Michael Kunzelman

January 29, 2013 | Daily Report Online

A federal judge on Tuesday approved an agreement for BP PLC to plead guilty to manslaughter and other charges and pay a record $4 billion in criminal penalties for the company's role in the 2010 rig explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

By Michael Kunzelman

5 minute read

December 06, 2012 | Daily Report Online

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, whose successful prosecution of a former Louisiana governor and numerous other public officials won him bipartisan praise for more than a decade, resigned Thursday while the Justice Department investigates alleged misconduct by his top deputies.

By Kevin McGill and Michael Kunzelman

4 minute read

April 11, 2008 | Daily Report Online

NEW ORLEANS AP - A federal grand jury indicted a state senator on charges he conspired to launder money for a convicted felon accused of operating an illegal insurance business.Derrick Shepherd, a lawyer from the New Orleans suburb of Marrero, allegedly conspired with the unlicensed bond broker to launder roughly $2 million in fake construction bond fees, federal prosecutors alleged Thursday.

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

4 minute read

October 17, 2008 | Daily Report Online

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

5 minute read

February 21, 2008 | National Law Journal

The nation's highest court has dealt a blow to property owners who want insurance companies to pay for damage from levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina, but the Louisiana Supreme Court is poised to tackle the issue later this month.

By Michael Kunzelman

4 minute read

January 26, 2010 | Daily Report Online

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

4 minute read

April 07, 2008 | Daily Report Online

NEW ORLEANS AP - Citing ethical breaches, a federal judge Friday barred a group of Mississippi attorneys once affiliated with a well-known tort lawyer from representing any policyholders in lawsuits against State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. over Hurricane Katrina damage.U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. in Gulfport, Miss.

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

4 minute read

March 20, 2007 | Daily Report Online

NEW ORLEANS AP - A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Enron Corp. shareholders cannot proceed with a class-action lawsuit against investment banks for their alleged role in the accounting fraud that led to Enron's collapse.The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion reversed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon in Houston, who had said shareholders could sue as a class.

By Michael Kunzelman

4 minute read

January 28, 2010 | Daily Report Online

NEW ORLEANS AP - Last month, protesters marched in front of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office to criticize her support for health care legislation and complain that they couldn't get through on her office phones.Now Landrieu's phones are at the center of federal charges against four men accused of trying to tamper with them.

By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

5 minute read

November 26, 2007 | Daily Report Online

PASCAGOULA, Miss. AP - Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott announced Monday he will leave a 35-year career in Congress in which he epitomized the Republicans' political takeover of the South after the civil rights struggles of the 1960s.Lott said he wanted to leave on a "positive note. He was first elected to Congress on the coattails of Richard Nixon's re-election landslide in 1972 - with 72 percent of the vote in Mississippi.

By Michael Kunzelman

5 minute read