http://www.law360.com/ Latest articles for organization: Paul Hastings Copyright 2009 Portfolio Media, Inc. en-US http://www.law360.com/images/headings/logo.gif http://www.law360.com/ http://www.law360.com/articles/132549 A federal judge has dismissed two defendants from an optical drive patent dispute brought by Ricoh Co. Ltd. against rival Quanta Computer Inc., slimming down the case as it inches toward trial. http://www.law360.com/articles/132549 http://www.law360.com/articles/132404 Fujifilm Corp. and Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. have convinced a judge that the sole patent asserted by plaintiff Honeywell International Inc. in a long-running lawsuit over liquid crystal display technology commonly used in devices like laptops and cell phones is invalid. http://www.law360.com/articles/132404 http://www.law360.com/articles/132212 A month after remanding eight others, a federal judge has sent two more suits in securities multidistrict litigation against Reserve Management Co. Inc. back to the New York state court where they were originally filed, saying Reserve failed to show a basis for federal jurisdiction in any of the suits. http://www.law360.com/articles/132212 http://www.law360.com/articles/132306 The ad hoc committee of noteholders in FairPoint Communications Inc.’s Chapter 11 case has asked a judge to appoint an examiner, saying the telecommunications company’s business plan and public statements leading up to its filing were unreliable due to either obfuscation or incompetence. http://www.law360.com/articles/132306 http://www.law360.com/articles/132027 Fannie Mae benefit plan committee members have asked a federal judge to dismiss a consolidated proposed class action alleging they violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by investing in Fannie Mae stock, saying the plan did not give them discretion to alter investments. http://www.law360.com/articles/132027 http://www.law360.com/articles/130155 The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments from a group of clients alleging that mutual fund manager Harris Associates LP charged excessive fees, in a case that observers say could have a dramatic effect on the fee structure of the $11.5 trillion mutual fund industry. http://www.law360.com/articles/130155 http://www.law360.com/articles/130943 A bankruptcy judge has authorized a number of FairPoint Communications Inc.’s first-day motions, granting the debt-ridden telephone company access to $75 million in debtor-in-possession financing and tweaking bankruptcy stays to reflect concerns from several states over regulatory rights. http://www.law360.com/articles/130943 http://www.law360.com/articles/123725 This term, the U.S. Supreme Court is taking on a host of major criminal cases, including litigation that focuses on the scope of a statute that has been instrumental for the government in bringing corporate fraud and public corruption suits and another case that questions whether individuals considered to be sexually dangerous can be detained after serving their prison sentences. http://www.law360.com/articles/123725 http://www.law360.com/articles/128874 Companies have been slow to adopt shareholder e-forums, citing concerns ranging from disclosure issues to costs to dealing with chat room bullies. But it appears electronic shareholder communication is here to stay, and direct shareholder electronic voting may not be far behind, attorneys say. http://www.law360.com/articles/128874 http://www.law360.com/articles/130513 Intellectual property expert Grant Kinsel has left Foley & Lardner LLP to join the Los Angeles office of international law firm Perkins Coie LLP. http://www.law360.com/articles/130513 http://www.law360.com/articles/128630 A recent court order in Hines v. Overstock.com Inc. addresses a question Internet users have debated for years: Are Web site terms and conditions of service enforceable absent explicit assent to them by a user of the Web site? The answer, of course, is that it depends, say Jane I. Song and Todd M. Schneider of Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP. http://www.law360.com/articles/128630 http://www.law360.com/articles/130239 FairPoint Communications Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection Monday after reaching an agreement with lenders that will allow the debt-ridden telephone company to shave $1.7 billion from its balance sheet. http://www.law360.com/articles/130239 http://www.law360.com/articles/130309 U.K. authorities are considering bringing civil claims or criminal charges in connection with a Nigerian bribery scheme involving Halliburton Co. and former subsidiary KBR Inc., Halliburton has disclosed. http://www.law360.com/articles/130309 http://www.law360.com/articles/130024 A group of Michigan-based AT&T Corp. call center workers has won conditional class certification in a wage-and-hour battle against the telecommunications giant. http://www.law360.com/articles/130024 http://www.law360.com/articles/118454 Bank failures are set to top the 100 mark for the first time since 1992, and private equity shops are lining up to buy. But with strict rules now in place at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the restrictions of the Bank Holding Company Act holding firm, private equity outfits will be forced to get creative to get in on the potentially lucrative sector. http://www.law360.com/articles/118454 http://www.law360.com/articles/129328 A series of companies and local governments have agreed to pay nearly $3 million combined to help clean up a former landfill on U.S. Forest Service lands near Lake Tahoe, Calif. http://www.law360.com/articles/129328 http://www.law360.com/articles/129265 A federal judge has signed off on an agreement between a Frontera Resources Corp. unit and the State Oil Co. of the Azerbaijan Republic to drop a long-running fight over a $1.24 million arbitration award in U.S. courts, in a case that prompted a U.S. federal appeals court to rethink its stance on how the due process clause applies to foreign states and their agents. http://www.law360.com/articles/129265 http://www.law360.com/articles/123087 Many deals are emanating from the restructuring group and from the slew of bankruptcies that have been filed in the last 24 months. These distressed deals will likely continue for at least another 12 to 18 months as the economy settles out and businesses get their financial footing, says Carl Sanchez, chair of Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP's global mergers and acquisitions practice group. http://www.law360.com/articles/123087 http://www.law360.com/articles/120566 The Pfizer-Wyeth and Merck-Schering-Plough deals included terms — a financing condition in the Pfizer deal and reverse breakup fees in both — usually relegated to the private equity sphere. And while the provisions may not become commonplace in strategic deals, they will almost certainly show up in negotiations, mergers and acquisitions professionals said. http://www.law360.com/articles/120566 http://www.law360.com/articles/128611 Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP has snagged an intellectual property and corporate transactional attorney from Morrison & Foerster LLP. http://www.law360.com/articles/128611