Overall
Key cases
Industries
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Corporate
Practice Areas
Pennsylvania
-
May 17, 2013
Penn. Insurance Exchange Leaders Want $300M Action Nixed
Directors of a company that runs the Erie Insurance Exchange urged a Pennsylvania federal court to toss a $300 million putative class action claiming they violated fiduciary duties to millions of exchange members, arguing that the dispute belongs before the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.
-
May 17, 2013
Pa. Appeals Court To Reconsider $28M Knee Injury Suit
A Pennsylvania appeals court has announced it will grant an en banc rehearing, after having ordered a new trial in a case where a $27.6 million judgment was awarded to a woman who had allegedly reinjured her surgically repaired knee while filming a marketing video.
-
May 17, 2013
Pa. Rep. Wants More Clarity In Royalty Checks To Gas Lessors
A Pennsylvania state lawmaker introduced legislation on Thursday designed to ensure that deductions taken out of royalty checks issued to landowners who lease their properties to gas drillers are clearly broken down.
-
May 17, 2013
GSK Says Comcast Ruling Kills Avandia Injury Class Action
GlaxoSmithKline PLC on Friday urged a Pennsylvania federal judge to reject two Humana Inc. units’ bid for class certification over costs borne by the insurers for treating Medicare patients harmed by the drug Avandia, contending that it is barred by the Supreme Court’s recent Comcast decision.
-
May 17, 2013
Pittsburgh Corning's Ch. 11 Asbestos Plan OK'd After 13 Years
After 13 years in bankruptcy, Pittsburgh Corning Corp. on Thursday won court approval of a reorganization plan designed to resolve the company’s multibillion-dollar asbestos liability, overcoming objections that derailed two prior plans.
-
May 17, 2013
Citibank Asks Judge To Toss Reinsurance Fraud Class Action
Citibank NA on Thursday urged a Pennsylvania federal judge to toss a putative class action alleging it schemed with private mortgage insurers to push fraudulent reinsurance on home mortgages, saying homeowners waited too long to sue under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.
-
May 17, 2013
Pipefitter Says US Steel Can't Recover For Workers' Injuries
A Pennsylvania pipefitting company targeted by U.S. Steel Corp. in a $7 million lawsuit stemming from a 2010 explosion said Thursday that the company was seeking to circumvent state workers' compensation law by improperly seeking damages to pay the claims of injured employees.
-
May 17, 2013
Pa. Judges Disputing Forced Retirements Want Special Master
A group of Pennsylvania judges challenging a provision of the state’s constitution mandating they retire upon reaching their 70th birthdays asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday to appoint a special master to gather evidence in the case instead of relying solely on briefs and oral arguments.
-
May 17, 2013
Highmark Says Policyholders Can't Seek Antitrust Damages
Highmark Inc. on Friday again asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to toss an antitrust class action in which health insurance buyers accuse it of conspiring to stifle competition and inflate rates, arguing that the rates were approved by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.
-
May 17, 2013
3rd Circ. Resurrects $180M Oil Spill Suit Against Citgo
The Third Circuit on Thursday revived an $180 million oil spill liability suit against Citgo Petroleum Corp., ruling that the company was responsible for ensuring that a Philadelphia-area port it operated was free from hazards like the abandoned ship anchor that caused the accident.
-
May 16, 2013
3rd Circ. Adds Fuel To Obama Recess Appointments Fight
The Third Circuit's ruling Thursday invalidating President Barack Obama's recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board will make it far harder for the labor board to peg the D.C. Circuit's similar Noel Canning ruling as a mere outlier, raising the stakes in a battle attorneys expect to end only when the Supreme Court weighs in.
-
May 16, 2013
Philly Needs To Fill Vacant Firefighter Posts, Judge Says
A Pennsylvania state judge on Tuesday gave the city of Philadelphia until May 25 to fill 17 budgeted captain and lieutenant vacancies in the city’s fire department that union officials claim have gone unfilled in violation of civil service regulations.
-
May 16, 2013
Pa. High Court Won't Hear Appeal Of Predatory Lending Fine
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Wednesday it would not hear an appeal of a decision that upheld the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission's ability to intervene in private business transactions involving mortgages and other loans, and to levy fines against predatory lenders.
-
May 16, 2013
Pa. Lawmaker To Float Broad Anti-SLAPP Legislation
Pennsylvania Sen. Larry Farnese, D-Philadelphia, announced Thursday that he is introducing a bill to prevent strategic lawsuits against public participation, which is known in the 27 other states that have similar laws on the books as anti-SLAPP legislation.
-
May 16, 2013
Pa. Rep. Proposes Natural Gas Tax To Fund Transportation
A Pennsylvania state lawmaker unveiled a package of bills Wednesday that would fund transportation projects and infrastructure across the commonwealth by imposing a severance tax on natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale and closing a loophole allowing companies to shift certain taxable assets out of state.
-
May 16, 2013
Court Defends Secretive Arbitrations To 3rd. Circ.
An attorney defending the constitutionality of the Delaware Chancery Court's confidential arbitration program told a Third Circuit panel Thursday that the involvement of judges as arbitrators didn't violate the First Amendment since related proceedings have a long history of being closed to the public.
-
May 16, 2013
3rd Circ. Finds NLRB Recess Appointment Of Becker Invalid
Agreeing with the D.C. Circuit that recess appointments can be made only during the intersession break between Senate sessions, the Third Circuit ruled Thursday that the president's intrasession recess appointment of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board was invalid, putting the validity of even more labor board decisions into doubt.
-
May 15, 2013
Malpractice Attys Score $10M Fees In Botched Delivery Case
A Pennsylvania judge has handed a win to attorneys who secured a $78.4 million medical malpractice verdict for a child disabled during delivery, saying they should receive nearly $10 million in fees based on the present value of the child's future medical costs, rather than the cost of an annuity.
-
May 15, 2013
Enviros Must Show Need To Get Trade Secret Docs: Pa. Court
Parties challenging permit decisions before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board must prove that any trade secrets sought in discovery are absolutely necessary to successfully litigate their case, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.
-
May 15, 2013
Pa. Rep. Seeks To Impose Fiscal Discipline On Judiciary
A Pennsylvania lawmaker said Tuesday he intends to introduce a joint resolution to amend the state constitution to provide dedicated funding for the state judiciary in response to the courts' growing fiscal and operational challenges.
Expert Analysis
-
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.
-
What Sponsors Must Know About Litigation On Church Plans
Recently, two firms have filed class actions against three Catholic Church-affiliated health care facilities, claiming that their pension plans should be subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. These cases could have a profound effect on all church plan sponsors, regardless of whether they have previously obtained favorable church plan rulings, say attorneys with Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP.
-
Calif. Chemical Safety Rules Push Constitutional Envelope
Impatience with the pace of Toxic Substances Control Act reform at the federal level is understandable, but substituting individual state action for a perceived lack of federal action may be the classic example of a cure which is worse than the disease. Many think California’s Safer Consumer Product Regulations now prove that, says Ward Benshoof of Alston & Bird LLP.
-
A Model For Facing Meritless Derivative Suits In Pa.
The decision by the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in In re H.J. Heinz Co. Derivative and Class Action Litigation represents a faithful application of the American Law Institute’s Principles of Corporate Governance, which were formally adopted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the landmark decision Cuker v. Mikalauskas, say attorneys with Dechert LLP.
-
Circuit Split On Market Share-Based Discounts Remains
The U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to review ZF Meritor LLC v. Eaton Transmission Corporation means that the Third Circuit’s less permissive view of dominant firm pricing conduct remains intact for now, and suggests that Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware federal courts will likely be the preferred venues for challenges to such conduct, says Eric Berman of Williams Mullen.
-
Far-Reaching Consequences Of NFL Concussion Litigation
Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania heard oral arguments on the much-publicized In re National Football League Players' Concussion Injury Litigation. Though it is difficult to predict how the court will rule, whatever ruling it makes will have significant impact on the litigation, the law and the broader sports world, say attorneys with Squire Sanders LLP.
-
How McBurney V. Young Will Impact State FOIAs
In McBurney v. Young, the U.S. Supreme Court has permitted the still-uncommon practice of state legislatures to restrict use of their freedom of information laws to citizens of the states. But states should not race to adopt citizens-only provisions in their freedom of information laws, say John Borger and Leita Walker of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP.
-
E-Commerce Taxation Bill Might Be Unconstitutional
Recent decisions from the federal courts suggest that the constitutionality of the proposed Marketplace Fairness Act, which would permit states to require out-of-state businesses to collect and remit sales taxes on goods sold over the Internet, is open to serious debate, says Michael Abate of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP.
-
Jurisdiction Clarification For Pa. Gov't Contract Disputes
After a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision, it is without question that an agency’s decision to reject all bids or cancel a solicitation is not subject to legal challenge — in any forum. Bidders who have submitted proposals to a commonwealth agency, only to have the agency withdraw the solicitation, simply have no recourse, say attorneys with Pepper Hamilton LLP.
-
Pa. Makes Its Mark On Chinese Drywall Dispute
Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that the shipment of defective drywall from China to the United States constituted one “occurrence” for purposes of insurance coverage. While the case provides rare guidance on the number of occurrences issue in the Chinese drywall context, the impact of the decision is still limited, says Andrea Cortland of Cozen O'Connor.