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The article discusses businessman Paul Bilzerian's efforts to evade attempts by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to collect on a $62 million judgment against him following his 1989 conviction on securities-fraud charges. Details are presented on how Bilzerian and relatives including his wife, Terri Steffen, appear to have hidden assets from the SEC, which in 2014 said it was abandoning its pursuit of the money.

The article discusses a U.S. court ruling which concerns the illegal collection of domestic communications without sufficient privacy protection by the U.S. National Security Agency as of August 2013. Topics include U.S. national security, citizen privacy laws, and types of communications including Internet and telephone communications.

The article reports that U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton ruled that pharmaceutical industry firms which are wholesale drug distributors have a legal duty to monitor transactions to determine if prescription drugs are being diverted for drug traffic. Walton's judgment was in favor of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) action suspending the license of a distribution facility of Cardinal Health Inc.

The article reports that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of an Arizona law that gave the state the power to revoke charters or licenses of business enterprises which repeatedly employ alien labor lacking work permits. The law also requires employers to use a U.S. electronic database to verify the legal status of employees.

The article reports that Ecuadoran Judge Nicolas Zambrano ordered oil company Chevron Corp. to pay $8.6 billion to repair environmental damage to Ecuador's rain forest. The damages are in connection with oil company Texaco Inc.'s operations in Ecuador between 1965 and 1992. Chevron, which bought Texaco in 2001, vows to appeal.

The article reports that U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson ruled unconstitutional a provision of federal health-care-reform legislation that imposes a penalty on those who do not purchase health insurance. The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama said it may appeal the ruling. Hudson's decision won't immediately affect implementation of the law, but could fortify Republican efforts to curtail it.

The article discusses the impact on the software-maintenance industry of a $1.3 billion legal verdict won by software firm Oracle Corp. against rival SAP AG. Oracle has sued over the actions of an SAP unit that serviced Oracle products. Companies such as Versytec LLC that provide software support are finding concern among customers about potential legal problems.

The article discusses efforts by authorities to locate assets belonging to former HealthSouth Corp. chief executive Richard Scrushy. A June, 2009 Alabama state court ruling directed Scrushy to pay shareholders some $2.88 billion for his involvement in a HealthSouth accounting scandal. it is unclear how much Scrushy is worth, and his attorney denies that Scrushy has illegally transferred assets to others.

The article reports that Alabama judge Allwin Horn made a $2.88 billion civil judgment against Richard Scrushy, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HealthSouth Corp., in a fraud suit brought by stockholders of that company. Scrushy is already serving a federal prison sentence on a 2006 bribery conviction.

The article presents information on a ruling by United States District Judge Cormac Carney and its implications. Carney found that the law firm Irell & Manella LLP had erred. The error involved a corporate executive who thought the law firm was representing him as well as his company. However, the law firm was not representing the executive, and failed to make this clear to him.

The author comments on the rulings of the Supreme Court on the case Fisher v. University of Texas wherein student Abigail Fisher filed a lawsuit against the school for denial of admission.

The article reports that in the U.S. judges have approved a 1 billion dollars plus payout to victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme and those who invested with New York money manager J. Ezra Merkin.

The author discusses the request of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for in-house administrative-law judges to decide in its favor during agency enforcement proceedings in 2015.

The article reports the move by the Constitutional Court of Spain in mid-November 2015 to prevent the Catalonian regional parliament from advancing efforts toward independence.

The author discusses the court case, Harris v. Quinn, in which the U.S. Supreme Court dumped various measures favoring the labor unions.

The article reports on the disagreement of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on the decision of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Edward J. McLaughlin to release and enter defendant Tyrone Howard, charged in the fatal shooting of police officer Randolph Holder, in a court program for drug addiction.

The article reports on the components of two gun laws that expand the definition of prohibited automatic and semiautomatic weapons that were upheld by the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.

The article reports the ruling by jury in the U.S. District Court in Madison, Wisconsin in mid-October 2015, ordering technology firm Apple Inc. to pay the University of Wisconsin 234 million dollars for its illegal use of the school's processor technology to power some of its smartphone models.

The article reports on the second partial verdict delivered by the jurors over the case involving the former executives of law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP on charges of financial fraud wherein the executives were cleared from the counts of falsification.

The article discusses the decision of Tehran Court against the case of newspaper "Washington Post" correspondent Jason Rezaian who was detained by Iranian authorities along with his wife and a photographer on July 22, 2014 for spying and spreading propaganda against the Iranian system.

The article reports on the failure of the jurors at a New York jury to reach a unanimous decision on the case against the executives of global law firm Dewey and LeBoeuf LLP who committed financial fraud.

The article discusses difficulties facing Apollo Management LP. The firm is under court order to make its best effort to conclude a $6.5 billion purchase of Hunstman Corp. A separate court ruling, though, refused to extend a lending commitment Apollo had with Credit Suisse Group AG and Deutsche Bank. If Apollo can't find alternative funding, it could be liable for billions of dollars in damages.

The article reports that the U.S. Supreme Court set aside a lower court ruling that would have required officials in Ohio to more carefully examine information from thousands of newly registered voters. Republicans had sought greater vigilance, alleging that Democrats have tried to register ineligible voters. Democrats reply that Republicans are trying to suppress vote totals.

The article reports that the California Supreme Court ruled that the state law banning marriages between same-sex couples was a violation of the state's constitution. It also ruled that the civil unions allowed under the law did not afford equal rights to same-sex couples. The ruling makes California the second U.S. state after Massachusetts to legalize gay marriage. A constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage is on the California ballot in the November, 2008 election.

The article reports that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that an Indiana law requiring voters to display photographic identification did not violate the Constitution. The ruling may marginally affect voter turnout in the 2008 elections. There is little evidence that voter fraud exists to any extent or that photo-ID laws prevent a significant number of citizens from voting.

The article reports on a January 16, 2008 meeting between U.S. Supreme Court justices and patent owners in the U.S. A discussion of changes in the way the Supreme Court has handled patent law and rulings concerning patent owners, and of Supreme court decisions that have reduced the power that patent owners, including Microsoft Inc. and eBay, have, is presented.

The article focuses on lawyers for homeowner victims of Hurricane Katrina who won legal cases against insurance companies, and on a reversal of the judgments in the cases which a federal appeals court has implemented. The judgment has resulted in the insurance companies, including Allstate Corp and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. paying out hundreds of millions of dollars less than they had expected to to affected homeowners.

The article reports on an October 4, 2007 legal ruling by a Munich, Germany court in a case against Siemens AG. The ruling found that the company paid millions of euros in bribes to cabinet ministers and dozens of other officials in Nigeria, Russia and Libya in order to win lucrative contracts for telecommunication equipment. The ruling resulted in Siemens accepting responsibility for the bribery and paying a 201 million euro fine.

The author reports that it has yet to be decided how the $4.85 billion settlement against Merck & Co. Inc. regarding the medication Vioxx will be shared between the various plaintiffs. According to the article, plaintiffs may receive between anywhere between $50,000 and one million dollars. The author reports that questions regarding the impact of a person's age and health on their individual settlement have yet to be answered.

The article reports on renewed opposition to school integration which is being seen in 2007 in school districts in many states, including Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Arizona following a June 2007 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that found that two race based enrollment plans were unconstitutional.

The article focuses on the impact a disclosure of emails by company engineer Viji Raveendran of computer chip manufacturer Qualcomm Inc. has had on the company's legal battle with Broadcom Corp. The emails contained information about a key issue in the case which had not been shared by the company's attorneys with Broadcom, and their disclosure resulted in a judge's decision to rule against Qualcomm. A discussion of other companies that have had problems with emails in legal cases is presented.

The article reports on a September 2007 ruling from the Luxembourg based Court of First Instance which said that the European Commission acted properly in 2004 when it found that Microsoft Corp. had abused its position in the country by improperly bundling a media player with its Windows operating system and denying information to its competitors. A discussion of reaction to the ruling from other U.S. companies, including Intel, that are involved in European antitrust fights, is presented.

The article reports on an April 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of KSR v. Teleflex that makes it easier for lower court judges to call an invention obvious and make it ineligible for a patent, and makes it easier for the judges to rule in favor of companies defending themselves against infringement lawsuits. A discussion of the impact the decision had in a San Francisco,California lawsuit and may have on future patent infringement lawsuits is presented.

The article focuses on the cessation of a snowmaking plan which was developed by the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort in Arizona which would have used treated wastewater from Flagstaff, Arizona. The cessation of the program was the result of a ruling from a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which argued that the program should be stopped because mountaintops involved in the plan are sacred to members of a Navajo tribe and 12 other Indian tribes.

The article reports on a 2007 3-2 decision from New York's Supreme Court which will allow former New York Stock Exchange Chief Dick Grasso to keep his $187.5 million pay package. Grasso had been fighting New York state since 2004 over whether the package violated the state law on not-for-profit companies. A planned state appeal to the court decision is discussed.

The article reports on the impact the case of Alparslan Arslan has had on the Muslim residents of Turkey. Aslan, a lawyer, was found guilty of murdering Judge Mustafa Yücel O¨zbilgin. The murder was in response to a legal decision in which O¨zbilgin and four other judges ruled that kindergarten teacher Aytac Kilinc was rightfully denied a promotion because she wore a Muslim headscarf near a school, and by doing so set a bad example for impressionable students in a secular state.

This article describes a new service run by Bill Green that mediates disputes within fantasy sports leagues. Occasionally, transactions between teams in a fantasy league can elicit charges of collusion if other owners believe the transaction disproportionately favors one team. Green's website, fantasydispute.com, offers to hear both sides and issue a verdict for a $9.95 fee.

The article discusses the legal case of the Haute Diggity Dog company which was sued for trademark infringement by Louis Vuitton Malletier SA of Paris after it put the name Chewy Vuitton on its stuffed dog toys and dog-bed pillows. A federal court in Virginia sided with Haute Diggity Dog but the company still encountered legal bills of more than $200,000.

This article discusses the legal battle going on between former New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) head Richard Grasso and the State of New York and its attorney general Eliot Spitzer. Grasso has been ordered by Judge Charles E. Ramos to return up to $100 million dollars to the NYSE. The court has ruled that the amount paid to Grasso in a compensation package was unreasonably high for a not-for-profit organization. Grasso has appealed the ruling and says that he will fight the case as far as he must.

This article describes the effect of a federal court ruling on cigarette advertising. Unless overturned on appeal, the ruling will force cigarette makers to eliminate the use of words such as "light" and "low-tar" from ads and cigarette names. Phillip Morris USA will have to change Marlboro Lights and Ultra Lights and R.J. Reynolds will have to change Camel Lights. Cigarette makers will need to be careful not to make smokers suspicious that other aspects of the cigarettes have also changed. INSET: Up in Smoke.

This article discusses a decision supporting white-collar defendants by a judge in the KPMG LLP accounting fraud case that prosecutors cannot violate the due process of indicted employees by pressuring their employers to refuse to pay their legal fees. At issue was a 2003 memorandum that advised U.S. attorneys that prosecutors could see a company's payment of legal fees as a sign of lack of cooperation. Legal fees can affect the decision of defendants to plead guilty or fight.

The author reports that Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. has hired a new legal team to try to convince a Florida state court of appeals to overturn the $1.58 billion verdict it was hit with in May of 2005. Details related to Morgan Stanley's recent quarterly earnings are reviewed. According to the author, the court could take weeks to hand down a decision.

The article reports that Judge J. Michael Luttig, 51, has resigned from the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals following a clash with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The judge had recently written a landmark opinion which agreed with the Bush administration's claims regarding the holding without charge of accused terrorist Jose Padilla; now the administration is planning to file charges in a federal court. Luttig plans to work as general counsel for Boeing Co., located in Chicago.

This article discusses the recent Federal Appeals Court decision that overturned the conviction of investment banker, Frank Quattrone, for criminal obstruction-of-justice. The charges stem from Quattrone's email to employees urging them to clean up their files just after he was advised of an investigation of initial public offerings at his firm. The conviction was overturned because the judge's jury instructions failed to connect the email with an intent to obstruct.

The article reports that $709 million put in escrow by tobacco companies in a Florida lawsuit may be up for grabs. The class action suit, tried between 1998 and 2000, led to the largest punitive-damages award in U.S. history. An appeal in 2003 overturned the ruling and questioned the wisdom of trying the case as a class action. If the U.S. Supreme Court upholds that ruling, the tobacco companies will be reluctant to disperse the money to a group that does not legally exist. INSET: Up in Smoke?.

The article reports that, following a decision by the Illinois Supreme Court to throw out an earlier $10 billion class-action lawsuit against Altria Group Inc., the company's share price rose 4%, with a total increase over the last year of 32%. Altria is one of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The future of the company was uncertain due to an award to plaintiffs in a lower court verdict against the tobacco company's Philip Morris USA division. The article discusses the impact of the new verdict and the boost in stock price on some of the company's biggest investors.

The article reports that the Illinois Supreme Court will shortly issue its decision on a $10.1 billion verdict against Altria Group Inc., a unit of Philip Morris USA, in what is known as the Price case after lead plaintiff Sharon Price. A whole class of antitobacco litigation would be crippled by a victory for the nation's largest cigarette concern. Moreover, Altria's plans for a long-awaited breakup of the company would be quickened. The lawsuit alleges consumer fraud in the sale of "light" cigarettes, claiming that Philip Morris defrauded more than one million smokers of Marlboro Lights and Cambridge Lights by suggesting that these cigarettes were less hazardous than full-flavor, higher-tar brands. In 2003 the smokers were awarded $10.1 billion and Philip Morris appealed the verdict.

The article reports that Grokster Inc. shut down due to a legal settlement with the music industry. The company allowed users to illegally download copyrighted songs. The music industry is now allowed to sue file sharing businesses according to a Supreme Court ruling. The decision by Grokster, a leader in the battle against the music industry, will certainly affect other companies with file sharing sites. These companies may need to go legitimate or move offshore. The article provides details of the settlement between Grokster and the music industry. However, it is suggested that this settlement will probably not affect illegal file-sharing to any great extent since an average of 6.7 million people in the U.S. file share at any given time.

The article discusses the judicial record of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Legal experts suggest that his decisions on business and regulatory issues on the Third Circuit court in Philadelphia will have a significant impact on his nomination process. He has heard many business-related cases because his territory on the Third Circuit included Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, all states where corporations and industry have a large presence. Several examples of business cases are presented, included a 1997 dissent in which Judge Alito argued against a race discrimination claim and a 1997 case where he supported the dismissal of a shareholder class action.

Reports on the controversy surrounding the works of Mexican-born 20th-century surrealist painter Remedios Varo. Review of how the Mexican government has declared a collection of Varo's 39 best works a national treasure in the effort to keep them in Mexico; Court order requesting that the works be handed over to the artist's niece, who Varo barely knew; Author's view that anyone who steps inside a Mexican courtroom enters a world of unpredictable consequences.