Massachusetts brought an action in state court against a lender charging that its sub-prime mortgage practices violated state consumer protection statutes, in Com’w of Massachusetts v. Fremont Inv. & Loan, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95617 (D. Mass. Dec. 26, 2007). The lender removed to federal court alleging that some of the relief sought in the complaint “may or do ...

In its first post-Tellabs securities decision, the First Circuit in ACA Fin. Guar. Corp. v. Advest, Inc., 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 451 (1st Cir. Jan. 10, 2008), decided a series of pleading questions and held that the customary liberal pleading standard of Rule 15(a) survives enactment of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. The Circuits are split as t ...

In order to prove that the defendant’s product contained ingredients patented by the plaintiff, the plaintiff in Mannatech Inc. v. Glycobiotics Int’l, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91946 (N.D. Tex. Dec. 14, 2007), offered customer testimonials contained on the defendant’s website. Without deciding the issue, the Court indicated that the testimonials could be ad ...

From Winters v. Stemberg, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 778, at *36 n.7 (D. Mass. Jan. 4, 2008): *** See generally Gregory P. Joseph, Federal Litigation — Where Did It Go Off Track? (forthcoming 2008) (brief but brilliant synopsis noting the PSLRA as one reason why "today, plaintiffs with non-federal causes of action flee federal ...

The Fifth Circuit upheld the imposition of § 1927 sanctions more than a year after the frivolous lawsuit had been dismissed (the plaintiff sued the wrong doctor) in Ratliff v. Gibson, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 28664 (5th Cir. Nov. 13, 2007). Looking to Rule 11 precedent, Circuit Judge Jerry E. Smith wrote for the Court that: “Requests for attorneys' fees and ...

A substantial body of law addresses the extent to which a securities fraud complaint may rest on allegations based on the plaintiffs’ confidential informants (see our post of July 29, 2007, discussing Higgingotham v. Baxter Int’l, Inc., 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 17918 (7th Cir. July 27, 2007)). What if the confidential informants are not those of the plaintiffs but, ...

One of the largest monetary sanctions in U.S. history was imposed on the plaintiff in Qualcomm Inc. v. Broadcom Corp., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 911 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 7, 2008). Several, but not all, of plaintiffs’ counsel were held to have committed sanctionable acts (or inaction) and referred to the California State Bar for investigation of possible ethical vio ...

The plaintiff in Frett-Smith v. Vanterpool, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 31 (3d Cir. Jan. 3, 2008), held dual citizenship in the U.S. and the British Virgin Islands. Her domicile was in the BVI. She filed a personal injury action against United States citizens domiciled in the Virgin Islands in federal court in the District of the Virgin Islands alleging alienage jurisdic ...

Chapman v. Journal Concepts, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91621 (D. Haw. Dec. 12, 2007): 1. Standards. “Courts have established only three grounds justifying reconsideration: (1) an intervening change in controlling law; (2) the discovery of new evidence not previously available; and (3) the need to correct clear or manifest error in l ...

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(4)(C) (as restyled) provides: Unless manifest injustice would result, the court must require that the party seeking discovery: (i) pay the expert a reasonable fee for time spent in responding to discovery under Rule 26(b)(4)(A) or (B). Does the time “spent” by an expert “in resp ...