Practice Areas
Appellate
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February 22, 2012
8th Circ. Mostly OKs Toss Of EEOC’s Trucker Sex Bias Suit
The Eighth Circuit on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of almost all of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's lawsuit on behalf female drivers at CRST Van Expedited Inc. but vacated a $4.5 million attorneys' fee award to the trucking company.
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February 22, 2012
Enviros Sue EPA Over Shell's Alaskan Drilling Permits
A coalition of environmental groups launched a suit Tuesday in the Ninth Circuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its decision to allow Royal Dutch Shell PLC to drill in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, challenging one of the first off-shore drilling permits to be issued after the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
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February 22, 2012
Fla. Court Overturns Engle Verdict Against Philip Morris
A Florida appeals court on Wednesday overturned a 2009 jury verdict against Philip Morris USA Inc. for a widower whose wife died of lung cancer, in the first appellate reversal of a verdict in a so-called Engle case, the tobacco giant said.
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February 22, 2012
11th Circ. Revives $69M Fraud Suit Against Medco
The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday revived a whistleblowers' False Claims Act suit alleging Medco Health Solutions Inc. subsidiaries hid $69 million in Medicare and Medicaid overpayments, finding the relators' complaint should have survived a motion to dismiss.
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February 22, 2012
UBS Can't Blame Highland Affiliates For $686M In Losses: Atty
A Highland Capital Management LP attorney urged a New York state appeals court Wednesday to dismiss its affiliates from UBS AG's $686 million lawsuit claiming the affiliates tricked UBS into restructuring a debt securities agreement, then made repayment impossible.
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February 22, 2012
9th Circ. Chucks $1M Verdict Against FedEx In Bias Case
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a decision to throw out a nearly $1 million jury verdict against Federal Express Corp. in a former manager's race discrimination and retaliation suit, saying a review of the record showed no factual basis for the verdict.
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February 22, 2012
6th Circ. Revives GM Workers' ERISA Suit Against State Street
The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday reversed a lower court's dismissal of a putative class action alleging State Street Bank & Trust Co. violated federal employment law by allowing General Motors employees to invest in the company's stock even after GM's impending bankruptcy became public knowledge.
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February 22, 2012
SAG, Sports Unions Dispute EA’s Likeness Win In 3rd Circ.
The Screen Actors Guild and the players’ associations of the major professional sports leagues on Friday asked the Third Circuit to reverse a ruling that the First Amendment protects Electronic Arts Inc. in a proposed class action over EA’s use of college athletes’ likenesses in video games.
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February 22, 2012
Chubb Doesn't Owe Starwood $10M In Defense Costs: Atty
An attorney for a Chubb Corp. affiliate told a New York state appeals court Wednesday that the insurer shouldn't have to pay Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s defense costs for a lawsuit stemming from construction cost overruns at a Florida hotel.
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February 22, 2012
Justices Remand Challenge To Calif.'s Medicaid Cuts
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to decide whether plaintiffs can use the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause to challenge California's cuts to Medicaid, ordering the Ninth Circuit to rehear the case now that the federal government has approved the challenged cuts.
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February 22, 2012
Fed. Circ. Nixes Judicial Pay Raise Again
The Federal Circuit again denied federal judges a cost-of-living pay raise Friday but held that the judges' class action was not barred by a previous ruling, clearing the way for the suit to possibly return to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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February 22, 2012
Sony Owns ‘King Of The Road,’ Other Songs: 6th Circ.
Sony/ATV Publishing LLC owns the renewal copyrights to the hit “King of the Road” and other songs by country singer Roger Miller, the Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday, reversing a district court win for Miller's widow and striking down a damages award of almost $1 million.
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February 22, 2012
Separate Asbestos-Related Cancer Suits OK: Pa. Court
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that plaintiffs seeking damages for asbestos-related health problems can file separate lawsuits for distinct cancers they may develop.
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February 22, 2012
Colony Need Not Defend Insured's Predecessor: 5th Circ.
The Fifth Circuit found Monday that Colony National Insurance Co. does not owe defense costs to lifting equipment manufacturer Manitex LLC in underlying litigation over a crane accident, finding Manitex did not assume its predecessor-in-interest's tort liability to trigger coverage.
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February 22, 2012
McKinsey Consultant Could Be Retried Over Iran Embargo
The Second Circuit on Wednesday amended its partial dismissal of a McKinsey & Co. consultant's conviction for violating the U.S. embargo of Iran, saying it should have sent the counts it dismissed back to the trial court rather than toss them outright.
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February 22, 2012
Power Co. Triumphs In High Court Ruling On Navigable Waters
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled PPL Montana LLC doesn't have to pay some $49 million to Montana for operating hydroelectric plants on its riverbeds, unanimously rejecting a state court's ruling that rivers with waterfalls and other "interruptions" were navigable.
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February 21, 2012
Supreme Court Won't Adopt Ethics Code: Roberts
The U.S. Supreme Court will not formally adopt the code of conduct for U.S. judges, according to a letter released Tuesday from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to five Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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February 21, 2012
High Court Won't Review Phil Spector's Murder Conviction
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Tuesday to review legendary 1960s songwriter and producer Phil Spector's petition for the court to overturn his conviction for an actress' 2003 murder on the basis that the trial judge’s inclusion into evidence of a videotaped hearing violated his Sixth Amendment rights.
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February 21, 2012
2nd Circ. Bars Trusts From $138M Biovail, Investors Deal
The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld a decision to exclude four investment trusts from a $138 million settlement between Biovail Corp. and shareholders, saying the fact that the founder had a controlling interest in them was an appropriate reason for disqualification.
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February 21, 2012
8th Circ. Revives Best Buy Suit Over DDR Mall Leases
The Eighth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a ruling that Developers Diversified Realty Corp. affiliates violated leases with Best Buy Stores LP by self-insuring part of their shopping centers' liability coverage, but said further litigation is needed to determine their exact liability.
Expert Analysis
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In Calif., Not All Appellate Costs Are Created Equal
In light of the California Supreme Court ruling in Rossa v. D.L. Falk Construction Inc., if your client must borrow funds in conjunction with obtaining a bond to stay enforcement because it either cannot afford to bond itself or provide the necessary collateral without financing, it cannot recover the incurred interest — even after a win in the appellate courts, says David Berkley of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP.
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The Aftermath Of Assured Guaranty V. JP Morgan
With its elimination of the Martin Act preemption defense to common-law claims, the New York Court of Appeals decision in Assured Guaranty (UK) Ltd. v. J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. presents a new opportunity for plaintiffs in New York securities litigation, and ushers in new burdens for defendants, say attorneys with Jones Day.
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Case Study: Cedeno V. Castillo
After the Second Circuit's decisions in Eligio Cedeno v. Castillo and Norex Petrol. Ltd. v. Access Indus. Inc., it seems clear there are no circumstances under which the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act will apply to conduct occurring almost entirely outside of the United States, regardless of its U.S. effects, say attorneys with Mayer Brown LLP.
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A Troublesome Twist In Texas Workers' Comp Decision
Due to the Supreme Court of Texas' decision in Port Elevator-Brownsville v. Casados, insurance companies providing workers' compensation coverage to staffing customers in Texas now must worry about how much uncompensated exposure they may have for injuries to temporary agency workers, says George Reardon of Littler Mendelson PC.
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Review: Recent Securities Litigation, Rising Trends
While credit crisis-related litigation continued in 2011, it has extended beyond the securities class action realm, as evidenced by a recent surge in mortgage-backed securities actions. Another trend has been the increase in M&A-related securities litigation, something we expect to continue in the coming year, say attorneys with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.
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Law School, Meet Litigation PR ...
The single most important thing law schools can do to manage their reputations in the face of litigation is apply the lessons learned from Wall Street during the recent financial crisis and strive for transparency in all communications. One need only look to Goldman Sachs’ woes or the struggles of Jon Corzine’s MF Global as examples of the catastrophic results of a campaign based on anything but complete honesty, says Spencer Baretz of Hellerman Baretz Communications.
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Advancing Policyholder Rights In Utah
A decision by the Utah Supreme Court regarding reimbursement to an insurer of amounts paid in excess of a liability policy's limits underscores the need for policyholders to exercise caution before agreeing to any reserved right by an insurer handling the defense or indemnity of an underlying claim, say Michel Yves Horton, Paul Zevnik and Richard Pearl of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
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Implications Of Magner On The Loose
It is possible that, due in part to Magner v. Gallagher being pulled from the U.S. Supreme Court docket, select district and circuit courts will be inclined to restrict disparate impact theory in the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act context, thus setting up an opportunity for the Supreme Court to revisit the issue, say Stephen Harvey and Matthew Silver of Pepper Hamilton LLP.
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'Independent Practice,' Collective Enforcement
In North Texas Specialty Physicians v. Federal Trade Commission, the Fifth Circuit has affirmed the FTC's decision that collective rate negotiation within an independent practice association is illegal under an "inherently suspect" analysis, providing fertile ground for payers to receive meaningful relief from the FTC if they suspect collective negotiation, says Ryan Marth of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP.
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Tracking The Implications Of US V. Jones
The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in U.S. v. Jones that the government’s attachment of a GPS device to a vehicle without a warrant violated the Fourth Amendment likely will not — at least in California — impact an employer’s ability to place devices on its own vehicles to track employee movement when there is a legitimate business reason to do so, says Elizabeth Arce of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore.