It also proposes litigation reforms intended to provide a uniform set of case-management tools to federal judges to streamline patent litigation, as well as protections from end users to patent claims.
This means that some fee objections will be part of litigation strategies, intended to impose costs on opposing counsel and influence their decisions in the case.
A 1995 law governing private securities litigation was intended to ensure that a lead plaintiff, ideally an institutional investor, would select lead counsel, he said.
It was Michael A. Cardozo, the city's corporation counsel, not Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who said: "Since this is an ongoing litigation, we intend to present our opinion in court.
When asked to explain his decision, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday: "Since this is an ongoing litigation, we intend to present our opinion in court.
"The decision below, unless promptly reversed, also would allow and encourage the types of 'abusive practices committed in private securities litigation' that Congress intended to avoid by enacting" securities litigation reform, the hedge funds said.
Mark Dombroff, an aviation industry lawyer who was not involved in the Bavis case, concurred, saying that the litigation process was intended to resolve disputes, and in the case of wrongful death, "the only resolution the courts can give is money".
The N.B.A. Board of Governors gave the SuperSonics approval Friday to move to Oklahoma City pending the resolution of litigation that was intended to keep the team at KeyArena in Seattle for the final two seasons of its lease.
In the past, Mr. Sharma has filed dozens of public interest litigation cases, lawsuits that intended to protect the interest of the public at large.
