Law and legal issues

With one of its two hub airlines in bankruptcy, Chicago officials breathed a bit easier last month when Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its ratings on Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s $5.6 billion of general airport revenue debt.

Bond lawyers and restructuring experts agreed that bankruptcy court approval of pension agreements between Central Falls, R.I., and its retirees and public sector unions is good for the bond market.

Putting an end to the one of the most high-profile criminal trials in the muni market since the mid-1990s, two former employees of CDR Financial Products Inc. each pleaded guilty to three criminal counts in connection with bid-rigging of investment and derivatives contracts for muni bond proceeds.

Alabama federal Judge Thomas Bennett Friday limited the power of the receiver managing Jefferson County's sewer system.

"Questionable practices" regarding the financings of the incinerator retrofit project in Harrisburg, Pa., merit a further investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the attorney for the City Council said in a report issued Friday.

Seattle-based Perkins Coie LLP has hired a trio of public finance attorneys who will work out of the firm's Chicago office to help expand its health care business.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow it to assess its muni members quarterly fees based on the par value of their reported transactions to help fund the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, despite protests from issuers and dealers.

The California Supreme Court rang the death knell for the state's redevelopment agencies, sparking questions about how their existing obligations will be met.

As Jefferson County, Ala., slogs through the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy, at least 10 bills that provide various forms of fiscal relief for the county are being advertised in advance of this year's regular legislative session, which begins Feb. 7.

The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled a conference for Jan. 13 at which the panel will decide whether to allow former Jefferson County Commissioner Larry Langford’s appeal to go forward.

Opening statements in a federal criminal muni bid-rigging trial have been postponed one week, to Jan. 17 from Jan. 9, prompting some market participants to wonder whether the remaining defendants are seeking to negotiate guilty pleas.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued a Georgia attorney and his client for securities fraud over their failure to disclose the client's criminal indictment in bond documents for $2.96 million of industrial redevelopment revenue bonds sold by Raleigh County, W. Va., in 2006 and 2007 that are now in default.

Children’s Memorial Hospital’s plans to build a heliport on the roof of its partially bond-financed hospital under construction in downtown Chicago is being challenged by a community group.

The Plano Independent School District faces a new year of litigation over Texas' school funding law after surviving a year of unprecedented austerity.

The North Texas Tollway Authority board has agreed to pay legal fees for board member David Denison, who is involved in an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Just four days before his trial was to begin, CDR Financial Services founder David Rubin pleaded guilty on behalf of himself and his firm to three criminal counts for bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies in connection with investment contracts for muni bond proceeds and muni-related derivatives.

In the realm of muni enforcement, the new year will start with the most high-profile federal criminal trial since the mid-1990s, stemming from the Justice Department's extensive probe of bid-rigging.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has launched an investigation into the Los Angeles Housing Authority, according to published reports.

The San Diego Association of Governments approved the $345 million purchase of a bankrupt toll road from a private operator at its Dec. 16 board meeting.

The California Supreme Court upheld a law that would allow the dissolution of the state's redevelopment agencies, but struck down a bill that would have allowed the agencies to remain in business if they were willing to pay a percentage of their income into a fund to help pay the state's education costs.