A civil complaint has been filed this week on behalf of a Prattville woman who was criti­cally injured last weekend in a boating mishap on Lake Martin, and her husband, who witness­ed the accident but was not in­jured.

Montgomery attorney Jere Beasley filed the complaint, asking that monetary damages be assessed against 22-year-old Patrick Cumbie of Montgomery. Cumbie is accused of powering an open motorboat into a crowd of swimmers, which included Sue Tatum and her husband, Kenny, then ramming into the pontoon boat aboard which sev­eral other members of the Ta­tum family and several friends were enjoying the lake.

Students were rewarded for their creative writing skills at Brantwood Childrens Home this summer. The main goal of the contest was for the children to learn about themselves and to get them geared up for the up and coming school year.

Winners of the Brantwood Childrens Home summer writing contest along with board member Tom Methivin

On Friday, June 27th, the United States Supreme Court issued an order rejecting all further appeals of the $20,709,000 pollution verdict entered against the Continental Carbon plant in Phenix City, Alabama, and against its parent company, China Synthetic Rubber Corporation of Taiwan.

Merck & Co. will start cutting checks for former users of its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx next month after announcing Thursday that it will fund a $4.85 billion settlement expected to resolve roughly 50,000 lawsuits.

Pharmaceutical company Merck says it will start cutting checks next month for former users of its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx. Merck announced plans today to fund the $4.8 billion settlement involving about 50,000 lawsuits.

The city of Columbus was awarded $3.4 million Tuesday for its share of punitive damages in its lawsuit against a Phenix City plant. The city of Columbus, local boat dealer John Tharpe and south Columbus resident Owen Ditchfield won their suit against Continental Carbon in 2004. They had said their homes, businesses and buildings had been damaged by carbon black dust emitted from the plant.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A state court jury on Tuesday found two major pharmaceutical companies defrauded Alabama in a long-running Medicaid drug pricing scheme and ordered the firms to pay more than $114 million in damages. The jury found that GlaxoSmithKline should pay the state $80.8 million in compensatory damages and that Novartis should pay about $33.7 million in similar damages. But it declined to order any punitive damages.

The National Law Journal recently selected Jere Beasley as one of the top 10 litigators in the nation, including him in its special section, Winners. Here, writer Emily Heller profiles Beasley and shares his secrets of success.

Investors might find it easier to sue insurance agents and carriers, thanks to new standards from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc., attorneys said.