Law and legal issues

CHICAGO — The Minnesota attorney general’s office and lawyers representing state retirees in a lawsuit challenging benefit cuts will lay out their cases by the end of the month in summary judgment motions that seek a quick ruling.

WASHINGTON— A federal judge in New York has denied a request by David Rubin, founder of CDR Financial Products, to transfer a bid-rigging case against him, his firm and two other former CDR officials to a federal court in Los Angeles.

Kimberly Betterton, a municipal bond and tax lawyer, has joined Ballard Spahr LLP in Baltimore, the firm announced Tuesday.

Shares of MBIA Inc. jumped by nearly one-third in the last week as traders bet that the bond insurance holding company will win or settle a series of lawsuits.

SAN FRANCISCO — A Superior Court judge has lifted a temporary restraining order that blocked a public-private partnership set to rebuild the southern link to the Golden Gate Bridge.

WASHINGTON — Only half as many muni advisory firms are registered with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board compared to those registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, even though advisory firms are now required to sign up with both regulators under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a proposal by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to nearly double the amount of fees it collects from dealers, despite industry opposition.

OAKLAND, Calif. — A Superior Court judge here promised an answer by Monday morning as to whether he will keep in place the temporary restraining order blocking execution of a public-private partnership to rebuild a key access road to the Golden Gate Bridge.

In one of his final settlements as New York Attorney General, Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo last week announced an agreement with Steven Rattner, former principal of the private-equity firm Quadrangle Group LLC, in an investigation into a pay-to-play state pension fund scheme.

Indiana cities would be allowed to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection under a bill touted by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.

DALLAS — Travis County, Tex., commissioners are expected to ask voters in November for up to $300 million of general obligation bonds to finance a new courthouse in downtown Austin.

A California court has placed another roadblock in front of the state government's plans to sell 11 office properties to private investors, while entering into long-term leases to occupy the buildings.

Bad legal advice turned a straightforward refunding deal into an expensive mess, a California school district contends in the lawsuit it filed against Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, its bond counsel on the transaction.

A firm associated with a former JPMorgan banker being pursued in a Securities and Exchange Commission civil case for alleged pay-to-play charges involving Jefferson County, Ala., was fired on Christmas Eve from a pension consulting job in Florida after Charles LeCroy's legal problems came to light.

The California State Controller's Office has filed a motion in the Vallejo, Calif., bankruptcy case, saying state intercept funds should be used to protect debt owners.

A Wayne County Circuit Court judge will rule in January on the latest legal wrangle that is part of a larger, years-long dispute over dueling plans for a new bridge serving the busy trade route between Detroit and Canada.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are in a jurisdictional dispute over which agency will regulate municipal swap advisers, sources said.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has filed another brief in the Vallejo, Calif., bankruptcy case in support of bond insurer National Public Finance Guarantee.

Alabama federal Judge Keith Watkins accepted a settlement Monday ending a two-year-old lawsuit involving swaptions between the Alabama Public School and College Authority and JPMorgan.

The Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority last week reached a settlement with CAF USA Inc., over two disputed contracts for the construction of light-rail cars for its North and Southeast Corridor lines.