Law Firms

As the number of Vioxx-related cases mounts, Merck (MRK:NYSE – commentary – research) is discovering that some of its insurers don’t want to pay for the company’s defense against the lawsuits. Merck says it will fight the insurers’ efforts to reduce or eliminate coverage. Merck disclosed the insurance battle Friday after markets had closed. It […]

The Bush White House loves to accuse critics of its tax-cut policies of engaging in “class warfare.” However, it’s hard to imagine a more egregious example of class warfare than the Bush-pushed “bankruptcy reform” bill that just cleared the U.S. Senate. This measure, S256, long sought by credit-card companies and retailers, will fall heaviest on

Prosecutors want to review Michael Jackson ‘s financial records, saying they believe serious money troubles drove the entertainer to force his accuser’s family to help him rebut a damaging television documentary. Assistant District Attorney Gordon Auchincloss requested copies of the documents Friday at a hearing that included several rulings in the singer’s child molestation case,

There is no dispute that there was fraud. There is no dispute that the accounting was questionable. There is no dispute that shareholders lost billions or that the company went bankrupt. But convicting any top executive, like Bernard J. Ebbers, the former WorldCom chief executive, is difficult. The arcana of accounting, compounded by the difficulty

A quadriplegic attorney said Wednesday he dropped his lawsuit against producers of NBC’s “The Apprentice” after executives agreed to make clear the program accepts applications from the disabled. The federal lawuit by James Schottel Jr. claimed the show’s online application discriminatorily required “excellent physical” health of would-be contestants. Schottel said new language to be added

Britain was expected to release eight terror suspects, regarded by the government as among the most dangerous in the country, as politicians continued to squabble on Friday over new terror legislation. A judge released one suspect, a 37-year-old Algerian referred to only as “A,” on bail late on Thursday and said he intended to free

Finding Baker Botts breached its fiduciary duty in connection with estate-planning work done for a wealthy widow in Kerrville, Texas, a jury in Kerr County returned a $65.5 million verdict on Feb. 25 against the Houston-based firm and other defendants. By a 10-2 vote, the jury found Baker Botts breached its fiduciary duty for failing

Not for the first time, a piece of financial regulation with a “made in Brussels” label is causing a stir in the City. Some bankers and lawyers in London’s financial district are upset about the market abuse directive, which aims to create a European Union-wide regime for preventing and detecting misdeeds such as insider trading

The driver of the sealed truck that carried 19 illegal immigrants to grisly deaths nearly two years ago in South Texas in the nation’s worst human smuggling disaster went on trial for his life here Tuesday with the government and the defense offering the jury sharply different pictures of his culpability. In his opening statement,

A man who shot himself to death during a traffic stop in Wisconsin claimed in a suicide note that he killed a federal judge’s husband and mother, a source close to the investigation told The Associated Press Thursday. Chicago Police Department spokesman David Bayless identified the man as Bart Ross. WMAQ-TV in Chicago also reported