More than 59,000 people have registered claims against drugmaker Merck & Co. for injury from painkiller Vioxx, and administrators have enough records to review about 9,100 of those claims.

The United States Supreme Court on Friday rejected all further appeals of punitive damages in a nearly 4-year-old pollution verdict of more than $20.7 million against a Phenix City plant. In 2004 a federal jury ruled in favor of the city of Columbus, Ga., local boat dealer John Tharpe and South Columbus resident Owen Ditchfield in their suit against the Continental Carbon plant.

Global carmaker Volvo will recall 43 units of its passenger cars sold in South Korea due to manufacturing defects, the government said Monday.

WASHINGTON -- More than 400 real estate industry players have been indicted since March -- including dozens over the last two days -- in a Justice Department crackdown on incidents of mortgage fraud nationwide that stem from the country's housing crisis.

An attorney seeking as much as $400 million in damages from two large pharmaceutical companies told jurors Tuesday the firms defrauded Alabama's Medicaid program with high prices for drugs for more than a decade. The trial, expected to last about two weeks, is the second to be held on more than 70 lawsuits filed by the state accusing pharmaceutical companies of overcharging Medicaid for prescription drugs. The first ended with a jury awarding the state $215 million against AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP.

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.

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.

Children First Foundation, Inc. (CFF) hosted The Jere Beasley Evening for Children at the Renaissance Hotel and Spa in Montgomery on last week. The event was designed to help the Foundation raise the funds necessary to advocate for the state's children on the legislative level. CFF felt that by celebrating the philanthropic work done by Mr. Bealsey, one who has given much to the less fortunate of the state, especially its children, could raise needed funds and educate the audience about the importance of action on the legislative level for children and their families, said a Foundation spokesperson.

Kevin Moody, a grieving father who lost his son Tyler on January 16, 2003 due to injuries from 'roof crush' has that day forever etched in his memory: "Five and a half years ago, my son, Tyler, was killed in a single vehicle rollover accident in his 1995 Ford Explorer which slid off the road and rolled over at a speed of only 40 miles an hour, into a flat grassy field. The weak roof in his Ford Explorer collapsed and crushed him to death." Since Tyler Moody's death, Kevin Moody has been on a mission to get the roof strength standard, FMVSS 216, upgraded and convince Congress to pass new legislation regulating and mandating a new and adequate roof strength standard beyond what NHTSA, (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration) has proposed.

Soaring gasoline prices are bad enough. But this summer, California's higher temperatures could add an additional 8-cent-a-gallon wallop because pumping warmer fuel gives motorists less energy per fill-up.