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Shell is more excited than ever to begin searching for oil off the coast of Alaska. Last Thursday, the Ninth Circuit removed a major hurdle for Shell’s exploration plans by approving the company’s Arctic spill response plans. When the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) approved Shell’s response plans, a number of environmental organizations sued the Secretary of the Interior and the Department of the Interior under the Administrative Procedures Act....

Swatch Group and Bloomberg have been fighting for three years in New York federal courts regarding the publication of a conference call between Swatch and financial analysts. Closely watched by news outlets, a line has now been drawn in the sand by the Second Circuit. The Conference Call and Publication On February 8, 2011, Swatch publicized its 2010 earnings report, and as customary, later that day had a conference call with Swatch executives and 132 financial analysts....

The omicron variant of COVID-19 is rampaging across the country. At the same time, it is apparent that Americans have no appetite for more harsh restrictions and mitigations. In short, that means you have a pretty high chance of catching this if you are frequently out around crowds of people. And a recent ruling by a California court in a wrongful death case has businesses in the state and across the country nervous about a potential “never-ending” spiral of liability lawsuits....

In a class action based on defendants’ alleged contamination of plaintiffs’ property through operation of a zinc smelter, the district court’s order granting plaintiffs’ motion to remand the case to state court is affirmed where plaintiffs’ claims fell within the “local controversy exception” to the Class Action Fairness Act. Read Coffey v. Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold, No. 09-6106 Appellate Information Filed September 4, 2009 Judges Per Curiam Counsel For Appellants:...

The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded a case about one census question, and it all goes to show that asking people about their citizenship is complicated. In Department of Commerce v. New York, a unanimous panel affirmed that the Enumerations Clause permits the Secretary of Commerce to include in the census this question: “Are you a citizen of the United States?” Intended for the 2020 census, that question was the gist of the controversy spawning the litigation....

In US v. Wilson, No. 09-3338, the court affirmed in part defendant’s convictions for conspiring to distribute marijuana and cocaine, and for possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute it, holding that 1) the shooting as to which the district court admitted evidence was similar to the drug-trafficking charged in this case because it stemmed from a dispute over a drug debt; and 2) the probative value of the testimony was not substantially outweighed by its potential for unfair prejudice....

Saul Goodman’s days as a fictional lawyer are almost certainly over, which is bad news for many of us. In case you’re unaware, Saul Goodman is the central character in Better Call Saul, a TV masterpiece that recently ended its six-season run on AMC and AMC+. Saul is the tale of an often loudly dressed scallywag who pushes the bounds – and crosses the lines – of legal ethics as he builds a law practice doomed to crash and burn....

Convicted mail fraudster Larry Covington alleged that his trial counsel was ineffective at two stages of his proceedings. Covington alleges that § 2C1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines did not apply to his conduct and that his counsel should have challenged its application to his convictions both during plea negotiation and at sentencing. Ultimately, the three-member panel of the Eighth Circuit determined that Covington’s arguments floundered when it came to proving prejudice....

District court’s denial of defendant’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus following his conviction for sexual penetration with an uninformed partner by a person infected with AIDS is affirmed as defendant failed to demonstrate either that his trial counsel’s failure to challenge five jurors permeated the entire trial with obvious unfairness, or that the trial court committed plain error by allowing the five jurors to serve on the jury. Read Holder v....

Big Tech, to some people, is synonymous with Facebook. And to that same some, Facebook is too big. Chris Hughes, who co-founded the company, is one of those people. But Facebook represents only 2.83 billion users, so how can he speak for the other half of the world? Oh, that’s right. They don’t have internet service. Is Facebook Too Big? With about 3.2 billion people using the internet, Facebook accounts for virtually everybody....

When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which bans schools from talking about gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade, the Walt Disney corporation initially stayed on the sidelines. Facing mounting pressure from employees at Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, Disney released the following statement on March 28: On April 22, 2022, in what many view as a retaliatory move, DeSantis signed a law passed by the Florida legislature revoking the self-governing status that Disney has held in Florida for over 50 years....

In an ERISA action challenging certain amendments to an employee benefit plan that purported to eliminate a “pensioner death benefit,” summary judgment for Defendants is affirmed, where the benefit did not constitute a “retirement-type subsidy” for purposes of ERISA’s anti-cutback provision. Read Kerber v. Qwest Pension Plan, No. 08-1387 Appellate Information Filed July 17, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Briscoe Counsel For Appellants: Curtis L. Kennedy, Denver, CO For Appellees:...

Last June, the Supreme Court struck down the Armed Career Criminal Act’s so-called residual clause. Under the ACCA, which is the federal “three strikes” law, certain violent offenders are subject to mandatory minimum sentences if they’ve been thrice convicted of specific crimes, or any crime involving “a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” That residual clause, quoted above, was unconstitutionally vague, the Court ruled in Johnson v. United States....

There’s a lot happening in the Sixth Circuit. With the status of Michigan’s same sex marriage status up in the air, a new lawsuit has been filed by the ACLU. What will the fate of the couples married in the small window of time when same sex marriage was legal in the state? We also remember a former Sixth Circuit judge who broke boundaries and look at what influences federal judges....

What do you do when a defendant refuses to rise for the judge? The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals grappled with the question in light of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act after a Muslim woman refused to rise for the judge, reports The Wall Street Journal. District Court Judge Michael Davis nailed Amina Farah Ali with 20 contempt of court charges, when Ali refused to respond the the statement “all rise” in a Minneapolis court house....

It’s safe to say online law school courses have passed the beta test. According to legal educators, online courses can be better than live sessions. They say professors and students can have a better connection in the virtual environment than they would face-to-face. After all, it’s hard to hide in the back row of an online class. Distance Learning The American Bar Association says law schools may offer up to one-third of their credits online....

Matthew Jensen pled guilty to unlawful possession of a mail key in 2009. Though the offense carried a maximum of ten years in prison, he was only sentenced to twelve months imprisonment, followed by thirty-six months of supervised release. After Jensen was captured, he pled guilty to failure to appear for service of sentence. He was given twenty-seven months on the newest charge, setting up this appeal. The failure to appear charge has a penalty that varies according to the underlying sentence....

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging an unlawful arrest, judgment for defendants is affirmed in part where the district court did not abuse its discretion by declining to give an involuntary transportation instruction, because defendants conceded that transporting plaintiffs to the police station was equivalent to an arrest. However, the ruling is reversed in part where defendants lacked probable cause to arrest plaintiffs as a matter of law....

In an action for breach of a noncompetition agreement restricting defendants’ ability to work with competitors, judgment for plaintiff is affirmed in part where the district court properly distinguished in its findings of fact between plaintiff’s general lost profits and profits lost on specific orders. However, judgment for plaintiff is reversed in part where certain information used by defendants did not qualify as a trade secret because plaintiff disclosed this information to its customers without reservation....

Minnesota Deli Provisions, Inc. v. Boar’s Head Provisions Co., 08-3607, involved an action arising out of the termination of the parties’ business relationship, involving charges of breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, promissory estoppel, and tortious interference with business relations. The Eighth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for defendant, holding that 1) the phrase “not performing satisfactorily,” when read in context, did not create an enforceable limit on defendant’s right to terminate business relations; 2) the parties’ relationship was terminable at will and did not encompass a durational agreement; 3) a “clear and definite” promise could not be found in the evidence; and 4) there was no evidence that defendant’s actions were unjustified, as was necessary for a claim of tortious interference with contractual relations....