Law and legal issues

A judge ruled last week that several Kansas City, Mo. business owners behind a lawsuit challenging the legality of the funding mechanism for the city's proposed $102 million, two-mile downtown streetcar line don’t have to file a bond to proceed with their appeal.

A judge last week ordered Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, the state budget director and another state official to be deposed in a lawsuit contesting Orr's appointment.

A Travis County civil court judge has denied a request for a restraining order seeking a halt to voting on $892 million of general obligation bonds sought by Austin ISD.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. announced Monday that it has reached a settlement with UBS in a dispute over $1.5 billion of residential mortgage-backed securities transactions.

Highmark Inc., which closed on a $604 million deal to take over teetering West Penn Allegheny Health System, is now under rating agency glare.

Allentown, Pa.'s 50-year, $220 million water and sewer lease deal with Lehigh Valley Authority to plug a pension gap is a credit positive, said Moody's.

MBIA Insurance Corporation said it will receive $110 million for dropping its mortgage-backed securities lawsuit against Flagstar Bank.

After two years of running the troubled Detroit Public Schools, Roy Roberts announced Wednesday morning he will step down from the post in two weeks.

A Virginia Circuit Court judge has ruled that the financing mechanism of the Elizabeth River Crossings project in the southeastern part of the state is unconstitutional, calling into question the future of the multi-billion dollar public-private partnership and other Virginia P3s.

Financially strapped Miami has notified bondholders that the Catholic Archdiocese has filed a lawsuit against the city seeking $89 million dollars in damages, plus interest, attorneys' fees, and expenses.

The Jefferson County, Ala., Commission thought it had landed a state Supreme Court justice as a replacement for the recently retired county attorney but the attorney backed out less than a week later.

Fitch Ratings on Tuesday became the third agency to withdraw its rating on $131.2 million of defaulted toll-bridge bonds issued by north Florida's Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority.

While MBIA's bid for summary judgment on the issue of Bank of America's successor liability for Countrywide was denied, the ruling was not all bad news for the bond insurer.

Chicago settled a legal dispute with the private operators of its parking meter system over lost revenue in an agreement that modifies the much maligned lease and could save the city as much as $1 billion over the next seven decades.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Texas' right to draw water from Oklahoma could have a major impact on interstate water compacts across the nation, experts said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Victorville, Calif., a city official, the Southern California Logistics Airport Authority, and underwriter Kinsell, Newcomb & DeDios, charging them with defrauding investors by inflating valuations of property in connection with a 2008 bond offering.

A small health care district in Northern California, the Mendocino Coast Health Care District, is still slogging its way through Chapter 9 bankruptcy and hopes to exit this summer without impairing bondholders.

Several Kansas City Missouri business owners behind a lawsuit challenging the legality of the funding mechanism for the city's proposed $102 million downtown streetcar filed an appeal of the district court's dismissal.

Ontario, Calif., officials filed a claim on April 11 seeking to dissolve a joint powers agreement in an attempt to wrest control of its local airport away from Los Angeles World Airport.

Moody's Investors Service said Wednesday that it is closely watching several key events throughout 2013, including five scheduled debt-service payments, for any impact on the city's already junk-level credit rating.