http://www.law360.com/ Latest articles for organization: Simpson Thacher Copyright 2009 Portfolio Media, Inc. en-US http://www.law360.com/images/headings/logo.gif http://www.law360.com/ http://www.law360.com/articles/135405 A federal judge has declined to allow Wells Fargo Retail Finance — as a secured creditor to certain bankrupt class members — to participate in a multibillion-dollar retailer antitrust settlement with Visa USA Inc. and MasterCard International Inc., saying that the lender was too late in filing its claim. http://www.law360.com/articles/135405 http://www.law360.com/articles/135132 The Blackstone Group's Pinnacle Foods Group LLC has reached a definitive agreement to purchase frozen food giant Birds Eye Foods Inc. for $1.3 billion. http://www.law360.com/articles/135132 http://www.law360.com/articles/135179 Conseco Inc. said on Thursday that it will offer up common stock worth roughly $230 million as the insurance company looks to pay down its debt in the wake of financial losses. http://www.law360.com/articles/135179 http://www.law360.com/articles/135123 Unsecured creditors in Idearc Inc.'s bankruptcy have settled a dispute with secured lenders over control of assets including the phone book publisher's advertising revenues and copyrights for its Yellow Pages directories, attorneys for both sides said. http://www.law360.com/articles/135123 http://www.law360.com/articles/133637 Pharmaceutical companies CSL Ltd. Co. and Baxter International Inc. are facing class action allegations that they conspired to fix the prices of plasma-derivative protein therapies. http://www.law360.com/articles/133637 http://www.law360.com/articles/133088 A federal judge has granted partial dismissal to a group of California title insurers led by Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. in an antitrust class action alleging they conspired to fix the prices of title insurance. http://www.law360.com/articles/133088 http://www.law360.com/articles/133085 Northrop Grumman Corp. has said it will sell its advisory services business TASC Inc. for $1.65 billion in cash to an investor group led by private equity firms General Atlantic LLC and affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP. http://www.law360.com/articles/133085 http://www.law360.com/articles/132662 Ethics scandals such as the arrest of a Ropes & Gray LLP associate for alleged insider trading and claims that a Troutman Sanders LLP partner scored kickbacks don't necessarily signify a BigLaw culture of corruption, even in an industry that also spawned the infamous Marc S. Dreier, but firms still need to act quickly to control the damage wrought by unscrupulous lawyers, experts said. http://www.law360.com/articles/132662 http://www.law360.com/articles/132290 After negotiating with regulators in four countries, Panasonic Corp. on Wednesday announced its plans to make a tender offer valued at a minimum of $4.5 billion to acquire all shares of its rival Sanyo Electric Co. http://www.law360.com/articles/132290 http://www.law360.com/articles/131683 A group of cable television subscribers is appealing the dismissal of a putative antitrust class action against a slew of major television programmers and cable providers — including NBC Universal Inc. and Comcast Corp. — that alleged the companies bundled programming and overcharged customers. http://www.law360.com/articles/131683 http://www.law360.com/articles/131795 Continuing to streamline the gargantuan fraud case against American International Group Inc. and its top brass, the lead plaintiff has asked the court to dismiss two former company heavyweights from the consolidated shareholder action. http://www.law360.com/articles/131795 http://www.law360.com/articles/131839 The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear Internet pharmacy Rx.com Inc.'s challenge to the dismissal of its case accusing pharmacy benefit managers Caremark Rx Inc., Medco Health Solutions Inc. and Express Scripts Inc. of violating the Sherman Act by instituting a group boycott. http://www.law360.com/articles/131839 http://www.law360.com/articles/131313 Two federal appeals court decisions that revived public nuisance suits aimed at greenhouse gas emitters could spur a flood of global warming suits, which in turn could spark fights with insurers over coverage for mounting legal costs, according to insurance lawyers. http://www.law360.com/articles/131313 http://www.law360.com/articles/130938 Shareholders who accused Washington Mutual Inc. of a massive home lending fraud have weathered an effort to get their case thrown out. http://www.law360.com/articles/130938 http://www.law360.com/articles/130919 Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. has agreed to sell parts of several of its battery-making businesses to a Fujitsu Ltd. unit for about 6.4 billion yen ($70.5 million) in order to appease antitrust concerns from international regulators over Sanyo's pending merger with Panasonic Corp. http://www.law360.com/articles/130919 http://www.law360.com/articles/130434 Investors alleging The Blackstone Group's withholding of information from them led to steep losses after its more than $4.5 billion public offering in 2007 have filed a notice of appeal of a federal judge’s dismissal of the case. http://www.law360.com/articles/130434 http://www.law360.com/articles/123997 Doing deals in bankruptcy court these days frequently entails elements of a so-called loan-to-own strategy, in which an investor makes a play for a debtor by buying into existing debt or extending Chapter 11 financing, and while those arrangements are likely to face objections, there are tactics that can help ensure they work, attorneys say. http://www.law360.com/articles/123997 http://www.law360.com/articles/129594 A federal judge has tossed the remaining class-certified claims at the named plaintiffs' own request in a suit accusing JPMorgan Chase Bank NA of numerous Employee Retirement Income Security Act violations, including its implementation of a cash balance formula in its retirement plan that allegedly constituted age discrimination. http://www.law360.com/articles/129594 http://www.law360.com/articles/129313 Members of the committees that oversaw Washington Mutual Inc.'s employee savings plan are challenging a judge's order denying their bid to toss a class action claim that they mismanaged the plan's assets by investing in the failed financial giant's own stock. http://www.law360.com/articles/129313 http://www.law360.com/articles/126165 We are already seeing distress-driven investment activity and this will continue for a while — both capital-raising for that purpose as well as the investments themselves, says James S. Seevers Jr., head of the private equity practice group at Hunton & Williams LLP. http://www.law360.com/articles/126165