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April 18, 2014
2nd Circ. Won't Rehear $1B Antitrust Suit Against Microsoft
The Second Circuit on Thursday refused to reconsider its decision affirming the dismissal of MiniFrame Ltd.'s $1 billion antitrust suit against Microsoft Corp. on the grounds that the Israeli PC-sharing software company failed to show that Microsoft’s Windows licensing rules constituted anti-competitive conduct.
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April 18, 2014
NY 'Rocket Docket' Set To Launch If Lawyers Get On Board
The effort to speed cases in New York's overtaxed commercial courts took a big step forward Friday with the approval of rules allowing businesses to easily agree to eliminate civil litigation bugaboos like jury trials and punitive damages, but it remains to be seen if the lawyers who craft such agreements will take advantage.
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April 18, 2014
Insurers Not Liable For Sports Co.'s $3M Noncompete Row
A New York appeals court on Thursday freed two insurers from footing a $3.2 million judgment against a sports equipment company accused of lifting trade secrets after luring a competitor's employee, finding the policies did not cover violations of a corporation's privacy rights.
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April 18, 2014
NJ Court Says CBA Gripes Can't Support Whistleblower Claims
A New Jersey appellate panel on Thursday backed the dismissal of two Atlantic City nightclub employees’ whistleblower claims, ruling their allegations that tips were withheld from them and they were made to perform duties outside their job scope violated a collective bargaining agreement but weren't illegal.
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April 18, 2014
JPMorgan Thwarts Jury Trial In Hedge Fund Revenue Row
JP Morgan Securities Inc. beat out hedge fund Hayground Cove Asset Management LLC's bid for a jury trial, after a New York judge ruled Thursday that Hayground's claims weren't enough to undo a jury waiver in the parties' heavily disputed revenue-sharing agreement.
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April 18, 2014
Salsa Composer Sues Music Publishers For Royalty Theft
A Venezuelan salsa composer filed suit Wednesday in Florida state court accusing two music publishers and their owners of selling his music, including pieces not under contract, through online stores and failing to pay him royalties.
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April 18, 2014
High Court Petitioned Over 2008 La. Ship Crash, Oil Spill
American Commercial Lines LLC is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify maritime laws on preventing ship collisions in inland channels, hoping to hold another ship owner liable for the 2008 sinking of an ACL barge that caused a large oil spill in the Mississippi River.
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April 18, 2014
Fed. Law Preempts Class Action Waiver: Calif. Appeals Court
A California appeals court on Thursday reversed a trial court’s denial of an auto dealer’s bid to compel arbitration in a class action dispute with a group of car buyers, saying federal law preempted a state statute prohibiting class action waivers.
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April 18, 2014
BBC America Hit With $5M Copyright Suit Over 'Orphan Black'
A screenwriter is demanding $5 million from BBC America Inc. and others, alleging copyright infringement and breach of implied contract over the science-fiction television series "Orphan Black," according to a suit filed Thursday in California federal court.
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April 18, 2014
James Franco's Former Manager Accused Of 8-Year Fraud
A lawsuit filed Friday accuses James Franco's former talent manager and his former financial manager of operating an eight-year scam to steal a portion of the commissions the movie star was paying to talent management firm James Levy Management Inc.
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April 18, 2014
Defunct Auto Parts Co. Says Parent's Suit Belongs In Canada
Bankrupt Canadian car part manufacturer Fenwick Automotive Products Ltd. told a California federal judge on Thursday that a securities suit lodged by its parent company, Motorcar Parts of America Inc., was just an inflated contractual suit spurred by “buyer's remorse" and that it belongs in a Canadian court.
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April 18, 2014
NY Engineering Firm Not Responsible For Defective Seawall
The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a homebuyer's lawsuit against AKRF Engineering PC, saying that the buyer was aware of a Staten Island property's faults before going into the deal.
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April 18, 2014
Pa. High Court Says Unions Can't Push Claims Under Lien Law
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the state’s mechanics’ lien law does not allow trustees of union benefit funds to bring claims for nonpayment as subcontractors against employers and owners, reversing a Superior Court decision that favored two western Pennsylvania unions.
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April 18, 2014
GE Sues Aussie Power Co., Bank To Recover $64M Turbines
GE International Inc. filed suit in Florida federal court on Thursday against Forge Group Power Pty Ltd. and an Australian bank to recover four turbines worth $64 million it leased to the Australian power company, which allegedly forfeited them to the bank after filing bankruptcy.
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April 18, 2014
CVR, Icahn Want Wachtell Suit Stayed Amid Malpractice Case
CVR Energy Inc. and its owner Carl Icahn have asked a New York state judge to stay a retaliatory case brought by Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz while their federal malpractice suit against the law firm plays out, arguing the malpractice suit will address the same claims.
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April 18, 2014
Apple Bank Ducks Overdraft Fee Suit In NY Appeals Court
A New York state appellate court on Thursday said Apple Bank for Savings provided sufficient disclosures of its overdraft fee policies, including reordering of transactions and applying “courtesy overdrafts,” to customers in upholding the dismissal of a purported class action against the bank.
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April 18, 2014
'Eye Of The Tiger' Band Goes Another Round In Royalty Row
The founding members of Survivor, the band behind "Rocky III" anthem "Eye of the Tiger," punched back at Sony Music Entertainment's bid to knock out the band's breach of contract lawsuit in Illinois federal court Thursday, refuting the company's contention that digital downloads and streams of songs are considered physical recordings and therefore subject to sales royalties.
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April 17, 2014
Boeing Co. Unit Owes Software Maker $43M, Jury Says
A Colorado federal jury on Thursday ordered a Boeing Co. unit that specializes in navigational information to pay a small Massachusetts-based software maker $43.1 million after finding the defendant breached its contract with the plaintiff for development of applications for e-book viewers, according to the plaintiffs' attorney.
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April 17, 2014
Ex-Named Atty Seeks $1M From Patent Firm For Unpaid Fees
A former shareholder in patent litigation boutique Williams Morgan PC recently launched a suit in Texas state court seeking more than $1 million from the firm for unpaid compensation he says he earned before striking out last year to start his own practice.
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April 17, 2014
Sprint 4G Users Can't Quit MDL Then Fire Up Calif. Claims
The Third Circuit refused to allow plaintiffs who exited a multidistrict litigation, which accuses Sprint Nextel Corp. of overcharging its customers for a data plan, to file state claims in California, ruling Wednesday that the plaintiffs had indicated they would be arbitrating the dispute.
Expert Analysis
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Potential Pitfalls To Avoid In Drilling Provisions
Oftentimes with oil and gas leases, a continuous drilling provision, which allows for a temporary cessation of production without automatically resulting in the termination of a lease beyond its primary term as its held by production, goes overlooked. Based on case law, only one thing appears to be consistent — whether a cessation of production is temporary is a question of fact that depends on the individual circumstances, says David Hatch of Holland & Hart LLP.
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The State Of Arbitration Enforcement In Calif.
Even with the judicial impact of several U.S. Supreme Court opinions, beginning with AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, the predicament for the practitioner and client is that any provision that seeks to enforce arbitration of labor and consumer remedy statutes, or that makes the cost of arbitration too one-sided, runs a significant risk of not being enforced in a California state court, say Neil Bardack and Shannon Nessier of Hanson Bridgett LLP.
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The Future Of Law Firm PR: The Good, Bad And Ugly
There has been a dramatic change in how public relations professionals interact with the news media to promote or protect a law firm’s brand and reputation. But content is queen and has a bright future in law firm PR — it all begins with a plan that should include goals, performance indicators and a system of assessment, say Paul Webb, director of marketing at Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP, and Kathy O'Brien, senior vice president at Jaffe PR.
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Employers: Take Care In Crafting Confidentiality Clauses
Employers are often surprised to learn that policies explicitly prohibiting employees from discussing salaries are in violation of Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, as was recently affirmed in Flex Frac Logistics LLC v. NLRB. However, employers are still entitled to take precautions in order to protect their confidential proprietary information and trade secrets from disclosure by their employees, say Christopher Bacon and Ashlee Grant of Vinson & Elkins LLP.
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Calif.'s Prevailing Wage Law Will Punish The Noncompliant
California’s prevailing wage law may not be the oldest in the country, but it may be the most complex, evolving and litigated. The penalties for contractors and subcontractors who fail to comply with California's law have grown costlier — noncompliance risks up to a three-year ban on the bidding of public works projects in the state, says Jeremy Wooden of Foley & Lardner LLP.
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Fog May Be Lifting Around Finders
The regulatory world of when and whether a U.S. person can raise capital and receive transaction-based compensation without registering as a broker-dealer has been murky. But the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s aggressive stance on when finders have to register as broker-dealers has recently encountered judicial disavowal by courts, which has helped clarify certain compensation issues, say Kenneth Mason and Sharon Obialo of Kaye Scholer LLP.
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Beware 'Jewel' Risks In Lateral Partner Hiring
Jewel litigation has been filed after every major law firm bankruptcy in the past 10 years, including Lyon & Lyon, Brobeck, Coudert, Thelen, Heller and Howrey. These lawsuits have produced years of litigation, with similar suits expected in the Dewey bankruptcy. Despite the legal uncertainties surrounding such claims, hiring firms can take steps now to minimize their Jewel risk for any lateral hire, say attorneys with Arnold & Porter LLP.
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Heartbleed Rains On The Legal Cloud Parade
While the actual breaches are unknown, Heartbleed has the potential to expose all of a lawyer's files stored or transmitted online. The bug raises professional responsibility questions and offers confirmation of the greatest anxieties that the legal industry has about online practice. In fact, the timing is poor for many legal tech providers, following a general industry warming to cloud offerings, says David Houlihan of Blue Hill Research Inc.
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Consequential Damages Clause At Heart Of $100M Dispute
In Biotronik AG v. Conor Medsystems Ireland Ltd., the New York Court of Appeals ruled that a no consequential damages clause in a distribution agreement did not preclude the distributor from proceeding with a claim for lost profit damages. A manufacturer must recognize that, if it breaches an agreement, the clause may not protect it from claims on the sale of a product had the agreement not been breached, say Rick Robinson and Glen Banks of Norton Rose Fulbright.
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EU Sanctions May Criminalize Some US Business Activity
Given the extra-territorial character of the European Union's new financial sanctions against targeted Russians and Ukrainians, a person can aid and abet the commission of an offense by taking steps whose only effect is to facilitate a transaction. This places law firms, investment businesses and others engaged in international transactions at risk of accessory liability through their everyday work, says Peter McMaster of Appleby Global Group Services Ltd.