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Supreme Court to hear another arbitration argument
Breaking Legal News |
2011/05/02 09:05
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The Supreme Court will consider a plea from companies that cater to people with bad credit to keep disputes with their customers out of court and in the more business-friendly forum of arbitration.
Days after handing businesses a huge victory by limiting class action claims against them, the court said Monday it will take up a new arbitration dispute in the fall.
The new case involves consumer complaints about companies that issue low-rate credit cards to people with bad credit ratings. The consumers said they were promised an initial $300 in available credit, but were charged $257 in fees in the first year they had the credit card.
The consumers sued in federal court, but the companies say the dispute must be handled by an arbitrator, under an agreement the customers signed to receive the card.
The federal Credit Repair Organizations Act, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, says consumers have a right to sue, which the federal appeals court in San Francisco interpreted as a right to go into court, rather than be forced to submit to arbitration. Appeals courts in Atlanta and Philadelphia have ruled otherwise in evaluating the same language in the law.
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Decisions for Daniels as he weighs White House bid
Breaking Legal News |
2011/04/27 09:19
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As Mitch Daniels, the Republican governor of Indiana who last year called for a "truce on the so-called social issues," approaches his deadline for deciding whether to run for president, state lawmakers have put on his desk a pair of showcase conservative ideas.
In the final days of the state's legislative session, lawmakers approved plans to create the nation's broadest private school voucher system and make Indiana the first state to cut off all government funding for Planned Parenthood.
Daniels has pushed the voucher program, but the Planned Parenthood measure could present a political predicament for him as he nears a decision on whether he will run for president.
The governor has said it's a decision he'll make after lawmakers adjourn for the year, but he told The Indianapolis Star Thursday that he would not have an announcement this weekend even though the legislative session ends Friday. Spokeswoman Jane Jankowski confirmed Daniels' comments to The Associated Press but said he was unavailable for comment.
The Indiana House approved both ideas Wednesday, sending them to Daniels to decide what to do next.
The Planned Parenthood measure is a significant victory for the anti-abortion movement and would cut the $3 million in federal money the state distributes to the Planned Parenthood organization for family planning and health programs. It also ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy unless there is a substantial threat to the woman's life or health and requires women seeking an abortion be told that life begins at conception and that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges in a nearby hospital.
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Court close to seating Blagojevich jury
Breaking Legal News |
2011/04/25 09:19
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Jury selection in the retrial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is entering the home stretch after dragging on for longer than expected.
Thursday should be the last day of questioning of would-be jurors by U.S. District Judge James Zagel. He told attorneys Wednesday that opening arguments would take place Monday.
After a week of jury selection, 42 people are in the pool of potential jurors. Zagel says he only needs a few more before picking the final 12 jurors and six alternates.
One person the judge agreed to dismiss was a woman who had tickets to "The Oprah Winfrey Show." She had worried jury duty would force her to miss it.
Another person bumped was a school teacher who the judge said displayed "terrible grammar" in his questionnaire. |
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Treasury risks overpaying law firms
Breaking Legal News |
2011/04/16 09:51
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The Treasury Department paid out more than $27 million to law firms overseeing the financial bailouts without requiring detailed bills or questioning the incomplete records that the lawyers provided, a government watchdog says.
Treasury's "current contracts and fee bill review practices create an unacceptable risk that Treasury, and therefore the American taxpayer, is overpaying for legal services," the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program said in a report issued Thursday.
Treasury could not have adequately gauged whether the fees were reasonable because the records are so sparse, the report says.
The report criticizes so-called "block billing," in which law firms submit "vague and inadequate descriptions of work, and administrative charges — all of which should have been questioned before payment," the report says.
Treasury staff failed to question the charges for work that was described vaguely, the report says.
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Split over union law reaches Wis. court race
Breaking Legal News |
2011/04/06 09:40
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The slim margin between Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser and his challenger, JoAnne Kloppenburg, has grown slightly in favor of the incumbent as late election numbers are tallied. But the race that reflected Wisconsin's fight over union rights is still too close to call Wednesday morning. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, conservative-leaning Prosser is leading Kloppenburg by 835 votes. Final, official results could vary and a recount appears likely. The race highlights the divide in the state over Republican Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining law, which would strip public workers of nearly all their union rights. The issue, which could ultimately be decided by the state Supreme Court, has propelled the relatively unknown Kloppenburg into prominence and heightened voter interest in the election. |
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2 charged with insider trading involving law firms
Breaking Legal News |
2011/04/06 02:41
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Federal authorities have charged two men with running an insider trading scheme that netted more than $30 million with information stolen from law firms.
Garrett Bauer is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., on Wednesday afternoon. Matthew Kluger will make his first appearance in federal court in Alexandria, Va. They're accused of trading on inside information stolen from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a law firm with offices in Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong. Authorities also allege the decades-long scheme used information stolen from prominent New York law firms Cravath Swaine & Moore and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. |
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2 women sue Eaton over alleged discrimination .
Breaking Legal News |
2011/04/05 09:40
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Two women who had sales jobs with Eaton Corp. have sued the Cleveland-based manufacturer alleging gender discrimination. The two filed the class-action lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in New York City. They worked in Eaton offices in New York and New Jersey. The women allege they were paid less than male counterparts, were passed over for promotions and suffered harassment that led to one woman having a heart attack. Spokesman Scott Schroeder (SHROH'-dehr) says the company generally doesn't comment on pending lawsuits but is committed to fair and equal treatment of employees. He says Eaton doesn't discriminate. The lawsuit seeks $150 million in damages for what could be hundreds of current or former employees. The suit also seeks changes in the alleged discriminatory pay and promotion policies. |
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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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