http://www.law360.com/ Latest articles for organization: Sullivan & Cromwell Copyright 2009 Portfolio Media, Inc. en-US http://www.law360.com/images/headings/logo.gif http://www.law360.com/ http://www.law360.com/articles/135279 Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil ASA has agreed to pay $21 million to the U.S. government to settle charges stemming from a 2002 contract with Horton Investments Ltd. that was allegedly a cover to send bribes to Iran. http://www.law360.com/articles/135279 http://www.law360.com/articles/134969 The federal antitrust waiting period for Xerox Corp.’s proposed acquisition of outsourcing firm Affiliated Computer Services Inc. has expired, moving the $6.4 billion deal one step closer to completion. http://www.law360.com/articles/134969 http://www.law360.com/articles/134373 Microsoft Corp. has traded more barbs with Novell Inc. in that company's ongoing lawsuit accusing Microsoft of blocking competition in the computer operating systems market, alleging Novell lost the right to bring claims when it sold its software to another company. http://www.law360.com/articles/134373 http://www.law360.com/articles/134290 With lenders' blessing, U.S. mattress manufacturer Simmons Bedding Co. entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday, aiming for a speedy turnaround under a plan that would halve its debt and, for $760 million, transfer ownership to equity investors who also control the maker of rival mattress line Serta. http://www.law360.com/articles/134290 http://www.law360.com/articles/134062 The shakeup in the legal industry in the past year has left some prominent firms less beloved by corporate counsel, according to a new report. http://www.law360.com/articles/134062 http://www.law360.com/articles/134057 They are said to look down their noses at litigation deemed too simple, charge steep fees and give off an aura of haughtiness in court. Eight firms were mentioned most by Fortune 1000 corporate counsel when asked which law firms are most arrogant, according to a new report. http://www.law360.com/articles/134057 http://www.law360.com/articles/134100 British Airways PLC and Iberia Group have agreed to join forces to create what they say will be Europe's largest airline, valued at $7.46 billion. http://www.law360.com/articles/134100 http://www.law360.com/articles/133880 Swedish telecommunications company TeliaSonera and Russian conglomerate Alfa Group announced Thursday that they would form a new U.S.-listed company by combining their ownership stakes in two cell phone operators — a move that could help the companies resolve ongoing legal disputes. http://www.law360.com/articles/133880 http://www.law360.com/articles/131439 The recession has prompted some large firms to be more conservative about promoting associates to partner in 2009, and that emerging trend may be one of the long-term impacts of the downturn, according to legal industry observers. http://www.law360.com/articles/131439 http://www.law360.com/articles/133530 Despite some admittedly ambiguous grammar in an indemnity policy issued by The Travelers Cos. Inc., a federal appeals court has ruled that the insurer is not obligated to cover Payless Shoesource Inc.'s claims arising from a settled state class action over unpaid off-the-clock wages. http://www.law360.com/articles/133530 http://www.law360.com/articles/133704 Bankrupt commercial lender CIT Group Inc. has asked the court to approve Sullivan & Cromwell LLP as special counsel and Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP as conflicts counsel, following the appointment of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP as lead counsel. http://www.law360.com/articles/133704 http://www.law360.com/articles/133506 A federal judge allowed some claims to go forward Tuesday in multidistrict litigation that targets baby bottle and “sippy cup” makers over their use of bisphenol A, saying the companies cannot escape liability because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has determined that the chemical may safely be used as a food additive. http://www.law360.com/articles/133506 http://www.law360.com/articles/133406 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has said it will sell off Norfolk Southern Corp. and Union Pacific Railroad Co. as part of its $34 billion acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. in a bow to antitrust concerns over the deal. http://www.law360.com/articles/133406 http://www.law360.com/articles/132911 AT&T Inc. has completed its $944 million acquisition of Centennial Communications Corp. following conditional approval of the deal by the Federal Communications Commission, which demanded certain divestitures over competition concerns. http://www.law360.com/articles/132911 http://www.law360.com/articles/132687 The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has asked a bankruptcy court to modify the automatic stay for Washington Mutual Inc. to allow the agency — the receiver for WaMu's banking unit — to compel JPMorgan Chase & Co. to turn over roughly $4 billion in deposits while the three figure out to whom the money belongs. http://www.law360.com/articles/132687 http://www.law360.com/articles/122766 As the economy returns to health, more companies with funding will prepare for the next stretch of prosperity by acquiring distressed businesses. Unfortunately for sellers, valuations of those businesses will not match what their stakeholders had hoped they would be just 18 months ago, says Bruce Raphael, co-chair of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP's mergers and acquisitions practice group. http://www.law360.com/articles/122766 http://www.law360.com/articles/132593 Investment firm TPG Capital LP and Canada-based pension manager CPP Investment Board will acquire IMS Health Inc., a provider of market intelligence to the health care and pharmaceutical industries, in a leveraged buyout deal valued at $5.2 billion. http://www.law360.com/articles/132593 http://www.law360.com/articles/132660 A pension fund that sued VeriFone Holdings Inc. for allegedly overstating its income for three 2007 quarters by more than $37 million is opposing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed settlement related to the alleged fraud. http://www.law360.com/articles/132660 http://www.law360.com/articles/132160 A federal appeals court has reversed a judgment in favor of Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, finding that a lower court should not have shut out two Imation Corp. subsidiaries from a patent license agreement between Imation and Philips over information storage and retrieval technology. http://www.law360.com/articles/132160 http://www.law360.com/articles/131992 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. announced Tuesday it will pay $34 billion in cash and stock to become the sole owner of railway operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the biggest acquisition in the conglomerate's history. http://www.law360.com/articles/131992