Suit

Nike started with running shoes and Under Armour with undershirts. Both stories begin with dissatisfaction. While trying to sell a Japanese manufacturer's shoes, Phil Knight sent some to his former coach, who modified them, using, among other things, a waffle iron. Tired of undershirts that didn't dry quickly enough beneath the pads he wore as a football player, Kevin Plank set about experimenting with new materials. In 1964, Knight hawked his goods from the trunk of a car. In 1996, Plank did the same.

The developers of the stalled Westport Waterfront filed a $225 million suit in bankruptcy court Wednesday alleging that out-of-state financiers posed as potential investors in the project and then conspired with others to upend development plans. Investors based in Utah gained access to confidential information about the project by offering to help refinance it, according to the suit filed by developer Patrick Turner, Thomas Fore, and their companies affiliated with the Westport project.

In honor of the Baltimore Ravens being the football champions of the world after their big Super Bowl win, I would like to talk about entrance ideas for the reception. “How do the Ravens tie into being announced as husband and wife,” you might ask? Well, my all-time favorite entrance was performed (seriously, it was a performance) by my friends Shannon and Dave Biser at their wedding this past December. This super-fan duo entered the ballroom at The Belvedere (gorgeous, amazing venue if you are still looking, by the way)

A CSX Transportation dockworker who says he suffered disabling injuries last August when a tanker collided with a Curtis Bay pier has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the shipping company. David Rienas of Abingdon was atop a coal-loading machine on the Bayside Coal Pier when the Wawasan Ruby struck, "causing it to be dragged down the pier with great force," according to the suit, filed Friday. Rienas, 42, is asking the court for $5.2 million as compensation for back, neck and rib injuries that have kept him from working and have, he says, caused him permanent injuries "including mental anguish, fright and emotional distress and disfigurement.

Maryland's fight to get out of its $52 million exit fee for leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014 took an unpleasant - but not unexpected - turn Monday when a North Carolina judge refused a motion by the school to drop a lawsuit filed by the ACC in November. The ACC sued Maryland when university officials announced in November that the school was leaving for the Big Ten after being a charter member of the ACC. According to a spokesman for Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, Guilford County Superior Court Judge John O. Craig III denied a motion filed by attorneys for Maryland last month.

The Justice Department is accusing Standard & Poor's of defrauding investors with optimistic ratings of mortgage-backed securities and derivatives prior to the financial crisis. While investors are entitled to answers about those conflicts, compensation and reforms, Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama, by singling out S&P instead of other bond raters, appear to be engaging in political vengeance and put freedom of speech at risk. In 2011, S&P, Moody's and Fitch were accused by a Senate committee of giving overly rosy ratings on mortgage-backed securities in the years prior to the financial meltdown of 2008 and then contributing to the severity of the crisis by hastily downgrading hundreds of securities after the housing bubble burst.

Prior to the preseason, so much was expected of Pernell McPhee that the second-year defensive end was already penciled in as a starter. But a nagging right knee forced him to undergo a pair of arthroscopic surgeries during a minicamp and before training camp, and McPhee, who had collected six sacks as a rookie, recorded just 1½ this past season. McPhee eventually began the year as the starting end on the defense's 3-4 front, but after six games, he gave way to Arthur Jones who started six of the next seven contests in which the unit opened with three down linemen.

As expected, Maryland vigorously defended its right to move to the Big Ten without paying a $52 million exit fee to the Atlantic Coast Conference in two legal actions filed Friday. Maryland attorney general Doug Gansler filed a complaint in Prince George's County circuit court alleging the ACC violated state antitrust laws, breached contractual obligations and interfered with the the economic growth of the school. The suit seeks an injunction against paying the fee and declaratory judgment that it is unlawful.

A Morgan State University alumnus who is leading a coalition suing the state over discrimination at historically black colleges and universities has criticized the university's embattled president for showing "minimal interest and involvement in the lawsuit. " David J. Burton, president of the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education, wrote in a letter to Dallas R. Evans, chair of Morgan's Board of Regents, saying university president David J. Wilson's actions could "be interpreted as his being against rather than in support of the Coalition's case.