Lawyers for his party said the ruling seemed fair and hoped it would clear up doubts about the outcome.

But rather than resolving the debate, the ruling seemed only to fuel it.

With the ends already achieved, any ruling that altered the means might have seemed moot.

But while the question at hand concerned only British courts, the ruling seems to have been made with the current international situation very much in mind.

The ruling, notable for its two-sentence length, seemed to come out of nowhere.

The ruling seemed to fit the public mood.

The ruling seems to raise questions about whether the firms that did settle should have done so.

Moreover, the new ruling seems to have radical implications for a wide spectrum of cases.

But this week's ruling would seem to augur well for the defendants.

Their ruling seemed to be the final word.