Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Wed, Mar 11 1992 Date: Wed, 11 Mar 92 05:46:04 EST Message-ID: 03-11 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update March 11, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ASBESTOS TRIAL BEGINS: A long-delayed trial that consolidates 8,555 asbestos cases opened Tuesday in Baltimore. The trial opened to a packed courtroom of lawyers, clerks and jurors who will hear claims that workers were disabled by inhaling asbestos fibers on the job. Many of the plaintiffs are steel and shipyard workers or their survivors who are suing 13 companies for hundreds of millions in damages. RTC PAID LAW FIRMS $252M: The Resolution Trust Corp. confirmed Tuesday that it paid nearly $252 million last year to 2,000 law firms as part of its effort to clean up the thrift crisis. Cravath, Swaine & Moore received the most - $12.12 million. The New York law firm represented the RTC in the lawsuit settled Monday against former junk-bond king Michael Milken. UNION FILES CLASS ACTION: The Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union has filed a $1 billion class action against American Home Products Corp. The suit alleges that American Home violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act by fraudulently using U.S. and Puerto Rican tax exemptions to shift jobs and production to the island, according to the National Law Journal. HAMLET RESIDENTS WANT MORE: Residents of Hamlet, N.C., where a fire at Imperial Food Products killed 25 people Sept. 3, say Monday's indictments aren't enough. The plant owner and two others were indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges. "I'm glad something's finally been done, but they didn't go far enough," said Loretta Goodwin, a plant worker. Many want local, state and federal officials indicted also. MINIVAN TARIFF COULD INCREASE: A proposal, requested by Sen. Donald Riegle, D-Mich., that would add a 25% tariff on imported minivans, was added Tuesday to the tax bill now under debate in the Senate. Riegle's provision would reclassify minivans brought into the USA as trucks instead of cars -as the U.S. customs service classifies them - which would increase the import duty to 25% from 2.5%. PATENT RULING UPHELD: Hexcel Corp. Tuesday announced that its judgment against Advanced Textiles Inc. for patent infringement and theft of trade secrets has been affirmed on appeal by the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit. ATI had been ordered to pay Hexcel a sum of approximately $3 million including interest. The Circuit Court affirmed the decision without opinion. FIRM ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT: Furr's:Bishop's, Inc. announced Tuesday that it has entered into a stipulation of settlement of a purported class action lawsuit filed in August 1991. The suit alleged federal-securities-law and state-law violations due to alleged misrepresentations, omissions and failures to disclose material facts in a proxy statement:prospectus. Furr's:Bishop's will pay up to $460,000. FBI RAIDS FIRMS OVER SOFTWARE: FBI investigators late last week raided four Silicon Valley companies suspected of manufacturing and distributing counterfeit software disks and manuals with an estimated value of at least $600,000 per month. The seizure yielded bogus disks and components with a street value over $180,000 and business records that will indicate the larger scope of the multi-company scam. INTEL REQUEST DENIED: The U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday denied Intel's request that Chips and Technologies Inc. be barred from transferring its Super386 and SuperMath processor designs to others, including Texas Instruments. The court said that Intel had not sufficiently shown a likelihood of success on the merits to be entitled to a temporary restraining order. UTILITY REFUND RECOMMENDED: Commonwealth Edison in Chicago should refund $281 million to customers, the staff of the Illinois Commerce Commission recommended Tuesday. Catalyst: The power company didn't renegotiate coal contracts from 1985 to 1988 even though other utilities across the USA were saving millions of dollars by doing so. Edison will present its case May 1. LAWYER CHARGED IN PROBE: In Baltimore, lawyer Nelson Kandel, 62, was charged Tuesday after a yearlong probe into false auto insurance claims. In a state investigation, many doctors and lawyers could face indictment in insurance fraud cases, state officials said. BANK AGREES TO LOANS: Massachusetts Attorney General E. Scott Harshbarger's office said that BayBanks had agreed to a multimillion-dollar plan for low-interest loans. The plan is part of a deal worked out so that the bank can avoid being sued for its connections to predatory second-mortgage lenders, reports the National Law Journal. Business Law Editor: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM