Practice Areas
Commercial Contracts
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January 27, 2012
Husch Blackwell Accused Of Bungling Oil Co. Stock Offering
Nevada-based onshore oil company EnerJex Resources Inc. hit Husch Blackwell LLP with a legal malpractice suit in Missouri state court Monday, saying the firm bungled the company's 2008 stock offering and caused EnerJex to suffer $50 million in losses.
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January 27, 2012
Ex-MacAndrews & Forbes Exec Wins $16M In Battle With Firm
A New York federal jury sided with the former vice chairman for MacAndrews & Forbes LLC on Friday, handing him a $16 million award representing funds the company allegedly owed him as part of a separation agreement.
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January 27, 2012
Legal Ad Co.’s Contract Claim Nixed By Copyright Law
A Massachusetts federal judge ruled Wednesday that U.S. copyright law preempted legal advertising company Market Masters-Legal's claim that personal injury firm Parker Waichman LLP had breached its contract by continuing to use ad materials from Market Masters after dropping the company.
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January 27, 2012
Auditor Settles Claims Over $7M Charter School Bond
Darnell & Meyering PC, an auditor involved in a troubled $7 million bond issue for a Michigan charter school, on Friday settled Michigan federal court claims by a group of investment funds that the auditor had signed off on false financial statements related to the issue.
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January 27, 2012
ACC Fights Court's Narrowing Of Attorney-Client Privilege
The Association of Corporate Counsel on Wednesday challenged an Illinois appeals court judgment in a suit over the purchase of a shopping mall corporation, contending the decision undermines attorney-client privilege and will create a "mine field" of ethical conflicts in the state.
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January 27, 2012
Talent Giant WME Drops $30M In Parking Lot Fracas
Hollywood talent agency William Morris Endeavor LLC reportedly agreed to shell out as much as $30 million on Thursday to settle a lease dispute with real estate developer George Comfort & Sons Inc. after the agency objected to sharing a parking garage with a rival firm.
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January 27, 2012
McGraw-Hill Doesn't Pay Foreign Royalties: Class Action
An author slammed The McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc. with a proposed breach of contract class action Wednesday in New York, claiming the publisher failed to properly compensate authors for royalties on books sold for use in foreign countries.
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January 26, 2012
HFPA Unlawfully Shopped Golden Globes, Judge Hears
An attorney representing Dick Clark's production company suggested on Thursday during a federal bench trial over the broadcast rights for the Golden Globes that the head of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association unlawfully shopped the rights to CBS Corp. in 2010.
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January 26, 2012
Google's Online Pet Game Creates Unfair Accounts: Suit
Google Inc. on Thursday removed to California federal court a class action accusing it of creating unfair terms of use for its online SuperPoke! Pets game, which allow the company to shut down users' accounts without reason.
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January 26, 2012
BP On Hook For Some Deepwater Claims Against Transocean
The federal judge handling multidistrict litigation over the Deepwater Horizon disaster ruled Thursday that BP PLC must cover some oil-spill-related compensatory damages against Transocean Ltd., even if they involved negligence or strict liability on Transocean’s part.
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January 26, 2012
Facebook, Washington AG Target 'Clickjacking' Scheme
Facebook Inc. and Washington state on Thursday hit Adscend Media LLC with separate suits over the online advertising company's alleged “clickjacking” schemes, in which Facebook users were tricked into visiting sites that paid Adscend for referral traffic.
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January 26, 2012
TBS Sued Over ‘Falling Skies’ Font Rights
The founder of a graphic design company lodged a suit in New York federal court last week against Turner Broadcasting System Inc. and Titleboy Films Inc. alleging that the TNT television series "Falling Skies" ripped off its font software.
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January 26, 2012
Nestle Fires Back At Mead Johnson Over Bottle Design IP
Months after it was hit with similar claims, Nestle Healthcare Nutrition Inc. on Thursday accused rival Mead Johnson & Co. LLC of illegally using Nestle's patented bottle design for products that directly compete with nutritional drinks supplied to Nestle under a licensing agreement.
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January 26, 2012
Music Network's Asset Row Wrongly Names 2 Defendants: Suit
Two passive investors in struggling country music video broadcaster AFN LLC sought sanctions Thursday against The Country Network LLC in TCN's Florida lawsuit seeking to uphold its purchase agreement for AFN's assets, saying the complaint's naming of them constituted harassment.
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January 26, 2012
1st Circ. Grounds Travel Co.'s Contract Coverage Claims
The First Circuit on Thursday ruled that travel company Lopez & Medina Corp. is not entitled, under a commercial general liability policy, to $10 million in coverage surrounding breach of contract claims against an airline with which it had a brief relationship.
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January 26, 2012
Last Gulf Lease Sale Under DOI Program Set For June
The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Thursday set a June 20 date for the last Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas lease sale under a five-year DOI program, designed to include unleased areas offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
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January 25, 2012
Dick Clark Burnished Golden Globes, Judge Hears
Television icon Dick Clark rescued the Golden Globes from the scandal-ridden management of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, transforming it from the butt of jokes to a national television event, a federal judge heard Wednesday in a bench trial over broadcast licensing rights for show.
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January 25, 2012
Fitness Chain Can't Compel Worker Arbitration: 5th Circ.
The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday allowed a proposed overtime class action against 24 Hour Fitness USA Inc. to go forward, finding an arbitration agreement at issue contained an “escape hatch” for the fitness chain that made it unenforceable.
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January 25, 2012
Ex-Broker Says BCI President Aided SEC Obstruction
A former investment broker for BCI Aircraft Leasing Inc. told an Illinois federal jury Wednesday that BCI's president, who faces fraud charges, helped him lie to the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission, but also admitted that he couldn't be certain the BCI executive actually saw the sham document at issue.
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January 25, 2012
BP Loses Bid To Quash Gas Lease Stakeholder Claims
A federal judge in Kansas on Tuesday largely denied BP America Production Co.'s request to throw out claims brought by a class of gas lease stakeholders seeking royalty payments, finding that previous legal disputes did not render the allegations moot.
Expert Analysis
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Case Study: In Re XMH Corp.
The Seventh Circuit ruling in In re XMH Corp. is consistent with several bankruptcy court opinions following the "universal rule" that a trademark license cannot be assigned without the licensor's express consent. The decision is notable, however, as it is the first published opinion on the circuit level regarding the issue, says Joseph Tiller of Jones Day.
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Case Study: Wells Fargo V. Cherryland Mall
In light of the Michigan Court of Appeals ruling in Wells Fargo Bank NA v. Cherryland Mall Limited Partnership, when negotiating carve-out provisions in loan documents, be aware that single purpose entity covenants requiring solvency and adequacy of capital may in themselves trigger full recourse liability, without any accompanying outright “bad boy” acts, say attorneys with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP.
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A Radical New View Of Restrictive Covenants In Ill.
While the Illinois Supreme Court's decision in Reliable Fire Equipment Co. v. Arredondo has radically altered the way courts in Illinois will construe restrictive covenants, it has simultaneously provided employers with more autonomy to utilize restrictive covenants and to have them enforced, says Kwabena Appenteng of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC.
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How Eurozone Breakup Would Affect Corporate Bonds
While members of the eurozone have taken actions to stabilize their monetary union, it is important to consider what might happen to a corporate bond or loan denominated in euros in two possible breakup scenarios, say Gregory Fernicola and Michael Schwartz of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.
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The Business Of Protecting Customer Relationships
Is the protection by an employer of its customer relationships that an employee acquired during employment still recognized as a legitimate business interest? The answer is yes, but the various rationales advanced in support of such a “customer relationship interest” have sown confusion and inconsistency in its application, say Peter Altieri and David Clark of Epstein Becker Green PC.
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Financing LNG Liquefaction Projects
If the natural gas liquefaction capacity currently proposed is constructed, the U.S. could become a hub in a global natural gas trade. The country will have the facilities to both export and import LNG, both short-term and long-term, as well as the facilities to store the commodity for consumption or future export, says David Schumacher of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
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Implications Of Calif.'s Cancellation Of RDAs
Following dissolution of redevelopment agencies in California, there are a number of potential impacts to consider for entities with RDA-issued bonds or notes, real property subject to an agreement with an RDA, a loan from or lease with an RDA, a contract to acquire land from an RDA, real property located in a redevelopment project area, or any interest in acquiring RDA assets, say Michael Kiely and Phillip Tate of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
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Parsing Arbitration Provisions In Construction Contracts
Contractors and developers who wish to preserve the right to judicial review of the enforceability of an arbitration delegation provision should first ensure the language of the contract is clear that the court — and not an arbitrator — is to decide issues of enforceability of the agreement, say Edward Lozowicki and Robert Sturgeon of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
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Putting The Brakes On Class Certification Under Dukes
The recent Michigan federal court decision in OnStar Contract Litigation is the first multidistrict litigation ruling to apply the more stringent class certification scrutiny determined in Wal-Mart v. Dukes. This case highlights the importance of defendants’ attention to the discovery of plaintiffs and to expert discovery in preparing to challenge class certification, say Neal Walters and Darryl May of Ballard Spahr LLP.
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Case Study: Assured Guaranty V. JP Morgan
Although the New York Court of Appeals decision in Assured Guaranty (UK) Ltd. v. J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. makes clear that any common law claims brought by investors in a private securities action are not precluded by the Martin Act, the case does nothing to curb the effects of the Securities Litigation Uniform Standard Act, say attorneys with Hogan Lovells LLP.