NEW YORK/WILMINGTON, Del (Reuters) – A New Orleans federal judge will oversee a swath of civil lawsuits brought by injured oil rig workers, commercial fishermen and others stemming from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, a 12-year veteran of the federal bench, will supervise hundreds of cases against BP Plc and other defendants, a special judicial panel wrote in an order on Tuesday.

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) – The world’s largest newsprint maker, AbitibiBowater Inc (ABWTQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), is seeking approval to borrow $1.35 billion to exit from bankruptcy, but said the fees for borrowing the money must be kept confidential, according to court filings.

The company hopes to take advantage of a recent recovery in the high-yield bond market to borrow the majority of the money by selling notes.

, Aug 4 (Reuters) – UCB’s (UCB.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Cimzia
arthritis drug, which the Belgian company has forecast could
top $2 billion in annual sales, is accused of infringing a
patent held by a British charitable trust.

The Mathilda and Terence Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology
Trust brought the case in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S.
federal court in Delaware, demanding royalties and damages.

, Aug 3 (Reuters) – A 1,000-page examiner
report into the bankruptcy of Tribune Co (TRBCQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was
unsealed on Tuesday and made public, likely bolstering the
legal case of junior creditors who are trying to assign blame
for the media company’s failure.

Creditors to the bankrupt owner of the Chicago Tribune and
Los Angeles Times had seized on the brief summary of the report
that was made public last week to declare dead the company’s
proposed settlement of lawsuits that have kept it in Chapter 11
since 2008.

, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Oaktree Capital
Management LP withdrew its opposition to Dubai International
Capital’s plan to retain control over bankrupt aluminum company
Almatis BV hours after a “confidential” settlement offer was
leaked.

Oaktree notified the court late on Monday it was
withdrawing its objections to plans by Dubai International
[DUBAHP.UL] that would allow it to retain control of Almatis.

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) – Oaktree Capital Management LP is willing to give up its fight for control of Almatis BV, a bankrupt aluminum maker, for full payment of its loans and an end to threatened legal action, according to a “confidential” court filing on Monday.

In a letter dated July 27 to an Almatis lawyer, Oaktree’s lawyer outlined six conditions for ending Oaktree’s battle with Dubai International Capital LLC over the European aluminum company.

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) – A group of creditors has requested that the hearing to approve Tribune Co’s (TRBCQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) plan of reorganization be delayed at least three months to give it more time to digest a 1,000-page report by a court-appointed examiner, according to court documents.

The creditors requested a delay of at least 90 days, which could push the bankruptcy beyond the two-year mark.

, July 29 (Reuters) – An examiner’s report
that found dishonesty in Tribune Co’s (TRBCQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research) leveraged
buyout will remain under wraps until at least next week, a
bankruptcy judge ruled on Thursday, as creditors declared the
company’s reorganization dead.

Judge Kevin Carey of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware
also said he would consider extending the Aug. 6 deadline to
vote on the company’s reorganization. Such a ruling would come
at a hearing he scheduled for Tuesday.

LONDON/WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) – The tide of lawsuits unleashed by BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico breaks into an Idaho courtroom on Thursday, just as the company’s rivals are counting the cost of a ban on offshore drilling.

Attorneys hoping to lead the legal fight against BP are set to descend on Boise, Idaho, to address a special judicial panel considering how to bring order to the hundreds of civil lawsuits spawned by the spill after a rig explosion on April 20.

WILMINGTON, Del (Reuters) – Facebook Inc won a legal fight on Wednesday over claims its hugely popular social networking website infringed a patent owned by Leader Technologies, but the little-known company said it would ask the judge to set aside the verdict.

The eight-member jury ruled that Leader’s patent was invalid, according to Facebook’s attorney, Michael Rhodes of Cooley LLP, which represents Facebook.