Law and legal issues

Oppenheimer squared off against the Rhode Island Tobacco Settlement Financing Corp. at a state court hearing Monday as the fund company sought to block a $593 million tobacco bond refunding sale originally slated for early August.

An Alabama federal rejected ex-JPMorgan bankers' motions to dismiss the pay-to-play case against them involving Jefferson County, Ala.'s sewer deals and swaps.

Recent rulings from Washington State's Supreme Court to allow reforms of pension benefits are a credit positive for the state and local governments, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Harrisburg, Pa., recovering from the brink of bankruptcy, made its latest general obligation bond payment two weeks early.

Detroit's first witness in its bankruptcy trial, CFO John Hill, testified that the city's confirmation plan would mean more money for the struggling city but that meeting some of the revenue targets could be difficult.

Two ex-JPMorgan bankers seek to revise their statements in an SEC case about the sale of Jefferson County, Ala.’s sewer debt, now that a key player has been deposed.

The three counties around Detroit objected to the city's bankruptcy exit plan, arguing that the proposed treatment of the massive Detroit Water and Sewerage Department would spell catastrophe for the aging system.

Karol Denniston, an attorney known for her municipal restructuring work, has left Schiff Hardin to work in Squire Patton Boggs' San Francisco office.

Under questioning from the federal judge overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy, bond insurer Syncora Guarantee Inc. said it would settle a year-long battle with the city for 75 cents on the dollar.

New Jersey called Tuesday for the dismissal of public worker unions' legal case that argues that Gov. Chris Christie is underfunding the pension plans.

Port St. Lucie, Fla., plans to issue new, long-term debt and use the proceeds to take out bonds issued for the bankrupt Digital Domain special effects studio project.

Cost increases to Pennsylvania's two primary pension systems are unsustainable and figure to rise by more than $600 million in 2014 and 2015, said revenue Secretary Dan Meuser.

Bruce Cole, the head of Mamtek US, the firm that triggered a $39 million municipal bond default on debt sold for a Missouri sucralose plant, will go to prison as part of a plea deal.

Detroit's attorneys launched opening statements on the first day of a historic trial on the city's bankruptcy exit plan, arguing that the city may not survive without the debt adjustment plan and defending a deal to raise money backed by the art collection.

Opponents of California's $68 billion high-speed rail plan filed a petition to review a recent ruling that allows the $8.7 billion bond issuance for the project.

The trustee on $8.5 million of revenue bonds issued to finance a wastewater treatment facility to support a now bankrupt meat processing company in a Chicago suburb has struck a deal to sell the bond-financed assets at a steep discount to the company that's taken over the bankrupt firm.

Barring any last-minute settlements with bond insurers, Detroit will begin defending its plan to restructure debt and begin to rebuild the battered city.

Eleven months after the close of fiscal 2013, Jefferson County, Ala.'s audit sheds little light on the county's financial condition since emerging from bankruptcy.

The judge overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy chastised bond insurer Syncora Guarantee Inc. for attacking federal mediators as biased and ordered the insurer to defend why it shouldn't face sanctions.

The Texas system for financing public schools remains in violation of the state constitution even after lawmakers restored some of the $5.4 billion cut in the 2011 session, state district court judge John Dietz ruled Thursday.