The Consumer Product Safety Commission is reporting a drop in the number of fatalities related to accidents involving all-terrain vehicles in 2011. However, although there has been a drop in fatalities, the number of people dying from using ATVs on roads has actually increased dramatically since 1982.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 327 people died in ATV-related accidents in 2011. However, that number could only present part of the picture. The toll is likely to increase by several hundreds more, when the Consumer Product Safety Commission receives more information about other fatalities from coroners as well as medical examiner records.

However, as far as recorded figures are concerned, those are the lowest fatality numbers on record since the past several years.

There are other reasons for California personal injury lawyers to be cynical about the statistics. Other data shows that the deaths of people who are using all-terrain vehicles on public roads actually increased by as much as nine fold since 1982. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 305 people died in ATV-related accidents while they were riding these vehicles on the road in 2011. The fatalities included 10 children who were below 13 years of age.

Another major concern to California personal injury lawyers is that close to 50% of the children below the age of 16 who died in ATV-related accidents were below the age of 12. This shows that the vast majority of fatalities involving ATV-related accidents continue to remain young children, who are riding adult ATVs.

Under the law, ATV dealers are not allowed to sell adult-sized ATVs to families that are buying them for their children. The Consumer Product Safety Commission does monitor these dealerships to see where they're following the law, and reports that the rate of violations was down in 2011.

The federal government and Ford Motor are investigating partial engine failures on some 725,000 recent-model vehicles that could cut engine power, often at highway speed.

Affected: 2009 through 2011 models of Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs and Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Ford report nearly 1,500 complaints that appear related to the problem; three crashes were involved and one person was hurt. No deaths have been reported.

The faulty parts were made by Delphi, NHTSA says. Delphi and Ford issued a technical service bulletin (TSB) in 2009 describing to dealers how to fix the problem.

But NHTSA continued getting complaints, including on 2010 and 2011 models, and "the complaints show an apparent increasing trend," the agency says.

Anthem Blue Cross is backing off a decision to require some policyholders to buy their prescription drugs from a single mail-order pharmacy—a requirement that the California attorney general's office said may be illegal.

Anthem, California's largest for-profit health insurer, said in November that it was imposing the new rule for so-called specialty medications used to treat major illnesses, such as cancer and HIV/AIDS. The company said the limitation would help keep costs down for patients and businesses.

The California's Unruh Civil Rights Act (Section 51 of the Civil Code) specifies that all people must be treated equally "no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status or sexual orientation."

The largest mortgage settlement in U.S. history was pitched by its creators as a deal that would offer quick aid to 1 million people in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. But according to a report released Thursday by the court-appointed monitor of the settlement, in the first nine months after the $25 billion deal was struck, fewer than 50,000 people received the most coveted form of relief: reduction of principal owed on a first mortgage.

Meanwhile, more than three times as many borrowers -- 169,000 -- agreed to a short sale, which requires they leave the property, according to the report.

Banks still have time to meet their obligations under the settlement, which requires that 30 percent of total relief come in the form of first mortgage principal reduction. But housing advocates say the limited progress so far -- just 14 percent of aid has gone to write down loan balances -- suggests that banks are avoiding, or at least delaying, their obligation to provide meaningful relief as they promised under the deal.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied an en banc rehearing of the panel’s year-old decision to uphold Facebook Inc.'s $9.5 million settlement resolving privacy claims in Lane v. Facebook. Lane revolved around privacy issues concerning the now-defunct Facebook “Beacon” feature, which shared a Facebook user’s activity on external website with the user’s Facebook network as a means of facilitating target advertising. The settlement, approved in 2009, represents an instance of cy pres jurisprudence as more than $6 million dollars were allocated to a nascent organization protecting online privacy.

The controversy surrounding the Ninth Circuit’s refusal of an en banc rehearing stems from a conservative bloc of judges’ contention that the settlement sets a dangerous precedent for cy pres distributions. The six Republican appointees authoring and supporting the dissent opinion worry that the newly formed organization, the Digital Trust Foundation, receiving the settlement funds has not established itself as a functioning, proactive organization deserving of such a distribution. As Judge Milan Smith Jr. explained in his dissent, “"If fashioning an open-ended, one-sentence mission statement is all it takes to earn cy pres settlement approval in our court, we have completely eviscerated the meaning of our previously controlling case law.” His caustic evaluation may motivate the Supreme Court to review the decision, as en banc review denials widely function as a call for the Supreme Court to offer their critique of the decision.

A class-action lawsuit has been filed in California, claiming Anheuser-Busch deprived consumers of what they paid for because there was less alcohol in the beer than what the label stated.

Ten brands are named in the lawsuit: Budweiser, Bud Ice, Bud Light Platinum, Michelob, Michelob Ultra, Hurricane High Gravity Lager, King Cobra, Busch Ice, Natural Ice and Bud Light Lime.

The lawsuit states that the condoned practice of adding water before bottling was "accelerated" since the 2008 merger. Also, the case's foundation seems to be anecdotal evidence from employees at the breweries. There is no scientific data involved. The California case is asking for more than $5 million in damages. Pennsylvania and New Jersey reportedly also have filed similar lawsuits, and other states could follow.

Apple has agreed to give more than $100 million in iTunes store credits to settle a lawsuit alleging that the iPhone and iPad maker improperly charged kids for playing games on their mobile devices.

The 2-year-old case centers on allegations that Apple didn't create adequate parental controls to prevent children from buying extra features while playing free games on iPhones and iPads in 2010 and 2011. Parents who filed the lawsuit in 2011 said they didn't realize their children were racking up the charges until they received bills or other notifications after the purchases were made. The games that had been downloaded were designed for kids as young as 4 years old, according to the lawsuit.

Apple introduced more stringent controls governing in-game purchases as part of a March 2011 update to the software that runs its mobile devices.

Under an agreement filed in federal court last week, Apple has agreed to award an iTunes credit of $5 to each of the estimated 23 million accountholders who may have been affected. Parents could receive more if they can show their bills exceeded $5. If the charges exceeded $30, cash refunds will be offered.

The lawyers who sued Apple said it's still too early to determine how many people ultimately will qualify for the iTunes credits and cash refunds. As part of the settlement, the attorneys are seeking $1.3 million in fees, which would be paid by Apple.

A proposed settlement has been reached by Apple over a class-action lawsuit involving minors purchasing in-game apps on iTunes without account holder consent. While popular games such as “TapFish 2” or “Farmville” are often free to download, players may opt in to certain features that can enhance the overall gaming experience for a fee of $1 to $20. The 2011 lawsuit was filed by parents on behalf of their children, who had incurred hefty bills purchasing these in-game features.

The forthcoming settlement offer will provide claimants who were charged $30 or less a $5 gift card to the iTunes Store. For parents who can claim charges greater than $30 for in-app purchases may be eligible for cash refunds. Some parents have even claimed bills of over $600.

Apple has since revised its purchasing policy on iTunes, requiring users to re-submit their password before a purchase is finalized.

What was intended as a fun addition to physical education in a California school district has sparked controversy among parents who feel Ashtanga yoga infringes on their religious beliefs.

In the lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court, attorney Dean Broyles argued that the twice weekly, 30-minute classes are inherently religious, in violation of the separation between church and state.

The plaintiffs are Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock and their children, who are students in the Encinitas Union School District.

The district is believed to be the first in the country to have full-time yoga teachers at every one of its schools. The lessons are funded by a $533,000, three-year grant from the Jois Foundation, a nonprofit group that promotes Asthanga yoga. Since the district started the classes at its nine schools in January, Baird said teachers and parents have noticed students are calmer, using the breathing practices to release stress before tests.

"We're not teaching religion," he said. "We teach a very mainstream physical fitness program that happens to incorporate yoga into it. It's part of our overall wellness program. The vast majority of students and parents support it."

Superintendent Timothy B. Baird said the lawsuit would not deter the district from offering the classes. Broyles said his clients took legal action after the district refused to take their complaints into account. He said the Sedlocks are not seeking monetary damages but are asking the court to intervene and suspend the program.

While the lawsuit names only one family, dozens of parents feel the same way and oppose the program, Broyles said. Children who have opted out of the program have been harassed and bullied, the plaintiffs allege. The children who opt out also are missing out on 60 of the 100 weekly minutes of physical activity required by the state, since they usually sit and read during the yoga lessons, the plaintiffs say.

Companies using products derived from urethane will be getting over $400 million from the Midland-based Dow Chemical Company. At the heart of the suit were urethane-based products used in the automotive, construction, appliance and furniture industries. The more than 60 companies, claimed in U.S. District Court that Dow colluded with its competitors and entered a price-fixing conspiracy.

Three other companies, BASF SE, Huntsman International and Lyondell Chemical, reached out of court settlements since the lawsuit was filed in 2005. A number of the original plaintiffs dropped out of the lawsuit. The original lawsuit sought $1.125 billion in damages.