Law and legal issues

Standard & Poor's revised its outlook to positive on Moberly, Missouri’s B issuer credit rating in the city's first good rating news since the sucralose factory debacle that cost it investment-grade ratings.

Two northwest Indiana counties will nail down the final details of their tax-exempt bond-financed bid for the bankrupt Indiana Toll Road over the next two weeks.

Standard & Poor's raised several Stockton, Calif. water system bond ratings

Standard & Poor's lowered its rating on Hillview, Ky.'s bonds four notches to BB-plus citing a potential $11.4 million damage assessment that could land the city in bankruptcy court.

A Rhode Island Superior Court judge rejected a motion by the state to delay the start of a suit challenging the landmark 2011 pension law as unconstitutional.

New York City public advocate Letitia James has filed a friend of the court brief in support of the Securities and Exchange Commission's pay-to-play restriction on investment advisers, which is under attack in a lawsuit filed by two state Republican parties last year.

Litigation seeking to block Chicago from implementing its 2014 pension reforms until a legal challenge is decided was put on hold at the plaintiffs' request.

A Feb. 23 New Jersey State Superior Court ruling saying pension contributions are contractually protected is a credit negative for the Garden State since it adds a further obstacle to cutting future employee benefits that will further pressure budgets, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Doral Financial Corp. has vowed to appeal a court decision in favor of Puerto Rico concerning $229 million in taxes.

Legislation that would allow government-owned corporations in Puerto Rico to reorganize through Chapter 9 may face an uphill battle after drawing a lukewarm reception from Republicans on a House panel Thursday.

Puerto Rico's Treasury said it won an appeal in its dispute with Doral Bank over $230 million.

Stockton's official bankruptcy exit set for Wednesday may be anticlimactic to some as a bankruptcy judge approved the city's plan of adjustment needed to exit in October.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and the state's teacher's union have agreed to a "roadmap to reform" to begin solving the state’s pension challenges, the governor announced

A Colorado district court struck down the city of Aurora's plan to provide $300 million of subsidies for a Gaylord resort hotel, saying it violated the Taxpayer Bill of Rights amendment to the state constitution.

A group of Puerto Rico consumers and businesses sued the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, professionals at PREPA, and other energy companies for more than $1 billion.

The SEC concluded without charges an investigation it launched into Bell, Calif.'s bond debt in 2010 after fraud perpetuated on the city by the former administration came to light.

Detroit leaders are poised to send a $1 billion 2016 budget to the financial committee that oversees the bankrupt city that it hopes will be the first of three straight balanced budgets that would give the city financial independence by 2018.

A New Jersey state judge ruled against Gov. Chris Christie's efforts to curb pension payments just a day before he is scheduled to release his new budget proposal.

Easing Detroit Public Schools' debt burden is considered key to the district's revival and survival, and bankruptcy is possible, according to one of the reformers working on the turnaround effort.

Ohio Auditor David Yost has declared the city of Maple Heights to be in a state of financial emergency after the Cleveland suburb missed payments on sewer loans in January and showed deficits in its general and debt service funds.