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Commercial Contracts
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June 18, 2013
Producer Slams Saudi Prince In Suit Over Unpaid Salary
Film producer Steven Saxton told a Los Angeles jury Tuesday that a Saudi prince who alleges Saxton stiffed him on commissions and other monies was not entitled to a salary for work unrelated to raising investment capital, saying the prince was “barely qualified” to be an intern.
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June 18, 2013
Winston & Strawn Sues Disgruntled Partner Over Legal Threats
Winston & Strawn LLP hit a partner and former head of the firm's Los Angeles labor and employment group with a suit in Illinois court Tuesday, saying the attorney violated his partnership agreement by threatening to sue the firm over a compensation dispute.
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June 18, 2013
AIG Need Not Cover Developer's $14M Blunder, 9th Circ. Says
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday freed an American International Group Inc. excess insurer from covering the bulk of a $14 million arbitration award against a real estate developer over botched construction of a bar in downtown Los Angeles.
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June 18, 2013
Texas Appeals Court Revives Suit Over Gas Delivery Deal
A Texas appeals court on Tuesday revived an energy developer’s suit against Kachina Pipeline Co. Inc., ruling that the pipeline operator improperly tried to extend a contract to supply natural gas while withholding unauthorized marketing costs.
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June 18, 2013
No New Trial Over KDH Body Armor Contract Fight
A North Carolina federal judge on Tuesday refused to grant Eagle Industries Unlimited Inc. a new trial, finding that instructions were proper and evidence sufficient enough for a jury to force Eagle to pay KDH Defense Systems Inc. for body armor panels allegedly contracted by the U.S. Marine Corps.
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June 18, 2013
Online Travel Cos. Ask Top Fla. Court To Pass On Bed Tax Row
A group of online travel companies on Monday urged the Florida Supreme Court to not take up an appeal by Florida counties of a ruling in favor of the online booking sites over how to apply the state's bed tax.
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June 18, 2013
Steiner Must Turn Over Docs In Navy Yard Development Row
A New York state judge has ordered Steiner Digital Studios LLC and its partners to hand over documents related to their Brooklyn Navy Yard studio development venture but tossed claims against former Steiner director Lou Madigan in a $1 million dispute over unpaid legal fees.
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June 18, 2013
9th Circ. Awards US $20M In 'Girls Gone Wild' Tax Row
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday ruled that Rothwell Ltd. must surrender $20 million from a securities account to the Internal Revenue Service because it is the account's caretaker for “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis, who owes the U.S. government millions of dollars in unpaid taxes.
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June 18, 2013
Commerce Bank Founder Wants New Trial On $17M Severance
Commerce Bancorp LLC founder Vernon Hill II asked a New Jersey federal judge Monday for a new trial over a $17.2 million severance payment he sought after an investigation into real estate dealings led to his resignation, saying a jury instruction made jurors believe the payment was legally prohibited.
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June 18, 2013
Law Firm's Arbitration Clause Doesn't Cover Age Bias Claims
A New Jersey appellate panel Tuesday agreed to bifurcate certain claims against a law firm accused of discriminating against an older attorney, sending claims of alleged breach of contract to arbitration while leaving the discrimination claims to be tried in court.
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June 18, 2013
Split Pa. Justices Bar Indirect Annuity Beneficiary Change
With an even 3-3 split, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday affirmed a decision finding that holders of annuity contracts can only designate new beneficiaries through means expressly laid out by their benefit providers and may not do so through a will or any other means.
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June 18, 2013
San Jose Says MLB Conspired Against Oakland A's Relocation
San Jose, Calif., officials sued Major League Baseball in California federal court Tuesday, claiming MLB harmed it to the tune of millions of dollars by stalling on an owners' vote on moving the Oakland Athletics to their city and challenging baseball's exemption to federal antitrust laws.
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June 18, 2013
Lime Fresh Biz Partner Sues To Access Financial Records
A marketer who worked with Miami restaurant group 50 Eggs Inc. on its growing Lime Fresh Mexican Grill chain and three successful restaurant launches asked a Florida state court Thursday to order the company to provide financial records he says he is entitled to as a shareholder.
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June 18, 2013
2nd Circ. Asked To Revive $1B Microsoft Antitrust Suit
Computer-sharing software maker MiniFrame Ltd. on Friday urged the Second Circuit to reinstate a $1 billion antitrust suit against Microsoft Corp., saying that changes to licensing rules for Windows operating systems harmed competition in the market for computer-sharing software.
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June 18, 2013
'Good Wife' Star's Defense In Contract Fight Ruled OK
A California judge Tuesday allowed “The Good Wife” star Julianna Margulies to argue that an oral contract she had with D/F Management LLC is unenforceable because it wasn't written down, ruling her cross-complaint didn't waive that defense in the company's suit seeking 10 percent of her future earnings.
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June 18, 2013
Funeral Services Exec Cops Plea In $600M Fraud Case
A former executive of a funeral home at the center of an alleged $600 million fraud scheme involving the sale of prearranged funeral contracts and the misappropriation of insurance premiums on Monday pled guilty in federal court and now faces up to three years in prison.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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UK Joint Ventures: Sanctions And Corruption Risks
What should be at the forefront of the mind of any in-house counsel or compliance officer whose company operates in joint ventures is section 7 of the U.K. Bribery Act, which holds that an organization does not even need to be aware of corrupt conduct in order to be guilty of an offense, say attorneys with Dechert LLP.
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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.