Morgan Keegan & Co. v. Garrett, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 22057 (5th Cir. Oct. 23, 2012): A group of eighteen investors (collectively, "Appellants") alleged that Defendant-Appellee Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc. ("Morgan Keegan") engaged in a fraudulent scheme that induced Appellants to invest substantially in four highly risky mutual funds t ...

Hunnicutt v. Zeneca, Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133634 (N.D. Okla. Sept. 19, 2012): The Tenth Circuit has indicated that courts should generally address standing prior to class certification. See Thomas v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 631 F.3d 1153, 1159 (10th Cir. 2011) ("Prior to class certification, the named plaintiffs' failure t ...

Two Cases: 1. United States v. Games-Perez, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 19874 (10th Cir. Sept. 17, 2012): [T]he circuits have historically been loath to create a split where none exists. See, e.g., Throneberry v. McGehee Desha Cnty. Hosp., 403 F.3d 972, 979 (8th Cir. 2005) ("[T]he Tenth Circuit's decision . . . is th ...

In re Gleason, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 21248 (11th Cir. Oct. 15, 2012): Gleason contends his sixty-day suspension from practice violates his First Amendment right to free speech. He argues that the bankruptcy court should not have disciplined him based on the "tone" of his submissions, which he describes as "truthful responses to a strin ...

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Obus, 693 F.3d 276 (2d Cir. 2012): A. The [Classical vs. the] Misappropriation Theory of Insider Trading Insider trading--unlawful trading in securities based on material non-public information--is well established as a violation of section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 19 ...

Cobalt Multifamily Investors I, LLC v. Shapiro, 857 F. Supp. 2d 419 (S.D.N.Y. 2012): B. Choice of Law Issues The Receiver argues that the claims against the Law Firm Defendants are controlled by the laws of their respective domiciles, such that New York law governs the Certilman Defendants, Connecticut law go ...

G&S Holdings LLC v. Continental Cas. Co., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 19728 (7th Cir. Sept. 20, 2012): There are both constitutional and prudential limitations on the jurisdiction of the federal courts. Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 498 (1975). Under Article III of the Constitution, the jurisdiction of the courts is limited to claim ...

Felix v. GMS, Zallie Holdings, Inc., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 21075 (3d Cir. Oct. 11, 2012): B. Spoliation Felix also argues that the District Court erred in denying her re-quest for a spoliation inference based on GMS's failure to provide security camera footage showing her fall. GMS had security cameras operating through ...

Beechwood Restorative Care Center v. Leeds, 856 F. Supp. 2d 580 (W.D.N.Y. 2012): H. Emails from Non-parties Defendants object to another forty-three exhibits that are copies of emails from non-parties. Defendants contend that these are not relevant and that they are inadmissible hearsay. Plaintiffs seek to admit ...

A new article addressing some issues I see with rulemakers’ relentlessly tweaking the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and simultaneously not addressing some major problems that need attention can be accessed here: An Instinct for the Capillar ...