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Appeals court won't rehear BP settlement issue
U.S. Legal News |
2014/05/20 21:24
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A federal appeals court on Monday refused to reconsider its previous ruling that businesses don't have to prove they were directly harmed by BP's 2010 Gulf Of Mexico oil spill to collect settlement payments.
The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans could be a step toward resuming a claims process that was suspended after a district court ruling in December. However, BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said in an emailed statement Monday night that the company is considering its legal options.
BP had asked the full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to rehear the case after a three-judge panel's March ruling. The court voted 8-5 against a rehearing.
The action preserves U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier's (BAHR'-bee-ay) ruling that BP had agreed in a 2012 settlement to pay claims without requiring proof that losses were directly caused by the spill resulting from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which killed 11 workers.
Judge Leslie Southwick wrote in Monday's order that a 2012 policy statement, issued by the court-appointed claims administrator and developed with "input and assent from BP," spelled out the criteria for business claims.
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Tokyo court starts Mt. Gox bankruptcy proceedings
U.S. Legal News |
2014/04/25 18:15
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Bankruptcy proceedings have begun for Mt. Gox, a move that was widely expected after the Tokyo District Court decided earlier this month that the bitcoin exchange would not be able to resurrect itself.
An administrator will try to sell the company's assets, but many creditors, including those who had bitcoins with the exchange, might not get their money back.
After Mt. Gox went offline in February, its CEO said tens of thousands of bitcoins worth several hundred million dollars were unaccounted for.
Mt Gox has suggested the bitcoins were stolen. The company has not been able to confirm the bitcoin balances of its users.
Bitcoins, created in 2009, are used for transactions across borders without third parties such as banks and have become a popular investment.
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Oklahoma gay-marriage case before US appeals court
U.S. Legal News |
2014/04/17 22:10
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Court arguments over Oklahoma's ban on same-sex marriage will center on whether voters singled out gay people for unfair treatment when they overwhelmingly defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
Judges at a federal appeals court in Denver will hear arguments Thursday from lawyers representing a couple challenging Oklahoma's ban and the Tulsa County clerk who refused to grant them a license. The judges heard a similar case from Utah last week.
Oklahoma voters approved the ban in 2004 by a 3-1 margin. The Tulsa couple tried to obtain a marriage license shortly afterward.
A federal judge overturned the ban in January, saying it violated the equal-protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Lawyers for the state say voters have a right to set their own laws. |
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EU court nixes government bulk data collection
U.S. Legal News |
2014/04/08 19:20
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The European Union's top court says key legislation allowing governments to collect data on citizens' communications for law-enforcement purposes is invalid.
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on Tuesday ruled the so-called data retention directive is too far-reaching and offers too few safeguards to protect people's right to privacy, creating an impression that "private lives are the subject of constant surveillance."
The legislation allows the storage of phone calls or online communication records for at least six months to help prevent serious crimes such as terrorism. The data typically reveal who was involved in the communication, when and how often, but not its content.
The court says the 2006 legislation represents a "particularly serious interference with fundamental rights." |
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Two men found guilty for selling U.S. company’s technology
U.S. Legal News |
2014/03/07 23:44
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A federal jury found two men guilty Wednesday of economic espionage involving the theft and sale of a U.S. company’s technology to a competitor controlled by the Chinese government.
The jury returned the verdicts against Robert Maegerle and Walter Liew.
They were accused of stealing Delaware-based DuPont Co.’s method for making titanium oxide, a chemical that fetches $17 billion a year in sales worldwide and is used to whiten everything from cars to the middle of Oreo cookies.
A federal jury found two men guilty Wednesday of economic espionage involving the theft and sale of a U.S. company’s technology to a competitor controlled by the Chinese government.
Prosecutors said DuPont was unwilling to sell its method to China, so it was stolen and sent to a company called Pangang Group Co. Ltd., according to testimony during the diplomatically dicey proceedings. The jury heard six weeks of testimony.
Prosecutors alleged that Pangang’s factory is the only facility inside China known to be producing titanium oxide the DuPont way, which uses chlorination. |
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CA man sentenced on drug charge in fed court in SD
U.S. Legal News |
2014/03/01 00:07
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A California man has been sentenced in federal court in South Dakota for his role in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson says 29-year-old Brett McFarland, of Korbel, Calif., was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release.
McFarland pleaded guilty last November to a drug distribution conspiracy charge. A money laundering conspiracy charge was dropped.
Johnson says McFarland has agreed to forfeit to the government his interest in proceeds from the sale of property in Petrolia, Calif., that was bought with drug proceeds. |
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