Court nixes $1.5M fee award in coupon-based class settlement 
Published: May 17, 2013
Tags: attorney fees, class action fairness act, consumer protection
A $1.5 million award of attorney fees in a coupon-based settlement of a consumer class action violated the Class Action Fairness Act, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in reversing judgment.
Homeowners association had implied authority to regulate common area
Published: May 16, 2013
Tags: homeowners association, real property, restrictive covenants
A homeowners association was not required to have express rulemaking authority in order to limit the types of watercraft that residents could use in an adjoining lake, the Illinois Appellate Court has ruled in affirming judgment.
Supreme Court treads carefully in patent ruling
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: agricultural engineering, first sale doctrine, patent exhastion, patents, U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court’s surgically narrow ruling prohibiting a farmer from using seeds harvested from patented herbicide-resistant soybeans has left lawyers with more questions than answers about the extent of patent owners’ rights in other emerging, self-replicating technologies.
ERISA doesn’t completely preempt suit over pension rights
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: breach of contract, ERISA, preemption, supplemental executive retirement plan
A tortious interference suit over contractual obligations arising under a pension plan was not completely preempted by ERISA, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in reversing a dismissal.
Electronic filing error didn’t doom motion, appeal
Published: May 14, 2013
Tags: electronic filing, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
An appeal in a medical malpractice case wasn’t rendered untimely by the plaintiffs’ failure to electronically file a critical motion in the trial court under the correct docket number, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.
Plaintiffs had capacity to sue U.S. for flight controller’s negligence
Published: May 14, 2013
Tags: airplane crash, choice of law, Federal Tort Claims Act, FTCA, wrongful death
The mother and adult daughter of the victim of an airplane crash had the capacity to sue the federal government for the alleged negligence of a flight controller, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in reversing a dismissal.
ADA fees could be cut based on lawyer’s inexperience
Published: May 13, 2013
Tags: ADA, AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, attorney fees
Attorney fees awarded to a disability discrimination plaintiff could be reduced because of the inexperience of her lawyer at the inception of the lawsuit, the Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled in reinstating a 20 percent fee cut.
ERISA plan could sue special needs trust
Published: May 10, 2013
Tags: ERISA, reimbursement, special needs trust
An ERISA plan could sue a special needs trust in order to obtain reimbursement for medical costs borne on behalf of a plan beneficiary injured in an automobile accident, the en banc 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in reversing judgment.
Lawmakers renew bid to ban mandatory arbitration
Published: May 10, 2013
Tags: arbitration, Arbitration Fairness Act, consumer protection
Senator Al Franken, D-Minn., has reintroduced a bill that would prohibit the enforcement of mandatory arbitration clauses against employees and consumers.
Report: Patent pools may stifle competition
Published: May 10, 2013
Tags: antitrust, competition, Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, patent law, patent pools
WASHINGTON – Patent pools, designed to spur innovation and reduce the cost of litigation, may actually be having anticompetitive effects according to a report released by the former competition policy director for the Federal Trade Commission.
