Three years ago, West Palm Beach, Fla., plaintiffs attorney Jack Scarola was coming off a big civil fraud suit against Prudential Insurance in which three of his clients had received only $66,106 in damages and nine others had received nothing. At the time, a dejected Scarola described the verdict as “the highest-profile defeat I’ve sustained.” […]

British authorities have signed a court order after months of delay to extradite three former NatWest bankers to the US. The extradition order, requested by the Enron task force, comes after intense criticism of the Extradition Act 2003, rushed through parliament two years ago in the hope of expediting terrorist cases. The home secretary now

Jay Leno, the host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” testified today that the young accuser in the Michael Jackson child molesting trial called him several times to say he was a big fan of the talk show host, but that he never asked him for any money. Mr. Leno’s testimony did not bolster the strategy

Fourteen Republican and Democratic senators announced this evening they had reached a compromise designed to prevent a showdown over President Bush’s judicial nominations. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), speaking for the group of seven Republicans and seven Democrats, announced the agreement at a news conference at 7:40 p.m. Under the deal, the Democrats agreed to accept

Depending on the math and the time of the telling, Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz have been accused of stealing $150 million from Tyco International or “looting” the company of as much as $600 million. But when you’re sitting through their criminal trial, it can be hard to get a grip on the details. First,

The European Union’s Competition Commission chief said Monday that Microsoft must resolve antitrust violations by the end of May. “We made a deal that, before the end of the month, we would reach an agreement. We are waiting for the Microsoft people to do their homework,” European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said. Microsoft acknowledged that

Oil giant Exxon Mobil faces a payout of about 1.3 bln usd after being ordered by a US judge to compensate thousands of overcharged petrol station owners, the lawyer for the complainants said at the weekend. The judge in Miami, Alan Gold, ordered Exxon Wednesday to pay damages of 1.3 cents a gallon on gasoline

The Securities Commission and former Tranz Rail chief financial officer Mark Bloomer have settled the landmark insider trading action launched last year by the sharemarket watchdog. Bloomer has not admitted liability, but has agreed to pay $156,000 and, if requested by the commission, make himself available as a witness in the continuing litigation. The Australia-based

A British mother awarded £3m after divorcing her wealthy American husband in London has had her claim struck out by a New York court in a ruling that is expected to be seized on by spouses trying to avoid expensive divorce settlements in this country. The case was seen by US divorce lawyers as a

Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, must make it easier for developers of free programs to work with Windows by June 1 or face new European antitrust charges, people familiar with the matter said. The European Commission is threatening Microsoft with fines because the company’s response to a March 2004 order doesn’t go far