Hartford-based Shipman & Goodwin today opened an office in Washington -- and the launch came with a major new client: The Hartford.

The Washington office will start with six lawyers, all formerly with Hogan and Hartson in Washington. It will be led by partner James P. Ruggeri, longtime national counsel for insurance coverage for The Hartford Financial Services Group.

"We join a strong existing litigation group and gain talented colleagues in Connecticut that will allow us to grow the practice and continue to provide first-rate service to The Hartford on a national basis," said Ruggeri.

Shipman and Goodwin, founded in 1919, has 140 lawyers. Besides Hartford and Washington, the firm has offices in Stamford, Greenwich and Lakeville.

"Our presence in D.C. will also be a further boost to other current firm practices with national reach, including health care, government investigations, petroleum marketing, export-import compliance and bankruptcy," said Scott Murphy, the firm's managing partner.

Law firm Wolf Popper, LLP announced Monday it has filed a class action lawsuit against investment bank Goldman Sachs on behalf of investors who purchased securities, options or common stock between August 2009 and April 2010. The suit claims Goldman Sachs did not disclose to shareholders that it was under investigation by the Securities Exchange Commission.

The SEC began investigating Goldman in 2008 for its role in the sale of a package of mortgage-related securities that were allegedly constructed and sold with the knowledge it would perform poorly. More recently, the SEC filed formal charges of fraud against the bank and one of its officials.

When the news of the SEC’s suit went public in mid-April, Goldman stock fell 13% in one day. Two weeks later, Goldman’s stock fell more than 9% in a single day.

According to Wolf Popper, Goldman never disclosed to its shareholders the SEC investigation, and knowingly misled investors to think Goldman was committed to its clients’ best interests.

The Wolf Popper press release did not specify a court date or contain any additional information on the suit.

The seven former inmates allege that Britain was complicit in their alleged abuse in the U.S. military prison camp on the southwestern tip of Cuba, as well as elsewhere, and are seeking damages from the government.

Their civil suit has yet to come to trial, but the government won a preliminary victory last year by securing the right to keep selected pieces of information secret.

Lawyers for the men said Tuesday that a three-judge panel overturned that ruling because secret evidence violated the principle of open justice.

The government has not yet indicated whether it will appeal.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by Pfizer Inc. that sought to thwart a securities lawsuit alleging the drugmaker misrepresented the safety profile of the blockbuster pain drug Celebrex.

The plaintiffs alleged that Pfizer's Pharmacia unit deliberately withheld the full results of a medical study that showed no safety advantage to using Celebrex over less expensive anti-inflammatory drugs.

Pfizer argued that investors missed a two-year statute of limitations to bring the lawsuit. The investors said there was no evidence of a possible fraud until the Washington Post published an article about missing Celebrex data in August 2001, meaning their April 2003 lawsuit was within two years of that development.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled last year that the lawsuit was not filed too late. The Supreme Court let that ruling stand without comment.

The high court's denial of Pfizer's appeal comes a week after the justices ruled unanimously that investors didn't wait too long to file securities lawsuits alleging that Merck & Co. misrepresented the safety of painkiller drug Vioxx. Pfizer's appeal had been on hold pending the outcome of the Merck case.

The Supreme Court has refused to review the case of a British woman on death row in Texas for killing a young mother.

The justices on Monday rejected an appeal from Linda Carty, who was convicted of kidnapping and killing a woman whose child she also snatched in Houston in 2001. Carty has complained that her trial lawyers were deficient.

The British government and human rights groups have aided Carty's cause.

Carty is one of 10 condemned women in Texas. She is a former teacher from St. Kitts in the British Virgin Islands.

In September, a taped voice recording of Carty begging Britons to help save her life was broadcast into London's Trafalgar Square.

Two American women charged in a global terrorism plot allegedly aimed at killing a Swedish artist are due in court in Philadelphia.

Court papers show the case is largely built on e-mails and online postings allegedly made by 46-year-old Colleen LaRose of Pennsburg and 31-year-old Jamie Paulin-Ramirez of Leadville, Colo.

The Colorado woman's defense lawyer, Jeremy Ibrahim, says he will ask Monday for copies of computer evidence. A judge may have to screen it first because prosecutors say some of it may be classified.

LaRose is also expected to enter a plea to a superseding indictment. Both women have previously pleaded not guilty. They were arrested this year after returning from Europe.