Law and legal issues

The largest municipal bankruptcy in the U.S. formally ends at 12:01 a.m. Dec. 11, and Detroit will begin fresh with local control and $7 billion less debt.

Atlanta unions have filed for an appeal of the Fulton County Superior Court's Nov. 10 ruling that tossed their lawsuit challenging the city's landmark pension reform package.

The U.S. Supreme Court has appointed an attorney from Maine as case manager for the lawsuit that Florida filed against Georgia in a dispute over water rights.

Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr said he is leaving the city with a new budget that would have a $100 million surplus after two years.

On Wednesday morning the FBI arrested an official in the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized 20 boxes of documents Tuesday related to purchases made through Los Angeles Unified School District's $1.3 billion plans to provide iPads to every student.

Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr said he plans to resign from his position in the new few weeks and that he hopes the city will be allowed to formally exit bankruptcy by Christmas.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn on Tuesday said that Jefferson County can file a petition with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta in the county's bankruptcy appeal, while reframing the question, which is critical to holders of Jefferson County sewer warrants.

A jury trial is scheduled in the challenge to Rhode Island's landmark pension overhaul law, and a citizen jury represents a wild card in the case, say legal experts.

A federal judge has sentenced former Ohio deputy treasurer and Chicago comptroller Amer Ahmad to 15 years in prison for his role in kickback scandal involving state investment business at the Ohio treasurer’s office.

A beleaguered Victorville, Calif. airport authority notified bondholders in a filing that it expected to default for the seventh time on bonds it issued to redevelop the airport from military to civilian use.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is seeking a buyer for the Lakeway Regional Medical Center after the Austin area hospital defaulted on a $164 million HUD-guaranteed mortgage.

Officials of Bell, Calif., the Los Angleles-area city where the former administration was jailed earlier this year for misappropriation of funds, said the tax-exempt status of $35 million in general obligation bonds that came under review by the Internal Revenue Service has been preserved.

If San Bernardino follows Stockton and Vallejo's example by impairing its bond creditors, it consolidates a pattern in California Chapter 9 cases in which pensions fare better than lease-backed and pension-obligated bondholders.

A lower court ruling throwing out Illinois' pension reforms isn't expected to trigger any immediate negative credit action or legislative moves, as all eyes turn to the Illinois Supreme Court.

A registered investment advisor who worked with Texas Attorney General-elect Ken Paxton could lose his securities license after a hearing Jan. 27. Paxton was fined and reprimanded for violating state securities laws in directing business to Mowery.

A judge gave the green light for Portland, Ore.'s Metro to issue bonds for a hotel project, but opponents say they will appeal the ruling.

Illinois' landmark pension reform law is headed to the Illinois Supreme Court following a lower court decision Friday that the benefit cuts violate the state constitution.

The International Municipal Lawyers Association has filed a friend of the court brief asking a federal appeals court to reconsider its decision to disregard a qualified immunity defense for Miami, Fla.'s former budget director, warning that allowing the Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit against him to go forward would negatively affect municipalities everywhere.

At least two northwest Indiana counties put together a preliminary bid on the bankrupt Indiana Toll Road that's expected to be at least $4 billion, while three other counties opted out of the proposal.