It's been seven years since 13 southern Illinois water districts sued the makers of a farm herbicide, yet the case languishes in Madison County Circuit Court.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports that Judge Bill Mudge is the seventh to preside over the case.

The Holiday Shores Sanitary District was one of the water districts suing Syngenta, maker of atrazine. The herbicide is used on corn and grain grown in the United States and allegedly costs water districts millions of dollars for its removal from drinking water.

Attorney Steve Tillery says the districts want Syngenta to help pay for filtration, estimated at about $400 million a year.

The chairman of the Legislature's Contract Review Committee said an opinion from the executive director of the State Ethics Commission clears a senator to work for a law firm that does business with the state.

The chairman, Republican Sen. Bill Holtzclaw of Madison said the opinion settled the issue of whether Republican Sen. Bryan Taylor of Prattville was in compliance when he joined the law firm of Capell & Howard.

The Huntsville Times reported that the opinion from Executive Director Jim Sum-ner said changes made in the state ethics law in December had very little, if any, impact of state contracting.

The committee had sought the advice last month when Capell & Howard got a $100,000 contract from the state Department of Corrections.

A well-known law firm that helped sue Harrisburg for millions actually gave the city a hand not too long ago. Ballard Spahr, now representing one of Harrisburg's lenders, did work for the Thompson administration just months earlier. That's raising some eyebrows.   

Ballard Spahr, former Gov. Ed Rendell's firm, got thousands from the city. It's now trying to force Harrisburg to pay up on incinerator debt. Some say it's a conflict of interest - that the firm helped the city, and now is helping a bank go after the city.

Harrisburg paid Ballard Spahr more than $13,000 for work performed last year. According to a purchase order, it was a provision of legal services for the new administration. We've not been able to find out exactly what that means, and Ballard Spahr won't comment.

Corky Goldstein doesn't know either - he's currently helping the city with various legal matters.

"Canons of ethics indicate it's not appropriate for a law firm or lawyer or a member of the law firm that represented us to be representing both sides," said Goldstein.

The other side is TD Bank, one of several lenders that financed incinerator upgrades. Harrisburg is on the hook for repayment - $35 million, in this case.

"They might have been privy to information that has assisted them in the lawsuit that they're now bringing, and this is a very major lawsuit," said Goldstein.

A trustee recovering assets for investors in the multibillion-dollar Bernard Madoff (MAY'-dawf) fraud has sued a New York-based investment management company that operated a hedge fund that invested heavily with Madoff.

The lawsuit was filed in December and unsealed on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. It says Tremont helped funnel more than $4 billion into Madoff's Ponzi scheme through its headquarters in Rye.

Trustee Irving Picard says Tremont managed the second largest group of feeder funds to assist Madoff in his fraud. Picard says Tremont should return more than $2.1 billion it received in transfers from Madoff in return for its 15-year investment.

Lawyer Website Design

In recent years, the internet has become the most important marketing tool you have. By typing a few words, a potential client can find hundreds of lawyers and law firms that you must now compete with.

Having a website is an excellent way for your firm to connect with new clients. Unfortunately, while building a website has brought instant success for some businesses, it has the potential to be an absolute disaster for others.

As an attorney, you know that attorney or law firm website is one of the most important business tool. In fact, in today’s market, hardly anything is more effective than a professional Website. Poor website design is often the primary reason for a website’s failure because it fails to engage the user. At Lawyer-website-design.com, we identify poor web design and apply best practice web design principles. If your firm lacks an online presence, you're putting an extra step between you and increased revenue.

We will use the knowledge and expertise we have developed to work with you on what type of website is right for your firm. Our web design experts have cutting-edge skills in design and technology, including ways to increase optimization on search engines. Expect the finished product to be an original, creative design that will make you stand apart from your competition.