COVID-19 has many people on edge and worried about the future. Add in the stress of an ongoing legal challenge, and it’s easy to see how a client might panic. Below are a few tips for reassuring clients that their case remains a priority. Stay in touch Effective client communication is talked about a lot in the legal field - and we don’t always meet client expectations. Now is the time to make concerted efforts....
In a securities fraud action alleging that defendant failed to disclose material information regarding its cold remedy drug, Zicam, dismissal of the complaint is reversed where: 1) in relying on the statistical significance standard to determine materiality, the district court made a decision that should have been left to the trier of fact; and 2) the inference that defendants withheld information intentionally or with deliberate recklessness was at least as compelling as the inference that they withheld the information innocently....
A pair of decisions handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court this week could have a sweeping effect on immigration in the United States. The two cases, one a class-action, challenged the government’s ability to hold a person facing deportation indefinitely without a bond hearing. Immigration Code Does Not Require a Bond Hearing Justice Sonia Sotomayor authored the unanimous decision in Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez, ruling that the federal government may detain immigrants indefinitely in removal proceedings without a bond hearing....
The Supreme Court had a busy Monday. Yesterday, in addition to issuing several important opinions (check out our Supreme Court Blog for updates on that), the High Court agreed to review a Third Circuit Court of Appeals case over cable TV monopolization, according to Reuters. The cable company behind the lawsuit is Comcast, which has been accused of executing strategies, (including the swapping territories with a competitor) to be the sole cable provider in certain areas in and around Philadelphia....
District court’s denial of petition for habeas relief as to petitioner’s guilt phase claims is affirmed where: 1) the court’s reasonable doubt jury instruction may have lessened the prosecution’s burden of proof, but was not unconstitutional; 2) the Commonwealth’s closing argument at sentencing did not violate petitioner’s due process and Eighth Amendment rights; and 3) counsel’s failure to ask the jury life-qualifying questions did not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. The court’s grant of sentencing relief is vacated where petitioner cannot demonstrate that his counsel was deficient at sentencing based on the evidence on the record, and remand the case for an evidentiary hearing concerning the extent of petitioner’s counsel’s pre-sentencing investigative efforts to obtain mitigating evidence....
A recently filed federal lawsuit accuses President Trump, Eric, Donald Jr., and Ivanka, as well as several of the Trump family’s organizations, of deliberately defrauding thousands of individuals via the ACN pyramid scheme. The lawsuit alleges that ACN preyed upon individuals who simply couldn’t afford to be scammed and were seeking new ways to earn a living. The Montana Securities and Insurance Commissioner even shut it down two years ago in the state as an unlawful pyramid scheme (rather than the multi-level marketing scheme that it purports to be)....
Last week, we asked for opinions from the Supreme Court and we got them – six of them, in fact – which may portend more multi-opinion days in the weeks to come. Today’s opinions were fairly prosaic (by which we mean “bankruptcy”), but a few stood out as fairly important. This case couldn’t be more important in a time when police seem to be shooting anybody making furtive movements. Teresa Sheehan lived in a group home for people with mental illness....
Cocaine Possession Conviction Affirmed In US v. Hambrick, No. 10-1096, the court affirmed defendant’s conviction for possessing with intent to distribute at least five grams of cocaine base where 1) while the government concedes that some pretense existed surrounding the traffic stop at issue based on the suspended license due to the officers’ reliance on the informant’s tip, it is well-settled that any traffic violation provides a police officer with probable cause to stop a vehicle, even if the officer conducted the valid traffic stop as a pretense for investigating other criminal activity; and 2) the officers had probable cause to search the vehicle, irrespective of Gant, under the automobile exception....
Defendant’s sentence for unlawful possession of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a felony is vacated and remanded where: 1) the district court is restricted to considering the materials outlined by the Supreme Court in Sheppard for the sole purpose of determining to which part of the Pennsylvania simple assault statute defendant actually pled guilty to; and 2) in the event the materials do not demonstrate the mens rea to which defendant pled guilty, his simple assault conviction cannot qualify as a crime of violence in this case in light of the government’s representation that it does not seek to define that conviction as a crime of violence to the extent it is premised on reckless conduct....
District court’s order to destroy 34 firearms and for the defendant to collect just compensation from the government arising from his conviction of aiding and abetting the possession of firearms by a felon, is vacated and remanded as, because the government did not commence a timely forfeiture proceeding, defendant’s property interest in the firearms continues even though his possessory interest has been curtailed, and as such, if the government does not want to sell the firearms for his account, then it must offer defendant some other lawful option, such as having a trustee sell or hold the guns, or giving them to someone who can be relied on to treat them as his own....
Wyoming Governor Matt Mead is leading the charge for a Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals en banc review of the Clinton-era Roadless Rule. The state filed a petition for rehearing on Monday. In October, the Tenth Circuit ruled that a Wyoming district court abused its discretion in permanently enjoining the Roadless Rule on a nationwide basis because the district court’s action was based on the erroneous legal conclusion that Wyoming had succeeded on the merits of its claims....
The Seventh Circuit affirmed a $10.25 million settlement lawsuit against Unilever for injuries associated with women using the Suave Professionals Keratin Infusion 30-Day Smoothing Kit. Although this sounds like a win for plaintiffs, it’s actually Unilever who is celebrating the judge’s decision. This marks the end of the “melting hair” lawsuit. If you still have this product around, we suggest you dispose of it as hazardous waste. “Melting” Hair The lawsuit first began when hundreds of women from multiple class actions sued Unilever under multiple product liability theories, most notable a failure to warn....
On April 26, a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to vacate a jury judgment awarding $6.5 million to workers at the Department of Environmental Protection. The award had already been vacated by the district court before the case to went to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The DEP workers were found personally liable for retaliation against a mineral wool maker by use of their enforcement powers....
In a Tax Court petition challenging an IRS deficiency notice, judgment for Petitioner is affirmed, where a taxpayer does not “omit[ ] from gross income an amount properly includible therein” for purposes of 26 U.S.C. section 6501(e)(1)(A) by overstating its basis. Read the full decision in Bakersfield Energy Partners v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, No. 07-74275. Appellate Information: Appeal from a Decision of the United States Tax CourtArgued and Submitted February 9, 2009 – Pasadena, CaliforniaFiled June 17, 2009...
District court order denying plaintiff’s motion to vacate the default judgment against it is affirmed where plaintiff’s claim for relief under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(6) based on the misconduct of its counsel fails as the counsel’s actions, even with plaintiff’s purported diligence, do not fall within the exceptions to the rule and do not rise to the level of exceptional to warrant such extraordinary relief. Read Bakery Machinery & Fabrication, Inc....
Shell Oil enjoyed a significant victory in the Seventh Circuit on Friday, with the Court finding no dangerous link between benzene in the groundwater and the class action claims against Shell. Around 150 residents of the small Illinois town of Roxana had sued Shell in 2012 for “polluting its groundwater and soil with benzene levels as much as 26,000 times greater than allowed by state law,” reports Courthouse News Service. But now they’ll have to refocus their claims at the district court level even though their groundwater is most certainly toxic....
In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging excessive force by police, judgment for defendants is affirmed where evidence of decedent’s animosity toward the police was relevant to show that he was trying to provoke a police shootout, rather than trying to surrender, in order to commit “suicide by cop.” Read Boyd v. San Francisco, No. 07-16993 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted July 14, 2009 Filed August 7, 2009 Judges...
Ex-mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick complained to the Sixth Circuit on Monday that the lack of ice was impairing his physical therapy for his knee. These “spartan conditions” were the genesis of an appeal to the court to be released on bond while he awaits sentencing in his federal corruption case, reports The Detroit News. Kilpatrick is awaiting sentencing on racketeering and corruption charges, but he may have an argument about medical care....
“Old school” is not a bad thing, and sometimes it’s the best thing – like faxing documents instead of emailing them. If fact, sometimes faxing is the only thing. For example, there are courts and government offices that require lawyers to fax documents – no electronic filing allowed. The problem for many attorneys, of course, is that they threw away their fax machines in the last century. Millennials never even owned one....
Some states prohibit motor carriers, like UPS and FedEx, from delivering wine. There are, of course, ways to get around these wine delivery laws. A shipping business in our city has a sign that says, “We can’t ship wine, but we can ship ‘olive oil,’ (wink, wink.)” The only problem is that shipping “olive oil, (wink, wink)” may violate state laws. Instead of skirting an Indiana wine delivery law, Cap N’ Cork, a chain of Fort Wayne retail liquor stores, challenged the law directly in federal court....
