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Man Convicted in Parents' Death Set Free
Court Watch | 2007/12/28 11:43
Martin Tankleff walked out of court a free man for the first time in the 17 years since he was convicted of murdering his parents. But his next step was less clear.

Prosecutors have not said whether they will retry Tankleff, who was released on $1 million bail Thursday, days after an appeals court overturned his 1990 conviction and ordered a new trial because of new evidence. Relatives paid the bail.

"My arrest and conviction was a nightmare, and this is a dream come true," the 36-year-old Tankleff told reporters after a hearing in Riverhead, 75 miles east of Manhattan.

Tankleff's attorney, Bruce Barket, said he was awaiting Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota's decision on whether to retry the case.

In throwing out Tankleff's 1990 conviction last week, an appeals court said new evidence suggested someone else might have killed Seymour and Arlene Tankleff in their Long Island home.

Tankleff had been sentenced to 50 years to life in prison after being convicted in one of the nation's first televised trials. The case raised questions about police interrogation tactics and drew the support of the Innocence Project, an organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people.

Innocence Project executive director Barry Scheck said the district attorney should ask for an independent special prosecutor or state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to evaluate whether the case should be reprosecuted.



Court ruling spurs Genesco shares higher
Court Watch | 2007/12/28 10:38
Shoe and hat retailer Genesco Inc on Friday said a Tennessee court has ordered The Finish Line Inc to complete its acquisition of the company for $54.50 a share, or $1.5 billion, sending Genesco shares up as much as 16 percent.

Finish Line, whose stock fell as much as 25 percent, has been trying to walk away from its June agreement to buy Genesco.

Genesco, based in Nashville, Tennessee, said the court ruled that Finish Line had breached their merger agreement.

"We look forward to working with The Finish Line to consummate the merger expeditiously," Genesco Chief Executive Hal Pennington said in a statement.

Swiss bank UBS sued both companies last month in federal court in New York in a bid to be relieved of its obligation to fund the deal.

Genesco, meanwhile, separately sued Finish Line and UBS in Tennessee in an attempt to force completion of the agreement.

"The only hurdle at this point is insolvency, and whether or not UBS can prove the combined entities would in fact be insolvent and not able to make interest payments and therefore possibly file for bankruptcy," Susquehanna Financial analyst Christopher Svezia told Reuters.

"That's part of the reason why you're seeing Genesco move, but you're not seeing it trade up to $50. There's a lot that needs to get settled here," said Svezia, whose firm has "neutral" ratings on both stocks.

The Tennessee court reserved judgment on whether the combined company would be solvent, saying it would await a ruling in the suit filed by UBS, Genesco said. 



Basin Water in Rancho Cucamonga sued by shareholders
Class Action | 2007/12/27 12:05

A San Diego law firm has launched a class-action suit against Rancho Cucamonga-based Basin Water Inc., alleging that it misled shareholders, causing the company's stock price to rise to inflated heights, leading to losses for investors when the stock later fell.

Basin designs and builds groundwater treatment systems.

The law firm, Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP, says Basin and some of its officers and directors issued false and misleading statements about the company's financial results.

In particular, Coughlin Stoia alleges that Basin concealed facts from potential investors that included commitments to sell product at unprofitable prices and increased costs for waste disposal and salt purchasing.

The complaint also says company officials knew Basin had long-term contracts that would hurt profitability and lied about the status of those contracts.

In November, the stock fell 22 percent in one day after Basin announced that it would take a $4.7 million charge to reserve money for projected losses.

Basin said at the time it was the second charge the company had taken in less than a year related to so-called legacy projects.

Also, Basin said, improvements in its accounting practices allowed the company to determine the systems will continue to operate at a loss for some time.

The company said its management earlier this year established new business processes that ensure future contracts are properly priced and that Basin can pass along price increases to customers.

Late Friday, it was announced that a Baltimore law firm had started a class action against Basin as well.

Basin officials could not reached for comment Friday. Its shares closed at $9 Friday, up 89 cents.



America's Cup syndicates continue court fight
Court Watch | 2007/12/27 11:42
The legal skirmish over the America's Cup showed no sign of ending, with the champion Swiss syndicate asking a judge to reconsider his decision to declare the Golden Gate Yacht Club the main challenger for the next race.

Alinghi's lawyers contended that the San Francisco club's July challenge on behalf of BMW Oracle Racing was invalid because it failed to properly describe the yachts in which the race would be sailed.

The challenge letter described a boat that would measure 27 metres long by 27 metres wide - a dimension that could apply only to a multihulled vessel like the catamaran that American Dennis Connor used to defend the cup in 1988.

The challenge, however, also called the boat a "keel yacht," a term traditionally used to describe a boat with one hull.

Alinghi argued in court papers, filed in state court in New York on Thursday, that BMW Oracle's bid should be tossed because it proposes a boat that doesn't exist, or would be so misshapen because of its bargelike dimensions that it would be unfit for racing.

The Golden Gate Yacht Club said Alinghi's new claim lacks merit.

"If these arguments were valid they would have been presented months ago," BMW Oracle spokesman Tom Ehman said.

In November, a New York judge disqualified Alinghi's favored Spanish challenger, Desafio Espanol, of Club Nautico Espanol de Vela, on the grounds that the new club hadn't previously held a major regatta, as required by the cup's deed of gift.

The two sides are due back in court in January.



Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll Announces Class Action Lawsuit
Legal Marketing | 2007/12/26 12:03
The law firm Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington on behalf of its client and on behalf of other similarly situated purchasers of WSB Financial Group, Inc. ("WSB Financial" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: WSFG) common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Company's December 13, 2006 Initial Public Offering (the "IPO") from between November 3, 2005 and May 10, 2007, inclusive (the "Class Period"). WSB Financial is the holding company for Westsound Bank, a Bremerton, Washington based financial institution that serves the Puget Sound area.

The complaint charges WSB Financial and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"). The complaint also alleges that D.A. Davidson - who acted as acted as "Lead Underwriter" of the IPO - violated the Securities Act.

Specifically, the complaint alleges that, in connection with the IPO, defendants issued numerous materially false and misleading statements which caused WSB Financial's securities to trade at artificially inflated prices. As alleged in the complaint, the Company's registration statement for the IPO failed to disclose that the Company had been violating certain banking laws and regulations relating to the origination, administration and monitoring of construction and mortgage loans. Due to the Company's misleading statements, WSB Financial's stock hit an intra-day high of $21 per share during the Class Period.

According to the complaint, beginning in September 2007, a series of announcements and investigations into the Company's lending practices caused WSB Financial's stock to plummet. For example, in late September, the Company announced that due to the reduced demand of mortgage loans, the Company was eliminating thirty-three jobs in its mortgage division. Moreover, the Company announced that its Executive Vice President of Sales and Lending at Westsound Bank had been terminated. The complaint alleges that as a result of these announcements, the Company's stock fell from $15.30 per share to $12.40 per share. Then, the Company announced that state and federal regulators were looking into possible fraud and misconduct in its real estate lending practices. Within two days of this announcement the Company's stock dropped nearly 60 percent, from $11.20 on October 24, 2007 to $4.73 on October 25, 2007.

If you are a member of the class, you may, no later than January 2, 2007, request that the Court appoint you as Lead Plaintiff of the class. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serveas Lead Plaintiff through counsel of their choice or may choose to remain an absent class member.

Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. has significant experience in prosecuting investor class actions and actions involving securities fraud. The firm has offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, and London, and is active in major litigation pending in federal and state courts throughout the nation. You may visit the firm's website at www.cmht.com.



Consumers Allowed Class Action from Next Year
International | 2007/12/26 11:55
Come 2008, consumers in Korea will be able to take class action to curb illegal activities by corporations.

The government has designated 13 organizations, including nine consumer groups and four economic institutes, such as the Federation of Korean Industries, to handle the job.

Non-profit private organizations with requests for a lawsuit from more than 50 people can also file if they meet certain conditions.

To that end the Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Consumer Agency are looking to hire lawyers to support legal procedures related to filing a lawsuit.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy says the new law will urge companies not to infringe on consumer rights so as not to hurt their image.



Court TV, R.I.P.
Legal Marketing | 2007/12/26 11:43

The network that burst into public consciousness with the O.J. Simpson trial and other big-name courtroom dramas in the 1990s becomes part of television history Tuesday, renamed truTV to emphasize its prime-time action programming.

Besides the name, there won't be many immediate changes to what Court TV has become. The six remaining hours of legal-oriented material during the day will remain, labeled ''In Session.''

The Tuesday premiere of ''Ocean Force Huntington Beach O.C.'' typifies the network's direction. The series follows lifeguards on a busy California beach, emphasizing heart-pounding rescues rather than hours spent ogling hot bodies.

That's about as far from swearing in a witness as you can get, but Court TV's viewers are used to the disconnect.

Court TV prime-time has emphasized non-fiction series like the long-running ''Forensic Files'' and newer shows like ''The Real Hustle,'' which interviews pickpockets about tricks of the trade; the upcoming ''Black Gold,'' about oil prospectors; and ''Speeders,'' which shows tapes of people trying to talk their way out of speeding tickets.

That's part of an intensely competitive television world; ''Black Gold'' taps into the same fascination with grueling jobs as ''Deadliest Catch'' on Discovery and ''Ice Road Truckers'' on The History Channel, for example.

Now the network takes the risk of shedding an established brand for the unknown.

''It's a big concern,'' conceded Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, which includes the soon-to-become truTV. ''Court TV is a very well-defined programming entity. Unfortunately, it's not as broad and doesn't offer the growth opportunities, we believe, as starting anew.''

Koonin oversaw the successful brandings of TNT and TBS. Those networks established clear identities -- TNT is for drama, TBS does comedy -- while keeping names that are essentially meaningless.

TruTV's identity will be fast-moving programming that tells real stories about real people. There's such a glut of reality programming with a wide range of styles that truTV is making an explicit point of rejecting the term.

TruTV isn't reality, its new slogan states. It's actuality.

''Reality has a connotation of not being real, of being phony,'' said Marc Juris, executive vice president and general manager of truTV. ''We felt that because [our programming] was real, we couldn't call it reality.''



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Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet.
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