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Commercial Contracts
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May 24, 2013
IT Co. Can't Shake False Claims Suit Over DOJ Work
Information technology company Satory Global LLC must face allegations it billed the U.S. Department of Justice for work it did on its own behalf and wrongly fired a pair of whistleblowers, a Washington federal judge ruled Thursday.
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May 23, 2013
Miami Heat Star's Dad Sued In Sports Agency Dispute
A Miami Beach sports agency on Tuesday hit former partner Ronnie Chalmers, the father of Miami Heat point guard Mario Chalmers, with a trade secrets and contract suit in Florida state court claiming he exploited his partnership stake to advance his own career as an agent, at the expense of the agency.
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May 23, 2013
Cigna Gets Heart Device Coverage Fight Sent To Arbitration
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday dismissed a pair of cardiac telemetry makers' suit alleging Cigna Health Corp.'s decision to stop covering the device violates federal pension and unfair competition laws, finding the claims are subject to arbitration under each plaintiff's provider agreement with Cigna.
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May 23, 2013
Trump Wins Fraud Trial Over Chicago Condos
A federal jury in Chicago sided with Donald Trump's companies at a consumer fraud trial Thursday, rejecting claims that they deceptively lured prospective buyers of hotel condominiums at Trump's downtown luxury tower by offering a revenue-sharing deal that they later withdrew.
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May 23, 2013
Fish Can’t Duck Fraud Suit Over $28M Award, Texas Court Told
A now-dissolved title services law firm told a Texas appeals court last week that Fish & Richardson PC and JAMS Inc. aren’t immune from fraud claims over a $28 million arbitration award handed out by an arbitrator allegedly biased toward Fish & Richardson.
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May 23, 2013
Supervalu Sues Sunoco Over Gas Card Exclusivity Deal
Wholesale grocery supplier Supervalu Holdings LLC sued Sunoco Inc. in Pennsylvania state court Wednesday, accusing the gas station owner of breaching an agreement to give Pittsburgh-area Shop ‘n Save customers discounts on gasoline when they swiped their card at the pump.
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May 23, 2013
Superman Heirs Urge 9th Circ. To Reverse DC Comics Win
The heirs of Superman co-creator Joseph Shuster did not agree to release their statutory right to reclaim Superman copyrights in a 1992 deal with DC Comics, the heirs told the Ninth Circuit on Thursday in a bid to overturn a victory for the publisher in their long-running copyright fight.
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May 23, 2013
Miss USA Official Wants Sex Tape Interview Suit Shut Down
A Miss USA beauty pageant official urged a California appellate court Thursday to toss a breach of contract suit, arguing that a trial court erroneously greenlighted claims that she broke a secret agreement by talking to TMZ about a beauty queen's sex tape.
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May 23, 2013
Black Diamond Co-Founder Wins $6M Carried Interest Appeal
A Black Diamond Capital Management LLC co-founder can collect the final $6 million portion of the $17.5M in carried interest he earned there before he left to start another private equity firm, Z Capital Partners LLC, a New York appeals court ruled Thursday.
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May 23, 2013
6th Circ. Says $1.4M Atty Fee In Software IP Row Was Proper
The Sixth Circuit on Thursday affirmed a $1.4 million attorneys' fee award for a lawyer who represented Infocon Systems Inc. in a software-licensing dispute with Exact Software North America Inc., saying the lower court correctly exercised its jurisdiction over the matter.
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May 23, 2013
Pa. Tycoon's Fraud Suit Tossed In Feud With Schnader Atty
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday tossed a suit brought by billionaire businessman and philanthropist Raymond Perelman alleging his longtime friend and lawyer, Arlin Adams of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, defrauded him in a $24 million deal with Perelman’s son in 1990.
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May 22, 2013
Bank Software Developer Faces Suit Over Trade Secret Theft
Spear Marketing Inc. launched a Texas state court suit Monday alleging ARGO Data Resource Corp. used corporate espionage to steal its proprietary bank cash management system, following a federal judge's decision last week refusing to remand a related suit.
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May 22, 2013
9th Circ. Won't Revive BofA Debit Card Fee Suit
A proposed class of Bank of America NA customers failed Wednesday to revive their suit over the bank's service fees for payroll debit cards, after the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court's ruling that the National Bank Act preempts the suit's state law fraud and unfair competition claims.
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May 22, 2013
Michael Keaton Wants Contract Suit Over Film's Flop Tossed
Former "Batman" actor Michael Keaton urged an Illinois federal court on Wednesday to toss a suit brought by a production company seeking to hold him liable because a movie he helped create didn’t live up to expectations for commercial success, calling the claims speculative.
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May 22, 2013
Trump Ran 'Bait And Switch' At Chicago Tower, Jury Hears
A lawyer for an Illinois woman alleging Donald Trump's companies reneged on a deceptive revenue-sharing offer for hotel condominium buyers asked jurors Wednesday to award $6 million in damages for the "bait and switch," while the defense said she went in with her eyes open that the deal could change.
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May 22, 2013
Netgear Ducks Claims in Ruckus' Trade Secrets Suit
A California federal judge Wednesday tossed claims that Netgear Inc. breached a technology-license agreement with Ruckus Wireless Inc. and shared the company's trade secrets with a rival, agreeing with Netgear's argument that those claims, which Ruckus added to its patent infringement suit in March, belong in state court.
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May 22, 2013
Seyfarth Sued Again Over Brazilian Tax Shelters
A Texas couple on Tuesday hit Seyfarth Shaw LLP with another derivative malpractice lawsuit tied to junk Brazilian tax shelters, alleging in Illinois state court that the firm knowingly misrepresented U.S. tax benefits of shelter schemes while reaping exorbitant fees from their clients.
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May 22, 2013
MGM Says ThyssenKrupp Must Defend Elevator Accident Suit
MGM Resorts Mississippi Inc. filed a declaratory relief action in federal court Tuesday seeking to force ThyssenKrupp Elevator Corp. to provide it with a defense to a premises liability suit over an elevator accident at its Gold Strike Casino & Resort that allegedly injured three people.
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May 21, 2013
Commerce Bank Founder Loses Bid For $17M Parachute
A New Jersey federal jury on Tuesday sided with Commerce Bancorp in a breach of contract suit, ruling the bank was legally prohibited from paying its founder and former CEO Vernon W. Hill II a $17.2 million severance due to federal regulations governing "golden parachute" payments.
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May 21, 2013
Developers That Razed Beastie Boy Home Sued For $6M
Mortgage brokerage Silo Capital LLC on Tuesday sued the developers of two Manhattan buildings in New York court, arguing they violated the terms of a $6.2 million mortgage by demolishing one of the buildings, a historic gay rights site and the former home of Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz.
Expert Analysis
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Good For Business: Florida's LLC Rewrite
Representing a substantial evolution in Florida law, the Florida Revised Limited Liability Company Act will make the state a more desirable location for business owners to use an LLC for their business activities. Companies and counsel should familiarize themselves with a number of key changes to existing law, say Philip Schwartz and Andrew Schwartz of Akerman Senterfitt LLP.
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Contrasting 363 And Out-Of-Court Sales
Excerpt from Lexis Practice Advisor
In most respects, a bankruptcy sale is nearly identical to a sale of assets outside of bankruptcy. The differences lie in five specific areas, says Neil Herman of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
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A Twist In Terminating German Commercial Agreements
Commercial agreements usually provide for extraordinary termination rights or even automatic cancellation in the case of insolvency of one of the parties. Such a cancellation right may, however, contradict the general principles of German insolvency law, say Dr. Juergen van Kann and Dr. Rouven Redeker of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP.
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Calif.'s Subcontractor Defense Regime: Order Or Chaos?
With the enactment of Civil Code Section 2782.05, the California Legislature has created a new regime to govern a subcontractor's duty to defend a general contractor or construction manager on most nonresidential projects. While this new regime appears intended to benefit construction participants, its lack of guidance will likely result in disagreements and litigation among the participants, say attorneys with Jones Day.
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4 UK Bribery Act Myths — Debunked
The U.K. Bribery Act is somewhat complicated. Not surprisingly, therefore, misperceptions have arisen regarding its provisions, especially regarding the requirements, scope and exclusivity of Section 7 corporate liability, says Eli Richardson of Bass Berry & Sims PLC.
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Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream
The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.
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The Oil And Gas Operator's Texas Advantage
The interpretation by the Supreme Court of Texas in Reeder v. Wood County Energy LLC grants vast protection to oil and gas operators, but by doing so, it is perceived by some as muddling the differences between tort and contract law, says Michael Bolton and Kate Kalanick of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP.
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Not Subject To Ill. Court Jurisdiction? Think Again
The Illinois Supreme Court's ruling in Russell v. SNFA is troubling to part manufacturers as it suggests that an Illinois court can now find a part supplier bound to the marketing and distribution systems of its clients, regardless of where the end product is marketed, and find personal jurisdiction over the supplier, say attorneys with Locke Lord LLP.
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SEC Eyes Advisory Contract Approval Disclosures
A recent settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by mutual fund directors and service providers answers a number of questions for many in the mutual fund industry and provides insight into SEC enforcement priorities, say attorneys with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
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4 Takeaways From 2nd Highest FCPA Penalty
A New York federal court recently entered a final judgment against a former Siemens AG executive for his alleged role in a purported $100 million bribery scheme for Siemens to obtain a $1 billion contract from Argentina. Third-party sham contracts continue to be a prevalent theme in the alleged facts contained in corruption enforcement filings and resolutions, say attorneys with Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.