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Personally, I’ve never understood the draw of gift certificates. Unlike cash, they’re filled with restrictions, limitations, and prohibitions. But, they often come with deals, and people love a good deal. That love of a deal may result in a windfall for some New Jersey litigants. After suing Restaurant.com for selling gift certificates which failed to comply with New Jersey consumer protection laws, in a case that has resulted in six published opinions, plaintiffs may finally have the go ahead to pursue a class action lawsuit against the website....

Witness tampering can get you kicked out of the country. Higgins, a citizen of Jamaica, was admitted to the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident in 1987. In 2001, Higgins was convicted of witness tampering. The conviction originated with allegations that Higgins sexually assaulted a minor, and later told her that, if she ever talked to the police, she should tell them that “nothing ever happened.” The jury acquitted Higgins of the sexual assault charge, but convicted him for witness tampering....

“I thought that the stove had exploded,” Andrea Bearden told the Chicago Tribune. “I heard a loud boom and the next thing I knew there were flames everywhere.” Bearden was with boyfriend Brandon Banks when he suffered second-degree burns on his arms and hands after a can of Pam cooking spray exploded in a friend’s kitchen last year. Banks racked up $64,000 in medical bills for treatment and was out of work so long he lost his job, and the pair are plaintiffs in one of a few new lawsuits filed against Pam manufacturer Conagra....

Migrating salmon will breathe easier this spring, thanks to a federal appeals court. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed orders that government-operated dams release more water on the Columbia and Snake rivers to help endangered salmon and steelhead. It was a win for environmentalists who claim the dam operations have been killing off the species for years. The decision in National Wildlife Federation v. National Marine Fisheries Service was also good news for the fish....

Yankton Sioux Tribe v. Podhradsky, No. 08-1441, involved an action by the Yankton Sioux Tribe seeking a declaratory judgment that all land not ceded to the U.S. in 1894 remained part of the Sioux Reservation under the jurisdiction of the Tribe and the federal government. The court of appeals affirmed in part the district court’s order that some 37,600 acres of trust land remained part of the reservation and that land continuously owned in fee by individual Indians also qualified as reservation, holding that 1) defendants’ evidence was not truly “new” in the sense that it could not have reasonably been developed and presented in earlier stages of this litigation; 2) it was clear from the circumstances surrounding the Tribe’s agreement to sell its surplus lands that the Tribe did not intend to relinquish immediate jurisdiction over the allotments and that it would not be required to part with them; and 3) the district court did not err in its conclusion that all lands taken into trust by the Secretary of the Interior fell within the jurisdiction of the Yankton Sioux Reservation and qualified as Indian country under 18 U....

In 1980, Gary Hardeman pled guilty to the felony of committing lewd and lascivious acts upon a child under the age of 14. He was required to register as a sex offender until the offense was expunged. Before he was able to expunge the offense however, the law was changed to require ongoing registration. In 1986, he was convicted of annoying a child, which required registration until expungement. He successfully expunged that offense five years later, though the law was again changed and retroactively required anyone convicted of a sex offense to register continuously regardless of expungement....

A German tech developer’s patent infringement suit against Sirius XM Radio was revived in the Federal Circuit this month. Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft claims Sirius XM’s reliance on a possibly-defunct licensing agreement means the satellite radio provider is infringing on Fraunhofer’s patents. The decision vacates a 2018 ruling in Delaware district court, where Sirius XM’s motion to dismiss was granted based on a finding that it had a license to use Fraunhofer’s technology. Decisions in the Federal Circuit are notoriously complicated, but this one really comes down to timing....

District court judgment dismissing action to enforce divorce settlement provision for waiver of spouse-survivor benefits is vacated and remanded where plaintiff’s claims should be resolved on the basis of state law principles rather than ERISA, as plaintiff’s claims are under the group annuity contract rather than pension plans and annuities are not governed by ERISA. Read Hallingby v. Hallingby, No. 08-1866 Appellate InformationAppeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York....

Don’t Use Explosive or Incendiary Devices An expectant couple was charged with involuntary manslaughter when their smoke generating device sparked the El Dorado fire in San Bernadino, California. A firefighter lost his life in that fire, and the blaze destroyed 36 square miles. A Michigan man killed by cannon at a gender reveal party was a bystander when the cannon broke apart from the explosion. The cannon pieces became the shrapnel that killed him....

Donald Trump didn’t invent fake news, but it’s definitely become a problem during his presidency. Between the Russian-Facebook scandal and the special prosecutor’s “witchhunt,” it’s hard to know what to believe. One thing for sure, however, is that people are tired of disinformation. Troublesome as it is, you can do something about fake news affecting your company. Here’s how: Take It Down In the social media age, consumers and companies can demand that internet publishers take down fake news....

It’s the oldest trick in the book. Your parents tell you not to do something, so you have your brother do it for you. That’s the gist of what happened here. Last year, we brought the tale of the sea pirate hippy bench-slapping, a master class in insulting multiple parties in a single judicial opinion by none other than the great Judge Alex Kozinski. The Kozinski-helmed majority issued an injunction ordering the Sea Shepard Conservation Society to stay away from certain (alleged whaling) ships....

District court’s judgment upholding the ALJ’s rejection of plaintiff’s claim for disability insurance benefits is vacated and remanded in light of ALJ’s questionable credibility findings, cursory analysis of symptoms, improper medical determination regarding medication, and selective discussion of the evidence. ALJ’s determination that plaintiff is not disabled due to her Type 2 diabetes is not supported by substantial evidence. Read Myles v. Astrue, No. 08-2908 Appellate Information Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern DivisionArgued April 22, 2009Decided September 9, 2009...

In an action alleging sex discrimination and failure to pay overtime wages, summary judgment for defendants is vacated in part and the matter is remanded where, because plaintiff’s primary duty was the sale of advertising space, she was properly considered a “salesperson” for the purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and therefore did not fall under the administrative exemption to the overtime pay provisions of the FLSA. Read Reiseck v....

Froud v. Anadarko E&P Co., No. 10-8010, involved plaintiffs’ request for permission to appeal from an order of the district court denying a motion to remand their class action. The court of appeals denied the request, holding that, while full briefing of the merits may not be necessary to allow the court to exercise its discretion to permit the appeal under Fed. R. App. P. 5, petitioners did not provide any discussion of the merits or the nature or importance of the issues presented by their requested appeal....

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is sartorially known for popularizing lacey lady cravats with judicial robes, but Texans are more interested in her days in denim. This week, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas kicks off a tribute to Justice O’Connor’s early years with “The Cowgirl Who Became a Justice,” a new exhibition timed to honor the 30th anniversary of O’Connor’s appointment to the Supreme Court....

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a Wisconsin school district in a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(b) appeal this week, finding that there was sufficient evidence to support a jury verdict that a teacher suffering from seasonal affective disorder was entitled to reasonable accommodation under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). In the fall of 2005, after the school year began, elementary school teacher Renae Ekstrand began to experience symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, a form of depression....

Bennie Walters sued his former employer, Walmart, for employment discrimination. Walmart apparently reached an agreement with Walters during a settlement conference – which is suprising since Walmart is kind of famous for its aggressive litigation strategy – but Walters later refused to sign the written agreement. The district court granted Walmart’s motion to enforce the agreement, and denied Walters’ motion for reconsideration. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision....

Eight months after the Supreme Court made it harder for plaintiffs to band together to bring a class action lawsuit, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has decided to let a major Merrill Lynch class action lawsuit go forward. That means that more than 700 current and former Merrill Lynch employees can bring their employment discrimination claims against the financial management company, reports Reuters. The litigants are accusing Merrill Lynch of employment discrimination, including steering African-Americans into clerical positions, giving the most lucrative accounts to white brokers, and creating a hostile work environment....

In Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder, No. 09-60, the Court reversed the Fifth Circuit’s denial of petitioner’s petition for review of the BIA’s order, holding that second or subsequent simple possession offenses are not aggravated felonies under 8 U.S.C. section 1101(a)(43) when, as in this case, the state conviction was not based on the fact of a prior conviction. As the Court wrote: “Petitioner Jose Angel Carachuri-Rosendo, a lawful permanent resident who has lived in the United States since he was five years old, faced deportation under federal law after he committed two misdemeanor drug possession offenses in Texas....

What was the secret to his success? Besides the obvious factors, like intelligence and hard work, he received reasonable accommodations to facilitate his education. Beginning in eighth grade, he began using Communication Access Real-time Transcription (CART), a system that transcribes the speaker’s words and displays them on a computer screen. When he was admitted to Creighton, he requested accommodations, including the CART system, once again. Instead, Creighton provided him with an insufficient half-measure....