Armando Cardenas says he has thought about leaving Alabama because of the possibility of being arrested as an illegal immigrant and the hostility he feels from residents.

But now that a federal appeals court has sided with the Obama administration and dealt a blow to the state's toughest-in-the-nation immigration law, Cardenas said he will stay for at least a while longer.

"It's not easy to leave everything you have worked so hard for," Cardenas said after the appeals court blocked public schools from checking the immigration status of students.

The decision from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also said police can't charge immigrants who are unable to prove their citizenship, but it let some parts of the law stand, giving supporters a partial victory. The decision was only temporary and a final ruling isn't expected for months, after judges can review more arguments.

Unlike in other states where immigration crackdowns have been challenged in the courts, Alabama's law was left largely in effect for about three weeks, long enough to frighten Hispanics and drive them away from the state. Construction businesses said Hispanic workers had quit showing up for jobs and schools reported that Latino students stopped coming to classes.

The law firm of Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, has commenced an investigation into possible breaches of fiduciary duty to current shareholders of El Paso Corporation and other violations of state law by the Board of Directors of El Paso relating to the proposed acquisition of the company by Kinder Morgan, Inc. The firm’s investigation seeks to determine whether El Paso’s Board breached its fiduciary duties by, among other things, failing to maximize shareholder value.

On October 16, 2011, El Paso and KMI jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby KMI will acquire all outstanding shares of El Paso for $26.87 per share based on the closing prices of each of the companies on October 14, 2011. The joint press release stated that the agreement provides that El Paso shareholders will receive for each of their shares $14.65 in cash plus 0.4187 KMI shares and 0.640 KMI warrants with a five-year term exercisable at $40.00 per share.

According to the joint press release, while under all circumstances El Paso shareholders will receive 0.640 KMI warrants per El Paso share held, subject to proration, El Paso shareholders will be able to elect, for each El Paso share held, either (i) $25.91 in cash, (ii) 0.9635 shares of KMI common stock, or (iii) $14.65 in cash plus 0.4187 shares of KMI common stock. According to the joint release, El Paso’s board, two members of which will join the KMI board after the transaction closes, has agreed not to solicit competing transactions. Further, under certain circumstances, according to the companies, KMI will receive a termination fee of $650 million, or over $0.90 per El Paso share, from El Paso. According to Yahoo! Finance, at least one analyst has set a price target for El Paso of $28 per share.

If you own El Paso common stock and would like to learn more about the investigation being conducted by Brower Piven, you may email or call Brower Piven, who will, without obligation or cost to you, attempt to answer your questions. You may contact Brower Piven by email at hoffman@browerpiven.com, by calling 410/415-6616, or at Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, 1925 Old Valley Road, Stevenson, Maryland 21153.

Attorneys at Brower Piven have combined experience litigating securities and other class action cases of over 60 years.

hoffman@browerpiven.com

The international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP won two awards in the Major Transaction category for Corporate/Strategic Acquisition of the Year and for Financing Deal of the Year at The M&A Advisor 3rd Annual International M&A Awards. The awards were presented for Greenberg Traurig's role in the business combination of Liberty Acquisition Holdings Corp. and Promotora de Informaciones, a transaction that involved more than 100 firm attorneys. The firm was also a finalist for M&A Deal of the Year and Turnaround Deal of the Year in the Major Transaction category and for Media, Entertainment and Telecom in the Sector Transaction category.

Leading the Liberty deal team at Greenberg Traurig were, from the Fort Lauderdale office, shareholders Donn Beloff, Bruce March and Brian Gavsie, and associate Bernie Grondin; from the Miami office, shareholders Patricia Menendez-Cambó, Chair of the firm’s Global Practice Group, Randy Bullard, and Mark Lopez, and associate Enrique Conde; from the New York office, shareholders Alan Annex and Ken Gerasimovich; from the Tysons Corner office, shareholder Jason Simon; from the Chicago office, shareholder Peter Lieberman; and from the Wilmington office, shareholder Kelly Terribile. The winners were announced at the 3rd Annual International M&A Awards Gala on Tuesday, October 11, 2011, at The Cornell Club in New York City.

Comprised of more than 350 lawyers in more than 30 offices, Greenberg Traurig’s Corporate and Securities/M&A Practice provides advice and services to companies and entrepreneurs throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Greenberg Traurig’s practice groups and attorneys have been recognized as No. 1 in their respective geographic regions by The National Law Journal, Chambers & Partners, Corporate Board Member magazine, Latin Lawyer magazine and numerous regional and local professional publications.

Most recently, Greenberg Traurig ranked 5th among all law firms representing investment banks in U.S. mergers and acquisitions transactions, with 12 announced transactions, in the 2011 Six-Month Banker Representations listing published by Corporate Control Alert. Firms were ranked by the total number of deals having a value of $100 million or more during the period from January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011. According to league table reports published by Bloomberg, mergermarket and Thomson Reuters, during the first half of 2011, Greenberg Traurig had 50 M&A deals announced globally, with a value of approximately $60 billion, up from 30 announced deals valued at approximately $16 billion in the first half of 2010. The firm's advance was propelled by its role in several high-profile transactions. Greenberg Traurig ranked in the top 15 law firms nationally and top 20 law firms globally in eight rankings in the reports, which highlight deal activity at top law firms across a broad array of deal types, regions, and industry sectors.

For additional information, please visit www.gtlaw.com.

A Utah man has been charged in federal court after authorities say he threatened to shoot air marshals, hijack the flight and urinate in the cabin of a Delta Airlines plane en route from Amsterdam to Detroit.

During a Thursday appearance in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, a judge allowed Jared L. Hansen to remain free pending a Nov. 7 hearing in Detroit. Hansen was ordered to surrender his passport and abstain from drinking alcohol, among other conditions.

He didn't return a telephone message seeking comment Thursday, and no attorney was listed for him in court records.

Hansen, 31, was aboard an Oct. 4 Delta Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit when authorities say he attempted to use the bathroom in the business class section of the cabin. Members of the flight crew asked him to either return to his seat or use the facilities in the rear of the cabin, but he refused, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

Hansen, who was believed to be heavily intoxicated, then threatened to urinate in the cabin and exposed himself, authorities said.

Gays and lesbians are not entitled to the same heightened legal protection and scrutiny against discrimination as racial minorities and women in part because they are far from politically powerless and have ample ability to influence lawmakers, lawyers for a U.S. House of Representatives group said in a federal court filing.

The filing Friday in San Francisco's U.S. District Court comes in a lesbian federal employee's lawsuit that claims the government wrongly denied health insurance coverage to her same-sex spouse. Karen Golinski says the law under which her spouse was denied benefits — the Defense of Marriage Act — violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection.

But attorneys representing the House's Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group counter that DOMA is subject to a lower level of court scrutiny because gays and lesbians don't meet the legal criteria for groups who receive heightened protection from discrimination. Under that lower standard, DOMA is constitutional, they argue.

A panel of judges at a U.N.-backed court investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri will consider whether to stage a trial in absentia for four Hezbollah members accused in the slaying.

The suspects were indicted earlier this year, but Hezbollah has refused to arrest them and send them for trial in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's purpose-built courtroom.

The court said in a statement Monday that a pretrial judge preparing the case has asked trial judges "to determine whether proceedings in absentia should be initiated" against the four men.

Iranian-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah denies involvement in the Feb. 14, 2005, truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others, including the suicide bomber, in Beirut.