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Throw out your dictionaries, folks. According to the Eleventh Edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, a bee is an “insect” that differs from wasps “in the heavier hairier body and in having sucking as well as chewing mouthparts, that feed on pollen and nectar, and that store both and often also honey.” Fish are not insects. They do not have hairy bodies. They do not have chewing mouthparts. They most certainly don’t feed on pollen and nectar, nor do they store both, let alone honey....

In a blow to ‘patent trolls,’ the U.S. Supreme Court said venue for corporate defendants in patent litigation is where they are incorporated. The decision threw a roadblock in the way of companies that buy patents just to demand royalties and sue. The high court said patent claims must be made in a defendant’s home state – not in some other jurisdiction. As applied to domestic corporations, “residence” under the patent venue statute, 28 U....

In a case that could affect elections nationwide, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a gerrymandering decision from Wisconsin. All legislatures draw voting districts to favor the incumbent party, but the court will decide how far they can go in drawing maps along party lines. In Gill v. Whitford, a federal court panel said Republican lawmakers had unlawfully drawn state assembly maps to keep Democrats from securing legislative seats....

In Bloemker v. Laborers’ Local 265 Pension Fund, No. 09-3536, the Sixth Circuit faced a challenge to the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s claims in plaintiff’s suit against his employer-sponsored ERISA plan an actuary, alleging breach of contractual agreement and other claims, arising from a notice of reduction in his monthly retirement benefits due to an incorrect calculation and requiring him to repay the excess he had received for nearly two years....

Using the rational basis test, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday that the Lower Merion School District’s redistricting plan was constitutional. The ruling upholds the lower court’s finding that the district did not inappropriately use race as an influencing factor in determining where students go to school. The lawsuit was initially filed by nine unnamed African American students who alleged the school district’s new redistricting plan in 2009 was racially-motivated....

In a breach of contract action, district court judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) the purported agreement that the project manager entered into with plaintiff on the city’s behalf exceeds the limits of the city’s power to contract, as the project manager was not the city’s procurement officer and had no statutory authority to bind the city in contract, and defendant is charged with knowing the level of authority the project manager actually possessed; 2) any oral modifications to the contract prohibited both by the contract and by statute; 3) the purported contract was prohibited by law and therefore void, and cannot be rendered valid by estoppel or ratification; 4) since the purported modified contract was void for lack of authority, the city was not liable for additional payment, and thus defendant cannot create an original liability on an account stated theory; and 5) the court did not abuse its discretion in awarding costs to the city....

US v. Walker, 08-4680, concerned a challenge to the district court’s conviction of defendant for bank robbery and brandishing a firearm, and a sentence of 277 months and one day in prison. In affirming, the court held that the district court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress evidence of the firearm obtained during a search of his duffel bag as, on the record, it is fair to say that the search was reasonably designed to discover weapons that might pose a threat to the officers’ safety....

Sentence and conviction of a defendant for distributing illegal drugs is affirmed in part and vacated in part and remanded where: 1) the practical question is not whether Miranda warnings given to a defendant became “stale” or whether the “totality of the circumstances” indicates that the inculpatory statement was made knowingly, it is whether the defendant when he gave the statement didn’t realize he had a right to remain silent, and here, the Miranda form told defendant that he had the right to remain silent and the presumption should be that he would remember this even if some time had elapsed between his receiving the warnings and undergoing the questioning that elicited the inculpatory statement; 2) district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting defendant’s prior conviction for selling drugs as it was relevant to an issue in the case and the probative weight of the evidence was not substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect or by its propensity to confuse or mislead the jury; 3) prosecutor did not commit improper vouching of witness; 4) prosecutor’s rhetorical question regarding the testimony of an officer was improper vouching but harmless; and 5) defendant’s sentence is vacated as the district judge gave no reason for his belief that the $765 found on defendant had to be proceeds from selling crack....

District court’s imposition of a sentence on a defendant convicted of robbery and related crimes is affirmed in part, vacated in part and remanded where: 1) the sentence under 18 U.S.C. section 924(c) accounted for all of the guns possessed, carried, or used by defendant and the co-defendant in relation to the robbery, including the plastic B.B. gun, thus the district court’s four-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. section 2B3.1(b)(2)(D) was impermissible double counting; 2) a six-level enhancement for otherwise using the firearm was appropriate as district court’s factual finding was not clearly erroneous; 3) district court’s bodily injury enhancement was proper; 4) district court erred by enhancing defendant’s offense levels four points for abduction; 5) district court correctly calculated defendant’s criminal history; and 6) because the district court’s errors in calculating the guideline range may have affected the sentence imposed, the errors are not harmless....

Murder Conviction Affirmed In US v. Redlightning, No. 09-30122, the court affirmed defendant’s conviction for murder on Native American land with premeditation and in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of sexual abuse, holding that 1) defendant did not confess as the result of an unlawful arrest; 2) defendant was not “in custody” for Fifth Amendment purposes during the questioning until he confessed to the sexual assault and murder; and 3) the government’s conduct did not result in an unreasonable delay of the arraignment....

In an appeal from the District Court’s order denying Petitioner’s motion to quash an IRS subpoena, the order is affirmed where the services provided to Petitioner by its accounting firm constituted “promotion of a tax shelter” under 26 U.S.C. section 7525(b)(2), and thus the tax practitioner-client privilege did not protect the documents at issue. Read the full decision in Valero Energy Corp. v. US, No. 08-3473. Appellate Information: Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division....

In an appeal from the Social Security Administration’s order denying Plaintiff child survivor benefits, the order is affirmed where the child at issue did not meet the eligibility requirements for such benefits because she could not establish that she was dependent upon the deceased insured at the time of his death under California law. Read the full decision in Vernoff v. Astrue, No. 08-55049. Appellate Information: Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Cormac J....

It’s another victory for law school practice clinics. Two former Drexel University law students won their appeal before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals this week. The students, Iwona Rusek and Kristin Shicora, assisted plaintiff Elizabeth Liggon-Redding with her claim that her lawyer had committed legal malpractice while representing her in a medical malpractice claim. Liggon-Redding, who filed her legal malpractice claim pro se, claimed that a state court dismissed her medical malpractice case because her attorney, Robert Sugarman, was negligent in failing to retain an expert to testify....

The Seventh Circuit seems to be a breeding ground for ADEA jurisprudence – that doesn’t get decided. Just this term, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Madigan v. Levin, and soon after oral arguments, dismissed the case as improvidently granted. Last week, the Seventh Circuit had the opportunity to decide an issue of first impression for the circuit. Pump your brakes; don’t get too excited because no sooner than the court said “issue of first impression,” it also declined to decide the issue....

Marvel Comics has experienced a renaissance of sorts over the last few years, with comic book characters hitting the big screen and raking in millions. So who can blame the heirs of artist Jack Kirby, the man who drew “The Fantastic Four,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “The X-Men” and “Spider-Man,” to want in on the action? Well, you can’t blame them for trying, but the Second Circuit didn’t think their claims had any merit....

Bus and large commercial truck drivers have been banned from texting while driving or using handheld cell phones. The U.S. Department of Transportation now prohibits drivers of interstate buses and trucks over 10,000 pounds from sending text messages on hand-held devices, and is effective immediately, the Associated Press reports. Officials from the trucking and bus industry said they support the texting ban. The trade association for the wireless industry, CTIA, also supports the ban....

In an action under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to prohibit full-plane deicing at an airport concourse and also require other precautionary steps relating to airplane deicing fluid (ADF), judgment for defendants is affirmed where plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that ADF at the airport (whether it degraded inside or outside the concourse) may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health. Read Crandall v. Denver, No. 08-1197 Appellate Information...

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that a bankruptcy court did not err in approving a bankruptcy settlement that allotted a portion of the proceeds from a property sale to pay the insolvent company’s bankruptcy attorneys. Holly Marine Towing, Inc. was a Chicago company that owned and operated a tug boat service on Lake Michigan. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 8, 2007, and the bankruptcy court converted the case to a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy the following year....

In the latest fallout from the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware has issued an order granting a preliminary injunction, enjoining the state of Delaware from enforcing Delaware Election Code Sections 8002(10), 8002(27) and 8031, which requires certain disclosures related to financial contributions to third-party political ads. On January 1, 2013, Delaware’s Election Disclosures Act (“Act”) took effect, which would require organizations, including non-profits, to disclose donors when the funds are used for third-party advertisements during an election....

On Monday, March 16, the United States Supreme Court announced it would not be hearing upcoming oral arguments scheduled for late March and early April due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. For now, the delay is limited to cases upcoming in the next few weeks. There is no indication whether the current term will be extended. Filing deadlines have not been changed. The Oral Arguments Delayed The most notable of the delayed arguments is the consolidated Trump v....