Articles by Jef Feeley

Massey CEO Wins Delay of Criminal Trial Until April

Ex-Massey Energy chief Donald Blankenship won an almost three-month delay of his trial, scheduled to begin later this month, on federal charges tied to a fatal 2010 mine explosion that was the worst U.S. coal industry disaster in 40 years. …

Blankenship Pleads Not Guilty to Charges Linked to Massey Mine Explosion

Former Massey Energy chief Donald Blankenship pleaded not guilty to charges linked to the West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 workers in the worst U.S. coal industry disaster in almost 40 years. The former executive, 64, once a powerful …

Players, Families Urge Judge to Reject NFL Concussion Settlement

Andy Miketa was known as the NFL’s lightest center during his two-year career with the Detroit Lions in the 1950s. At 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, Miketa used his speed and toughness to stymie defensive linemen who outweighed him by 75 …

Massey Ex-CEO Blankenship Faces Criminal Charges Over 2010 Mine Explosion

The former Massey Energy chief, scorned by regulators and a U.S. senator, may face three decades in prison if convicted of charges stemming from a West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 workers, the worst U.S. coal industry accident in …

Judge Slashes $9 Billion Damages Award Against Drugmakers by 99%

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and Eli Lilly & Co. won a more than a 99 percent cut in a $9 billion punitive damages award over claims the drugmakers hid the cancer risks of their Actos diabetes medicine. Jurors properly found officials …

Drugmaker Roche Wins Reversal in Accutane Duty to Warn Case

Roche Holding AG won reversal of a $2.1 million verdict by a New Jersey jury in favor of a California woman who blamed the company’s Accutane acne drug for her inflammatory bowel disease. A judge erred in the 2011 trial …

Judge Approves NFL Concussion Settlement

The National Football League won preliminary approval of a settlement worth at least $675 million resolving ex-players’ claims that officials failed to warn them about links between concussions and brain injuries. U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia yesterday concluded …

NFL Agrees to Remove Cap on Players’ Concussions Payments

The National Football League agreed to lift a cap on cash awards to settle concussion claims after a federal judge said she was concerned not all players could be paid from a proposed $675 million compensation fund. Under a revised …

Court Rules BP Must Honor Terms of $9.2 Billion Oil Spill Settlement

BP Plc must abide by terms of a $9.2 billion settlement it reached with victims of the 2010 oil spill, a federal appeals court ruled in rejecting the company’s objections that the deal is being misinterpreted by the claims administrator. …

BP Loses Bid to Halt Payments to Seafood Workers

BP Plc lost a bid to have a judge suspend about $1.3 billion in payments to seafood-industry workers who are part of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill settlement because of alleged improprieties by a lawyer involved in the …