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It’s a new week with a new rule in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Interim Local Rule 3.1, regarding service of notice of appeal, became effective over the weekend on October 15. The interim rule states: If a party to a civil action in the district court files a notice of appeal electronically in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the district court’s local rules, the district clerk may satisfy the service requirements of Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure (FRAP) 3(d) as to a counseled party to the appeal by effecting service electronically....

Restaurant owner’s suit against a town for constitutional violations LaBella Winnetka, Inc. v. Village of Winnetka, 09-3297, 09-3297, concerned a plaintiff’s suit against a town and the town manager, claiming various constitutional violations and a state law claim for intentional interference with its lease and its prospective business expectancy, claiming that defendants prevented plaintiff from reopening its restaurant following a roof fire. Related Link: Read the Seventh Circuit’s Full Decision in LaBella Winnetka, Inc....

In an appeal from the district court’s order requiring defendant to arbitrate the issue of whether it was bound by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, the order is affirmed where defendant’s predecessor corporation was a party to the agreement and thus it was binding on defendant. Read Local 348-S v. Meridian Mgmt. Corp., No. 07-0080 Appellate Information Argued: June 20, 2008 Decided: October 2, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Hall...

The U.S. Supreme Court decision last year in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade led to a tsunami of new state legislation aimed to further restrict or protect the procedure. In 2022, 15 states enacted laws relating to abortion, with nine states restricting access to some degree and six expanding it. Though legislative sessions have just begun in 2023, a new wave of proposed legislation is already on shore....

In an action for legal malpractice, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where plaintiffs failed to show actual injury because, under German law, they would have only been entitled to 50% of the subject inheritance regardless of any malpractice on the part of their counsel. Read Nordwind v. Rowland, No. 07-4862 Appellate Information Argued: May 14, 2009 Decided: October 16, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Miner Counsel For Appellants: Ellen R....

In an action against Internet travel companies such as Hotels.com, Priceline.com, and Travelocity.com, claiming that they failed to calculate and remit hotel occupancy taxes in violation of a city ordinance, dismissal of the complaint is affirmed in part where plaintiff-city failed to assess the tax as required by the ordinance. Read Oakland v. Hotels.com LP, No. 07-17258 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted April 17, 2009 Filed July 16, 2009 Judges...

Stanley v. Vining, No. 08-2634, concerned a pro se prisoner’s 28 U.S.C. section 1983 suit claiming that a prison gaurd violated his constitutional rights by reading his “legal mail” and for issuing a prison misconduct charge against him in retaliation for making the complaint. As the court wrote: “Although Stanley has a First Amendment right to be free from unreasonable mail censorship, he has not First Amendment right that prevents a guard from opening his mail in his presence and reading it with an eye to determining if illegal conduct is afoot....

Where is Humpty Dumpty when the U.S. Supreme Court needs him? While the Court is in recess, the most egg-cellent arbiter could handle at least one new case. The case is about whether Google can keep its trademark for a word that also means “to search the internet.” “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less,” Humpty Dumpty told Alice scornfully....

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion this morning upholding New York City’s Party Witness Rule. Under the Party Witness Rule, a candidate for a political party’s nomination must circulate a “designating petition” to appear on the party primary ballot. The Party Witness Rule was designed to restrict the class of persons a potential candidate could use to circulate a designating petitions. New York enacted the Rule in the early 1950s, apparently in response to incidents of “party raiding,” whereby members of one party would actively participate in the primary of a rival party in the hope of influencing that party’s candidate nomination and thus improving their own chances in the general election....

We all make typos. Most of the time, it’s no big deal. While a typo in an email between friends is harmless, a typo on a resume or a cover letter can be devastating. It’s all about the context. In Schuler, the plaintiff’s counsel accidentally entered erroneous docket information into the system when electronically filing her client’s motion. As a result, the motion was listed under the docket of a different case....

Conviction of defendant and his wife for bankruptcy fraud and related crimes is affirmed where: 1) wife’s conviction is supported by sufficient evidence; 2) defendant’s constitutional claims are without merit as district court’s conclusion that the marital agreements were fraudulent was well-founded; 3) defendant lacks standing to raise a Sixth Amendment ineffective assistance of counsel claim on behalf of his wife; and 4) district court did not err in using defendant’s prior state court judgment to increase his base offense level....

In a drug prosecution, a denial of defendant’s 18 U.S.C. section 3582(c)(2) motion for a reduced sentence is affirmed where section 3582(c)(2) does not require the district court to determine at all what sentence it would have imposed had Amendment 706 to the Sentencing Guidelines been in effect at the original sentencing, much less to do so mandatorily prior to determining whether a reduction is appropriate. Read US v. Chaney, No....

The Supreme Court tossed out two class action challenges brought by Visa yesterday, less than a month before the financial services company was scheduled to make oral arguments. The reason? Visa had asked the Court to address one question in their petition for cert, but pursued a different argument in their merits briefing. The Supreme Court, unamused by Visa’s shifting legal strategy, decided that Visa won’t have a chance to make any of its legal arguments, dismissing the case as improvidently granted....

Washington’s Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case styled J.S. v. Village Voice Media, but known better as the “Backpage” case. Backpage.com is a website, owned by Village Voice Media, that allows people to contract with “escort” services for – well, the things that you would do with an escort. The plaintiffs are minors who were between 15 and 17 when they were allegedly sex trafficked – not by Backpage, but by professional pimps who posted ads for them on Backpage....

Just as the COVID-19 pandemic devastated businesses and people’s public and private lives, it has affected the civil and criminal justice systems as well. As a result, calls to toll (delay or pause) statutes of limitations have been made on several state and federal levels. What Is a Statute of Limitations? In simple words, a statute of limitations is the time you have to file a lawsuit. The exact time depends on where you live and the type of claim you have....

September 11, 2001, was a game-changer as far as FBI activity is concerned, with the release of the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide in 2008. As a result, the FBI can “engage in limited racial and ethnic profiling” and mapping “of concentrated ethnic communities,” when dealing with criminal, and terrorist, threats and investigations. Understandably, the ACLU has a problem with these procedures and has started a campaign of its own called Mapping the FBI, seeking to “expose misconduct, abuse of authority” and abridgement of our civil liberties nationwide....

Want to commemorate your vote for America’s first potential Madame President? Feeling like sharing your Trump ballot with your friends on Facebook? Well, think twice before snapping a ballot selfie if you’re a voter in Michigan, where a ban on displaying completed ballots has been in place since 1891, long before ballot selfies became a thing. That ban has survived 125 years so far and will last through this election, after the Sixth Circuit stayed an injunction against the rule until after ballots are cast this Election Day....

Farouk al-Aziz attended the Islamic Center of Irvine, publicly declaring his Muslim faith during prayer with hundreds of other members. But there were a couple of things wrong with that: his real name was Craig Monteilh, and he was a government informant. The Federal Bureau of Investigation wanted him to gather information for a counterterrorism investigation. In Fazaga v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Muslims filed a class-action over the FBI’s spying in their places of worship and elsewhere....

No one really reads the terms of service before clicking “accept.” Even if those terms allow an app “to edit, copy, disseminate, publish, transfer, append or merge with other databases, sell, license (by whatever means and on whatever terms) and archive your contribution and data.” That’s what Aleksandr Kogan’s quiz app for Facebook told users before transferring all their data to Cambridge Analytica. Now there’s a class action lawsuit against Facebook and Cambridge Analytica over the release of user data....

In California State Foster Parents’ Ass’n v. Wagner, No. 09-15025, an action against officials of the State of California under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 claiming a violation of plaintiffs’ federal right to payments under the Child Welfare Act (CWA), and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, the court affirmed judgment for plaintiffs where the CWA, at 42 U.S.C. sections 672(a) and 675(4)(A), created an enforceable federal right. US v. Kuo, No. 08-10330, involved defendants’ appeal from the imposition of restitution following their pleas of guilty to violating 18 U....