http://www.law360.com/ Latest articles for organization: Wells Fargo 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/135448 Revenue at most U.S. law firms was down significantly this year through the end of the third quarter, according to a survey by the Wachovia Legal Specialty Group. http://www.law360.com/articles/135448 http://www.law360.com/articles/135498 NTK Holdings Inc. — the parent company of heating, ventilation and consumer technology manufacturer Nortek Inc. — has received approval to retain Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP and a number of other professionals for its prepackaged bankruptcy case. http://www.law360.com/articles/135498 http://www.law360.com/articles/135314 Unsecured creditors of mortgage lender Fremont General Corp. have won bankruptcy court approval of the disclosure statement for their Chapter 11 plan, overcoming a late burst of objections from equity holders and banks. http://www.law360.com/articles/135314 http://www.law360.com/articles/134897 A group of consumers is hoping to get a breach of contract and antitrust class action certified against American Home Mortgage Securities LLC, Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. and Wells Fargo Bank over securitized adjustable rate mortgages. http://www.law360.com/articles/134897 http://www.law360.com/articles/134863 Wells Fargo & Co. has reached agreements to buy back about $1.3 billion in auction rate securities and pay a $1.9 million penalty to the state regulators that investigated allegations the bank misled customers about the riskiness of the investment. http://www.law360.com/articles/134863 http://www.law360.com/articles/134601 Trillium Asset Management Corp. has filed a breach of contract and defamation suit against two of its former vice presidents, claiming they misappropriated confidential business information belonging to the investment management firm and took it to a competitor. http://www.law360.com/articles/134601 http://www.law360.com/articles/134364 Asserting that the plaintiffs have failed to allege monopolistic practices despite ample discovery time, banks and credit unions in First Data Corp.’s Star electronic payment network have asked a judge to snuff out a long-standing proposed class action accusing the companies of fixing ATM service charges. http://www.law360.com/articles/134364 http://www.law360.com/articles/133820 Medical diagnostic testing company Quest Diagnostics Inc. announced Thursday it will offer $750 million in senior notes in a bid to buy back other outstanding debt. http://www.law360.com/articles/133820 http://www.law360.com/articles/133327 Oil and natural gas producer Swift Energy Co. said Tuesday it plans to offer $200 million of senior notes due in 2020 in a public offering, a move it said would help pay off debt and redeem its $150 million in senior notes due in 2011. http://www.law360.com/articles/133327 http://www.law360.com/articles/132739 A judge has certified a securities class action accusing circuit board maker Merix Inc. and its officers of misleading investors in connection with a 2004 stock offering, though he has approved a more limited class than the plaintiffs wanted. http://www.law360.com/articles/132739 http://www.law360.com/articles/132479 A simmering feud has led investment managers Coventry Real Estate Advisors LLC to accuse Developers Diversified Realty Corp. in a $500 million lawsuit of breaching its contractual duties and profiting on the properties it managed for the fund at the expense of investors. http://www.law360.com/articles/132479 http://www.law360.com/articles/132428 Panolam Industries Inc., a maker of laminates used for indoor surfacing, has filed for a prepackaged bankruptcy about a month after it announced that it would restructure. http://www.law360.com/articles/132428 http://www.law360.com/articles/132326 Wachovia Corp. and the underwriters and auditor of 30 of the company's public offerings have denounced a consolidated class action alleging they downplayed Wachovia’s parlous subprime exposure when selling some $35 billion bond class securities. http://www.law360.com/articles/132326 http://www.law360.com/articles/132030 Windstream Corp. will acquire rural broadband provider NuVox Inc. for $643 million in a cash-and-stock deal, the companies announced Tuesday. http://www.law360.com/articles/132030 http://www.law360.com/articles/131230 An executive at JPMorgan Chase Bank has said in a sworn statement to a California bankruptcy court that homebuilder Woodside Group LLC violated its credit agreement when it consummated a significant reorganization last year. http://www.law360.com/articles/131230 http://www.law360.com/articles/130759 Technical support workers for Wells Fargo & Co. have secured conditional certification in a wage-and-hour action alleging that the bank violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by misclassifying the employees as exempt from overtime pay. http://www.law360.com/articles/130759 http://www.law360.com/articles/130189 Days after reportedly locking Republicans out of committee meetings to avoid being forced to subpoena lending records from Countrywide Financial, U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee chairman Ed Towns, D-N.Y., announced that the committee will issue a subpoena after all. http://www.law360.com/articles/130189 http://www.law360.com/articles/129736 NTK Holdings Inc. — the parent company of heating, ventilation and consumer technology manufacturer Nortek Inc. — has filed for bankruptcy complete with a prepackaged restructuring plan, citing a crushing debt burden and slumping sales due to the collapsed housing market. http://www.law360.com/articles/129736 http://www.law360.com/articles/129765 Unsecured creditors of bankrupt satellite company ProtoStar Ltd. have sued The Bank of New York Mellon and Wells Fargo & Co., alleging they failed to prove that their liens have priority over other claims and seeking to stop them from auctioning off company assets that exist in outer space, an area of legal limbo. http://www.law360.com/articles/129765