http://www.law360.com/appellate Latest articles for: Appellate Copyright 2012 Portfolio Media, Inc. en-US Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:43:10 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312132 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312132 The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday rejected an antitrust challenge to the industry-shifting 1998 master settlement agreement between states and tobacco companies, ruling that tobacco manufacturer and state attorney general defendants were protected from the now-defunct General Tobacco's claims. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:40:48 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312312 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312312 A judge erred when he refused to compel arbitration in an overtime suit against Citigroup Inc. and held that an arbitration agreement couldn't waive the right to proceed collectively under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Citigroup told the Second Circuit on Tuesday. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:20:07 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312183 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312183 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:02:10 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312061 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312061 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:24:58 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312220 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312220 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:21:17 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312208 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312208 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:11:01 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312026 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312026 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:03:01 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312187 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312187 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:19:06 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312158 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312158 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:18:32 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312126 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312126 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:00:19 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312024 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312024 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:51:27 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/311967 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/311967 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:44:32 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/311966 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/311966 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:03:41 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312122 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312122 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:59:53 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312138 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312138 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:51:49 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/311598 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/311598 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:27:38 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312063 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/312063 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:04:28 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/311971 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/311971 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:27:09 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/311817 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/311817 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:10:19 +0000 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/311881 http://www.law360.com/appellate/articles/311881 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.