http://www.law360.com/ Latest articles for organization: Reed Smith Copyright 2009 Portfolio Media, Inc. en-US http://www.law360.com/images/headings/logo.gif http://www.law360.com/ http://www.law360.com/articles/135492 MPC Corp., a small business computer services provider that filed for bankruptcy protection earlier in November, has filed a Chapter 11 liquidation plan that calls for all secured claims to be repaid in full and a possibility for unsecured claimants to be paid back with interest. http://www.law360.com/articles/135492 http://www.law360.com/articles/135075 A federal appeals court has found that Cell Therapeutics Inc.’s settlement of a qui tam suit should not preclude it from bringing suit seeking contractual indemnification from its reimbursement consultant for damages as part of the government’s investigation over its leukemia treatment Trisonex. http://www.law360.com/articles/135075 http://www.law360.com/articles/123728 While a steep drop in legal work has driven some law firms to hand out pink slips across the board and close offices in the U.S. and abroad, aggressive cost-cutting measures may put firms at a major disadvantage in the long run. http://www.law360.com/articles/123728 http://www.law360.com/articles/134624 A U.S. trustee has asked that a bankruptcy court hold back part of any interim compensation to professionals in the Metaldyne Corp. Chapter 11 proceedings, including Jones Day, Foley & Lardner LLP and Reed Smith LLP, until the cases are resolved. http://www.law360.com/articles/134624 http://www.law360.com/articles/134294 Reed Smith LLP has decided to require its nonequity partners in the U.S. to invest the equivalent of 15 percent of their salaries into the firm and to tie at least part of their compensation to the performance of the firm, a partner said Monday. http://www.law360.com/articles/134294 http://www.law360.com/articles/134207 West Virginia's highest court has upheld on remand its decision to overturn a $50 million verdict against Massey Energy Co. in a dispute over coal contracts, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that the court should have disqualified a judge who received campaign funds from a Massey executive. http://www.law360.com/articles/134207 http://www.law360.com/articles/134003 Four banks from around the world lodged a complaint Thursday that accuses WestLB AG of losing about $230 million of their money by mismanaging certain structured investment vehicles and engaging in blatantly self-serving behavior. http://www.law360.com/articles/134003 http://www.law360.com/articles/133514 In an anticipative move, semiconductor companies Broadcom Corp. and Atheros Communications Inc. have lodged a declaratory judgment suit against Australia's national science agency, seeking a declaration that one of the agency's patents is invalid, unenforceable and not infringed by the two companies' products. http://www.law360.com/articles/133514 http://www.law360.com/articles/133361 The plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing North American Company for Life and Health Insurance of providing customers with ambiguous and misleading notices and statements that tend to lead to lapses in life insurance policies asked a federal judge to certify the case as a class action. http://www.law360.com/articles/133361 http://www.law360.com/articles/133483 In the latest round of law firm cost cuts, Reed Smith LLP announced Tuesday it will reduce salaries for incoming first-year associates, while Covington & Burling LLP said it will freeze associate salaries outside its New York office. http://www.law360.com/articles/133483 http://www.law360.com/articles/133356 The widow of a Pennsylvania cancer victim has lost a bid to certify a class of supplemental cancer insurance policyholders but has won partial summary judgment in a suit accusing Life Investors Insurance Co. of America of wrongfully denying cancer patients payments on claims made under the policies. http://www.law360.com/articles/133356 http://www.law360.com/articles/133163 Plaintiffs are poised to begin the discovery process in the multidistrict litigation against Continental Airlines Inc. and others over a February plane crash in Clarence, N.Y., that claimed 50 lives. http://www.law360.com/articles/133163 http://www.law360.com/articles/131800 Employment lawyers have diagnosed the health care industry — and in particular, large hospitals in major metropolitan areas — as the latest area of focus for plaintiffs attorneys looking to lodge collective and class action wage-and-hour claims. http://www.law360.com/articles/131800 http://www.law360.com/articles/132320 Ceridian Corp. has asked a judge to sanction a group of truck stop owners that filed a putative class action against it over an alleged anti-competitive scheme in which Ceridian unit Comdata Corp. supposedly charged independent outfits like the plaintiffs inflated fees to process Trucker Fleet Card transactions. http://www.law360.com/articles/132320 http://www.law360.com/articles/124155 While some observers say the tactic is more marketing strategy than substance, law firms are increasingly organizing themselves into industry-specific groups, a trend that some firms say has helped them develop or maintain an edge in landing mergers and acquisitions and other corporate business, even in the recession. http://www.law360.com/articles/124155 http://www.law360.com/articles/131901 GeoStar Corp., which came under fire from investors over its side business in thoroughbred horse breeding, asked a federal court Monday to require Axis Reinsurance Co. to immediately advance the company defense costs for numerous investment fraud suits while a coverage dispute between the two parties plays out. http://www.law360.com/articles/131901 http://www.law360.com/articles/131764 The official committee of unsecured creditors in the Metaldyne Corp. bankruptcy has asked the court to toss an appeal from BDC Finance LLC, which claims the auction was really a gussied-up private mergers and acquisitions negotiation. http://www.law360.com/articles/131764 http://www.law360.com/articles/131838 The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to rehear an asbestos injury case the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit had remanded for trial in April, paving the way for AstenJohnson Inc.’s six-year-old complaint against its insurers to be heard by a jury. http://www.law360.com/articles/131838 http://www.law360.com/articles/131524 A judge has slammed the door shut on an antitrust case brought by West Penn Allegheny Health System Inc. accusing fellow hospital operator University of Pittsburgh Medical Center of monopolistic tactics, employee-raiding and collusion with insurer Highmark Inc., asserting that West Penn’s allegations are inconsistent and its requests for relief impractical. http://www.law360.com/articles/131524 http://www.law360.com/articles/124117 Globalization has caused international contracts to become increasingly standardized, but there are still major regional differences that can serve as pitfalls for lawyers, according to experts from around the globe. http://www.law360.com/articles/124117