Micron Technology Inc. (MU.N: Quote, Profile , Research) said on Tuesday it has settled a class-action lawsuit that will reduce its previously announced first-quarter profit by up to $80 million.

The lawsuit, which followed a 2002 U.S. Justice Department inquiry into the memory chip industry, covered people and entities that bought a type of computer memory known as DRAM directly from suppliers from April 1999 through June 2002.

In 1994, the Court held 6-3 in C & A Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown that a similar ordinance unconstitutionally restricted interstate commerce; in that instance, the mandated facility was privately owned. The issue now before the court will turn on whether a government-owned facility can be seen as analogous to a profit-seeking private company and thus would be in violation of the Commerce Clause. Five of the six justices who signed the 1994 majority opinion remain on the bench; of the three dissenters, only Justice David Souter remains.

The Supreme Court Monday denied EchoStar's appeal of a lower court decision preventing the company from offering distant network TV station signals to its subscribers. That December 1 cut-off came after a years-long legal tussle with broadcasters over EchoStar's ability to determine with subs were and weren't eligible to recieve the signals. The decision does not affect the ability of EchoStar subs to receive distant signals via outside company National Programming Service. After a federal appeals court mandated the cut-off and NPS was recruited to provide EchoStar subs with distant signals, broadcasters went to court to try to block the move, but were rebuffed.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. said Monday the California Institute of Technology filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the company in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based medical equipment manufacturer said the lawsuit is without merit and has filed an action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking declaration that the company isn't infringing Cal Tech patents.

Intuitive Surgical shares fell $2.88, or 3.06 percent, to close at $91.20 on the Nasdaq Stock Market Monday.

Fox Rothschild today announced that it has merged with law firm Young, Moriwaki & Greenfader (YMG). According to the Philadelphia-based law firm, which has three offices in New Jersey with a total of 141 attorneys, the merger with New York-based YMG will help expand its presence in Manhattan and better serve a growing international client base. The deal follows Fox Rothschild's September 2006 merger with Roseland-based law firm Grotta, Glassman & Hoffman. YMG specializes in estate planning and corporate and nonprofit organizations.

http://www.foxrothschild.com

A lawyer who avoided paying income taxes for almost 25 years will spend 45 days in jail and pay $1.5 million after pleading guilty to failing to file tax returns, prosecutors said Monday.

Francis K. Decker Jr., who specialized in defending tobacco companies, pleaded guilty Friday, admitting he failed to file personal state and city tax returns since 1998 on $4.5 million in gross income, prosecutors said.

Because Decker, 70, was a partner at a Manhattan law firm, no taxes were withheld from his pay, and he made no quarterly estimated income tax payments as required by law, prosecutors said. However, they said, he signed statements telling the firm he had filed returns and paid his taxes.

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said Decker, who has homes in Brooklyn and Quogue worth $2 million each, was caught when state officials did a routine review of license databases and found he was a licensed lawyer in New York but was not paying taxes.

A condition of Decker's plea deal is that he must settle with federal tax officials, if necessary, said Assistant District Attorney Daniel Castleman.

Morgenthau said Decker had not filed tax returns since 1982. He said it was ironic that a person who paid no income taxes for decades could avoid detection more easily than someone who occasionally paid but sometimes cheated.

The statute of limitations did not cover income tax offenses before 1999, but Decker agreed to pay going back to 1982.

Besides spending 45 days in jail, Decker will pay a $10,000 fine on each of two counts of failure to file, prosecutors said. He also must pay $779,757 in state and city personal income taxes, interest and penalties for 1999 through 2005 and $720,000 to settle any tax liability for 1982 though 1998. He will be sentenced Feb. 1.

Decker's lawyer, Jonathan Davidoff, said his client "has accepted responsibility for his actions and is very sorry for his past behavior."

"By accepting responsibility," Davidoff said, "Mr. Decker has not only agreed to pay New York state back for past taxes but also is paying society back by pleading guilty and serving the sentence recommended by the district attorney's office."