Island Intellectual Property LLC v Deutsche Bank AG, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21742 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 14, 2012): In determining where to draw appropriate lines, the court must consider whether an expert's proposed testimony would usurp the province of the judge to instruct on the law, or of the jury to make factual determinations. Se ...

Plata v. Darbun Enters., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 3074 (9th Cir. Feb. 13, 2012): Plaintiffs appeal the grant of sanctions under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 and the amount awarded. Darbun cross-appeals the amount of sanctions awarded. The district court did not abuse its discretion by imposing sanctions. United States v. Hinkson, 585 F.3d 1247, 1251 ...

Nakal v. Personal Probation Officer, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14856 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 6, 2012): As petitioner's counsel must realize, however, this court sits in the Ninth Circuit and is bound by Ninth Circuit precedent. Zuniga v. United Can Co., 812 F.2d 443 (9th Cir. 1987) ("District courts are, of course, bound by the law of their own ...

Muskegon Central Dispatch 911 v. Tiburon, Inc., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 2149 (6th Cir. Feb. 2, 2012) (reviewing a Federal Arbitration Act arbitration): The Michigan Court Rules permit a court to vacate an arbitration order and remand for rehearing. Mich. Comp. Laws § 3.602(J). However, the functus officio doctrine provides the circums ...

Am. Cas. Co. of Reading, Pa. v. Continental Properties, Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21949 (S.D. Ohio Feb. 22, 2012): There is a split in circuit authority on the issue of whether a state court litigant against an insurance company's insured may intervene in a federal court declaratory judgment action brought by the insurance company ...

Davis v. Swarthout, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15630 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 7, 2012): Federal Rule of Evidence 404, as does its counterpart, California Evidence Code § 1101, generally prohibits the introduction of evidence of extrinsic acts that might adversely reflect on the actor's character, unless that evidence bears upon a relevant issue in t ...

Pineda v. Coverall No. Am., Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16742 (D. Mass. Feb. 10, 2012): Contract law recognizes that incorporation by reference is generally effective to accomplish its intended purpose, and that arbitration agreements may be incorporated by reference. A non-signatory may compel arbitration against a party to an arbi ...

Heinrich v. Waiting Angels Adoption Servs., Inc., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 2390 (6th Cir. Feb. 7, 2012): The plaintiffs are seven couples who enlisted the assistance of the Waiting Angels Adoption Services, Inc. ("Waiting Angels") in an attempt to adopt children from Guatemala. Believing that they were defrauded in the course of their adopt ...

Ambulance Ass’n of Pa. v. Highmark, Inc., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 1648 (3d Cir. Jan 23, 2012): The parties place a single, dispositive issue before us: whether Act 68 requires direct payment to non-participating providers. The Association brings to bear several canons of statutory construction to support its view that Act 68 does, in fac ...

Wachovia Securities, LLC v. Brand, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 3047 (4th Cir. Feb. 16, 2012): We find that the Supreme Court's more recent decision in Stolt-Nielsen sheds further light on the operation of "manifest disregard" post-Hall Street. Footnote 7 Our sister circuits have split into three camps about the mea ...