Oil Crisis

MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. has just disclosed net profits available to common stakeholders of $879,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011, as opposed to net revenue available for common stakeholders of $1.6 million claimed for the final quarter of the year 2010. Diluted earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011 were $0.09 per common share, down from the $0.16 per common share for the fourth quarter of 2010.

C.R. “Rusty” Cloutier, President and Chief Executive Officer, commenting on fourth quarter results, remarked “In December, we completed the acquisition and systems conversion of the Beacon Federal branch in Tyler, Texas and First Louisiana National Bank in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. As a result, the fourth quarter included $0.08 per share of merger related expenses. Excluding these non-operating expenses, we had strong operating earnings per share in the quarter of $0.17 versus $0.14 in the third quarter. We are very excited to expand our market presence in Texas and Louisiana and look forward to the positive impact of these acquisitions on our franchise and to future earnings.”

Profits handed over on the Series B Preferred Stock totaled $400,000 for the fourth quarter of the year 2011 centered on a dividend amount of 5%. In August 2011, the Company issued $32.0 million in Series B Preferred Stock to the Treasury in connection with the Small Business Lending Fund (“SBLF”). The dividend rate on the Series B Preferred Stock going forward will be between 1% and 5% based on the level of qualified small business loans. Linked-quarter net earnings available to common shareholders were impacted by the repayment of $20.0 million in Series A Preferred Stock issued to the Treasury under the Capital Purchase Plan with funds from the U.S. Treasury that were authorized by Congress under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010.

The law office of Lee Tran & Liang has won yet a new 9th Circuit appeal; actually is its 4th specific triumph with regard to the Ninth Circuit since 2009. On Jan twenty-six, 2012, the 9th Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment in which LTL obtained for its client, the accused in a copyright laws and industry dress claim. Firm teammate Enoch H. Liang – as well as attorney at law Daniel Taylor – defended Bedrosian’s (in Orange County) and Hirsch Glass Company (in New Jersey) both before the District Court and the Ninth Circuit. The plaintiff has been represented by distinguished intellectual property specialist Christie Parker & Hale.

As reported in LTL’s June 2010 press release, the District Court granted LTL’s motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff’s trade dress claims in mid-2009. Then, in September 2009, less than 4 days before a jury trial was scheduled to begin, the District Court also dismissed Plaintiff’s 17 copyright claims. In July 2010, Plaintiff appealed to the Ninth Circuit, arguing that the District Court erred in both holding that the scope of Plaintiff’s copyrights were “thin,” and finding that “there is no substantial similarity (much less virtual identity) insofar as the protectable items are concerned as between Plaintiff’s copyrighted products and Defendants’ glass tiles.”

After extensive briefing, on January 13, 2012, LTL Partner Enoch Liang argued the case, defending the District Court’s ruling. Less than two weeks after the oral argument, the Ninth Circuit Judges W. Fletcher, Fisher, and Zouhary—issued their unpublished opinion. The Ninth Circuit held that “protection over designs is thin.” The Court further held that the defendants’ designs “are not ‘virtually identical’ to because the streaking effect, color blends, and appearance of randomness in designs are different…”

This decision reaffirms the need for a two-pronged methodology in copyright infringement actions. Often, the issue of infringement is determined by the “scope” of the copyright that the court determines as a matter of law. Hence, in litigating copyright matters, plaintiffs should pay particular attention to avoid falling into various limiting doctrines that may limit the scope of their copyrights. Defendants should do the opposite.

Lee Tran & Liang, APLC is a California based law firm focusing exclusively on business litigation. The firm’s partners have practiced at prominent law firms, and are graduates of top law schools including Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and Michigan. Primary practice areas, as outlined by the firm itself and every attorney directory, include business disputes (breach of contract, aggrieved investors and professionals, and commercial disputes) intellectual property litigation (patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets), and employment litigation (defense). Specifically what sets the organization apart is actually its objective of aligning itself with its clients’ necessities, by offering a number of innovative fee plans in suitable concerns.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is telling small businesses that Feb. 24 will be the completing deadline pertaining to federal business damage catastrophe loans offered in Lee and Scott counties in Virginia. The SBA declared a catastrophe due to extreme storms, tornadoes, straight-line wind gusts and also floods which began on April 23, last year.

In addition, the Small Business Administration announced this week that federal economic damage disaster loans are available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small firms engaged in aquaculture and most private non-profit associations of all sizes located in the counties of Dillon and Horry in South Carolina as a consequence of Hurricane Irene which came about in August.

“When the Secretary of Agriculture issues a disaster declaration to help farmers recover from damages and losses to crops, the Small Business Administration issues a declaration to assist eligible entities affected by the same disaster,” said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East in Atlanta.

Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is offered to suitable farm-related in addition to nonfarm-related businesses that encountered monetary losses being a direct consequence of this calamity. Excluding aquacultural organizations, agricultural producers, farmers along with ranchers are definitely not eligible to a href=”http://www.sba.gov/content/how-apply-sba-loan”>apply to SBA.

Financing for small business can be up to $2 million, with interest rates of 3 percent for non-profit organizations and 4 percent for small businesses. Terms can be up to 30 years. The SBA decides eligibility depending on the size of the prospect, type of undertaking as well as financial resources. The agency creates loan levels along with terms dependent upon each and every candidate’s financial condition. The may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. These particular small business loans are not meant to take the place of missed sales or revenue.

Juhl Wind Inc, leading the way in Community Wind Power, has announced the official commercial start-up and operation of the two wind turbine project regarding Gundersen Health System in Winona County, MN. The 4.95 megawatt venture may be the first-of-its-kind within North America to be developed specifically to handle the alternative energy concerns of a large regional health care organization, in this case, Gundersen Health System.

“This unique wind project represents the continued activity by Juhl over the past two years and highlights our strength and diversity in the community wind energy market,” proclaimed Corey Juhl, Vice President of Development for Juhl Wind Inc. “We are seeing an increased demand for large commercial and industrial organization projects such as Gundersen’s as they fit extremely well within Juhl Wind’s area of expertise. This community-based project will provide significant economic benefits to the region. As one piece of their Envision program, the wind farm project will help Gundersen Health System achieve their goal of becoming 100% energy independent by 2014.”

“This is an exciting time for Gundersen and our Envision program. This community wind project we have done with Juhl Wind was about two years in the making, and we’re happy to report that the turbines are now creating energy,” reported Jeff Rich, executive director, GL Envision, LLC.

Juhl Wind is an established frontrunner in Community Based Wind Power creation and supervision, centered on wind power projects throughout the United States and Canada. Juhl Wind pioneered Community-Based wind farms, developing the currently accepted financial, operational and legal structure providing local ownership of medium-to-large scale wind farms. To date, the Company has completed 21 wind farm projects and provides operations management and oversight across the portfolio of renewable resources. Juhl Wind services every aspect of wind farm development from full development and ownership, general consultation, construction management and system operations and maintenance. With its consolidation of the Valley View, Winona County and Woodstock Hills wind farms, the Company has now invested in and operates 21.7 MWs of wind power through its independent power producer subsidiary, Juhl Renewable Asset, Inc. Through its Next Generation Power Systems subsidiary, Juhl Wind also delivers total product sales as well as service to smaller, on-site wind power and solar panel ventures together with the company’s more substantial Community Wind turbine Farms.

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced this week that federal economic damage catastrophe loans are available to small companies, small farm cooperatives, small enterprises operating in aquaculture and most private non-profit organizations of any size based in the counties of Dillon as well as Horry in South Carolina due to Hurricane Irene that came about in August.

“These counties are eligible because they are contiguous to one or more primary counties in North Carolina. The Small Business Administration recognizes that disasters do not usually stop at county or state lines. For that reason, counties adjacent to primary counties named in the declaration are included,” noted Frank Skaggs, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East in Atlanta.

“When the Secretary of Agriculture issues a disaster declaration to help farmers recover from damages and losses to crops, the Small Business Administration issues a declaration to assist eligible entities affected by the same disaster,” stated Skaggs.

Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is accessible to eligible farm-related and nonfarm-related companies that encountered financial losses being a direct result of this catastrophe. Apart from aquacultural enterprises, agricultural producers, farmers and ranchers are not eligible to a href=”http://www.sba.gov/content/how-apply-sba-loan”>apply to SBA.

Loan options for small business can be up to $2 million, with interest rates of 3 percent for non-profit organizations and 4 percent for small businesses. Terms can be up to 30 years. The SBA decides eligibility based on the size of the prospect, type of activity along with its financial means. The agency sets loan amounts in addition to terms based on every applicant’s economic affliction. The may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The small business loan financing is not intended to replace lost sales or profits.

{Yung Joc could well be evaluating a court fight just after Master Mind Music Incorporated., an Atlanta-based music company, filed legal action against the artist along with his prior label Block Enterprises. Inside of the lawsuit

Andrew Hurwitz, a designate partner at the New York City law firm Schreck Rose Dapello Adams & Hurwitz, has went into the competing entertainment law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz as a partner within the entertainment staff. The free lance movie dealmaker is a 1988 graduate of Georgetown’s law school had been with Schreck Rose since ’07. Hurwitz’s Schreck Rose colleague Alan Sacks likewise joined up with Frankfurt Kumit.

A law office proclaimed that it is commencing a class action lawsuit which would involve shareholders of Chemed Corporation. The objection is a result of news that surfaced Nov. 16 of a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that Chemed cheated Medicare. Chemed’s stock fell $6.87 per share, or 11 percent, to close at $50.65 per share that day. San Diego law firm, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, said it filed the litigation on account of an institutional speculator in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.

Within a very previous South Carolina dialogue, Texas governor Rick Perry debated that national boundaries crossings have reached a forty year low seeing that the high-unemployment Obama economic environment has made America a much less desirable place to go for prohibited aliens. Prior to now, migrants found throughout the state of Arizona were given a bologna sandwich and also orange drink before being extracted back to Mexico at the exact spot on the very same day, Fisher said. Presently, they will experience the overnight in an immigration detention facility near Phoenix, Az and in time return to Mexico by way of Del Rio, Tx, at least 800 miles off. This article provides a brief background about criminal law and Phoenix criminal lawyers. Before reading further, readers should be informed that anything seen in this article is not a legal advice which means that as far as the law is concerned all and any data written in this article is inaccurate and incomplete. It is suggested that all readers must consult their own criminal lawyers in order to obtain true legal fact and opinions.

Criminal law is a type of law that deals with the association of the state and the persons within it. A crime therefore is a violation of the rules and regulations created by the sovereign authority. Criminal law codes or penal codes are set of rules and regulations created by the senate and the congress to govern the actions of its constituents. All countries are strictly enforcing their own penal code which is also known as criminal law code.

Phoenix Criminal Lawyer Concepts

Protecting the rights of assumed criminals are the specialization of a Phoenix criminal attorney. Even if a number of allegations are present, criminal lawyers frequently presume that you are innocent. Reduced criminal charges or dismissed criminal charges are the usual outcomes from gifted lawyers. Being a criminal lawyer in Phoenixis one of the most difficult branches of being a lawyer since you are faced with numerous criticisms for protecting the bad guy and because you would often be facing a large swam of complainants that wants your client to pay or to be in jail.

Criminal law code could be separated nationally or internationally. National criminal law codes highly vary in terms of enforcement from one country to another while international criminal law codes are general laws being followed by all.

The elements of a violated law are composed of the principal suspect, the accessory, the accomplice and the victim. Being a victim, principal, accessory or an accomplice would be treated equally under the rule of law. The court of law has the tendency to look out for everybody no matter what you have done which is why Miranda warnings are usually being given to protect suspects. “Sir/Madam you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in the court of law,” is a part of the Miranda warning that should be given to every arrested victim.

Criminal Law Attorneys located in Phoenix

Everybody must have a little info about their humanitarian privileges. Disregarding the rights of an alleged suspect is a violation of the law. Everybody is considered innocent unless and until proven otherwise in court. Calling Defense lawyers as early as possible is a wise thing to do.

Disparities with regards to national law are highly versatile because of the different culture each people have in common. Deciding the method of investigation, payment of criminal compensations, making disciplinary action and the like are some of the limited purposes of national law. Monetary compensation for the complainant so the necessary fines or corrective punishment for the defendant is being done in national law.

If you have a complaint or if you need someone to defend your case, quickly call a lawyer. Do not tell the entire story to the police immediately. Lawyers have different specialization but when it comes to a criminal court it is broken down to two lawyers namely the prosecutor lawyer and the criminal Defense lawyer. Always choose the lawyer who specializes in your problem since they will serve as a big factor in determining if justice that is being done is just or not.

Phoenix Criminal Attorney Techniques

Criminal Defense lawyers have the mission of removing charges or minimizing charges that was filed against their client. They meet and address questions to anyone that may be related to your case including the police and other witnesses. Eliciting the positive response of witnesses to testify for the suspect is also a work related duty of a criminal defense lawyer. Lawyers of these types assure that their clients will be dealt with equally without violating their rights. As part of the overall package of consulting a Defense lawyer, is being able to prepare for the possible difficulties that may arise in court.

Dealing massive harm to the constituents of other countries would be violating the international code just like what Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden did. International law codes aims to foster positive relationships and negate negative relationships among nations. The prevention of making nuclear warheads so as the protection of foreign overseas workers from one place to another are some of the examples of special agreements being done in international law.

By neglecting all of the bilateral agreements and international laws and conventions on the traditional intercontinental laws involving Trans-boundary Waterways and Lakes, India has decided unilaterally to build Tipaimukh Dam for “so-called hydro-electricity” on the Barak River in its north-eastern Manipur state; with out considering the negative impact the Dam would create upon environmental surroundings along with bio-diversity of the lower riparian Bangladesh. If India wishes to construct proposed the Tipaimukh Dam unilaterally in infringement of the concepts of equity, fairness with out harm approach to Bangladesh, then Bangladesh will be entitled to wage an international legal showdown towards India just before the International Court of Justice to refrain India from constructing such Dam on the Barak River.

The trustee overseeing the liquidation of MF Global Holdings Ltd.’s brokerage is researching ways to retrieve additional customer investments, including litigation, but stated the magnitude of the deficiency will likely “substantially affect” the opportunity to make clientele whole. MF Global filed for bankruptcy shielding on October. thirty one, leaving a shortfall in customer capital that the trustee anticipates as being around $1.2 billion. The full extent of the actual shortfall will not be discovered until the actual customer claim progression is finished, said James Kobak, main lawyer for trustee James Giddens.

Within Vicksburg, Mississippi, Warren County Tax Assessor Angela Brown would like to attract some external help to concentrate on property reappraisal. The Vicksburg Post reports that Brown, who had been elected in Nov, told managers that she desired the support to reappraise one-fourth of Warren County’s real property the next four years. Brown asked supervisors Monday to hire Louisville, Miss.-based appraiser Wes Kight and Associates LLC to complete state-mandated land roll up-grades for $135,000 a year through budgetary 2015.

A South Tx male continued in custody Wednesday after law enforcement discovered a jacket and a gun with blood on them in his car 10 streets from the state welfare office exactly where his common-law partner was found bloodied in the bath room. She subsequently died at a medical facility. Vidal Ben Garcia III, twenty-five, was remaining held for a murder charge in the fatality of 26-year-old Kimberly Lee Gonzalez, according to Alice Police Chief Daniel Bueno.

FreeSound.org is essentially a substantial assortment of “samples” of audio, which can be “remixed” to produce brand-new, transformative derivative works such as soundscapes, music, as well as soundtracks designed for motion pictures. That is what “sampling” is mostly about, so it appears like using the Creative Commons “Sampling” licenses should to be the correct decision. Correct? Well, simply no. Since it is not a permit for samples. It’s a license which allows sampling. Creative Commons and FreeSound.org are phasing out Sampling Licenses.

The Phillipine Department of the Interior and Local Government a short while ago announced it is going after no less than ten law enforcement, military, and ordinary people who allegedly defied the campaign against indiscriminate shooting of firearms during the holiday period. “I am not going to tolerate those who indiscriminately fired their guns before, after and during the holidays, particularly police officers who defied our ban. Once investigation results indicate we have prima facie cases against them, they will be dismissed from the service,” stated Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo, as he reassured that concerned persons will have to face the “full might of the law” for their actions.

Apple is definitely investing a big bet on China, the place its products and services have proven to be hugely well-liked, yet that could likewise leave it subjected to a few bad failures in the process: the organization is at present getting sued by a collection of Chinese freelance writers, who are accusing the firm of copyright infringement over several books available to buy in its app retail outlet. It’s an ironic turn of activities, given that Apple has been battling considerable copyright violation of its very own in the nation, in the form of replica items. The team of 9 writers, operating under the China Written Works Copyright Society, state that some 37 pieces have already been published in Apple’s App Shop without their authorization. Their 12-billion-yuan ($1.9 million) legal action entered formal proceedings in Beijing last week, according to the English version of the China business news web-site Caixin Online.