The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday that it intends to move forward quickly with key recommendations in its national broadband plan — even though a federal appeals court this week undermined the agency's legal authority to regulate high-speed Internet access.

The FCC needs that authority to push ahead with many parts of the broadband plan, which it released last month. Among them: a proposal to expand broadband by tapping the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes telephone service in poor and rural areas.

The FCC laid out its 2010 "broadband action agenda" without indicating how it will proceed in light of the court ruling. But the agency says it will ensure it has the legal authority it needs for its sweeping plan to increase broadband usage and Internet speeds.

Senate Democrats have rejected a Republican effort to delay a hearing for a liberal appeals court nominee, making clear they are ready for a partisan fight.

A hearing for University of California-Berkeley, law professor Goodwin Liu will go on as scheduled April 16, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said Wednesday. He said Republicans were unwilling to "put political rancor aside" to debate the nomination, which will test President Obama's ability to fill court seats with liberals as well as moderates.

All seven committee Republicans had asked for a delay. In a letter sent Tuesday, they wrote Leahy arguing Liu's belated responses to a committee questionnaire justified a delay in the hearing for the nominee to a San Francisco-based appeals court.

But Leahy, D-Vt., wrote the panel's senior Republican, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, that he had already postponed the hearing twice — once due to a Republican request and then because of GOP stalling tactics.

The chairman said he was disappointed that "we have seen the same delays and obstructionist approach toward these nominees on the Senate floor extend to the committee's consideration."

If confirmed, Liu would serve on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals serving California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Hawaii and Montana.

Argentina quickly said it would file a court appeal after a U.S. federal judge ruled Wednesday that bondholders can seize $105 million in Argentine central bank deposits held in the United States.

A bank spokesman told The Associated Press that Argentina was optimistic because similar rulings had been overturned.

The decision, nevertheless, drove down Argentine bond prices just as the cash-strapped government prepares a $20 billion debt-swap offer in hopes of satisfying the bondholders and ending the lawsuits.

Argentina has been in a seemingly endless legal battle with bondholders who refused to accept about 30 cents on the dollar for debt they bought before the country's record $95 billion default in 2002.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Griesa in New York said Argentina is willfully defying its legal obligations and "has thus enmeshed the court in years of wasteful litigation with no end in sight."

More threatening for Argentina is the basis for his ruling: that President Cristina Fernandez has proven through her actions that the country's Central Bank lacks independence. That could expose Argentina's funds to other seizures, and increase the perception around the world that the country is a risky place to invest.

The judge issued the order at the request of the hedge fund firm Elliott Management Corp. and an affiliated company, NML Capital Ltd.

Big blue-chip law firms are losing potentially lucrative assignments to smaller firms even as the industry sees a spike in lawsuits against banks stemming from the financial crisis.

The reason for the change: ethics rules that govern conflicts of interest for lawyers and their firms.

Law firms usually can't sue or investigate banks that they have represented, unless the clients take the unusual step of waiving the conflict. Thus, many small to midsize firms, which count fewer banks as defense clients, are filling a growing demand for conflict-free lawyers able to file lawsuits against banks.

Litigation against banks includes claims that they misstated the value of mortgage-related securities or reneged on financing agreements. Ambac Assurance Corp. recently sued a unit of Credit Suisse Group, alleging the securities firm made misleading representations about attributes of home-equity lines of credit backing bonds the insurer guaranteed. A Credit Suisse spokesman says the suit lacks merit. Last year, MBIA Insurance Corp. sued Countrywide Financial Corp., now owned by Bank of America Corp, claiming it misrepresented the quality of mortgage-backed securities. Bank of America declined to comment.

Consolidation in the banking business has made it only harder for law firms to handle lawsuits against banks. It is increasingly difficult, lawyers said, for firms to find a major bank they haven't represented at some point. As a result, they are bumping up against the conflict-of-interest rules formulated by the American Bar Association and state bar groups.

Senate Democrats have rejected a Republican effort to delay a hearing for a liberal appeals court nominee, making clear they are ready for a partisan fight.

A hearing for University of California-Berkeley, law professor Goodwin Liu will go on as scheduled April 16, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said Wednesday. He said Republicans were unwilling to "put political rancor aside" to debate the nomination, which will test President Obama's ability to fill court seats with liberals as well as moderates.

All seven committee Republicans had asked for a delay. In a letter sent Tuesday, they wrote Leahy arguing Liu's belated responses to a committee questionnaire justified a delay in the hearing for the nominee to a San Francisco-based appeals court.

But Leahy, D-Vt., wrote the panel's senior Republican, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, that he had already postponed the hearing twice — once due to a Republican request and then because of GOP stalling tactics.

The chairman said he was disappointed that "we have seen the same delays and obstructionist approach toward these nominees on the Senate floor extend to the committee's consideration."

If confirmed, Liu would serve on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals serving California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Hawaii and Montana.

A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida had correctly dismissed the case brought by Linda Guinn, a former legal secretary from Palm Bay, Fla., in her early 60s.

Before that case was to go to trial, AstraZeneca successfully argued in January 2009, before District Judge Anne Conway, that Guinn's doctor did not qualify as an expert under federal court rules and so her testimony should be excluded. The drugmaker also persuaded the judge to grant a summary judgment motion in its favor, arguing that Guinn failed to establish that Seroquel caused her diabetes.

The 11th Circuit Court, based in Atlanta, upheld those decisions.

"The appeals court decision echoes earlier federal and state court opinions that found Seroquel could not be proven to be responsible for plaintiffs' alleged injuries," AstraZeneca spokesman Tony Jewell said in a statement.