Charter Communications Inc. filed a $150-million lawsuit Friday against Irell & Manella, accusing the prominent Los Angeles law firm of "critical errors" in completing a 1999 cable TV acquisition.

Charter's suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, also alleges that Irell concealed its mistakes for as many as nine months in 2002 after learning about them.

Irell has been the longtime counsel for St. Louis-based Charter and its controlling chairman, Paul G. Allen, on a variety of deals, including recent refinancings.

Charter spokeswoman Anita Lamont said Friday that the malpractice claims could not be resolved short of a lawsuit.

Irell partner David Gindler accused Allen of failing to "honor the intent" of the deal that Charter's board approved.

"If Charter suffered any loss at all, our firm was not the cause," Gindler said. "We are confident that we will prevail as the whole story emerges in court."

Last month, Washington's State Senate passed a domestic partnership bill, but that state's governor has indicated more enthusiasm about signing it into law.

Some Michigan lawmakers think a gasoline tax increase is needed to improve the state's roads.

A campaign by Drivemi.org encourages an increase in transportation spending, with a backing from AAA, construction companies, labor groups and chambers of commerce.

A bipartisan bill to increase the gasoline tax nine cents per gallon over the next three years has been introduced in Lansing. But as gas prices increase, are motorists willing to pay more at the pump?

"I think it's necessary. The roads are really bad. I don't know if I'm willing, but I will," motorist Barb Fles told 24 Hour News 8.

"If it will surely help with road repair, I'm for it. But if gas goes up any higher, we're all going to be walking or riding together," adds fellow motorist Mitchell Robertson.

The president of the Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association tells us they have analyzed federal and state transportation statistics.

"We've identified the need - $2.7 billion. And that's not paving the streets in gold. That's just getting it to the point of being adequate," said Brian Slagter.

The gas tax currently brings in about $931 million each year distributed six ways - $300 million used by the Michigan Department of Transportation; $300 million distributed among 83 counties; cities and villages receive $170 million; public transit gets $100 million; $37 million goes toward road projects critical to economic development; and $24 million supports bridge, railroad and recreation areas.

It has been ten years since the gas tax was raised. Supporters argue a transportation fund increase would put Michigan on par with surrounding states.

At 19 cents per gallon, Michigan's current gas tax is one of the lowest compared with Illinois and Indiana. The highest is in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Ohio - 32 cents, 30 cents, and 28 cents respectively.

24 Hour News 8 spoke with MDOT officials who tell us they prioritize need, and this year everything on their list will get done.

Plus, numerous West Michigan county road commissions have taken a hit when it comes to funding projects.

Supporters of the proposal say if the measure is approved, not only will road conditions improve, but 50,000 new jobs will be created in the process.

U.S. audit authorities on Tuesday proposed auditors specify whether a company's financial restatement is due to an error or a change in accounting principles.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) said the change to their auditing standards would help investors clearly distinguish when a company restated their results to comply with a different interpretation of accounting rules, or made an actual mistake.

"The proposal would specifically focus auditors on ensuring that disclosures about those changes are accurate," board member Charles Niemeier said in a statement.

The standard, however, would not distinguish between different types of mistakes such as the misapplication of accounting rules, mathematical errors or fraud.

The audit watchdog also proposed it align its standards on how auditors evaluate the consistency with which a company applies U.S. accounting rules with a standard released by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, which writes U.S. accounting rules.

The board also asked for public comment on a "concept release" that discusses whether an accounting firm that performed tax services for a company executive should be able to act as that company's auditor later in the same year.

The board said it wanted to hear comments on whether those services would compromise the firm's independence or if prohibiting those services would jeopardize a company's ability to switch auditors.

The financial statement proposal and the "concept release" are available for public comment through May 18.

The institute's "Jackpot Justice" study is the first to calculate both the U.S. legal system's direct and indirect costs, study author Lawrence McQuillan says.

Direct costs refer to damage awards, lawyer fees and defense costs -- as well as administrative costs from lawsuits arising after someone breaks a contract or violates a trust resulting in injury to another's person's body, property, reputation, legal rights and the like.

Indirect costs refer to the legal system's impact on research and development spending, the cost of so-called defensive medicine and the related rise in healthcare spending and reduced healthcare access, McQuillan says.

Lost sales of new products "from less innovation" amounts $367.1 billion, the study concluded.

If convicted on federal charges, Christensen, 60, faces up to 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of two charges. In the federal system prisoners are not eligible for parole until they complete 85 percent of their sentence.

"We're distressed they're going to these lengths," said Christensen's lawyer, Jeffrey Pine, of Providence. "This is overkill."

US Attorney Robert Clark Corrente announced the charges against Christensen last Friday at a press conference launching Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice program targeting exploitation of children over the Internet.

Corrente's spokesman, Tom Connell, declined to respond to Pine's accusation.

"Any action we take in the case will take place in court," Connell said. "We will not engage in repartee in the newspaper."

Last week, in US District Court in Providence, Christensen was arraigned on one charge each of interstate travel to entice a minor in sexual conduct and using interstate commerce to entice a minor, according to Corrente's office. The retired software engineer, who is married with two grown sons, pleaded not guilty and was released on a $10,000 bond. He is confined to his home with an electronic monitoring bracelet, and is not allowed access to computers or the Internet. He also is prohibited from any contact with minors.

A woman who answered the phone at Christensen's Granuaile Road home declined to comment.

Federal prosecutors took over the case from Rhode Island's attorney general, who had charged Christensen with one count of indecent solicitation of a minor.

"Our mutual goal is to use the best possible laws to prosecute cases. In this case the federal laws pack more punch than the state laws," said Mike Healey, spokesman for the Rhode Island attorney general.

In December, Christensen received five years probation after pleading guilty in Plymouth Superior Court to soliciting sex on the Internet from a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. As in the Rhode Island case, the person was in fact a police officer.

Boston-based legal firm Goodwin Procter has inked a deal to lease several floors in The New York Times’ new Manhattan high-rise headquarters.

The law firm will lease seven floors, totaling 216,000 square feet, in the 52-story Renzo Piano designed building, which is now nearing completion.

The move is part of a major expansion by Goodwin Procter of its New York office, which focuses on the city’s booming financial services sector. The firm expects to double its New York office in size from 150 to 300 over the next few years, a spokeswoman said.

The law firm, which has more than 800 lawyers, has opened a number of new offices recently in other cities around the country.

The new Times headquarters building is a joint venture between The New York Times Co. and Forest City Ratner Cos. The 1.6 million-square-foot New York Times Building, which will open in the fall, is now almost fully leased.

http://www.goodwinprocter.com