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EPA Head Unaware of Pressures on States
Law Firm News |
2008/03/05 12:26
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pThe head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday he didn't know of behind-the-scenes efforts by EPA officials to blunt state attempts to reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
Those efforts occurred even as the Bush administration argued in court that states are free to enact tougher mercury controls from power plants, The Associated Press reported last month, based on internal EPA documents.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., questioned EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson about the report at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations environment subcommittee.
Has anyone with EPA ever pressured any state against instituting any more restrictive mercury regulation? asked Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.
I don't recall having any firsthand knowledge of that, said Johnson. I don't know if they have, no I don't, he added.
Leahy cautioned Johnson that such pressure on states was inappropriate, and if it did occur, then the EPA gave misleading information to the courts, which is an extremely serious matter.
A federal appeals court last month struck down the Bush administration's industry-friendly approach for mercury reduction that allowed plants with excessive smokestack emissions to buy pollution rights from other plants that foul the air less.
Internal EPA documents obtained by the advocacy group Environmental Defense show attempts over the past two years to bar state efforts to make their plants drastically cut mercury pollution instead of trading for credits that would let them continue it./ppMany states did not want their power plants to be able to buy their way out of having to reduce mercury pollution./ppThe push to rein in uncooperative states continued until the eve of the Feb. 8 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that struck down the EPA's program. A day before that ruling, the White House Office of Management and Budget approved a draft regulation to impose a federal implementation plan for mercury reduction in states whose mercury control measures did not meet EPA approval./p |
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Teen Appealing Web Blog Free Speech Decision
Law Firm News |
2008/03/05 12:22
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A high school senior who used vulgar language in reference to her school administrators is appealing the decision of a lower federal court and fighting for her right to serve as class secretary and to speak at her graduation in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
Avery Doninger, 17, was barred from running for class secretary by Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington, Conn. because administrators she had written in her personal blog that officials were “douchebags” because she thought they cancelling an event she had helped plan. She also called for others to take action against Superintendent Paula Schwartz and to “piss her off more” by writing and calling Schwartz. Officials discovered the blog two weeks after she had written and the teen was told to apologize to Schwartz, show her mother the blog and was told she could not run again for re-election as class secretary. Doninger won the position by write-in votes, but was not permitted to serve.
U.S. District Judge Mark Kravitz had said that because Doninger’s blog was addressing school issues and because it was read by other students, she could be punished by the school. However, in the appeal, Doninger’s attorney argued that schools should not be able to regulate what is done on the internet if it does not create a risk of disruption and because it did not take place on school grounds or during a school activity.
It's just a bigger soapbox, her attorney, Jon L. Schoenhorn, told the Hartford Courant.
According to the Hartford Courant, Thomas R. Gerarde, the school’s attorney, said that the Internet has increased the impact of their words by how many people they can reach and that if student leaders make offensive comments about the school on the Internet, the school should be able to punish them.
We shouldn't be required to just swallow it, he said.
He also contended that the blog did cause school officials to receive numerous phone calls and emails and that some students had considered staging a sit-in.
However, the Harford Courant reported, Judge Sonia Sotomayor said that pedagogical rights can't supersede the rights of students off campus to have First Amendment rights. |
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Johnson Perkinson Announces Class Action
Law Firm Press |
2008/03/05 12:13
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| Johnson amp; Perkinson hereby announces the commencement of a class action lawsuit naming Superior Offshore International, Inc. (Superior Offshore or the Company) (Nasdaq: DEEP). Individuals, families, trusts or other entities that purchased Superior Offshore common stock between April 20, 2007 and January 9, 2008, inclusive, have the opportunity to participate as Lead Plaintiffs in the currently pending class action litigation against the Company. To do so, you must apply to serve in that capacity by April 28, 2008.pJohnson amp; Perkinson, a litigation boutique law firm based in South Burlington, Vermont, has extensive experience prosecuting investor class actions and actions involving financial fraud. Attorneys Johnson and Perkinson are both former employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Dedicated to maximizing shareholder return, members of Johnson amp; Perkinson have prosecuted complex class actions alleging securities or consumer fraud/deception on behalf of investors/consumers against numerous public companies since 1985, resulting in the recovery of many hundreds of millions of dollars, and have been singled out for excellence by various courts. The firm is litigating, or has recently resolved litigation, as Lead or Co-Lead Counsel in securities class actions against Xerox, Priceline, Wireless Facilities, i2 and Xchange, and serves on the Executive Committee in the Global Crossing case./ppThe Complaint charges the Company and certain of its officers and directors with making a series of materially false and misleading statements in the Registration Statement and Prospectus issued in connection with the IPO, in violation of the Securities Act of 1933./ppIf you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Johnson amp; Perkinson attorneys James F. Conway, III, Eben F. Duval, or Christopher Allen toll free at 1-888-459-7855; via email at email@jpclasslaw.com; through our website at www.jpclasslaw.com; or by mail at Johnson amp; Perkinson, 1690 Williston Road, P.O. Box 2305, South Burlington, Vermont 05403. Though Johnson amp; Perkinson has not filed a Complaint against Superior Offshore at this time, attorneys at Johnson amp; Perkinson can investigate your potential claims and help you decide if seeking appointment as a Lead Plaintiff is right for you. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by your decision to not seek appointment as a Lead Plaintiff./p |
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Enron class-action firm bills for 247,000 hours
Law Firm Press |
2008/03/05 12:11
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| pA lawyer who helped reap a US$7.2-billion settlement for Enron investors says his firm deserves a record US$700-million in fees, due to the complexity and risky nature of the case./ppThis is an extraordinary case and we did an extraordinary job, Patrick Coughlin, a partner with Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman amp; Robbins LLP, the lead attorneys in the case, told a hearing in U.S. District Court in Houston./ppThe firm's founder, William Lerach, retired in August. He pleaded guilty to kickback scheme at his former law firm, but still stands to receive a multi-million-dollar payout from the Enron case./ppCoughlin Stoia is seeking about 9.5% of the total settlement amount, which would equal nearly US$700-million./ppMr. Coughlin presented his case in an elaborate multimedia presentation to U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon, who now must approve the fee award. The presentation included testimonials from former Enron employees and a clip from the Oscar-nominated legal thriller Michael Clayton./ppOver the course of the case that lasted six years, Mr. Coughlin said his firm billed 247,000 hours, took 400 depositions and submitted 5,700 filings./ppWe didn't leave any avenue unturned, he said./ppStill, other attorneys took issue with the size of the award, arguing that more should go to investors./ppClass counsel has not proved the legitimacy of this fee request, Larry Schonbrun, who represents a single investor in the case, told the court./ppThe settlement was paid by banks including Citigroup Inc. that are accused of helping the energy trader hide financial misdeeds that led to its collapse. The settlement still lacks final approval from Judge Harmon./ppRecently, a group of plaintiffs firms sought about US$460-million in fees following settlements in a securities fraud case against Tyco International Ltd./ppClose/p |
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