Articles by Terry Baynes

President’s Delay of Employers’ Healthcare Mandate on ‘Shaky’ Legal Ground: Experts

The Obama administration may have pushed the bounds of its legal authority by delaying the healthcare law requirement that certain employers provide coverage to full-time workers, but the move will be tough to challenge in court, according to legal experts. …

Hobby Lobby Wins Round in Fight Against Contraceptive Coverage

Arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby may be entitled to an exemption from a requirement in President Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare overhaul to include free contraception coverage in its employee health insurance plans, a federal appeals court ruled this week. …

Judge Approves $7.8 Billion Settlement in BP Class Action Suit

A U.S. judge last Friday gave final approval to BP Plc’s settlement with individuals and businesses who lost money and property in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The order only addressed the settlement of economic and property damage …

Supreme Court to Hear Amex Appeal on Mandatory Arbitration Clause

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider whether American Express Co may invoke an arbitration clause to prevent merchant customers from banding together in an antitrust lawsuit against the company. The court accepted the credit card and travel …

Movie Studio Liability in Colorado Shooting Likely Limited

Families of victims and survivors of the deadly shooting at the Batman movie who seek to sue Warner Bros. and other companies behind “The Dark Knight Rises” are unlikely to get very far. The main reason, legal experts said, is …

Workers’ Class Action Against Brinker Can Proceed, In Part

Part of a class-action lawsuit against Brinker International Inc. can proceed, the California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, in a closely watched case about employee meal and rest breaks at the company’s restaurants. The California high court authorized a class …

Court Narrows Federal Law on Computer Fraud

A U.S. appeals court rejected the government’s broad reading of a computer fraud law to prosecute workers who steal from company computers, saying it could expose millions of Americans to prosecution for harmless activities at work. The 9-2 decision by …

Willis Among Targets of Stanford Third Party Class Actions

Victims of Allen Stanford’s estimated $7 billion Ponzi scheme won a victory when a federal appeals court said they may pursue class-action litigation against third parties they believe aided in the now-convicted swindler’s fraud. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of …

Whistleblower Law Does Not Protect Mutual Fund Employees: Court

A U.S. law protecting whistleblowers at publicly traded companies does not cover employees of mutual funds, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday in a case involving two former Fidelity Investments employees. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st …

Court: Workers’ Comp Bars Iraq Convoy Drivers’ Suit Against KBR, Halliburton

A federal appeals court has rejected a lawsuit brought against KBR Inc. and Halliburton Co. by the families of two convoy drivers killed in a 2004 insurgent attack in Iraq. The U.S. Court of Appeal for the 5th Circuit, based …