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May 24, 2013
High Court's Fla. Wetlands Case Could Upend Takings Law
The U.S. Supreme Court could be set to redefine the scope of the Fifth Amendment’s takings clause in a fight over a piece of Florida wetlands, according to attorneys who say a ruling adopting the landowner’s stance that a permit denial is an unconstitutional taking would upend the current law.
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May 24, 2013
11th Circ. Revives Former Ford Manager's Bias Suit
The Eleventh Circuit on Friday revived a former Ford Motor Co. worker's discrimination suit, saying a lower court erred in finding she failed to state a claim when she alleged her performance review was deliberately downgraded because of her race and gender.
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May 24, 2013
NJ Law Commission Mulls Tweaking Underground Utilities Law
The New Jersey Law Revision Commission on Thursday discussed plans to alter a state law designed to protect citizens from dangerous excavation near utility equipment after the state’s Supreme Court ruled a section of the law that mandates dispute arbitration is unconstitutional.
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May 24, 2013
1st Circ. Revives CVS Shareholder Fraud Class Action
The First Circuit on Friday revived a CVS Caremark Corp. shareholder class action accusing the company and three former top executives of falsely touting that CVS and Caremark were successfully integrated when, in fact, the integration was going poorly and drove off several large customers.
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May 24, 2013
Fiduciary Duty To IPO Clients Hangs By Thread In NY Appeal
In taking claims that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. fleeced a now-defunct toy maker by undervaluing its $178 million initial public offering, legal experts say New York's top court has the chance to put to rest doubts over the notion that bankers owe a fiduciary duty to clients dipping into equities markets.
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May 24, 2013
Minn. High Court Says Lewd Remarks To Both Genders Not OK
A trial court erred by finding that a business owner's alleged lewd treatment of female workers didn't amount to a hostile work environment because he directed sexual comments at men as well as women, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
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May 24, 2013
High Court's Morrison Ruling Keeps Attys Guessing
Nearly three years later, the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. is still sending tremors through the securities bar and sowing confusion among lower courts on the reach of a key fraud law, attorneys say.
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May 24, 2013
US Calls On High Court To Snub Pfizer Asbestos Case
The U.S. solicitor general told the Supreme Court on Thursday that it should refuse to review the Second Circuit's ruling that a ban on asbestos claims during bankruptcy proceedings does not apply to allegations brought by Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos' law firm against Pfizer Inc.
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May 24, 2013
Texas High Court Lets Foreign 'Loser Pays' Judgment Stand
Texas’ highest court on Friday declined to reverse a lower appeals court’s ruling that companies can enforce “loser pays” litigation cost awards from foreign countries in the state’s courts, dealing a blow to New Hampshire Insurance Co., which argued the costs were an uncollectible foreign tax.
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May 24, 2013
Developers Can Arbitrate Defect Claims, Pa. Court Says
A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday overturned a lower court's decision that the developers of a planned residential community facing homeowners' claims over shoddy construction work and water damage was not entitled to arbitration.
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May 24, 2013
Anti-Whaling Protesters Are Pirates, 9th Circ. Affirms
The Ninth Circuit on Friday affirmed its February ruling that anti-whaling activist Paul Watson and his group are pirates under international law and that Japanese researchers who hunt whales in the Antarctic Ocean deserve an injunction blocking the activists’ piracy.
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May 24, 2013
Law360 Names 10 FCPA Powerhouse Firms
Many savvy law firms boast their expertise in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act matters, but an elite group of 10 firms have emerged as true leaders in the fast-growing field, earning them a spot on Law360’s inaugural list of FCPA Powerhouses.
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May 24, 2013
W.Va. Asks High Court To Limit Greenhouse Gas Regulation
West Virginia has joined more than a dozen states calling for the U.S. Supreme Court to block the federal government from regulating power plants' greenhouse gas emissions, asking it to overturn a D.C. Circuit ruling endorsing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's finding that the gases endanger public health.
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May 24, 2013
FCC Cites High Court Win In Verizon Net Neutrality Fight
The Federal Communications Commission told a D.C. appeals court Thursday that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision supports its argument that it is entitled deference in its interpretation of statutes on which it relied for its authority to issue net neutrality rules challenged by Verizon Inc.
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May 24, 2013
DOL Rule Backs Groups' H-2B Challenge, 3rd Circ. Hears
Employer groups told the Third Circuit on Thursday that both a new U.S. Department of Labor rule changing how prevailing wages are calculated for the H-2B foreign worker program and a recent Eleventh Circuit decision against the agency bolster their challenge to a 2011 H-2B wage rule.
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May 24, 2013
USPTO's Patent Term View Oversteps Statute, Drugmaker Says
Drugmaker Exelixis Inc. has urged the Federal Circuit to overturn the patent office's current interpretation of the patent term adjustment statute, saying the office's take on the provision “oversteps” its authority and unfairly shortens the lives of patents.
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May 24, 2013
'Kids For Cash' Judge Loses Conviction Appeal In 3rd Circ.
One of two Pennsylvania judges found guilty in the state’s notorious “kids for cash” scandal failed to dodge 28 years in prison and nearly $1.2 million in restitution fees Friday as the Third Circuit affirmed his sentence and the bulk of his conviction.
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May 24, 2013
High Court Ruling Hurts Case Against Poster Rule, NLRB Says
The National Labor Relations Board told the Fourth Circuit on Thursday that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Federal Communications Commission negates the argument that the board lacked the authority to require businesses to hang posters informing workers of their right to unionize.
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May 24, 2013
Pa. Appeals Court Affirms Block On Single-Source EMS Law
A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday upheld an injunction preventing an Erie County town from enforcing an ordinance naming a sole emergency medical care provider and blocking competitors from offering alternative ambulance services, ruling that the law unconstitutionally infringed companies' right to do business.
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May 24, 2013
Houston Pension Rules Can't Be Reviewed: Appeals Court
A Texas appellate court on Thursday affirmed a lower court ruling that former Houston city employees who were transferred out of Houston's system to a nonprofit can't challenge a city pension system ruling about their benefits eligibility because the system has broad legal authority.
Expert Analysis
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The Importance Of Morning Mist
Morning Mist Holdings Ltd. v. Krys provides guidance to courts that need to determine the location of a foreign debtor’s “center of main interests.” While not outcome-determinative in this case, in other cases, the Second Circuit’s decision may ultimately affect the scope of relief available under the Bankruptcy Code to a foreign debtor, says Alexander Woolverton of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.
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How Monsanto Applies To Nonagricultural Biotechnology
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Bowman v. Monsanto Co. provides the biotech community some much-needed clarity regarding self-replicating inventions. Perhaps equally important, the court displayed a keen sensitivity to the negative implications of an overly broad exhaustion doctrine, say attorneys with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP.
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1st Amendment Litigation: DC Circ. Edition
The D.C. Circuit’s broadly framed decision in National Association of Manufacturers v. National Labor Relations Board confirms that businesses should evaluate any informational or warning obligations with an eye toward protecting their First Amendment rights, say attorneys with Wiley Rein LLP.
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When Rights Of Publicity Trump 1st Amendment
An important practice tip that flows from the Third Circuit's opinion in Ryan Hart v. Electronic Arts Inc. is that talismanic invocation of the First Amendment does not resolve the legal problem of balancing that amendment with competing rights such as the right of publicity, says Ronald Katz of Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP.
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Temporary Regulatory Takings Do Exist In Calif.
Property owners rarely succeed with regulatory takings claims — but securing a victory on liability and a damages award for a temporary regulatory taking, well, that is more in the realm of unicorns and the Loch Ness Monster. That all changed recently when the California Court of Appeal issued its decision in Lockaway Storage v. County of Alameda, say attorneys with Nossaman LLP.
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Pitfalls For Lenders Redeeming Ala. Property
In First United Security Bank v. McCollum, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals addressed the rights of a lender that redeems property sold at a tax sale as a result of its borrower’s failure to pay his property taxes. In certain situations, the decision will penalize lenders and awards property owners with a financial windfall, says Jack Kubiszyn of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.
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DC Circ. Backs FERC's Approach To Return On Equity
Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Southern California Edison’s challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's methodology for determining a company’s base return on equity. One noteworthy lesson from the case is that this method can have a material affect on the ROE, with a large revenue impact, say attorneys with Day Pitney LLP.
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Righthaven V. Hoehn: Bad News For Copyright Trolls
In its recent decision in Righthaven LLC v. Hoehn, the Ninth Circuit made clear that courts must look beyond labels in agreements and evaluate the substance of the rights actually assigned in order to determine whether an assignee has standing to pursue a claim for copyright infringement, say Benjamin Marks and Elisabeth Sperle of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.
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Ill.'s Unclear Endorsement For Asbestos-Injury Losses
The Illinois appellate court decision in John Crane Inc. v. Admiral Insurance Co. on joint and several liability of excess insurers covering asbestos-related injury claims left several questions unanswered — most importantly, regarding separate injury triggers and the "all sums with stacking" approach, say attorneys with Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP.
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High Court Takes On Declaratory Judgment Burden Of Proof
With the U.S. Supreme Court granting certiorari in Medtronic Inc. v. Boston Scientific Corp., it will help clarify who bears the burden of proof in a declaratory judgment action. If the court affirms the Federal Circuit, the traditional patent law for this type of controversy will be turned on its head, requiring a licensee to disprove infringement, says Shashank Upadhye of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.