General Dynamics currently has 5, 000 engineers and draftsmen at work in and around Groton designing the next generation of ballistic-missile subs, and an additional 2, 000 tradesmen assembling Virginia-class attack subs, so the town is on firm ground in calling itself the submarine capital of the world.

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Workers assembling the Mercedes M-class in Vance, Alabama, build only 20% of the sport utility vehicle.

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Some of these payouts, like the latest, were negotiated by the most expensive lawyers on earth: Class-action firms, which specialize in assembling lawsuits in the wake of significant negative news and convincing judges to appoint them to represent all the shareholders who lost money as a result.

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