Troy Mayor Jimmy Lunsford said the Beasley Allen Law Firm in Montgomery approached the city and asked if they could enter a claim on behalf of the City of Troy. The firm suggested to Troy, and many other municipalities, that communities have lost revenue from people traveling to and from the Gulf Coast.

A story published today by CNN reports oil giant BP is accusing Halliburton, a contractor on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, of having "intentionally destroyed evidence" related to the explosion aboard the rig.

American pharmaceutical company Merck, Sharp & Dohme has agreed to pay $950 million to resolve criminal charges and civil claims related to its promotion and marketing of the painkiller Vioxx® (rofecoxib), the Justice Department announced today.

According to a recent report aired on CBS News program 60 Minutes, as foreclosed homes flood the market in the midst of the economic crisis, banks are finding that all too often the ownership documents on these properties are missing. The report says “shortcuts” taken during the heydays of issuing mortgage-backed investments meant that some legal documents behind the mortgages “simply aren’t there.” Reporter Scott Pelley said it appears some lending institutions, desperate to turn over foreclosed properties, are allegedly resorting to forging documents to replace missing paperwork.

A column penned by Josh Moon and published in the Montgomery Advertiser on July 3 points out how recent legislation passed by Alabama's elected officials may take away your rights as a citizen to a fair trial by jury. Just in time for Independence Day!

Montgomery Advertiser reporter Mary Sell spoke with three of the hundreds of victims suffering physically, mentally and emotionally following their work in helping to clean up the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last spring and summer.

After a Collier County, Florida, couple were the victims of a wrongful foreclosure, their attorney turned the tables on Bank of America. When the bank failed to pay court costs after the lawsuit was settled in the couple's favor, the attorney hired a moving company and showed up at the local Bank of America branch with Sheriff's deputies, intending to seize assets to recoup the expenses.

Montgomery Advertiser columnist Josh Moon says while Alabama AG Luther Strange is concerned about price gouging following the Alabama tornado disaster, consumers are being taken advantage of all year long by the oil and gas industry.

The Montgomery Advertiser talked to owners of a number of Alabama restaurants about the difficulties they are facing in the wake of the BP oil spill, and through the claims process. Owners of Montgomery's Capitol Oyster Bar were forced to close their doors after 15 years in business, when customers avoided seafood following the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last April. Others, like owners of Destin Connection seafood market, and Birmingham's Fish Market restaurant, are still trying to recover from consumer fears and high seafood prices driven by limited availability.