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Commercial Contracts
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June 17, 2013
Sprint Sues Dish To Block Clearwire Takeover
Sprint Nextel Corp. sued Dish Network Corp. and Clearwire Corp. on Monday in Delaware court, claiming Dish's proposed takeover of Clearwire breaks an investor agreement and is designed to coerce unknowing minority stockholders into ceding their shares.
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June 17, 2013
Saudi Prince Claims Producer Stiffed Him On Movie Deal
A Saudi prince who claims film producer Steven Saxton owes him commissions and other monies arising out of a failed business venture admitted to a Los Angeles jury Monday that Saxton had never formally agreed to reimburse him for expenses like a BMW and a bodyguard.
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June 17, 2013
NJ Justices Take Up Arbitration Clause In Debt Agency Suit
The New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday granted certification to a case in which it will decide if the arbitration clause in a contract a woman signed with a debt management agency was sufficient to waive her right to sue for damages.
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June 17, 2013
JPMorgan Wins $15M From Meritage In Project Loan Suit
A Nevada federal judge Monday granted summary judgment to JPMorgan Chase Bank NA’s subagent Insolvency Services Group Inc. in a case against Meritage Homes Corp., finding that Meritage owed $15 million to repay its share of a loan given to a bankrupt developer.
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June 17, 2013
'Naked' Liens Don't Open IRAs To Creditors: 6th Circ.
The Sixth Circuit on Monday reversed lower courts’ rulings that found a bankrupt man’s retirement account was fair game for creditors after he signed a lien agreement with Merrill Lynch, ruling that a “naked lien,” stripped of any connection to a credit transaction, doesn’t disqualify a retirement plan from exempt status.
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June 17, 2013
Fla. Financial Cos. Sue Ex-Exec For Aiding Competitor
Two Miami financial education providers filed suit Thursday in Florida state court against former executive Philip A. Forsey, seeking injunctive relief and damages for his alleged breach of noncompetition agreements with them.
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June 17, 2013
BofA Denied Interim Appeal Of FDIC, Taylor Bean Ruling
A Washington federal judge on Monday refused to certify Bank of America NA’s interlocutory appeal of her decision barring the bank from submitting additional evidence limiting its liability linked to another bank tied to Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp.'s alleged fraud.
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June 17, 2013
EA Lied To 'Madden NFL' Programmer About IP, Jury Hears
Original “Madden NFL” programmer Robin Antonick only realized in 2009 that Electronic Arts Inc. used his ideas in later versions of the multibillion-dollar video game franchise, his attorneys told a California federal jury Monday during opening statements for a trial over whether Antonick sued in time to recover millions in royalties.
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June 17, 2013
EPA Exits Agreement Over LG's NJ Headquarters Building
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will exit portions of an energy conservation and sustainability pact with LG Electronics USA Inc. over concerns that the height of a planned headquarters building in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., will harm the natural beauty of the state's Palisades region.
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June 17, 2013
Texas Supremes Block Univ. Of Houston Prof's Retaliation Suit
The Texas Supreme Court held Friday that the University of Houston can use its sovereign immunity to avoid a suit from a law professor who claimed the university had retaliated against him after he blew the whistle on a dean's allegedly questionable accounting practices and improper contract awards.
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June 17, 2013
JPMorgan Can't Shake MBS Fraud Claims In $300M Ambac Suit
Ambac Assurance Corp. can pursue fraud claims against JPMorgan Chase & Co. over residential mortgage-backed securities it insured because the deal closed so quickly that the bond insurer might not have had a chance to review the loan files, a New York state judge ruled Monday.
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June 17, 2013
BLM's Gas Lease Sales Didn't Flout Enviro Law, Judge Says
Three environmental groups on Friday lost a bid to block the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from selling oil and gas leases in Montana that allegedly have been sold without consideration of their impact on global warming after a Montana federal judge ruled the groups lacked standing.
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June 17, 2013
BoyarMiller Owes $1M Over Botched Deal, Inkjet Co. Says
Industrial inkjet company Xennia Technology Ltd. said in a lawsuit filed Thursday that Houston law firm BoyarMiller PC should return nearly $1 million it received representing Xennia in a fraud suit filed by a tech startup because BoyarMiller allegedly botched Xennia's settlement deal.
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June 17, 2013
HSBC Blasts Deutsche Dismissal Bid In $615M RMBS Dispute
HSBC Bank USA NA on Friday hit back at a Deutsche Bank AG unit's bid to dismiss a New York federal suit accusing Deutsche of misrepresenting $615 million in risky mortgage loans underlying residential mortgage-backed securities, saying it wasn't contractually barred from filing the suit.
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June 17, 2013
Disney, 'High School Musical' Singer Face Copyright Suit
Walt Disney Co. and “High School Musical” singer Drew Seeley were hit with a breach of contract and infringement lawsuit Saturday in Texas federal court, accusing them of flouting a deal Seeley signed with a production company before his work with Disney.
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June 14, 2013
Soleus Demands $150M Over Fire-Prone Dehumidifiers
Home-comfort product maker Soleus International Inc. on Thursday hit Gree Electric Appliances Inc. of Zhuhai with a $150 million suit in California federal court, accusing the Chinese appliance maker of selling fire-prone dehumidifiers through Soleus and retaliating when Soleus reported the defect to the U.S. government.
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June 14, 2013
PokerStars Not Ready To Fold In NJ Casino Takeover
Online gaming company PokerStars this week revived its pursuit of an Atlantic City, N.J., casino, appealing a state judge’s ruling that nullified a sales agreement, which could cost PokerStars up to $15 million if its appellate bid fails, according to reports.
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June 14, 2013
Blind Music Icon Claims Manager Duped Him With Deal
Blind music legend Jose Feliciano was duped by a music industry fraudster who lured him away from his former manager and coaxed him into signing a new agreement that he couldn't read, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Florida state court.
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June 14, 2013
Texas High Court Won't Review $2M RE Malpractice Claim
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday said it would not hear arguments that the state should extend the time to file legal malpractice claims that come from transactional work as well as litigation, in a case involving real estate tax advice that allegedly cost a business $2 million when a holding company went bankrupt.
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June 14, 2013
Marriott Exits Miami Beach Hotel Over Contract Dispute
A division of Marriott International Inc. said Friday it will stop managing The Eden Roc hotel in Miami Beach, Fla., and is seeking millions in damages in New York state court against the hotel's owner for allegedly breaching a management contract.
Expert Analysis
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New Ways To Manage Old Pension Liabilities
If there were techniques to reduce or even eliminate future pension payment obligations and their volatile financial statement impact without breaking promises to retirees, private equity buyers might find a number of transactions more viable. With that in mind, private equity buyers may be able to adopt some of the approaches used recently by General Motors and Verizon, say Sarah Fitts and Alicia McCarthy of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.
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Lehman Derivative Litigation Still Looms Large
The market’s attention is fixed firmly on the future of derivatives. Questions about the Dodd Frank requirements, and to what extent the use of swaps in structured finance and other transactions will return, are front and center. And yet, there are also lessons to be learned from the past use of these somewhat esoteric financial instruments, which continue to be tested in litigation — with more to come on the Lehman front, say attorneys with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.
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Wrap Your Head Around ISO's Additional Insured Revisions
Presumably in response to developing law on the scope of additional insured coverage, the Insurance Services Office has recently revised its standard commercial general liability forms and endorsements. Although the true scope of their effect is unclear, the revisions can further complicate an already complex area and negatively impact both additional and named insureds, says Roberta Anderson of K&L Gates LLP.
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How Far Patent Licensors Can Go In US, China And Korea
International patent licensing can be challenging. In the U.S., most licensing arrangements are analyzed under the rule of reason, which can create uncertainty. In China, there are multiple sources of law and a lack of precedent. And in Korea, legality turns on whether the restraint is reasonably related to a legitimate business justification, says Koren Wong-Ervin, a consultant in the Office of International Affairs at the Federal Trade Commission.
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Is TAR Right For Your Discovery Project?
There are several critical decision factors to weigh to assess whether Technology Assisted Review is right for a discovery project — for example, the nature of the case, internal capabilities, production considerations and overall comfort with this technology, say Michele Lange and Joseph White of Kroll Ontrack Inc.
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Catch Me If You Can: How To Serve Foreign Defendants
You are sitting at your desk when your client calls to tell you that his or her customer breached an agreement. As you do your intake, you ask where the customer resides. You learn that the potential defendant has recently moved to “Country X.” Suddenly, what first appeared to be a simple breach of contract case has become a venture into the exotic world of international service of process and jurisdiction, say attorneys with Nossaman LLP.
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Make Your Florida Real Property Descriptions Certain
As the Florida real estate market continues to face an uncertain future, the purchase and sale of distressed properties and mortgage loans encumbering such properties present some challenges — making it a prudent time to review what constitutes a valid property description in an agreement for the sale of real property, says Sean O'Toole of Lowndes Drosdick Doster Kantor & Reed PA.
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Class Arbitration Is Back In Arbitrators’ Hands
Arbitrators can still interpret contracts pretty much any way they want, according to the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter. The holding should come as no great surprise as it reflects decades of federal arbitration law, yet the unanimous ruling is a surprise, given what preceded it, says Christopher King of Homer Bonner Jacobs.
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The New Frontier Of Agreements To Negotiate
The Delaware Supreme Court’s recent decision in SIGA Technologies Inc. v. PharmAthene Inc. will turn many heads, as it explicitly established a right under Delaware law to seek expectation damages for certain bad faith breaches of an agreement to negotiate, says Benton Bodamer of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.
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Watch Your Swaps And Derivatives Termination Payments
The financial crisis of 2008 has resulted in the termination of a large amount of swaps and derivatives transactions, and the calculation of termination payments is undergoing greater scrutiny. In spite of being hailed as the more objective method, "market quotation" results cannot always be taken at face value. The ultimate determination of commercial reasonableness depends on the facts and circumstances of each case, say Prateek Shah and Michael Sadler of Finance Scholars Group.