesday filing the suit was a last resort.

After the initial flight from New York was delayed by more than two hours, the family was not allowed to board their connecting flight in Atlanta, Roth said.

A Delta employee "literally walked away chuckling that he had left them stranded," he said. After waiting in the airport for hours, Roth was told the next available flight would depart more than two weeks later.

A Rochester employment law firm filed class-action lawsuits Thursday against Kaleida Health and Catholic Health System, accusing the health-care giants of violating federal and state law by not paying hourly employees for lunch or meal periods that were interrupted or missed.

The suit, filed in U. S. District Court by Dolin, Thomas and Solomon LLP, claims the two hospital systems have policies to automatically deduct the time for meal periods from employees’ pay, even if workers didn’t receive their full time off and should have been paid.

That’s against federal and state labor laws, the firm says, citing a recent bulletin from the U. S. Department of Labor aimed at the healthcare industry.

The two hospital systems said they had not yet been served with court papers, but were familiar with the firm and suit, and roundly denounced both.

“This is obviously a self-serving effort by an out-of-town law firm intent on exploiting our hardworking employees,” said Michael P. Hughes, Kaleida spokesman. “Unfortunately, this law firm has a track record of this type of activity in other communities such as Rochester. Our commitment to our employees is unquestionable and we will vigorously defend ourselves against this lawsuit.”

Catholic Health spokesman Dennis McCarthy said the firm had been “soliciting our employees and former employees for months to join this lawsuit.” He said the hospital has policies “to ensure that employees are properly paid for all time worked, including overtime.”

“Such a claim is utterly meritless and will be vigorously defended against,” he said. “CHS will not permit this lawsuit to disrupt its commitment to provide exceptional healthcare.”

Under federal law, meal periods are typically at least 30 minutes in duration, are not considered worktime, and do not have to be paid. However, the law specifically says employees must be “completely relieved from duty for the purposes of eating regular meals,” and says workers are not considered “relieved” if they are “required to perform any duties, whether active or inactive, while eating.”

“The law is clear that employers must compensate employees for all hours worked,” said attorney J. Nelson Thomas, who represents over 700 current and former employees who have joined the lawsuit. “Catholic [Health] and Kaleida cannot be allowed to circumvent the Department of Labor’s regulations.”

The Labor Department bulletin says employers are responsible for ensuring workers take their 30-minute breaks without interruption if they don’t pay the employees for that time. And if employees are interrupted frequently, such as by patient requests, the employees should be paid for the full period.

Violations are common in healthcare, Thomas said, because of the nature of the work. “Nurses are dedicated and they don’t just drop patients to take lunch,” Thomas said.

So after hearing of the issue, the law firm posted a Web site to attract clients. It won a settlement in a similar case in 2006 against University of Rochester.

To date, 389 Kaleida employees and 333 at Catholic Healthhave signed on as plaintiffs, but the firm is seeking more current and former employees, and expects as many as 10,000 may be affected. Thomas said total damages could exceed $10 million.

Federal law allows workers to recover lost wages for three years, but New York law allows six years if the court agrees to allow the state claim. Only hourly workers are covered.

Thomas said the law firm also investigated Erie County Medical Center, but found it complies with the law by paying all employees for meal breaks, whether they take them or not.

The firm is still investigating practices at eight other hospitals or systems in New York State, including Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, Mount St. Mary’s Hospital and Health Center, Sheehan Memorial Hospital, the McGuire Group, the VA Healthcare Systems, Ascension Health and Catholic Health East.

Solicitor General Paul Clement plans to leave his post June 2 — a few weeks before the nation's highest court adjourns for its summer break.

Clement has been the government's chief court advocate for Bush administration policies surrounding the war on terror, including detaining enemy combatants. The government also won several landmark cases that Clement argued, such as banning late-term abortions and letting Congress prohibit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

A Justice Department official said Clement did not have any immediate plans other than spending the summer with his children.

A high-profile law firm with an office in Charlotte has merged with a leading financial services law firm, partners announced Monday.

Atlanta-based Kilpatrick Stockton, which has 500 attorneys in nine offices worldwide, combined with the smaller Washington, D.C., firm Muldoon Murphy & Aguggia.

The merger became effective last week, and the new firm will be known as Kilpatrick Stockton.

The combination brings together some of the nation's leading attorneys representing financial institutions and businesses in various industries, partners said.

The White House announced Thursday that Bush had nominated Glen E. Conrad to the Richmond, Va.-based appeals court, which has handled some of the country's biggest terrorism cases.

Conrad has been a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia since 2003.

If confirmed by the Senate, Conrad would fill the seat of H. Emory Widener Jr., who died last year.

Conrad, 58, a native of Radford, Va., is a 1974 graduate of the College of William and Mary and the Marshall Wythe School of Law. From 1976 to 2003, Conrad was a federal magistrate judge in the Western District of Virginia's Abingdon, Charlottesville and Roanoke divisions.

An Albany, N.Y., attorney investigated by the state for allegedly exaggerating his time sheets has stepped down from his post at Girvin & Ferlazzo P.C.

James McCarthy resigned from his "of counsel" position at the Albany law firm on the afternoon of May 2, according to a spokesman with Sawchuk Brown Associates, which is representing the law firm.

Generally, attorneys "of counsel" are part-time workers who are not partners or associates. McCarthy had been with the firm since 1992 and never earned a salary, according to the Sawchuk Brown spokesman.

Earlier on May 2, McCarthy resigned from his job with the state Department of Correctional Services after the state inspector general published a report saying that McCarthy exaggerated his time sheets and was often either at Girvin & Ferlazzo or at Wolferts Roost Country Club in Albany when he was allegedly on the clock.

McCarthy was in charge of preparing and processing paperwork for extraditions and renditions of fugitives or accused criminals. It was a part-time job, meaning he was supposed to work 18.75 hours per week, earning $60,867 a year.

In the resignation letter to the state, McCarthy said he stepped down "so as not to be a distraction" to the state corrections department.

"There are no shortage of opportunities for him. His talent as a lawyer allows him to walk away from those jobs with some confidence," said Karl Sleight, an attorney with Harris Beach PLLC and McCarthy's lawyer.

State investigators studied 12 weeks of McCarthy's work over the course of 2007. During those weeks, McCarthy was paid $6,000 for hours that he never logged, according to the inspector general's report.

On his time sheets, he claimed more than twice the hours that he actually worked, adding 120 hours of work onto the 98 hours he actually logged, the report said.