A federal judge recently limited the scope of the 2001 lawsuit brought by the Presbyterian Church of Sudan against...Talisman Energy...by refusing to grant class-action status...The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will decide by the end of this year whether to consider the class-action issue before the case goes to trial in January 2007. The plaintiffs say class-action status is crucial to set the stage for a potentially large payout to Sudanese victims and to set a precedent for U.S. courts to aid suffering people worldwide who cannot find relief in their own courts.