Legal News

Brandon, Jackson & Central Mississippi lawyer

1. 04.02.2009
   AIG targeted by shareholder lawsuit; The complaint accuses company directors of orchestrating a scheme to provide as much as $1 billion in bonuses.

   Even as American International Group Inc. was sliding into insolvency in recent years and negotiating a massive federal bailout last year, it was constructing a compensation package for top executives that would provide as much as $1 billion in bonuses, according to a shareholder lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles. AIG, which has been heavily criticized for the bonuses, has contended that it was legally obligated to pay because its compensation program was put in place before the company was given access to $70 billion in direct federal bailout money and much more in loans.

2. 03.31.2009
   Mom's plea deal includes 'resurrection clause'

   A Maryland woman involved with a group described as a religious cult pleaded guilty in the starvation death of her son, but insisted that the charges be dropped when he is resurrected. The condition was made a part of Ria Ramkissoon's plea agreement, officials said. She entered the plea Monday in Baltimore, Maryland, to a first-degree felony count of child abuse resulting in death, her attorney, Steven Silverman, said Tuesday. Ramkissoon, a member of a group called One Mind Ministries, believes Javon Thompson, her year-old son, will rise again, and as part of her plea agreement, authorities agreed to the clause.

3. 04.02.2009
   Lifetime sews up rights to 'Runway'

   After a yearlong legal battle, "Project Runway" is cleared to move to Lifetime, where it will bow in the summer. NBC Universal, the Weinstein Co. and Lifetime jointly announced Wednesday that they've settled the litigation that has kept the hit reality competition series in limbo since September, when a Manhattan court placed an injunction on the show.