http://www.law360.com/ Latest articles for organization: Verizon Communications Copyright 2009 Portfolio Media, Inc. en-US http://www.law360.com/images/headings/logo.gif http://www.law360.com/ http://www.law360.com/articles/132913 A judge has rejected a request by manufacturers including Honeywell International Inc., Wix Filtration Corp. and United Components Inc. to dismiss consolidated suits alleging price-fixing in the market for automotive filters under heightened pleading standards, saying the plaintiffs’ claims, which are based on eyewitness accounts, are more than sufficient to proceed in court. http://www.law360.com/articles/132913 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/132502 AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and other wireless communications heavyweights have been accused by patent-holding company Child Protect LLC of infringing two patents related to control communications between mobile devices. http://www.law360.com/articles/132502 http://www.law360.com/articles/132309 A federal judge has ruled for Verizon Communications Inc. in a proposed class action seeking up to $1 billion in additional benefits because of an alleged error in the language of the company's pension plan. http://www.law360.com/articles/132309 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/131778 A federal judge has again denied summary judgment to Neuralstem Inc. in its battle with fellow biotherapeutics company StemCells Inc. over patents related to stem cells, setting the stage for a trial. http://www.law360.com/articles/131778 http://www.law360.com/articles/131890 A federal judge has dismissed a New York attorney's lawsuit alleging Citigroup Inc. abused its dominant position in the airline special facility bond underwriting market to block the use of a new method she invented for financing airline terminal projects. http://www.law360.com/articles/131890 http://www.law360.com/articles/131699 A District of Columbia appeals court has kept a case against Motorola Inc., Verizon Wireless Inc., AT&T Corp. and others alive, reversing in part a lower court's decision to dismiss consolidated suits claiming older phones emitted dangerous amounts of radiation. http://www.law360.com/articles/131699 http://www.law360.com/articles/131582 A New York judge has ruled that policies Twin City Fire Insurance Co. provided to JPMorgan Chase & Co. require the Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. unit to pay the banking giant nearly $22 million toward its roughly $2.3 billion in settlements with bondholders of defunct WorldCom Inc. http://www.law360.com/articles/131582 http://www.law360.com/articles/130853 South Africa's competition regulator has recommended that the country's largest fixed-line phone provider, Telkom SA Ltd., pay 10 percent of its last year's revenue for allegedly taking advantage of its near-monopoly market position by charging competing Internet service providers excessive prices for services. http://www.law360.com/articles/130853 http://www.law360.com/articles/130540 Twombly confirmed that federal pleading standards are not mere formality. By requiring plaintiffs to meet their obligation to plead “enough facts” to provide defendants with fair notice of their claims, defendants can force toxic tort claimants to provide the basis for their claims — or implicitly concede the lack thereof — at the front end, say Orlyn O. Lockard III and Julie A. Lemmer of Alston & Bird LLP. http://www.law360.com/articles/130540 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/130591 Farmers Group Inc. has won its bid for an en banc review of an appeals court panel's 2-1 decision to revive a homeowner's putative class action alleging the insurer charged minorities higher premiums than their white counterparts. http://www.law360.com/articles/130591 http://www.law360.com/articles/130255 While other legal experts spoke out against the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Ashcroft v. Iqbal at a congressional hearing Tuesday, Jones Day partner Gregory G. Katsas testified that overruling the decision would lead to costly discovery on implausible claims. http://www.law360.com/articles/130255 http://www.law360.com/articles/130732 Frontier Communications Corp. has won shareholder approval to acquire Verizon Communications Inc.'s local exchange businesses in 14 states, as well as certain related customer relationships, for $5.2 billion in stock and $3.3 billion in cash. http://www.law360.com/articles/130732 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/128896 Battlestar Galactica producer Ron Moore urged the passage of rules to promote competition in video programming during a congressional hearing Thursday, arguing that media conglomerates are squeezing out independent producers. http://www.law360.com/articles/128896 http://www.law360.com/articles/129846 The Federal Communications Commission has voted unanimously to begin crafting net neutrality rules aimed at prohibiting network operators from blocking certain kinds of Web traffic. http://www.law360.com/articles/129846 http://www.law360.com/articles/129726 Constitutional law professors from Columbia Law School have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court opposing a libertarian lobbyist group and Nevada accounting firm’s challenge of the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. http://www.law360.com/articles/129726 http://www.law360.com/articles/129531 Three separate classes of current and former MCI Communications Inc. employees have requested final approval of a $3.45 million settlement in a long-running dispute accusing MCI of wrongfully withholding their regular and overtime wages. http://www.law360.com/articles/129531