Complex Lit Blog

RICO: (1) Concrete Financial Loss Requirement — (2) 9(b) Requirements for Mail/Wire Fraud — (3) An Instruction ≠ A Representation and Cannot Constitute Mail/Wire Fraud — (4) Allegations of Frivolous, Fraudulent or Baseless Litigation Activities, Without More, ≠ A RICO Predicate Act

UMB Bank, NA v. Guerin, 89 F.4th 1047 (8th Cir. 2024): Famous American Regionalist artist Thomas Hart Benton and his wife passed away in 1975, leaving behind a family trust (the “Trust”) that included hundreds of works of art by Thomas Hart Benton, real estate, and various personal effects. The primary Trust beneficiary is their daughter Jessie Benton (to av ...

UMB Bank, NA v. Guerin, 89 F.4th 1047 (8th Cir. 2024): Famous American Regionalist artist Thomas Hart Benton and his wife passed away in 1975, leaving behind a family trust (the “Trust”) that included hundreds of works of…

RICO Pleading — 9(b) Requirements for Alleging Mail/Wire Fraud

Wayne Johnson for Cong., Inc. v. Hunt, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 2850, 2024 WL 471938 (11th Cir. Feb. 7, 2024) (unpublished): *** When a complaint “is based on an alleged pattern of racketeering consisting entirely of ...

Wayne Johnson for Cong., Inc. v. Hunt, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 2850, 2024 WL 471938 (11th Cir. Feb. 7, 2024) (unpublished): *** When a complaint “is based on an alleged pattern of racketeering consisting entirely of the predicate acts …

While Law-of-the-Case Doctrine Does Not Bind Court of Appeals with the Same Rigidity as the District Court, It Should Be Departed From Only Sparingly — Factors

United States v. Aquart, 92 F.4th 77 (2d Cir. 2024): *** While the law-of-the-case doctrine does not bind this court with the same “rigidity” that the mandate rule binds the district court,

United States v. Aquart, 92 F.4th 77 (2d Cir. 2024): *** While the law-of-the-case doctrine does not bind this court with the same “rigidity” that the mandate rule binds the district court, United States v. Tenzer, 213 F.3d 34, 40 …

Rooker-Feldman Not Avoidable By Pursuing A Concurrent Collateral Attack on the State Court Judgment at the Same Time It Is Attacked in Federal Court — Extrinsic Fraud Exception to Rooker-Feldman Requires That Party Have Been Precluded from Presenting His or Her Case in State Court

Boudette v. Oskerson, 2024 WL 1342613 (9th Cir. Mar. 29, 2024) (unpublished): MEMORANDUM* Plaintiff Daniel Boudette appeals from the district court’s order dismissing this case for lack of jurisdiction under

A Party Forfeits Invocation of Subject Matter Jurisdiction by Failing Timely to Invoke It — While Court Must Ensure It Does Not Lack Subject Matter Jurisdiction, It Has No Duty to Find and Exercise Jurisdiction on a Basis Not Raised by the Parties, Although The Court May Choose to Do So

Behrens v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, 96 F.4th 202 (2d Cir. 2024): Five former customers (“Plaintiffs”) of Peregrine Financial Group, Inc. (“Peregrine”), the defunct futures commission merchant, appeal the dismissal of their putative class action by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Broderick, J.).

RICO — Pattern — (1) Relatedness Established Where Three HJ factors satisfied— “H.J. Inc.’s List of Relatedness Factors Is Disjunctive, Non-Exhaustive, And Requires Only Sameness Or Similarity Of Any Factor”— “Even Separately-Performed, Functionally Diverse, And Directly Unrelated Predicate Acts Will Form A Pattern under RICO If They Have Been Undertaken in Furtherance of a Qualifying Enterprise” (Good Quotes)

Russo v. Lamancusa, 2024 WL 1433637 (3d Cir. April 3, 2024) (unpublished): *1 Anna Russo and Torry Argiro appeal the dismissal of their civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) claim against Joshua Lamancusa, the Lawrence County District Attorney, and Richard Ryhal, an officer in the ...

Russo v. Lamancusa, 2024 WL 1433637 (3d Cir. April 3, 2024) (unpublished): *1 Anna Russo and Torry Argiro appeal the dismissal of their civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) claim against Joshua Lamancusa, the Lawrence County…

RICO and FRAP 38 Sanctions: (1) Four key elements of § 1962(c)-(d) claim; (2) Standing Alone, Neither A Breach of Fiduciary Duty Nor A Breach of Contract Constitutes Mail Fraud; (3) Falsity, Alone, Does Not Demonstrate Fraudulent Intent; (4) Common Law Fraud Not Implicating Mail or Wires ≠ Racketeering Activity; (5) FRAP 38 Sanctions Inapt for Weak But Not Frivolous Arguments; (6) Recidivism: Prior Sanctions, Alone, Insufficient to Convert Merely Weak into Sanctionable Claims

Efron v. UBS Fin. Servs. Inc. of P.R., 96 F.4th 430 (1st Cir. 2024): APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon.

Efron v. UBS Fin. Servs. Inc. of P.R., 96 F.4th 430 (1st Cir. 2024): APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon. William G. Young,* U.S. District Judge] Opinion Plaintiff-appellant David …

Inherent Power Sanctions—Goodyear v. Haeger—Arbitration Confirmation: Where Respondent Advanced Many Meritless Arguments, But Some with Merit, Court May Award Entire Cost of Litigating As “Rough Justice” But High Degree of Specificity in Findings Required — Presenting an Issue of First Impression in an Unsettled Area, Even If Position Rejected, Is Not Without Justification

Trustees. of the N.Y. State Nurses Ass'n Pension Plan v. White Oak Glob. Advisors, LLC, 2024 U.S. App. LE ...

Trustees. of the N.Y. State Nurses Ass’n Pension Plan v. White Oak Glob. Advisors, LLC, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 12152, 102 F.4th 572 (2d Cir. 2024): Respondent-Appellant White Oak Global Advisors, LLC (“White Oak”) appeals from a judgment of …

Sanctions: Rule 11 Does Not Create an Independent Cause of Action

Kaetz v. United States of Am., 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 14146 (3d Cir. June 11, 2024) (unpublished): OPINION* * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute bin ...

“RICO Is a Judge’s Nightmare” — “The Requisite RICO Pleading Standards Are Far from Explicit, And The RICO Jurisprudence Offers Courts (And Plaintiffs) Little Guidance” (Good Quotes) — Common Elements of § 1962(a), (c) and (d)-Based Claims — Closed-End Continuity: Duration > 1 Year = Substantial Period of Time (E.g., 2 or 4) — Continuity: Courts Skeptical If Number of Victims and Schemes Is Limited — Untargeted Persons Who Suffer Derivative Injury from Injury to Immediate RICO Victim Do Not Add to the Number of Victims Considered for Continuity Purposes — Open Ended Continuity Can Be Established by Showing Defendant Commits Predicate Acts As “Regular Way of Doing Business” — Citing the Existence of Other Lawsuits Alleging Similar Predicates ≠ Pleading Facts Demonstrating Defendant’s Commission of Similar Predicates Against Others

D&T Partners, L.L.C. v. Baymark Partners Mgmt., LLC, 94 F.4th 198 (5th Cir. 2024): A group of individuals allegedly sought to steal the assets and trade secrets of an e-commerce company. They did so with shell entities, corrupt lending practices, and a fraudulent bankruptcy. The question in this case is whether the scheme, as alleged, violates the Racketeer Influenced and Co ...

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

RICO: (1) Concrete Financial Loss Requirement — (2) 9(b) Requirements for Mail/Wire Fraud — (3) An Instruction ≠ A Representation and Cannot Constitute Mail/Wire Fraud — (4) Allegations of Frivolous, Fraudulent or Baseless Litigation Activities, Without More, ≠ A RICO Predicate Act

RICO Pleading — 9(b) Requirements for Alleging Mail/Wire Fraud

While Law-of-the-Case Doctrine Does Not Bind Court of Appeals with the Same Rigidity as the District Court, It Should Be Departed From Only Sparingly — Factors

Rooker-Feldman Not Avoidable By Pursuing A Concurrent Collateral Attack on the State Court Judgment at the Same Time It Is Attacked in Federal Court — Extrinsic Fraud Exception to Rooker-Feldman Requires That Party Have Been Precluded from Presenting His or Her Case in State Court

A Party Forfeits Invocation of Subject Matter Jurisdiction by Failing Timely to Invoke It — While Court Must Ensure It Does Not Lack Subject Matter Jurisdiction, It Has No Duty to Find and Exercise Jurisdiction on a Basis Not Raised by the Parties, Although The Court May Choose to Do So

Sanctions: Rule 11 Does Not Create an Independent Cause of Action

Recent Posts

RICO: Indirect Injury Unrecoverable — Indirect Purchaser Rule Imported from Antitrust

RICO: No Causation Where Harm Flowed Several Steps After the Fraudulent Acts — RICO Causation Same As Antitrust Causation

Sanctions vs. Automatic Stay: Imposition of Sanctions (Here, Inherent Power Sanctions) Is Subject to the Police Power Exception to the Automatic Stay in Bankruptcy

The Word “Include” May Be A Word of Limitation As Opposed to a Word of Enlargement, Depending on the Context

Spoliation/Sanctions: “A Party Does Not Spoliate Evidence When, Without Notice Of The Evidence’s Potential Relevance, It Destroys The Evidence According To Its Policy Or In The Normal Course Of Its Business” (Good Quote)

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