Articles by Jonathan Stempel and Moira Herbst

Judge Tosses Racketeering Claims vs. BP Over Oil Spill

BP Plc won two legal victories Friday, as a federal judge threw out racketeering claims made by the lead plaintiffs suing over last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and also set aside a lawsuit by partner Anadarko Petroleum Corp. …

Employment Class Actions Survive Despite Wal-Mart Ruling

The end of the road for a class-action discrimination lawsuit brought by female employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has not spelled doom for employment lawsuits facing other big U.S. companies. A landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision last month siding with …

Mississippi Sues BP Gulf Oil Claims Fund

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood filed a lawsuit Tuesday to force Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of BP’s $20 billion fund for Gulf Coast oil spill compensation, to release documents it says it needs to ensure claimants are adequately compensated. The complaint …

Judge Trims Toyota Investors’ Legal Claims

A federal judge in California has pared back a lawsuit accusing Toyota Motor Corp. of inflating its stock price by concealing problems with unintended acceleration in its vehicles. U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles partly granted Toyota’s motion …

BP Claims Fund Faces Critics, Legal Challenges

One year after the Gulf oil spill, BP Plc is facing challenges to its effort to contain another kind of disaster: mass litigation. The oil giant last June established a $20 billion compensation fund for victims such as shrimpers, fishermen …

Top Judge on Delaware Business Court to Leave

The chief judge of Delaware’s Chancery Court, whose rulings in cases involving Walt Disney Co, Hewlett Packard Co. and eBay Inc. made him one of the most powerful arbiters of U.S. business disputes, has announced plans to step down. William …

Lawsuits Fly in BP Gulf Oil Spill Blame Game

A barrage of court claims pitting BP Plc against its partners in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could lay the groundwork for billions of dollars in settlements to spread the costs of the disaster. BP has sued Transocean Ltd, …

Feinberg: BP Gulf Claims Fund ‘Working As Intended’

On the one-year anniversary of the Gulf oil spill, BP Plc is facing challenges to its effort to contain another kind of disaster: mass litigation. The oil giant last June established a $20 billion compensation fund for victims such as …

BP Claims Fund Placed Under Judicial Oversight

Kenneth Feinberg, the formerly freewheeling administrator of BP Plc’s fund to compensate victims of last year’s oil spill, could be forced to revamp dramatically how he handles claims now that the fund has come under the jurisdiction of a federal …

BP Claims Fund Placed Under Judicial Oversight

Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of BP Plc’s fund to compensate victims of last year’s oil spill, could be forced to revamp dramatically how he handles claims now that the fund has come under the jurisdiction of a federal judge in …