Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Complex Lit Blog

From Graham v. Fleissner Law Firm, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41523 (E.D. Tenn. May 22, 2008): [T]he Supreme Court has held that courts should liberally construe complaints filed by pro se parties, and they should not hold them to the same stringent standard required of licensed attorneys. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520, 92 ...
From Graham v. Fleissner Law Firm, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41523 (E.D. Tenn. May 22, 2008): [T]he Supreme Court has held that courts should liberally construe complaints filed by pro se parties, and they should not hold them to the…
District Judge Garr M. King was not convinced that Government lawyers, representing the defendant in Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc. v. U.S. Dept’ of Treasury, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45675 (D. Or. June 5, 2008), were monitoring the plaintiffs’ communications with their counsel, in this challenge to the designation of on of the plaintiffs as a terroris ...
District Judge Garr M. King was not convinced that Government lawyers, representing the defendant in Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc. v. U.S. Dept’ of Treasury, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45675 (D. Or. June 5, 2008), were monitoring the plaintiffs’ communications…
Download associated file: CSX Equity Swaps Opinion.pdf  Equity swaps confer on their owner all of the financial attributes of share ownership but not the right to vote shares. It has been received wisdom on Wall Street that these swaps do not confer beneficial ownership ...
Download associated file: CSX Equity Swaps Opinion.pdf  Equity swaps confer on their owner all of the financial attributes of share ownership but not the right to vote shares. It has been received wisdom on Wall Street that these swaps…
From Dalton v. City of Las Vegas, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 12522 (10th Cir. June 12, 2008): Simply listing the litany of offenses allegedly committed by defendants, without any specification as to which acts (1) qualify as § 1961 predicate acts and (2) also occurred within the time frame required to satisfy § 1961(5), is insufficient to st ...
From Dalton v. City of Las Vegas, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 12522 (10th Cir. June 12, 2008): Simply listing the litany of offenses allegedly committed by defendants, without any specification as to which acts (1) qualify as § 1961 predicate…
A traditional factor that the Court considers in deciding a motion to change venue pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) is whether the location of witnesses and evidence and the parties' convenience strongly favors transferring the case. From Kabat v. Bayer Cropscience, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41187 (E.D. Va. May 22, 2008): “‘[I]t is doubtful that ‘i ...
A traditional factor that the Court considers in deciding a motion to change venue pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) is whether the location of witnesses and evidence and the parties’ convenience strongly favors transferring the case. From Kabat v.…
After the plaintiff’s deposition revealed that her claim was meritless, defense counsel wrote a letter requesting that the action be withdrawn. Plaintiff’s counsel declined. Litigation proceeded through summary judgment, for which the plaintiff unsuccessfully advanced a new theory of liability supported by an affidavit in which the plaintiff contradicted her d ...
After the plaintiff’s deposition revealed that her claim was meritless, defense counsel wrote a letter requesting that the action be withdrawn. Plaintiff’s counsel declined. Litigation proceeded through summary judgment, for which the plaintiff unsuccessfully advanced a new theory of liability…
The plaintiff in Pinnacle Pizza Co. v. Little Caesar Enters., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44651 (D. S.D. June 5, 2008) — a Little Caesars franchise owner — did not opt out of a class action settlement in 2001 and, as a result, conferred a general release in favor the defendants. The defendants asserted that, although the claims in the class action were unrelat ...
The plaintiff in Pinnacle Pizza Co. v. Little Caesar Enters., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44651 (D. S.D. June 5, 2008) — a Little Caesars franchise owner — did not opt out of a class action settlement in 2001 and, as…
In the MTBE mass tort litigation, In re Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether ("MTBE") Prods. Liab. Litig., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44216 (S.D.N.Y. June 4, 2008), homeowners in a small town in Orange County, New York, contended that their property values had been damaged by MTBE pollution. Their expert was prepared to testify that property values had declined 15% based ...
In the MTBE mass tort litigation, In re Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (“MTBE”) Prods. Liab. Litig., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44216 (S.D.N.Y. June 4, 2008), homeowners in a small town in Orange County, New York, contended that their property values…
Fleming & Assoc’s v. Newby & Tittle, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 11764 (5th Cir. May 30, 2008) presented the following factual scenario: September 14, 2006 — District Court issues order sanctioning plaintiffs’ counsel “for changing the [plaintiffs’] expert witness report” and orders reimbursement of certain defendants’ attorneys' ...
Fleming & Assoc’s v. Newby & Tittle, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 11764 (5th Cir. May 30, 2008) presented the following factual scenario: September 14, 2006 — District Court issues order sanctioning plaintiffs’ counsel “for changing the [plaintiffs’] expert witness report”…
From the Supreme Court's decision in Bridge v. Phoenix Bond & Indem. Co., 2008 U.S. LEXIS 4703 (U.S. June 9, 2008): 1. First Party Reliance Not Required. “[A] plaintiff asserting a RICO claim predicated on mail fraud need not show, either as an element of its claim or as a prerequisite to establishing proximate causation, ...
From the Supreme Court’s decision in Bridge v. Phoenix Bond & Indem. Co., 2008 U.S. LEXIS 4703 (U.S. June 9, 2008): 1. First Party Reliance Not Required. “[A] plaintiff asserting a RICO claim predicated on mail fraud need not show,…

Recent Posts

Archives