Complex Lit Blog

May a District Court, in De Novo Review of a Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation, Consider New Evidence Not Proffered to the Magistrate Judge? Circuit Split

Muhammad v. Close, 798 F. Supp. 2d 869 (E.D. Mich. 2011) (reviewing summary judgment R&R): The Magistrate Judge Act, 28 U.S.C. § 636 et seq., requires a reviewing district court judge to "make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made. A judge of ...

No Sanctions for Failure to Impose Litigation Hold and Consequent Destruction of Emails in IT Consolidation — No Bad Faith

Strutton v. Meade, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 2117 (8th Cir. Feb. 3, 2012): Finally, we address Strutton's appeal of the district court's denial of sanctions against defendants. The district court retains an inherent power to impose sanctions, and we review the use of that authority for abuse of discretion. Stevenson v. Union Pac. RR. Co., 35 ...

Strutton v. Meade, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 2117 (8th Cir. Feb. 3, 2012): Finally, we address Strutton’s appeal of the district court’s denial of sanctions against defendants. The district court retains an inherent power to impose sanctions, and we review…

Injunctions — Circuit Split as to Whether Likelihood of Success Must Be Shown or Balancing Approach Retains Validity

Allstate Ins. Co. v. Warns, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26174 (D. Md. Feb. 29, 2012): The standard for awarding preliminary injunctive relief is governed by Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Counsel, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 20 (2008). A plaintiff seeking a preliminary injunction must establish (1) he is likely to succeed on the merits, (2) he is ...

RICO — Hobbs Act Predicate Requires Proof that Defendant Deprived Victim of Property Valuable in Defendants’ Hands — Circuit Split as to Whether Increasing Chances of Winning Contract by Destroying Competitor Suffices

United States v. Cain, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 1772 (2d Cir. Jan. 31, 2012): On October 3, 2007, a federal grand jury in the Western District of New York returned a 21-count indictment charging David Cain, his brother Chris Cain, and their cousin Jamie Soha with participating in and conspiring to participate in the conduct of the affairs o ...

Outside of Civil Rights Cases, Request to Amend Complaint Must Be Accompanied by Proposed Amendment (Third Circuit)

Delrio-Mocci v. Connolly Properties Inc., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 3698 (3d Cir. Feb. 24, 2012): Bolmer also argues that the District Court abused its discretion by refusing to allow him to amend his complaint for a third time in order to plead additional facts that would demonstrate that the Property Managers prevented their undocumented r ...

Denial of Summary Judgment Motion Not Appealable after Trial on the Merits

Turner v. Ramo, LLC, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 3568 (11th Cir. Feb. 23, 2012): On appeal, the Ramo Company argues only that the district court erred in denying its pretrial motion for summary judgment. It is well-settled that we "will not review the pretrial denial of a motion for summary judgment after a full trial and judgment on the ...

When Is Error Plain?

United States v. Laureys, 653 F.3d 27 (D.C. Cir. 2011): "Generally an error is plain if it contradicts circuit or Supreme Court precedent." In re Sealed Case, 573 F.3d 844, 851, 387 U.S. App. D.C. 375 (D.C. Cir. 2009). The district court's instructions contradicted no precedents of this Court or the Supreme Court. Rarely do we ...

United States v. Laureys, 653 F.3d 27 (D.C. Cir. 2011): “Generally an error is plain if it contradicts circuit or Supreme Court precedent.” In re Sealed Case, 573 F.3d 844, 851, 387 U.S. App. D.C. 375 (D.C. Cir. 2009). The…

Securities: Morrison Requires Either Irrevocable Liability Incurred, or Title Transferred, in U.S. — Not Mere Use of U.S. Broker-Dealer — Applicability of §10(b) Goes to Merits, Not Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Absolute Activist Value Master Fund Limited v. Ficeto, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 4258 (2d Cir. Mar. 1, 2012): This case requires us to determine whether foreign funds' purchases and sales of securities issued by U.S. companies brokered through a U.S. broker-dealer constitute "domestic transactions" pursuant to Morrison v. National Australia ...

Absolute Activist Value Master Fund Limited v. Ficeto, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 4258 (2d Cir. Mar. 1, 2012): This case requires us to determine whether foreign funds’ purchases and sales of securities issued by U.S. companies brokered through a U.S.…

Rooker Feldman — Circuit Split as to Whether Doctrine Applies Where State Court Judgment Was Void for Lack of Jurisdiction — Does Apply Where State Court Found (Allegedly in Error) That It Lacked Jurisdiction

Williams v. Williams, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24846 (W.D.N.Y. Feb. 20, 2012): Although this Court agrees with Plaintiff that these decisions make clear that his petitions were dismissed, with prejudice, on jurisdictional grounds, whether this means the Rooker-Feldman doctrine does not apply is another question. Some courts have found ...

Standard for Recusal under 28 U.S.C. § 455

Kolon Indus. v. E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21655 (E.D. Va. Feb. 21, 2012): In Liljeberg, the Supreme Court affirmed the Fifth Circuit's "construction of § 455(a)," finding that a violation of the statute "is established when a reasonable person, knowing the relevant facts, would expect that a justice, judge ...

Kolon Indus. v. E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21655 (E.D. Va. Feb. 21, 2012): In Liljeberg, the Supreme Court affirmed the Fifth Circuit’s “construction of § 455(a),” finding that a violation of the statute “is…

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

May a District Court, in De Novo Review of a Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation, Consider New Evidence Not Proffered to the Magistrate Judge? Circuit Split

No Sanctions for Failure to Impose Litigation Hold and Consequent Destruction of Emails in IT Consolidation — No Bad Faith

Injunctions — Circuit Split as to Whether Likelihood of Success Must Be Shown or Balancing Approach Retains Validity

RICO — Hobbs Act Predicate Requires Proof that Defendant Deprived Victim of Property Valuable in Defendants’ Hands — Circuit Split as to Whether Increasing Chances of Winning Contract by Destroying Competitor Suffices

Outside of Civil Rights Cases, Request to Amend Complaint Must Be Accompanied by Proposed Amendment (Third Circuit)

Denial of Summary Judgment Motion Not Appealable after Trial on the Merits

When Is Error Plain?

Securities: Morrison Requires Either Irrevocable Liability Incurred, or Title Transferred, in U.S. — Not Mere Use of U.S. Broker-Dealer — Applicability of §10(b) Goes to Merits, Not Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Rooker Feldman — Circuit Split as to Whether Doctrine Applies Where State Court Judgment Was Void for Lack of Jurisdiction — Does Apply Where State Court Found (Allegedly in Error) That It Lacked Jurisdiction

Standard for Recusal under 28 U.S.C. § 455

Recent Posts

FRAP 38 Sanctions Imposed Due to the “Striking Legal Emptiness” of Brief/Appeal, “A Legal Nothingburger” — Bad Faith Not Required: An Appeal “May Also Be Frivolous If It Is Filed Out Of Sheer Obstinacy” (Good Quotes)

RICO: Hobbs Act does not apply when the alleged extortion is meant to benefit the state

RICO: Indirect Injury Unrecoverable — Indirect Purchaser Rule Imported from Antitrust

RICO: No Causation Where Harm Flowed Several Steps After the Fraudulent Acts — RICO Causation Same As Antitrust Causation

Sanctions vs. Automatic Stay: Imposition of Sanctions (Here, Inherent Power Sanctions) Is Subject to the Police Power Exception to the Automatic Stay in Bankruptcy

The Word “Include” May Be A Word of Limitation As Opposed to a Word of Enlargement, Depending on the Context

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