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Southeast
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August 30, 2012
Army Sgt. Pleads Guilty In Iraqi Contract Scheme
A former U.S. Army master sergeant pled guilty Wednesday in South Carolina federal court to one count of conspiracy in connection with his acceptance of thousands of dollars from Iraqi contractors in exchange for government contracts during his deployment.
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August 29, 2012
Omnicare Skirts FCA Suit Over Anti-Psychotics Prescriptions
A Georgia federal judge on Wednesday threw out a False Claims Act case accusing Omnicare Inc. of charging Medicare for thousands of prescriptions for anti-psychotic drugs for allegedly off-label uses or charging without receiving proper authorization.
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August 29, 2012
Ga. Health Insurance Law Violates ERISA, Trade Group Says
A health insurance trade association sued the Georgia Insurance & Safety Fire Commissioner's Office on Tuesday, seeking to prevent the state's "prompt pay" insurance statute from being extended to cover employers' self-funded plans and saying the change is preempted by federal law.
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August 29, 2012
Ira Glass Drops Trademark Suit As Podcast Changes Name
The operator of a podcast whose name allegedly ran too close to the trademarked "This American Life" program has agreed to change the podcast's name, prompting a Virginia federal judge on Tuesday to close out an infringement suit lodged by the broadcaster and host of the national radio program.
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August 29, 2012
SunTrust, Underwriters Escape Securities Class Action
A Georgia federal judge tossed a securities class action Tuesday that claimed SunTrust Banks Inc. and its underwriters misled investors about the bank's financial situation, saying the plaintiff and its counsel carelessly misconstrued their evidence against the companies.
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August 29, 2012
6th Circ. Won't Revive Antitrust Claims In Lexmark-Static Row
The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive antitrust counterclaims from Static Control Components Inc. in a long-running patent suit filed by Lexmark International Inc., but gave Static a second shot at parallel false advertising accusations.
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August 29, 2012
Suit Over $1B Boeing Partnership Is Legit, Aircraft Co. Says
Bankrupt Alabama Aircraft Industries Inc.'s trustee told an Alabama federal court Monday that its allegations that Boeing Co. fraudulently cut it out of a planned joint bid for a $1.1 billion U.S. Air Force contract were specific enough to advance.
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August 29, 2012
Holland & Knight To Pay $25M To Settle Nadel Ponzi Charges
Holland & Knight LLP will pay $25 million to settle charges that it helped hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel pull off his $168 million Ponzi scheme, according to a settlement approved by a Florida judge Wednesday.
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August 29, 2012
Pliva, Others Escape Generic Reglan Suit Due To Mensing
Pliva Inc. and two other generic-drug makers have won the dismissal of a suit in Louisiana federal court that claimed a woman's movement disorder was caused by generic Reglan, ruling design defect and other allegations are preempted by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Pliva Inc. v. Mensing.
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August 29, 2012
Insurers Face Up To $1.5B In Losses From Hurricane Isaac
Hurricane Isaac could pummel insurers with property and business interruption losses of up to $1.5 billion, according to early estimates provided Wednesday, falling far below the $41 billion in insured losses caused by Hurricane Katrina seven years ago.
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August 29, 2012
Black Diamond Creditors Head To Trial Over Failed Turnaround
The trustee representing creditors of bankrupt Black Diamond Mining Co. LLC deserves a jury trial on claims the coal company's founder and restructuring adviser bungled a turnaround effort, a Kentucky federal judge said Tuesday, affirming a previous ruling.
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August 28, 2012
Florida Court Won't Disqualify Firm For Viewing Errant Email
A Florida appeals court last week denied a litigant’s request to disqualify her opponent’s law firm after her own lawyers accidentally emailed a confidential mediation statement to the other side, saying there was no evidence an opposing lawyer committed misconduct by reviewing the document.
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August 28, 2012
DOL Asserts Authority Over Work Visa Program To 11th Circ.
The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday told the Eleventh Circuit it has the authority to make changes to the H-2B visa program without requiring explicit permission from Congress, refuting claims by small business plaintiffs that the power to alter the program rests with another agency.
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August 28, 2012
SEC Sues 8 For Insider Trading In Sanofi, Chattem Deal
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday sued several Georgia men who allegedly traded ahead of Sanofi-Aventis Inc.'s purchase of Tennessee-based drug company Chattem Inc. using information from a Chattem board member’s accountant.
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August 28, 2012
Taylor Bean, Ocala Can Share Possible Deloitte Payout
Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. and subsidiary Ocala Funding LLC won a Florida bankruptcy court's permission Monday to share in any potential settlement with Deloitte & Touche LLP, which both entities claim failed to stop a $2.9 billion criminal fraud.
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August 28, 2012
Great Western Bank Pays $2.2M To Settle Overdraft Fee Claims
Great Western Bank has agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle class action allegations that it manipulated customers' debit charges in order to generate additional overdraft fee revenue, according to court documents filed Monday.
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August 28, 2012
Union Can Arbitrate Grievance Despite Death, 8th Circ. Says
The Eighth Circuit ruled Tuesday that a union could force arbitration of an employee's claims that he was terminated without just cause, even if the fired worker had since died.
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August 28, 2012
8th Circ. Sides With NLRB, Says Lube Co. Must Accept Union
The Eighth Circuit on Tuesday ordered an auto lubricant manufacturer to recognize a union at its West Memphis, Ark., plant, overruling the company's claim that the National Labor Relations Board encouraged the workers to unionize by improperly delaying an election.
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August 28, 2012
Hanover Can't Expelliarmus Harry Potter Park Coverage Suit
A Florida federal judge on Tuesday refused to grant summary judgment to The Hanover Insurance Co. in its fight to escape $1.2 million in coverage for construction at Universal Studios Inc.'s Harry Potter theme park, finding that the insurer was properly informed of a subcontractor's default.
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August 28, 2012
5th Circ. Won't Revive Insurer's Suit Over Helicopter Crash
The Fifth Circuit on Monday refused to revive National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa.'s suit seeking contribution from two helicopter companies to a settlement over a fatal 2007 crash in Hawaii, siding with a lower court that applied Texas law barring such claims.
Expert Analysis
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Defining Role Of Third Parties In Withdrawal Liability
The Sixth Circuit has held that a collective bargaining agreement provision did not violate public policy under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, an important decision that provides needed clarification on the issue of whether a third party may contractually agree to be held liable for an employer’s withdrawal liability responsibilities, say Jason Rothman and Charles Billington of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC.
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Debating Preclusion Of State Law Securities Claims
In addition to setting a low threshold for application of the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act, the Fifth Circuit decision in Roland v. Green highlights the very real possibility that the Supreme Court may weigh in on the proper standard under SLUSA for the “in connection with” or “coincide” requirement and resolve the circuit split on this issue, say Neal Marder and Nicolas Jampol of Winston & Strawn LLP.
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A Gift To Tort Defendents From The Ga. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Georgia's decision in McReynolds v. Krebs is an excellent one for the defense bar — it is now settled that apportionment is appropriate even when a plaintiff is not negligent, and defendants pay their fair share of damage awards and no more, says Damany Ransom of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC.
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Docket Diving: Strategic Uses Of Online Docket Info
For today’s practitioner, “litigation research” has to involve more than simply searching case opinions and statutes for the applicable law. Online dockets can be used to investigate opposing counsel, litigants, judges and experts, as well as to uncover templates for drafting motions, and assist in client development efforts, say William Berger of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP and David Dilenschneider of LexisNexis.
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FTC: Weeding Through Substantiation Of Health Care Ads
A Florida district court's decision in litigation between the Federal Trade Commission and Garden of Life Inc., a provider of dietary supplements, is likely to further complicate the dynamics of settlement with the FTC when an investigation into the substantiation for a company’s claim has been undertaken, say Jay Levine and Amy Leopard of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.
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More CERCLA Recovery Hurdles For ‘Compelled’ Costs
The Eleventh Circuit has joined a number of other circuit courts in ruling that a party that enters into a judicially approved consent decree cannot recover costs that it expended through an action for cost recovery under section 107(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act — even if that party incurred remediation costs directly, say Michael Murphy and David Fotouhi of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
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Dismissed Means Dismissed: Comer V. Murphy Oil
In a case of surprising longevity, Comer v. Murphy Oil USA Inc. may finally have been laid to rest when the Southern District of Mississippi recently concluded that the plaintiffs in the first climate change liability damages suit were not entitled to a second bite at the apple, says Wylie Donald of McCarter & English LLP.
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Predictive Coding — Cost Savings If Investment Is Made
As a discovery tool, predictive coding — recently approved by a court for the first time in Da Silva Moore v. Publicis Groupe — offers obvious opportunities for cost-savings and efficiencies. But it requires an upfront investment of time and cooperation for proper implementation, say Nicole Bearce Albano and Ryan Cooper of Lowenstein Sandler PC.
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State Split: Transfer Restrictions In Commercial Leases
Attorneys should be aware of an important split of authority among the states over whether or not a landlord may unreasonably withhold its consent to the transfer of a tenant’s interest in a commercial real estate lease in the absence of language expressly prohibiting the landlord from doing so, says Brian Lauter of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP.
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Rescind And Retain? More Like Rescind And Refund
In PHL Variable Insurance Co. v. Jolly, the Eleventh Circuit has held that the insurer cannot both rescind a life insurance policy and retain the premiums paid for it. The decision has significant application for market investors who own policies that are in litigation where, unbeknownst to the investor at the time of its investment, an underlying fraud tainted the policy, say Jule Rousseau and Eric Biderman of Arent Fox LLP.