Legal News

By David McLaughlin and Thom Weidlich – Dec 12, 2011 12:00 AM ET Ex-Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair is a top candidate among state officials to ensure banks comply with any settlement of a nationwide foreclosure probe, a person familiar with the matter said. Bair, who led the FDIC from 2006 until this year, [...]

By Linda Sandler – Dec 9, 2011 9:23 AM ET The Commodity Futures Trading Commission defended a planned $2.1 billion payout to U.S. commodity customers by the trustee liquidating the MF Global Inc. brokerage, saying customer claims take priority over all other claims. The third transfer by trustee James Giddens, which a judge will consider in Manhattan bankruptcy [...]

By Kit Chellel and Susannah Nesmith – Dec 9, 2011 3:59 AM ET Todd Kozel, the founder and chief executive officer of Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (GKP), said he may have to pay a $6 million fine to U.S. tax authorities because he didn’t declare overseas accounts and trusts. The penalty came to light when Kozel’s [...]

By Nancy Kercheval and Karen Gullo – Dec 9, 2011 1:05 AM ET Barry Bonds, Major League Baseball’s career home-run record holder convicted of obstructing a U.S. probe of steroid use by professional athletes, should serve 15 months in prison, U.S. prosecutors said. Prosecutors, in a filing yesterday in federal court in San Francisco, said they disagreed [...]

By Tom Schoenberg and Sara Forden – Dec 9, 2011 12:01 AM ET AT&T Inc. (T) may be questioned at a federal court hearing in Washington on whether it plans to move ahead with its proposed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile USA (DTE) Inc. in the face of growing resistance from U.S. regulators. AT&T will appear [...]

By Heather Smith – Dec 8, 2011 9:45 AM ET Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) failed to win a court order blocking Apple Inc. (AAPL) from selling its newest smartphone, the iPhone 4S, in France. The Paris court rejected Samsung’s request for an emergency order against Apple while it considers the South Korean company’s patent-infringement claims. Samsung, [...]

By Jef Feeley and Phil Milford – Dec 8, 2011 8:47 AM ET Education Management Corp. (EDMC), the second-largest U.S. for-profit college chain, should be forced to defend a lawsuit alleging its recruiting policies helped the company wrongfully secure more than $11 billion in student aid, government lawyers said in a court filing. U.S. officials [...]

By Karen Gullo – Dec 8, 2011 12:00 AM ET Same-sex marriage foes in California are set to ask a federal appeals court to throw out a judge’s ruling that struck down the state’s gay marriage ban because he didn’t disclose that he was gay and in a long-term relationship. Former U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, [...]

By Daniel Ten Kate and Suttinee Yuvejwattana – Dec 7, 2011 10:43 PM ET A U.S. citizen will serve two and a half years in a Thai prison for translating an unauthorized biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and posting it on a website, according to a court ruling. Joe Wichai Commart Gordon, who was born in Thailand, [...]

By Debra Mao – Dec 7, 2011 3:57 AM ET Citic Pacific Ltd. (267)’s officers didn’t know the implications of the company’s currency exposure when they failed to disclose potential losses, a lawyer for the steelmaker and property developer told a Hong Kong court. “In contracts of this complexity, how can you decide within two days [...]

By Edvard Pettersson – Dec 7, 2011 12:04 AM ET The Los Angeles Dodgers asked a bankruptcy judge to approve its settlement agreement with Major League Baseball outlining the terms of how the team will be sold. The sale will include the team, its future telecast rights and Dodger Stadium, lawyers for the Dodgers said in the [...]

By Joel Rosenblatt – Dec 7, 2011 12:01 AM ET Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) was barred by a federal judge from using Basis International Ltd.’s “BBX” trademark at an industry conference in Asia that begins today. U.S. District Judge William P. Johnson in Albuquerque, New Mexico, yesterday ruled that Research in Motion can’t use [...]

By Andrew Harris – Dec 7, 2011 12:01 AM ET Ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, convicted of political corruption, is set today to address the judge who rejected his claim that he deserves leniency because he never collected money in exchange for official acts. A lawyer for Blagojevich told U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel in Chicago [...]

By Phil Milford – Dec 6, 2011 9:55 AM ET Bank of America Corp. (BAC) reached a $315 million settlement with class action plaintiffs who sued its Merrill Lynch unit over claims tied to mortgage-backed securities, according to a filing in Manhattan federal court. Merrill Lynch was sued beginning in December 2008 by asset- backed certificate [...]

By Aoife White and Erik Larson – Dec 6, 2011 9:06 AM ET Apple Inc. (AAPL), the world’s biggest technology company, and five e-book publishers are being investigated by European Union antitrust regulators over deals that may restrict sales across the region. The probe targets the iPad-maker’s deals with Lagardere SCA (MMB)’s Hachette Livre, News Corp. (NWSA)’s [...]

By Andrew Harris – Dec 6, 2011 8:21 AM ET Ex-Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, convicted of political corruption charges including the attempted sale of President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat, faces sentencing by a federal judge. Prosecutors have asked U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel to send the twice-elected Democrat to prison for 15 to [...]

By Andrea Tan – Dec 5, 2011 11:31 PM ET Morgan Stanley (MS), accused by 18 Singapore investors of fraudulently wiping out their $154.7 million investment, denied wrongdoing and said the group was sophisticated and knew of the risks involved. The bank acted in good faith and shouldn’t be liable for losses suffered by the [...]

By Kit Chellel – Dec 5, 2011 8:49 AM ET Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) faces a claim that may be worth billions of dollars in a lawsuit with investment fund Sebastian Holdings Inc. over failed foreign exchange transactions. Sebastian said in court papers filed in London that Germany’s largest bank allowed a trader to breach currency- [...]

By Erik Larson – Dec 5, 2011 7:12 AM ET Julian Assange, founder of the anti- secrecy website WikiLeaks, will be able to ask the U.K. Supreme Court to block his extradition to Sweden after judges today rejected his request to appeal the sexual-assault case. Assange would have to petition the U.K. Supreme Court directly on [...]

By Susan Decker – Dec 5, 2011 12:01 AM ET For two years, Apple Inc. (AAPL) has told the world that phones running on Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android operating system are iPhone rip-offs. Now Apple is about to learn whether a U.S. trade agency thinks its claims have merit. The International Trade Commission is set to rule [...]