From Rutherford Columbia Gas, 575 F.3d 616 (6th Cir. 2009) (dissenting opinion): In certain cases, our "duty" to properly determine and apply state law comes into conflict with the interests that normally would support our deferring to prior precedent. In such cases, some courts have recognized that the obligation to properly determine ...

From Saginaw Housing Comm’n v. Bannum, Inc., 576 F.3d 620 (6th Cir. 2009): The question in this appeal is one of first impression in this circuit: whether a federal court should abstain from a decision involving the interpretation of a local land use ordinance. We find that it should not. Every case in which we have found Burford< ...

From Glazer v. Abercrombie & Kent, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86583 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 22, 2009): This case stems from each plaintiff's decision to join a luxury travel club -- Distinctive Retreats by Abercrombie & Kent ... (the "Club" or "Distinctive Retreats").... Each plaintiff received five primary documents from the Club including: (1 ...

From Anderson-Tully Co. v. Federal Ins. Co., 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 21141 (6th Cir. Sept. 23, 2009): Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii), a "plaintiff may dismiss an action without a court order by filing . . . a stipulation of dismissal signed by all parties who have appeared." And, on January 14, 2008, ATCO and ...

On October 5, 2009, the Supreme Court will hear argument in Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Carpenter (08-678) to resolve the Circuit split as to whether a district court discovery order finding that the attorney-client privilege has been waived is immediately appealable as a collateral order. The Cornell synopsis of the issue can be found at http://topics.law.cornell.e ...

From Boyd v. City and County of San Francisco, 576 F.3d 938 (9th Cir. 2009): In disputing the relevance of the challenged evidence, the Boyd Family target Dr. Keram's expert testimony in particular. They assert that the district court failed in its role as a gatekeeper of the evidence by allowing Dr. Keram's testimony regarding suicide by ...

Once the notice of appeal is filed, jurisdiction generally passes from the district court to the court of appeals. Other than on certain non-merits related matters such as sanctions, the district court lacks authority to rule on almost any motions subsequently filed. New Rule 61.1, entitled, Indicative Ruling After Notice of Appeal Filed, takes effect on December ...

28 U.S.C. § 1453 — the removal provision of the Class Action Fairness Act — confers a right of appeal of any remand order, providing that the defense must appeal “not less than 7 days after entry of the [remand] order.” Every Circuit to consider this language has ruled it is a typo — that not “less than” should read “not more than” because it wou ...

From Innis Arden Golf Club v. Pitney Bowes, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45828 (D. Conn. May 21, 2009) (after testing soil sediment, the samples were destroyed despite awareness of the prospect of litigation): Even if this course of conduct may not warrant outright dismissal, a severe sanction nevertheless is necessary, because overlooking ...

From Panther Partners, Inc. v. Ikanos Commc’ns, Inc., 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 20652 (2d Cir. Sept. 17, 2009): Leave to Amend We review denial of leave to amend under an "abuse of discretion" standard. *** First, it is well established that although leave to amend should be "freely given," Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a), ther ...