The Associated Press is reporting that the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is investigating a swim club outside of Philadelphia on accusations of racial discrimination.

The Valley Club allegedly told a group of visiting minority children to get out of the pool and not to return. They are denying this claim and saying that overcrowding was the problem.

The Creative Steps camp is from northeast Pennsylvania and had planned to come to The Valley Club every Monday this summer. The alleged incident occured on June 29. Some of the children claim they heard racial comments.

One 9-year-old member, who was upset about the incident, was asked if she would return if allowed. "I don't want to swim here anymore," she responded.

Senator Arlen Specter called the sitution "extemely disturbing" and is also investigating the matter.

Obama said Sotomayor has more experience as a judge than any current member of the high court had when nominated, adding she has earned the "respect of colleagues on the bench, the admiration of many lawyers who argue cases in her court and the adoration of her clerks, who look to her as a mentor."

Standing next to Obama at the White House, Sotomayor recalled a childhood spent in a housing project in the Bronx as well as her upper-echelon legal career: "I strive never to forget the real world consequences of my decisions on individuals, businesses and government."

Barring the unexpected, Senate confirmation seems likely, given the large Democratic majority. If approved, she would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the current court, the third in history. She would succeed retiring Justice David Souter.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying he looked forward "to working with both Democrats and Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to confirm Judge Sotomayor as the first Hispanic and the third woman to sit on the court."

The growth in Israeli law firms' activity came to a halt in 2008, due to the recession and reduction in companies' business, which reduced demand for legal services, reports BDICoface in the BDICode 2009.

BDI says that the number of attorneys employed in Israel's 20 largest law firms was unchanged in 2008, compared with 2007, at 1,203. The number of law firms employing more than 100 attorneys was also unchanged, at five.

However, the number of partners at law firms rose by 8% in 2008, which BDI attributes to the firms' wish to keep employees by promoting them.

BDI says that 3,167 new attorneys entered the profession in 2008, 14% more than in 2007. BDI points to the steady growth in recent years in law graduates from colleges compared with universities: in 2008, 72% of all law graduates came from colleges. On the other hand, 95% of university law school graduates passed the bar, compared with 85% of college university graduates.

In the 2008 BDI rankings, Herzog Fox & Neeman Law Office kept its first place ranking, and Goldfarb, Levy, Eran, Meiri & Co. kept its second place ranking. Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein rose to third place from fifth place in 2007, and Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Nalevy, Greenberg & Co. fell to fifth place from third in 2007. Yigal Arnon & Co. stayed in fourth place.