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The Eighth Circuit decided two insurance disputes and one concerning the denial of an asylum application. HealthEast Bethesda Hosp. v. United Commercial Travelers of Am., No. 08-3665, was an action for breach of an insurance settlement contract. The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for defendant, on the grounds that 1) defendant was not an unsophisticated party because it had significant experience in handling and negotiating claims with healthcare providers; 2) because defendant bore the risk of mistake, the district court properly denied rescission based on unilateral mistake; and 3) the record of inaction by defendant strongly supported the denial of relief under both unilateral and mutual mistake....

In a product liability action against hormone therapy manufacturers, partial judgment for plaintiff and for defendants is affirmed in part where: 1) plaintiff’s Arkansas law claims were not preempted because there was no evidence that the FDA would not have permitted the strengthening of the labels of the drugs at issue in a manner consistent with Arkansas law; 2) plaintiff’s expert testimony on causation was properly admitted because the expert ruled out other possible causes of plaintiff’s disease; 3) the district court’s instruction on proximate cause was correct; and 4) judgment for defendants on punitive damages was correct because defendants did not act with recklessness or malice....

Paul Monea had his 15 minutes of fame about 30 years ago, when Mike Tyson was the heavyweight champion of the world. Monea was famous in his own right, making millions with infomercials. Then he bought the former champ’s mansion, which led to a different kind of fame. He tried to sell it later in a notorious money-laundering scheme that included a 43-carat diamond ring. That turned his 15 minutes into about 12 years in prison....

In a malicious prosecution action, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where defendant acted with probable cause when investigating the charges against plaintiff, preparing his report for the State’s Attorney, and testifying before the grand jury, giving him a complete defense to plaintiff’s state malicious prosecution claim. Read Johnson v. Saville, No. 08-4314 Appellate InformationAppeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.Argued May 28, 2009Decided July 29, 2009...

Karen Eklund crossed the Bay Bridge at over 100 miles per hour. She then took to the surface streets of San Francisco at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour, which is pretty impressive considering the poor condition and curviness of some of SF’s roads. Eventually, with police officers in tow, she pulled into a cul-de-sac and was trapped. Her response was neither rational nor polite: she rammed the police cars with her getaway vehicle....

One such campaign began in 2009, when the students, led by Pastor Tim Aguilar, distributed gifts of McDonald’s chicken salad sandwiches, hot chocolate, candy canes with religious messages, and “affirmation rocks,” which had spiritual references painted on one side. Of course, none of their handouts compared to the day that they distributed rubber fetuses. The Day of the Fetus On January 29, 2010, the pastor and the students planned to hand out 2,500 small two-inch rubber dolls, each the size of a fetus at 12 weeks....

Mark Steven Rublee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. The district court sentenced him to 132 months in prison, above the minimum sentence of 120 months. One year later, the court granted the Government’s Rule 35(b) motion to reduce the sentence below the mandatory minimum to reflect Rublee’s substantial assistance in providing information that led to the conviction of two other persons. Rublee, unsatisfied with the reduction, appealed the reduced 98-month sentence, arguing the district court improperly considered factors unrelated to the value of his assistance in declining to grant a further reduction....

When the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum last week, we thought the years-long debate of corporate liability under the Alien Tort Statute was finally winding down. We were wrong. On Monday, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the parties for briefing on additional issues. Now, the Court is asking whether American courts should ever hear disputes under the ATS for human rights abuses abroad, regardless of whether a defendant is a corporation, reports The New York Times....

Previously this week, we discussed the upcoming Supreme Court arguments in Smith v. Cain. We’re interested to see if a ruling in this case could actually change practices in the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office, when two prior Supreme Court opinions directed to the same office didn’t. Most Court-watchers, however, are anxiously awaiting arguments in U.S. v. Jones, the warrantless GPS tracking case. In Tuesday’s oral arguments, Smith v. Cain is the bridesmaid, and U....

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) violations can add up. A person who willfully fails to comply with FCRA requirements could be on the hook for actual and punitive damages. Willfullness, however, is tricky a standard. It became even more complicated after the Supreme Court created a FCRA safe harbor in Safeco Insurance Co. of America v. Burr, noting that a company cannot be said to have willfully violated FCRA if the company acted on a reasonable interpretation of FCRA’s coverage....

There’s a lot of seat-shifting going on right now in the Third Circuit. Between the Trenton Mayor’s removal, BridgeGate, and the tentative selection of a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, New Jersey is having a hard time staying out of the legal headlines. Removal of Trenton Mayor Tony Mack On Wednesday, New Jersey State Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson removed Trenton Mayor Tony Mack from office, following a jury conviction for fraud, bribery and extortion, all related to government corruption, reports The Associated Press....

When is a bank liable for a customer’s Ponzi scheme? Tom Petters started a company called Petters Capital, which he claimed purchased excess merchandise and sold it to companies like Sam’s Club. Sounds great – except he never did that. He faked purchase orders and paid old investors with the money he received from new investors. You know, like you do in a Ponzi scheme. Petters defrauded a lot of big banks and investors in his $3....

Action for False Arrest In Veatch v. Bartels Lutheran Home, No. 09-3678, an action for false arrest based on an allegedly false accusation that plaintiff assaulted her mother, the court affirmed summary judgment for defendant where 1) the information gathered by defendant was sufficiently reliable to establish a reasonable ground for belief that plaintiff had committed a misdemeanor assault; and 2) plaintiff failed to satisfy the “rigorous standards of culpability and causation” required for municipal liability under section 1983....

We’ve all driven by and gawked at the houses that go all-out with decorations for the holiday season. Properties with lights galore, blaring Christmas music, and thematic displays can be found in just about every town. It’s all in the holiday spirit… right? You don’t have to be a Grinch to get annoyed at bright, loud, and flashy holiday lawn decorations, especially if you live right next door. But is there anything you can do to stop your neighbor’s holiday cheer?...

Arizona is determined to be a fixture on the Supreme Court’s schedule. Last term, the state went to battle over its controversial immigration law. This year, Gov. Jan Brewer is asking the court to determine whether the state can eliminate health coverage for same-sex domestic partners of state and university employees, according to Fox News. In 2009, Arizona passed a law that changed the definition of “dependent” and eliminated health-insurance coverage for same-sex partners of public employees, reports The Wall Street Journal....

David Nosal was passed up for a promotion at Korn/Ferry, a headhunting firm. He plotted to start a rival business, and along with his merry band of followers, accessed some data from the company’s database. That data was allegedly used to land a contract for the new company. One would expect that case to end up in civil court, or at worst, with a theft of trade secrets charge. Instead, he was indicted on 20 counts, including theft of trade secrets, mail fraud, and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), an outdated 1980s law commonly used against hackers....

The Tenth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an Establishment Clause case against the Kansas Board of Education brought after the state sought to adopt curriculum standards for K-12 science instruction. Those standards, some parents claimed, “breached the parent’s trust” and would result in “anti-religious instruction.” It didn’t take long before the circuit affirmed for the Board. Following the creation of the Next Generation Science Standard, 26 states adopted curricula that “provided performance expectations that depict … what student[s] must do to show proficiency in science....

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals announced on Tuesday that the federal government does not have to fork over $2.5 million in attorneys fees to an Islamic group targeted in the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretap program, reports The Associated Press. In the opinion, the appellate court noted that the plaintiffs could only collect from individual government officials, not the federal government, but that specific claims against FBI Director Robert Mueller were not sufficient to warrant damages and could not be amended....

Richard Lee Rynearson, III, a retired Air Force major, is not the kind to let things go. He got into a Facebook argument with his neighbor until it escalated to a legal skirmish. A Washington state judge granted a protective order against Rynearson, ordering him to leave his neighbor alone and to stop stalking him. While the state case was pending, Rynearson challenged the state’s cyberstalking law on free speech grounds in federal court....

Lawyers take on unpopular clients. Most people understand that clients accused of a crime or defending themselves in a lawsuit deserve representation, no matter how heinous the accusations. Even strategic offensive cases with dubious underlying legal claims are not exactly unheard of and rarely receive the scrutiny being afforded the firms representing the Trump campaign. While there have been significant criticisms over strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP), for example, we haven’t seen the kind of focused protests now taking place....