Both the Union and the employer in Teamsters Local Union No. 473 v. Beacon Journal Publishing Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78758 (N.D. Ohio Aug. 6, 2008), moved for sanctions again one another. The employer’s motion was denied for failure to satisfy the 21-day safe harbor; the Union didn’t make that mistake. Did it make sense to imposed sanctions on one ...

A civil RICO judgment was entered against the defendant in Liquidation Comm'n of Banco Intercontinental, S.A. v. Renta, 530 F.3d 1339 (11th Cir. 2008), a Florida businessman, in the amount of approximately $177 million as a result of transactions with the plaintiff’s predecessor in interest, BanInter (Banco Intercontinental) of the Dominican Republic. As d ...

From Hubbard v. Yardage Town, Inc., 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 20896 (9th Cir. Sept. 8, 2008): The district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding sanctions in this case because Peters needlessly multiplied the litigation by refusing to comply with the parties' settlement agreement. See 28 U.S.C. § 1927 (permitting the d ...

In Broadcom Corp. v. Qualcomm Inc., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91378 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2008), the trial court entered a preliminary injunction ordering Qualcomm to stop infringing a patent of Broadcom’s but staying the injunction pending appeal if Qualcomm royalties to Broadcom. While the case was on appeal, Qualcomm paid $11 million in royalties to Broadcom. ...

The plaintiff in Banco de Chile v. Lavanchy, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91499 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 6, 2008) commenced this civil RICO action against a former employee alleging that, “‘unbeknownst to it,’ the defendant acted as the ‘undisclosed financial agent for former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet ("Pinochet") and used his financial relationship with [the ...

From Latorraca v. Centennial Techs., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91468 (D. Mass. Oct. 9, 2008): Federal Rule of Evidence 408(a)(2) prohibits the use of "statements made in compromise negotiations regarding [a] claim" as evidence of a party's "liability for...a claim that was disputed as to validity or amount". This Rule is meant to promote the ...

From Cummins-Allison Corp. v. SBM Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88995 (E.D. Tex. Nov. 3, 2008) (Clark, J.): As a young attorney, the undersigned appeared before an older judge who dismissed all expert opinions on damages as unreliable and drastically curtailed such testimony. This approach shortens trials, but constraining expert testimony ...

From NetworkIP, LLC v. FCC, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 23264 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 7, 2008): Though agencies are entitled to deference, they may not retroactively change the rules at will. Indeed, that "[e]lementary considerations of fairness dictate that individuals should have an opportunity to know what the law is and to conform their con ...

From City of Owensboro v. Kentucky Utilities Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79292 (W.D. Ky. Oct. 8, 2008): [Plaintiff] OMU filed a Daubert motion to exclude the testimony of KU's damages expert, Mr. William Abington. In support of Plaintiffs' motion, OMU submitted the affidavit of Mark McClernon, OMU's expert rebuttal witness on KU's ...

From Randleman v. Fidelity Nat’l Title Ins. Co., 251 F.R.D. 281 (N.D. Ohio 2008): The Southern District of Ohio, in Tuttle v. Tyco Electronics Installation Services, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95527, 2007 WL 4561530, at *2 (S.D. Ohio) (Frost, J.), unambiguously stated that the work product doctrine protects information about the evol ...