|
|
|
Lawyers for NFL, players talk mediation with judge
Headline News |
2011/04/09 12:05
|
| pThe locked-out NFL players don't want to go back to collective bargaining with the league. They have now made a move to allow their former union boss to be present if court-supervised talks take place between the two sides./ppAttorneys for the NFL and the players held a conference call Friday to discuss mediation with U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson, who is currently deciding whether to lift the lockout./ppLeague spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed the call took place and said Nelson wanted details to remain private. Jeffrey Kessler, a lawyer for the players, declined to comment./ppThe most notable development Friday was the formal addition of DeMaurice Smith as an attorney for the players. Smith is the executive director of the NFL Players Association, which is now officially a trade association and not a union. Lawyers who practice in a different state must file for approval through the court./ppNFLPA spokesman Carl Francis confirmed that the move allows Smith to participate in any mediation sessions that might take place under Nelson's supervision./ppAfter a hearing Wednesday on the players' request for an injunction to stop the lockout, Nelson urged both sides to resume talks toward a new labor pact. Negotiations broke down last month./ppBoth sides expressed a willingness to talk again after the hearing, but the NFL wants to resume negotiations before a federal mediator in Washington while the players prefer to remain in Nelson's court./p |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Immigration court: Troubled system, long waits
Headline News |
2011/04/08 12:04
|
pEvery morning, they don their black robes, take their seats and listen to the pleas of a long line of immigrants desperate to stay in America. The pace is fast, the pressure intense, the stories sometimes haunting. The work, these judges say, is exhausting:/ppThe volume is constant and unrelenting.' ... 'There is not enough time to think.' ... 'Nobody gives a damn about us!' ... 'I know I couldn't do this job if I were not on medication for depression or did not have access to competent psychological care myself.' ... 'I cannot take this place anymore. What a dismal job this is!'/ppThese are the voices of immigration judges who determine the fate of tens of thousands of people every year - illegal border crossers, visa violators, refugees who flee China, El Salvador, Iran and other countries, each making a case to remain here./ppThese judges are at the heart of a bloated immigration court system saddled by explosive growth, a troubled reputation and a record backlog, according to one estimate, of nearly 268,000 cases. The problems are drawing increased scrutiny of a little-seen world where justice can seem arbitrary, lives can remain in limbo for years - and blame seems to be in abundance.
/p |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mississippi high court upholds price-gouging law
Headline News |
2011/03/11 11:55
|
pThe Mississippi Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the state's price-gouging law./ppThe justices Thursday unanimously overturned a Winston County judge's ruling that the law was unconstitutionally vague./ppChancellor J. Max Kilpatrick's ruling came in 2008 as he rejected Attorney General Jim Hood's lawsuit accusing a Mississippi oil company of charging too much for fuel after Hurricane Katrina. Kilpatrick has since retired from the bench./ppThe Supreme Court sent the case back to Winston County to determine if Fair Oil Co. in Louisville violated the law./ppFair Oil was one of two companies Hood sued in 2007. The lawsuit, which represents only one side of a legal argument, accused the company of gouging consumers after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.
/p |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fla. high court: Governor can reject rail funding
Headline News |
2011/03/04 08:46
|
pU.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Friday that $2.4 billion in high-speed rail funding intended for Florida will be sent to other states after the state Supreme Court upheld Gov. Rick Scott's decision to reject the money./ppThe Republican governor's decision effectively kills the Tampa-Orlando route./ppUntil Scott's election in November, it had been on track to become a leading example of how the Obama administration's stimulus plan is creating jobs and reviving the nation's passenger rail system./ppSeveral states, including New York and Rhode Island, have asked LaHood for Florida's rail funds, but the only project that would achieve the high speeds associated with bullet trains in Asia and Europe would be California's./ppI know that states across America are enthusiastic about receiving additional support to help bring America's high-speed rail network to life and deliver all its economic benefits to their citizens, LaHood said in a statement.
/p |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fla. Ruling Big Tobacco Won Comes Back To Bite It
Headline News |
2011/02/18 09:17
|
| pA Florida Supreme Court ruling that threw out a $145 billion award against cigarette makers is biting Big Tobacco back, making it dramatically easier for thousands of smokers to sue and turning the state into the nation's hot spot for damage awards./ppThe 2006 ruling has helped generate more than $360 million in damage awards in only about two dozen cases. Thousands more cases are in the pipeline in Florida, which has far more smoking-related lawsuits pending than any other state./ppThough the justices tossed the $145 billion class-action damage award, they allowed about 8,000 individual members of that class to pursue their own lawsuits. And in a critical decision, they allowed those plaintiffs to use the original jury's findings from the class-action case./ppThat means the plaintiffs don't have to prove that cigarette makers sold a defective and dangerous product, were negligent, hid the risks of smoking and that cigarettes cause illnesses such as lung cancer and heart disease. The plaintiffs must mainly show they were addicted to smoking and could not quit, and that their illness — or a smoker's death — was caused by cigarettes./ppJurors have sided with smokers or their families in about two-thirds of the 34 cases tried since February 2009, when the first Florida lawsuit following the rules set by the Supreme Court decision went before a jury. Awards have ranged from $2 million or less to $80 million, though tobacco companies are appealing them all./p |
|
|
|
|
|
|
FDIC sues law firm over Ga. bank failure
Headline News |
2011/02/10 15:44
|
| pThe Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is suing a Henry County law firm over a bank failure, saying the firm's handling of loans to a developer represented malpractice./ppThe lawsuit against Smith Welch amp; Brittain and 1 of its partners, J. Mark Brittain, alleges malpractice in Brittain's handling of loans Neighborhood Community Bank made to a developer from 2005 to 2007./ppNeighborhood Community failed in 2009./ppThe suit claims the bank hired Brittain to process loan documents for land purchases by developer Jeff Grant and that Brittain had served as a lawyer for Grant. The FDIC is seeking damages of more than $6 million./ppChristine Mast, an attorney representing Brittain and his firm, said Neighborhood Community was to blame for its failure and that the loans were at risk for default from the beginning./p |
|
|
|
|
|
Legal News RSS Feed
