Recent Updates
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US top court upholds $270 million award to smokers
Lawyer Blogs 06/28/2011The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal request made by American tobacco companies on Monday in a class-action lawsuit that awarded 500,000 smokers a total of $270 million in damages.Without comment, the highest US court dismissed the appeal of a 200...
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High court strikes down Ariz. campaign finance law
Lawyer Blogs 06/27/2011The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a provision of a campaign financing system in Arizona that gives extra cash to publicly funded candidates who face privately funded rivals and independent groups. The 5-4 ruling is the latest in a series of dec...
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Court: Calif. Can't Ban Violent Video Game Sales
Lawyer Blogs 06/27/2011The high court agreed Monday with a federal court's decision to throw out California's ban on the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Sacramento said the law violated minors' rights under the Firs...
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FTC opens inquiry into Google's business practices
Lawyer Blogs 06/25/2011Federal regulators have begun a formal antitrust investigation into Google's business practices.In a blog post Friday, the Internet search giant said it received notification from the Federal Trade Commission of the review on Thursday.Google said "it...
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N.Y. governor signs gay marriage into law
Lawyer Blogs 06/25/2011Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed New York's gay marriage bill, starting what is expected to be a crush of gay weddings starting in 30 days. The Democratic governor signed the measure shortly before midnight Friday, following up on a promise to put his na...
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Judge orders investigators to give Clemens notes
Lawyer Blogs 06/24/2011The authors of the Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball were ordered to give pitching legend Roger Clemens more of the evidence they used to accuse him of using steroids and human growth hormone.U.S. District Judge ...
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'Phantom of the Fox' to stay in theatre apartment
Lawyer Blogs 06/22/2011Lawyers say a settlement has been reached to allow Joe Patten, known as the "Phantom of the Fox," to live out the rest of his days in his Fox Theatre apartment.When the Fox in Atlanta was threatened with demolition in the 1970s, Patten led efforts to...
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Pa. kidnap hoax mom pleads guilty in fraud case
Lawyer Blogs 06/22/2011A white suburban woman who staged a hoax kidnapping of her and her daughter and blamed it on two black men before flying to Disney World admitted Tuesday that she fled after swindling a huge sum of money from her ex-boss and an elderly relative.Bonni...
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US court reconsiders ruling on Arizona voter law
Lawyer Blogs 06/21/2011The latest court battle between Arizona and the federal government is being fought in a Pasadena, Calif., courtroom where an appeals court will hear arguments Tuesday on whether the state can require proof of citizenship to register to vote. An 11-ju...
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Supreme Court limits Wal-Mart sex bias case
Lawyer Blogs 06/20/2011The Supreme Court on Monday blocked a massive sex discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart on behalf of women who work there. The court ruled unanimously that the lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cannot proceed as a class action, reversing a decis...
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Woman pleads guilty in border cash smuggling case
Lawyer Blogs 06/19/2011A woman has pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle more than $930,000 in cash across the Arizona border and into her native Mexico. Federal prosecutors say 25-year-old Judith Angelica Ayala-Partida pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in ...
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Ohio court investigating lawyer who tipped Tressel
Lawyer Blogs 06/15/2011The attorney whose email tip to Jim Tressel launched a scandal that led to his forced resignation as Ohio State's football coach and possible NCAA discipline for the school is being investigated for legal misconduct by the Ohio Supreme Court. Sanctio...