Shale gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale had generated about 40 private lawsuits alleging water contamination, personal injury and other damages.

The legals claims would largely come from Pennsylvania, the northern state most active in shale gas exploration. The Marcellus Shale, exceeding 30,000 square miles and believed to be one of the nation's largest deposits of natural gas, also covers West Virginia, Maryland and New York.

While more than 4,000 horizontal wells have been drilled and hydraulically fractured in Pennsylvania in recent years, New York suspended drilling in 2008 to study its risks and come up with safeguards; the moratorium is expected to be lifted next year.

North Carolina is also studying the pros and cons of shale gas exploration, with a report due to the state legislature next May. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking") are not legal in this state but supporters want to open up the state to gas exploration in hopes of tapping an abundant resource of domestic fuel as an alternative to dirty coal and imported oil.

Cheryl Eckard, the whistleblower whose lawsuit led to this week's announcement that GlaxoSmithKline will pay a $750 million settlement, once worked for the drug maker in Research Triangle Park.

GSK is based in London, but employs about 5,000 people in the Triangle, mostly at its North American headquarters in RTP.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Eckard is originally from North Carolina and was a manager of global quality assurance in RTP when GSK sent her to a problematic drug factory in Cidra, Puerto Rico. When she arrived there in 2002, she found a long list of issues that were leading to mix-ups with drugs such as the antidepressant Paxil.

GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay $750 million to settle a federal lawsuit claiming that the company sold tainted drugs, including the popular antidepressant Paxil.

The medicines were made at a GSK plant in Cidra, Puerto Rico and misidentified in product mix-ups, according to court papers filed in Boston federal court under the U.S. False Claims Act. Federal officials announced the settlement today in Boston, according to media reports.

GSK agreed to pay $150 million in criminal fines and $600 million in civil penalties, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said today. The settlement is the largest whistleblower award yet in a health-care fraud case, officials said today.

GSK is based in London, but has its North American headquarters in Research Triangle Park.

Duke University and insurer AIG are in discussions to resolve a lawsuit over expenses related to confidential settlements the school paid to lacrosse team members falsely accused of sexually assaulting a stripper.

Duke and AIG have set Nov. 4 as a mediation date in the two-year-old lawsuit, Bloomberg News reports.

Duke had demanded reimbursement for costs tied to lawsuits by the lacrosse players and another by the team’s former coach over the school’s role in investigating the accusation, according to a November 2008 complaint.

A Pennsylvania company has sued IBM and four executives, alleging fraud, racketeering and conspiracy over a failed partnership to develop server computers and other products.

Devon IT's lawsuit alleges that IBM officials, including two based at the technology giant's Research Triangle Park campus, misused $12 million that Devon invested in several IBM projects. Devon borrowed that money, defaulted on its loans and has had to lay off 60 employees.

Devon lost its investment in IBM as well as another $20 million on expenses related to the projects. Devon is seeking triple damages, under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, totaling more than $100 million.

IBM said it will promptly seek to dismiss the claims and "will defend the suit vigorously." In a prepared statement, IBM wrote that Devon's "overheated claims are without merit" and "filled with outright falsehoods, half-truths and exaggeration."

Talecris Biotherapeutics is being sued by an investment fund over its proposed $4 billion buyout by Grifols SA of Spain.

The Laborers Local 235 Benefit Funds filed the suit Monday in Wilmington, Del., Chancery Court, Bloomberg News reported.

The suit contends that Talecris officials "are well aware of the company's intrinsic value and the fact that Talecris shares are significantly undervalued." Company officials have a duty to get the best price for shareholders, the suit charges.

Such lawsuits aren't unusual when a publicly traded company agrees to a takeover. 

Red Hat has won a legal fight with a small Texas company that claimed the Raleigh-based software maker infringed on its patents.

IP Innovation sued Red Hat and another software company Novell over technology that involves sharing icons across computer workstations, Bloomberg News reported.

But this afternoon, a jury in federal court in Marshall, Texas, agreed with Red Hat and Novell that the patents were invalid. Both companies sell the Linux computer operating software. The so-called open source software is a cheaper competitor to Microsoft's Windows.

IP Innovation sought royalties on all sales of Linux-based products. Red Hat reported last month that its 2009 revenue totaled $748.2 million, up 15 percent from a year earlier.

"The jury knocked out three invalid patents that were masquerading as new and important inventions, when they were not," said Red Hat's executive vice president Michael Cunningham, in a prepared statement. "We appreciate the jury's wisdom."

Red Hat shares closed today at $29.87, down 91 cents. The stock rose above $30 in after-hours trading.

The shares are up 73 percent in the past year.

Amazon.com is fighting an effort by North Carolina tax officials to collect customer data, including personal information and details on everything residents have purchased at the online retailer since 2003.

In a complaint filed Monday in federal court in Seattle, Amazon wrote that the request from the N.C. Department of Revenue would violate the First Amendment rights of its customers. State officials are seeking the additional information as part of an audit of Amazon's compliance with state sales and use tax.

The spat comes as North Carolina is trying to increase tax revenue and bolster its ailing budget. North Carolina has threatened contempt proceedings if Amazon doesn’t turn over the names and addresses of each customer in the state who bought more than 50 million products from Amazon during the past seven years, according to the complaint.

To say that the NAACP is making a threat to sue just hours before the school board runoff election is a bit of a stretch.

As noted in Saturday's article by Thomas Goldsmith and Kristin Collins, that threat to litigate was made at Friday's NAACP mass meeting at Martin Street Baptist Church.

The Rev. William Barber, head of the state NAACP, drew a standing ovation at Friday's meeting when he brought up the willingness to sue Wake to prevent resegregation.

You can check out tomorrow's paper and the blog for an amplification on Barber's position. For now, you can read this speech he made Friday.

You've got allegations of gender discrimination and retaliation in the form  of a denied transfer request in a new federal lawsuit that was filed Tuesday.

Holly C. Atkins alleges that the school system paid her less than male employees doing the same work as fiscal administrators. She claims that Growth and Planning and the school board rejected her request for her son to stay at Harris Creek Elementary School in retaliation for her complaints.

Atkins had filed a complaint with the EEOC  that has since been dismissed. She's also quit her job with the district.