Posts on ‘March 20th, 2009’

A Denver-area oilman says he will continue his claims that energy and natural gas pipeline companies are cheating the federal government out of billions in royalties. A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a Wyoming federal judge’s decision that threw out 73 lawsuits filed by Jack Grynberg, who runs a petroleum company in Colorado. The court cited a law that aims to give incentives to whistleblowers while discouraging “opportunistic plaintiffs.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines Thursday to endorse Dawn Johnsen to lead the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, sending her nomination to the full Senate for what is expected to be a contentious debate. The 11-7 vote reflects sharp division over Johnsen’s writings on abortion and national security. She is the first of President Barack Obama’s nominees for the Justice Department not to receive at least some Republican support in the Judiciary Committee.

It’s not often that Metallica, Dr. Dre, and Peter, Paul & Mary are brought up during oral argument, but such was the case Thursday when the D.C. Circuit delved into Internet radio royalty fees. At issue is the Copyright Royalty Board’s increase in royalty rates and a change in how royalties are calculated for music delivered over the Internet. But before the court took up the merits of the rates, there was extensive debate about whether the three judges on the board are sitting in violation of the appointments clause.

A New Jersey judge on Tuesday denied a request to certify a class action against Merck & Co. on behalf of consumers for their out-of-pocket expenses for the painkiller Vioxx, withdrawn from the market in 2004 after a medical study linked it to heart disease. Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee said the suit lacked the elements of predominance, typicality and superiority required for certification of a class. The ruling marked the second time New Jersey courts have denied class certification to Vioxx plaintiffs.

Lawyers for a class of plaintiffs suing EarthLink over millions of dollars of allegedly unfair early termination fees will appeal last month’s ruling by a Georgia judge that the Internet service provider does not have to return any fees charged to class members’ credit cards. At issue were $149.95 fees charged to EarthLink customers when they canceled their services or, in the case of the three class representatives, merely upgraded their services or moved residences.