News
Business
[05/13]
Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers
[05/13]
Shipping containers could become condos in Detroit
[05/13]
HP to buy EDS for about $13.2 billion in cash
[05/12]
Sprint affiliate sues to block Clearwire deal
[05/12]
Cablevision buys Newsday from Tribune for $650 million
[05/12]
JPMorgan Chase CEO: recession is just beginning
[05/12]
Mortgage cos. reveal damage from housing crisis
[05/12]
Toyota says new US auto plant delayed
[05/09]
Texas may claim Amazon owes sales taxes
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Crime
[05/13]
Cape parishioners subdue would-be church robber
[05/13]
Texas authorities investigate more polygamy charges
[05/13]
Deputies kill 2 in shootout near SoCal casino
[05/13]
Arizona police hunting for a serial predator
[05/12]
Iowa man charged with throwing candy at police
[05/12]
Prosecutor wraps up case in Ill. fundraiser trial
[05/12]
Actor arrested for allegedly bringing gun to LAX
[05/12]
Potential jurors questioned in R. Kelly trial
[05/12]
Potential jurors to be questioned in R. Kelly trial
[05/09]
Judge bans 4 shoplifters from Pa. malls, calls them locusts
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Health Care
[05/13]
Charities Form Alliance to Preserve and Improve Charity Bingo
[05/13]
Amil Has Strong Growth With High Profitability
[05/13]
Mind, Body & Spirit Voyages Take Holistic Approach to Wellness
[05/13]
Nephros Exhibits at the XLV ERA-EDTA Congress in Stockholm, Sweden, May 10-13, 2008
[05/13]
MSA Increases Second Quarter Dividend
[05/13]
Stater Bros. Raises $501,707 for American Heart Association
[05/13]
Quest Diagnostics Is Named 'Best Employer For Healthy Lifestyles'
[05/13]
Gene Therapy Slows Progression of Fatal Neurodegenerative Disease in Children
[05/13]
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Receives $25-Million Gift to Support Stem Cell and Epigenomic Research and Clinical Skills Training
[05/13]
Updated Microsoft Health Common User Interface Furthers Clinical Effectiveness, Increases Patient Safety
More...
Litigation
[05/09]
ArcelorMittal sues Esmark over aborted steel mill sale
[05/09]
Government asks court to block wider testing for mad cow
[05/08]
Oil companies agree to settle MTBE contamination lawsuits
[05/08]
Dan Rather files amended lawsuit against CBS over his firing
[05/07]
Mich. high court says gay partners can't get health benefits
[05/07]
More than $11.5M awarded to Florida residents in citrus case
[05/07]
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling wins privacy case appeal
[05/07]
`Crocodile Hunter' widow settles lawsuit with debt collector
[05/02]
Parmalat reaches settlement in US class-action case
[05/02]
KBR 1Q profit more than tripled with arbitration award
More...
Supreme Court
[05/12]
Court blocked from case: Too many investments
[05/12]
Court turns down Chinese man's asylum claim
[05/12]
Court will decide case of Va. man on death row
[05/12]
Court rules that magistrate may preside
[05/12]
Court won't block US lawsuit by apartheid victims
[05/06]
Ga. execution would be first since Supreme Court ruling
[05/06]
McCain criticizes Obama for vote against chief justice
[04/28]
Tax rebates should start showing up in bank accounts Monday
[04/28]
Supreme Court says states can demand photo ID for voting
[04/28]
Supreme Court upholds photo ID law for voters in Indiana
More...
White Collar Crime
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Case Summaries
Administrative Law
[05/12]
S. Utah Wilderness Alliance v. Kempthorne
In appeals involving appellants' post-judgment motions to intervene in a case affecting their interests in oil and gas leases, the circuit court dismisses one appeal where the district court had yet to rule on their motion to intervene at the time movants filed their appeal. Denial of the other motion to intervene is affirmed on grounds that movants chose to intervene only after the government agency from which they obtained the leases decided not to pursue an appeal, and must await a final decision by the administrative agency in order to have an appealable final decision.
[05/12]
Mendez v. Mukasey
Petition for review of a denial of cancellation of removal on grounds that petitioner had not demonstrated that his removal would cause exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to his US citizen children is dismissed where: 1) under binding precedential decisions, the determination of whether exceptional and extremely unusual hardship was present for the purposes of cancellation of removal is committed to the Attorney General's discretion; and 2) thus, the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to review such a determination.
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Commercial Law
[05/13]
N. Pacifica LLC v. City of Pacifica
In an action brought by a developer against the city of Pacifica involving a proposed condominium project, dismissal of developer's substantive due process claim is affirmed, but an order holding city liable for an equal protection violation is reversed and the resultant damages awards vacated where: 1) the developer was not entitled to judgment on an equal protection claim, as the city did not intentionally treat it differently from any other developer; and 2) a due process claim should not be resurrected because developer did not allege any irrational delay in the city's approval of its permits.
[05/13]
United Stars Indus., Inc. v. Plastech Engineered Prods., Inc.
In an action over monies owed, judgment in favor of plaintiff and sanctions imposed against defendant's attorneys are affirmed where: 1) the compromise that was reached after the initial dispute over pricing and monies owed included defendant's overcharge claims; 2) the contract allowed plaintiff to pass on an increase in costs due to the use of additional materials other than nickel through a surcharge; 3) defendant was liable to pay for the entire cost of the materials bought even though some of it was lost during the production process; and 4) the district judge did not abuse her discretion by sanctioning defendant's lawyers for making unsupported allegations during litigation.
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Criminal Law & Procedure
[05/13]
US v. Bucci
Conviction for drug- and firearm-related offenses, as well as, witness tampering and making false statements to the Drug Enforcement Administration, is affirmed over claims of error regarding: 1) deficient trial counsel performance in violation of Sixth Amendment; 2) a denial of a motion to sever; 3) alleged structural error by the district court in closing the courtroom to the public on two occasions; 4) whether the district court permitted a constructive amendment of the indictment; 5) the sufficiency of the evidence; 6) erroneous jury instructions; 7) Sixth Amendment violation in the court's application of sentencing guidelines; and 8) a ruling allowing the government to redact portions of the recording and transcript of a conversation over a request for inclusion for impeachment purposes.
[05/13]
US v. Rodriguez
Conviction and sentence drug- and firearm-related offenses is vacated in part and remanded where: 1) with regards to a brandishing firearms conviction, the record was devoid of any indication that defendant or his co-conspirator displayed firearms for the purpose of intimidating other persons; 2) the government conceded that a life sentence imposed on defendant's conspiracy to use firearms in furtherance of drug conspiracy exceeded the statutory maximum sentence for that conviction; and 3) the district court plainly erred in imposing multiple consecutive sentences for two acts of firearm possession arising from the same predicate drug conspiracy.
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Family Law
[05/12]
In re Marriage of Holtemann
In a dispute about the legal effect of a spousal property transmutation agreement executed during marriage, judgment finding the underlying agreement effectuated a transmutation of husband's separate property into community property is affirmed where: 1) the unambiguous language in the parties' agreement evinced that the husband intended to, and did transmute his separate property; 2) nothing in the record suggested that the husband was misinformed or misled in light of the requisite express, unequivocal declarations of transmutations; and 3) his arguments for disparate treatment of his express declarations of transmutation based on his lack of separate counsel were unavailing, as he was fully advised of the consequences of failing to secure separate counsel, yet chose to proceed.
[05/09]
Baran v. Beaty
In a case involving a mother who removed her minor son from Australia, denial of father's petition for return of the minor pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act of 1988 is affirmed where: 1) based on evidence of the father's propensity for violence, the district court did not err in concluding that returning the minor to Australia would expose him to a grave risk of psychological harm; and 2) because the court was not presented with any proposed undertakings that could ameliorate the risk of harm to the child under the circumstances presented, the court did not abuse its discretion in denying the petition for return.
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Government Benefits
[05/12]
Mansfield v. Peake
A decision determining the earliest effective date for claimant's award of VA benefits under 38 U.S.C. section 1151 is affirmed over claims of error regarding: 1) a determination that an earlier Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) claim did not constitute an informal claim for section 1151 benefits; and 2) whether a delay in processing the claim amounted to a denial of due process.
[05/09]
U.S. ex rel Fried v. W. Independent Sch. Dist.
Dismissal of a claim under the False Claims Act for Social Security fraud is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff's claims were based on publicly disclosed information; and 2) plaintiff was not the original source of the information since he failed to show that it was qualitatively different from that which had already been discovered.
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Government Law
[05/13]
Lawrence v. Dep't of the Interior
In an action brought by an Indian tribe member employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) challenging the denial of increased retirement benefits payable to employees whose duties included firefighting, summary judgment for the BIA is affirmed where: 1) the government did not waive the time limit of 5 C.F.R. section 831.906(e) by failing to provide actual notice of the new time limit for filing to current employees; 2) the federal government's trust responsibility toward Indian tribes imposes no special notice obligation beyond that enunciated in the aforementioned rule; 3) the Indian Preference Act does not apply, and the regular provisions of the Civil Service Regulations govern plaintiff as they do any other employee; and 4) summary judgment on a disparate impact claim was proper.
[05/13]
Levine v. City of Alameda
In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action brought by a city property manager against defendants-city and city manager alleging a due process violation stemming from his lay off, partial summary judgment for plaintiff and defendants is affirmed where the district court did not err in finding that: 1) plaintiff's procedural due process rights were violated and that he was entitled to a full evidentiary hearing before a neutral third-party; and 2) the city manager was not personally liable based on qualified immunity and the city was not liable as a municipality.
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Health Law
[05/13]
Acumed LLC v. Stryker Corp.
In a patent case involving a product used to treat proximal humeral bone fractures, dismissal of the action based on claim preclusion is reversed and remanded where defendant conceded that the accused devices were not essentially the same, and thus it failed to meet its burden to show that the infringement claim in the prior action was the same as the infringement claim in the present action.
[05/12]
Pardini v. Allegheny Intermediate Unit
In a case involving an attorney-parent who sought attorney's fees in a lawsuit filed on behalf of his daughter pursuant to the IDEA, denial of fees is affirmed where: 1) the court's earlier decision in this case did not decide the issue of whether plaintiffs were entitled to attorney's fees; 2) scope of prior precedent was not limited to representation by an attorney-parent in administrative proceedings only; 3) such precedent governed this appeal, as there was substantial doubt that the case's earlier decisions foreclosed the attorney's fees issue; and 4) plaintiffs were not entitled to recover cost for services other than conductive education.
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Labor & Employment Law
[05/13]
Lawrence v. Dep't of the Interior
In an action brought by an Indian tribe member employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) challenging the denial of increased retirement benefits payable to employees whose duties included firefighting, summary judgment for the BIA is affirmed where: 1) the government did not waive the time limit of 5 C.F.R. section 831.906(e) by failing to provide actual notice of the new time limit for filing to current employees; 2) the federal government's trust responsibility toward Indian tribes imposes no special notice obligation beyond that enunciated in the aforementioned rule; 3) the Indian Preference Act does not apply, and the regular provisions of the Civil Service Regulations govern plaintiff as they do any other employee; and 4) summary judgment on a disparate impact claim was proper.
[05/13]
Levine v. City of Alameda
In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action brought by a city property manager against defendants-city and city manager alleging a due process violation stemming from his lay off, partial summary judgment for plaintiff and defendants is affirmed where the district court did not err in finding that: 1) plaintiff's procedural due process rights were violated and that he was entitled to a full evidentiary hearing before a neutral third-party; and 2) the city manager was not personally liable based on qualified immunity and the city was not liable as a municipality.
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Probate Trusts
[05/06]
Estate of Herold
An order denying petitioner's safe harbor petition, which sought a declaration that his proposed "Petition for Information" would not amount to a will contest, is reversed and remanded where the trial court erred in finding that a no contest clause of the will was incorporated by reference into a trust.
[05/06]
Estate of Coll-Monge v. Inner Peace Movement
In an action for trademark infringement and related claims, summary judgment for defendants-non-profits is reversed in part and remanded where: 1) the district court erred in holding that a non-profit corporation cannot be a related company whose use of the trademark is controlled by the mark's registrant; and 2) there remain disputed issues of fact regarding both the doctrine's applicability in this case, and the capacity in which testator registered the marks with the USPTO.
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Wills & Trusts
[06/30]
MICHAEL J. v. THE SUPERIOR COURT OF ORANGE COUNTY (ROGERS)
The conservator of the person and the estate of a mentally disabled person who is unable to communicate her wishes does not have the power to initiate and prosecute a petition for the dissolution of her marriage.
[03/12]
E. ARMATA, INC. v. KOREA COMMERCIAL BANK OF NEW YORK
Under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA), a bank is not liable to the beneficiaries of a PACA trust for receipt of funds in breach of the trust where, having extended revolving overdraft privileges to a produce dealer covered by PACA, the bank routinely applied deposited PACA funds to reduce the negative balance in the produce dealer's overdrawn account. (Amended opinion)
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White Collar Crime
[05/06]
In re: Slatkin
Summary judgment in favor of bankruptcy trustee, avoiding under 11 U.S.C. section 548(a) and California Civil Code section 3439.04(a) certain transfers made by the debtor during his operation of a Ponzi scheme, is affirmed where: 1) the bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in denying appellants-investors' motion for a continuance to conduct further discovery; 2) investors' right to a jury trial was not violated by the grant of summary judgment; 3) the bankruptcy court properly determined that debtor acted with the actual intent to "hinder, delay, or defraud" his creditors; 4) a determination that debtor was not a "stockbroker" under the Bankruptcy Code was proper; and 5) prejudgment interest was properly awarded.
[05/05]
US v. Eberhard
Conviction, sentence, and restitution ordered against defendant for conspiracy, investment advisor fraud, mail and wire fraud, and obstruction of justice, are affirmed over defendant's claims that: 1) application of newly-enacted 18 U.S.C. section 3771(a) was unconstitutional as applied to him under the Ex Post Facto and Due Process clauses; 2) the record did not support a four-level role enhancement under the sentencing guidelines; and 3) his sentence was substantively unreasonable in light of a probation office's recommended terms.
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