Butler Snow

1. USSE Dodges Sanctions In SEC Pump-And-Dump Suit

Thursday, Aug 19, 2010

A federal judge has refused to grant sanctions against the founder of U.S. Sustainable Energy Corp. in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s case accusing USSE and the founder of perpetrating a pump-and-dump scheme.

2. 7th Circ. Sides With McNeil In $3.5M Motrin Allergy Case

Thursday, Aug 12, 2010

Finding that the plaintiff was contributorily negligent, a federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court's decision to revoke a $3.5 million jury award to a woman who claimed that a severe allergic reaction to McNeil Consumer Healthcare's Children's Motrin left her nearly blind and caused most of her skin to fall off.

3. Merck Prevails In Bellwether Fosamax Case

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Merck & Co. Inc. won a unanimous jury verdict Wednesday that dismissed a bellwether case in multidistrict litigation involving the osteoporosis drug Fosamax.

4. What You Need To Know About UK Bribery Bill

Tuesday, Apr 06, 2010

Most U.S. companies doing business abroad have an understanding of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and have policies in place to prevent employees and agents from committing bribery. There is, however, anti-bribery legislation making its way through the U.K. Parliament that could also affect U.S. companies, says Joseph E. Dudek Jr. of Butler Snow O'Mara Stevens & Cannada PLLC.

5. SEC Suit V. USSE Back On After Failed Settlement

Friday, Feb 05, 2010

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's suit accusing U.S. Sustainable Energy Corp. and its founder of perpetrating a pump-and-dump scheme will move forward, after the judge overseeing the case lifted a stay because settlement talks didn't bear fruit.

6. In-House Counsel Name Favorite Securities Lawyers

Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010

Corporate counsel have distinguished 18 securities attorneys as the best in the country when it comes to client services, and the honorees say making clients happy comes down to taking their businesses — and their problems — seriously.

7. Understanding The Risks Of Dual Representation

Thursday, Jan 14, 2010

The recent U.S. v. Nicholas decision highlights the “treacherous path” tread by outside corporate counsel conducting an internal investigation while simultaneously representing the company and key officers in parallel civil litigation, say Chad R. Hutchinson, Donna Brown Jacobs and Ashley H. Nader of Butler Snow O'Mara Stevens & Cannada PLLC.

8. Radioactive Waste Processor Settles Race Bias Suit

Monday, Jan 04, 2010

Radioactive waste processing company Race LLC has agreed to cough up $650,000 to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit claiming the company's black employees were subjected to racial slurs and given more dangerous work assignments than white co-workers.

9. Product Liability Defense Firms Of The Year

Friday, Jan 01, 2010

For Law360’s top product liability defense teams, consumer fraud suits, forum shopping, suits claiming injuries to children and infants, and populist outrage aimed at high-powered companies turned out to be the biggest challenges of 2009.

10. Merck Wins Bid To Toss Texas Medicaid Fraud Suit

Monday, Nov 23, 2009

A Texas state court judge has granted Merck & Co.'s bid to toss a suit brought by the state's attorney general accusing the pharmaceutical giant of engaging in Medicaid fraud in connection with the marketing and sale of its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx.

11. Honeywell, Nitro Dismissed From 43 Asbestos Suits

Monday, Oct 12, 2009

More than 40 plaintiffs have agreed to dismiss their claims against Honeywell International Inc. and Nitro Industrial Coverings Inc. in multidistrict litigation accusing hundreds of companies of exposing consumers to products that allegedly caused their asbestos-related personal injuries.

12. Appellate Attys Bemoan Decline In Oral Advocacy

Friday, Oct 02, 2009

The last several years have seen an overall decline in how often federal appellate courts hear oral arguments before deciding cases, which some lawyers say is eroding a once-useful part of the appellate process and denying attorneys opportunities to develop oral argument skills.

13. Commonsense Strategies In Age Of Uncertainty

Thursday, Aug 27, 2009

Mark Twain famously said, “Everybody complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it.” We could say the same about today’s economic uncertainty and plethora of workplace legislative proposals, both current and predicted, says David P. Jaqua of Butler Snow O'Mara Stevens & Cannada PLLC.

14. State Farm Qui Tam Suit Over Flood Claims Survives

Wednesday, Aug 12, 2009

A federal judge has refused to throw out a False Claims Act suit brought by two relators accusing State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. of inflating and overpaying flood damage claims — for which State Farm is reimbursed by the federal government — to offset claims for wind damage.

15. Q&A With O’Melveny & Myers' Richard Goetz

Thursday, Jun 11, 2009

The future may hold new frontiers in the area of drug litigation. We are already seeing surges in cases tied to drugs that treat problems of our increasingly overweight (and diabetic) population, says Rich Goetz, head of O’Melveny & Myers LLP’s product liability practice.

16. EPA Regional Administrator Returns To Butler Snow

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Jimmy Palmer has rejoined Butler Snow O'Mara Stevens & Cannada PLLC's environmental law practice group after completing an eight-year presidential appointment as a regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

17. Securities Actions And The CAFA Conundrum

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Securities lawyers litigating securities class actions are often faced with the dilemma of whether these cases are removable to the federal courts. Compounding this issue is a split of authority within the federal circuits rooted in the conflicting statutes governing removal of class actions, say Scott D. Blount and Eric E. Hudson of Butler Snow O'Mara Stevens & Cannada PLLC.

18. Shutting Down Phantom Counterfeiters

Tuesday, Apr 28, 2009

While it will not end the game of whack-a-mole for the owners of valuable brands and other easily copied properties, service of process by e-mail offers hope in obtaining an order against overseas online counterfeiters, say Craig A. Grossman and Cara R. Baer of Butler Snow O’Mara Stevens & Cannada PLLC.

19. Travelers Fights To Collect $6.4M Surety Bond Award

Monday, Apr 06, 2009

After winning a $6.4 million judgment against C.E. Frazier Construction Co. Inc., Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. of America has filed a writ of garnishment, seeking answers from a variety of banks and a construction company as to whether they are indebted to the main defendant.

20. Severance Dispute V. Kimberly-Clark Gets Tossed

Friday, Apr 03, 2009

A federal court has tossed a lawsuit over unpaid severance benefits filed by 69 workers against retail goods manufacturer Kimberly-Clark Corp., finding the company was not required to compensate employees terminated as a result of a plant closure under the terms of its severance plan.