On Wednesday, January 14, 2008, the Supreme Court will hear argument in Boyle v. United States, No. 07-1309, to address the Circuit split as to whether the enterprise requirement of RICO requires the existence of an ascertainable structure (and, if so, what that structure must consist of). See our posts of March 10, 2008; July 6, 2007; and May 8, 2007. < ...

The plaintiffs in Post v. St. Paul Travelers Ins. Co., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 641 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 7, 2009), were lawyers who had represented Mercy Hospital in a medical malpractice case. Mercy Hospital put the lawyers on notice that it intended to pursue a legal malpractice claim against them, contending that counsel’s discovery abuse forced it to settle the ...

From Junk v. Terminix Intl. Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102161 (S.D. Iowa Aug. 15, 2008): "When a party fails to provide information or identify a witness in compliance with Rule 26(a) or (e), the district court has wide discretion to fashion a remedy or sanction as appropriate for the particular circumstances of the case. Wegener v. J ...

From Superior Prod. P’ship v. Gordon Auto Body Parts, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97535 (S.D. Ohio Dec. 2, 2008): The first issue raised by the motion to compel is whether Gordon should be required to produce documents in their native electronic format. The parties agree that Gordon keeps information in electronic format, but it has produce ...

The lawsuit in Nilssen v. General Electric Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94448 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 12, 2008), was stayed at the plaintiff’s request pending the appeal of another action deciding that the plaintiff’s patents were unenforceable. Plaintiffs also take issue with four letters that GE sent to Plaintiffs' counsel, either threatenin ...

From Basso v. Boston Scientific Corp., 2008 Conn. Super. LEXIS 3020 (Conn. Super. Ct. Nov. 21, 2008): The hospital ... moves to strike counts seven and eight on the grounds that Connecticut does not recognize the tort of negligent spoliation of evidence. Although at least two Superior Court judges have ruled that a plaintiff cannot proc ...

From Zendejas v. Shell Oil Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104462 (D. Ariz. Dec. 10, 2008): The Ninth Circuit has not yet addressed whether the one-year time limit in § 1446(b) may be equitably extended. Defendants ask the Court to follow the Fifth Circuit's approach and hold that the one-year deadline may be equitably extended in the even ...

Hemispherx Biopharma,Inc. v. Johannesburg Consol. Invs., 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 26515 (11th Cir. Dec. 29, 2008): Whether individuals or entities without a beneficial ownership interest in a company's securities can nonetheless become members of a "group" within the meaning of section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act is an issue of first impress ...

The plaintiff insurers in Allstate Ins. Co. v. Rozenberg, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104735 (E.D.N.Y. Dec 29, 2008), sued several individuals who set up entities to submit fraudulent no-fault insurance claims for reimbursement of treatment never rendered. The alleged two different enterprises: the first comprised the entities through which the phony claims were ...

From United States v. Price, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96313 (N.D. Tex. Nov. 25, 2008): An un-sanctioned bad faith misrepresentation carries with it the ability to destroy the Court's status as a hall of justice. ...